The Faces of Potty Training!

Option A ...

Option B ...

Option C ....

At the age of two and half I am proud to say that Jordan is a pantie wearing lady! After a month of trying all these options she decided to be done with diapers! And I mean really done!She rarely has an accident and sleeps all night in her Elmo undies! Way to go Jordie!

It's a "love-Hate" thing

We have had Gus two months now and I can honestly say that I love him. But if I am really being honest I must say, I also hate him. Who would have thought that adding a puppy to my life would cause so much emotional confusion. Yes, there have been many times I have just wanted to give up and give him away. But this image is and would forever be implanted in my brain...

These two just love him!

So with this in mind I have turned over a new leaf and have become a dog-loving women... Well moat days ;)

Gus and I now run 4 miles a day. On the days that I need to take the kids with me I pack them a snack, throw them in the stroller and walk our four miles. At first this was just plain hard. Now it has turned into something that both Gus and I look forward to everyday. Not only am I getting out and exercising, but my hyper active puppy has turned into the well trained and happy puppy I always dreamed about.

So for today I am a Dog-lover.

As for tomorrow, we will have to see.

Summer Time and the Livin's Easy!

Hope Everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer!

Meet Gus!

First week has been a huge success! For now this dog does a little playing ,a little eating and heck of a lot of sleeping.

Not only that, but he has only had one poop mess in my house and sleeps all night. That is a lot better then my own kids do!

If he keeps this up I just might keep him around!

Bribery will get you far!

Ever since Cael was born he, along with his Dad, have been begging for a dog. For a long time the answer was just flat out "NO"! Cael has learned at an early age that if you ask long enough, the mother just gets fed up and gives in. Worked for me with my mother and something tells me that it worked for my my mom with her mom. Yes, I will admit, my children (Raynel included) have turned me into quite a softy when it comes to getting what they want. Though I am easily persuaded I have come to the conclusion that I too can get what I want. This is our Pebble Jar Or What I like to call as the Bribery Jar. When I came to the realisation that the topic of getting a dog was never going to go away. I decided that it was time to make the boy work for it. Here is a list of some of the things that were Pebble worthy:

• Sleeping in his own bed
• leaving Grandmas without being dragged
• cleaning up his room
• making his bed
• being extra nice to his sister
• making shopping at the grocery store a pleasant experience
• and of course taking out Jordan's Pooppy diapers in preparation for poop duty.

I of course was smart enough to use a big Jar, knowing full well that Raynel would be a little more generous in his awards because of his desire for the dog too.

A month or so later the Jar is now full and Cael has learned the lesson of responsibility and work. In addition I too have learned a valuable lesson.

Bribery with your kids will get you far!

Proud to be an American!

Thank you to all of the many Man and Women who have sacrificed so much for this great Country! I am so grateful for all the freedoms that we enjoy, and that I so easily take for granted! I am so proud to be an American! Happy July 4th!

I'm So Glad when Daddy comes home!

One of my kids favorite primary songs is "I'm so glad when daddy comes home." For the longest time I just figured they liked this song because of the great actions that you do along with it. But yesterday I was reminded of why my kids truly love this song.

Cael thinks that having a dad that is a Firefighter is really cool. What little boy, or big boy for that matter, would not love to go and play on the fire trucks all the time. But a Dad that has a Firefighters job means a dad that works Firefighter hours. Some times Raynel can be gone for 2- 3 days at a time and even works a lot of holidays. So as much as we love to go see Dad and the fire trucks at work, we love having dad come home even more.

Yesterday was the end of one of those long work weeks when Raynel had been gone for five days straight. You can only imagine the anticipation of not only the two kids, but me as well to have dad coming home after what felt like a long, long week. The second we hear him come through the front Door the kids always shout "Dad's home" and run him down before he can even get a foot in the door. Raynel then ends up spending the next half hour being hugged, kissed and wrestled to death, just so we can get in all the love and Dad time that we have missed while he was away.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be!

Clap my hands and shout for Joy and climb upon his knees.

Put my arms around his neck hug him tight like this.

Pat his cheeks and give him what? A great Big Kiss! Muah!

Raynel

We love you so much and are so grateful for the sacrifices you make for our family on a daily bases. You are a wonderful husband and father. The days that you are home are when we are most happy! Yes, our schedule just gets thrown out the window, but to have you home is worth all the chaos. We love you!

Bedtime

Our bedtime routine at our house is very predictable. With Cael ,bedtime is as easy as reading a few books, saying our prayers, and pushing play for his bedtime music. Jordan on the other hand has definitely come up with her own complex routine of what needs to be done before she will even consider going to sleep.

• First- she needs to read her books
• Second- she needs to get as many hugs and kisses from brother as she possibly can before I finally get fed up and tell her that is enough.
• Third- she has to say her prayers, while stopping every few seconds to say, "don't help me Mom! "
• Fourth- she has to make sure that all her toys and things are put away in the right places. After she is lying down if she sees one thing that is out of place she will quickly jump up out of bed and be sure to tell me what it is where it needs to go.
• Fifth- she has to look out the window to tell me that our Vegetable garden is still there and growing tall.
• Sixth- she has to push play on the CD player to turn on her bedtime music.
• Seventh- she has to have her drink of water
• Eighth- She always tells me to get her a "kenex" because she has "bad boogers"
• Ninth- she has to pick out the blanket that she wants to sleep with
• Tenth- She always looks down at my feet and asks "do you have shoes on?" and if I don't she always responds with "oh, just your foots"
• Eleventh- She always says"hold me" while we listen to a song...or two until she will finally let me lay her in her bed.

Some nights, OK most nights, this list of "must do's" just makes me crazy. But on those nights when I am not here and either Raynel or his Mom are putting the kids to bed I really do get a little sad.

Cael, Thank you for taking after your Dad and realising that a true bedtime routine is nothing more then a bed, and pillow, t and then within seconds, sleep. I love to hear you say your prayers and how you never fail to say how thankful you are for your Mom and Dad.

Jordan, I am not sure where you got some of your OCD. But you never fail to find away to make me laugh and melt my heart even when you are making me crazy. I love to see your cute little face when you squint up your eyes, point one finger and say," stay for one more song mom, one more".

A TRUE Day to Remember

A few months ago in young women's I taught a lesson about keeping journals. I always seem to end up teaching the lessons on the things that I need to work on most in my life. Since I was a kid, keeping a journal was just not my thing. I probably have three or four different journals from my childhood that all have nothing more then a few pages and all say the Famous words, "Starting today I am going to be better at writing in my journal." Looking back now I wish I would have been so much better. I think up till now, I have always thought that my scrapbooks would be enough to track the things in my life that were most important to me. I would love to go back and read about the first date Raynel and I had. The way I felt when I went through the temple for the first time. And even the, not so long ago, births of our two children. So... just as as I have written many times before. "Starting today I am going to be better at keeping a journal". Up till now our blog as really just been my way of keeping a "scrapbook" of our family. With the Blog title being A DAY TO REMEMBER, I think it is about time I took that more literally. I want Cael and Jordan not only to remember the fun play dates we went on or what we did in St George that year. But I want them to both know how much I loved the little things we did on a daily bases. The things that they do everyday that makes me so happy to be their mom. I want them to really feel like each day is A DAY TO REMEMBER. JORDAN Your new favorite thing is to make a mess just so you can take a rag and clean it up. At lunch today, I sat and watched you as you dumped juice from your juice box all over the table then quickly wiped it off with a dish towel. You then emptied out your yogurt cup on to the table just so you could take the same dish towel and wipe it off again. You did this for a good ten minutes before you finally ran out of juice and Yogurt. No wonder you are always telling me you need "a snack or something" you are to busy cleaning to even get a bite in. CAEL I think you really hate Sundays. Every morning when you get up the first thing you ask me is "Mom is it Sunday?" When I reply with a "no, it is Monday" you always respond with a "Good, I hate Sundays". I am still trying to figure out what you hate most about Sundays. Is it the fact that you have to go sit in church for three hours? Is it because you can't play with friends? Or is because you can't watch any TV or movies unless it is church movie? For whatever reason, I am so glad that when you ask me in the morning... "Mom, Is it Sunday" I can say "No Cael, it is Thursday."

SuMmEr TiMe!

Summer has begun! This last week we took a trip to Bear lake with my Cute Sisters and there families! We did lots of swimming, eating and even took the kids to the Minnetonka Cave. What a great way to start of our summer! The Murphy Daughters and Families

The kids could not get enough of the pool!

We ate lots and lots of good food Cael and Jordan just loved being with there cousins

Cael and Jordan were great Cave Climbers...well Cael was and Jordan was really good at being carried. This was a well needed trip four our family!

Thanks guys we had a great trip!

Schools out for Summer!

Wow! I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that I was coming home from dropping Cael off to his first day of Preschool! I was so sad with the way he practically jumped from the truck and told me to stay in the car instead of walking him to the door. As much as I love Cael and being able to be home with him it turned out I was not the only one looking forward to a little change in our daily routine. I realised that day that he was more then ready for a little time away from Mom.

Cael was always so excited to go school. He would be ready for school at least two hours before it was even time to go and spent those two hours asking, every 5 minutes, if it was time to go yet. When he was sick, he would do everything to try and convince me that he really was OK to go. And what he really loved most was ridding to and from school with Elle and Heidi instead of Boring old Mom.

For the last day of school we were invited to come to Cael's class and get a glimpse of what they had done this year. It was so fun to see him and his class perform some of there favorite songs.

We were also given a portfolio of some of Cael's work. Cutting with scissors, learning shapes and numbers, and even drawing. Here is a sample of a picture Cael drew of himself at the beginning of the year and one that he drew at the end.We have been so happy with the experience that Cael has had with preschool. His cute teacher has really made this new experience in Cael's life so great. We are so glad that he is going to go to the BRITE Preschool again next fall.

Cael with his class

Cael got an award for being such a great friend to everyone.

Cael and Miss Heather

Here is a video of our performer...more video to come.

School Field Trip

For weeks all Cael ever talked about was how he was going to the Farm with his Preschool class. I was really excited because Cael actually gave me permission to come too. From the smile on Cael's face you can tell that he was not disappointed.

But when there is a horse involved you really can't go wrong.

What can you do in the Rain?

I just love hearing my kids read ( Memorize ) there books. I just love hearing there voices. Here is Jordie at 2 years old reading "What can you do in the Rain"

I am a lucky Mom!

These two make me laugh! I am such a lucky Mom!

Hope you all have a great Mothers Day weekend!

Go Knights!!!

This spring we have signed Cael up for T-ball. It has been so fun to watch our little T-ball Star. When he is not busy tackling every player on his team to get the ball. He is loving batting and playing First base. Way to go Cael! Way to Go Knights!

Our Birthday Girl!

Jordan is now 2 and acting 13! I am not sure if all little girls are like this but Jordan has suddenly decided that she is a big girl. If it wasn't for her still being in diapers I just might believe her!

Jordan is what I like to call Hurricane Helga! From the second she gets up in the morning she is on the go. She never seems to stop and always has to touch everything in her path. Her favorite things are The Color Pink, Talking, Eating and Beating on her big brother Cael. She has mastered the art of using her Baby blues and sweet little smile to get away with far more then she should. Now when you get mad at her she tilts her head to the side, puts her hands up in disgust and says "WELL!"

Even though she keeps us on our toes we love her and love the way she keeps us laughing. When taking a picture her signature pose is either her tong sticking out or more often her finger is in her nose. She is very quick to point out if I have something on my face or tells me when my Clothes are cute. (If you ask me there is not much more a mom could ask for.)

We love you Jordan and are so glad that you are apart of our family!

oh ya... I have a blog!

Wow! Easter is here and I have not posted anything since the begging of December. How I got so behind I am not sure. With so much that has gone on over the last few months I have lots to catch up on.

1st- Cael's birthday.

This year Cael was really into transformers so he had his aunt Pam make him a cake of Optimums Prime. I even think the highlight of is party was that his Grandma had wrapped his presents in Transformer Paper. This kid can't get enough transformers.

The day of his birthday we went to Kangaroo Zoo! He had a lot of fun with his friend Avery and his Aunt Kiki!

2ND- Preschool Christmas Program

This year we have found the best Preschool For Cael. He just loves his teacher and Just loves school! For Christmas they put on a Christmas program which was short and sweet and to the point! It was fun to watch Cael with his other Classmates. Jordan and Dad Grandma Murphy and Cael

3rd- Christmas

This year Raynel was working on Christmas eve so we spent the evening with my Family! Though we missed Raynel the kids and I had a great time!

Lexi looks like the only one happy to be in the Manger Scene. Jordan being an Angel

Christmas Morning Cael's Bike was the Highlight of the morning.

4Th- Road Trip

Raynel's Great Grandpa Farnsworth died this last weekend and We decided to head down south to go to the funeral. Though Jordan got pretty sick for the first few days we really had a great time. We got to stay with Raynel's Grandparents in St George just loving the weather and enjoying some well needed family time. Cael and Jordan had a great time spending time with there Grandpa and Grandma Great.

Cael and Dad getting some wrestling time in. The Kids with Grandpa and Grandma Woods. What a great time we had! Looking forward to another trip soon!