Jonny Potty Training

After a half-hearted attempt at potty training--which really just meant we did nothing and hoped he'd potty train himself like Claire did--we decided we should probably take a more deliberate approach.  It's been a little rough going, but he's a sweet boy and we finally had success the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We had a potty party with all of his favorite things.  He's been staying pretty clean during the day, and soon he might be able to be done with the diaper at night.  Four down (mostly) and only one more to go!

Getting Ready for December!

Post-thanksgiving means a lot of clean-up.  The girls are wonderful at helping with chores.  I snapped pictures of them as they were helping me clean up before bed.

Over the next few days we pull out the Christmas boxes, then we put up a few things here and there, but finally, we put up our tree and finish the whole thing with stockings and setting out the Christmas books.  Darcy was very helpful when we were decorating.  :)

So was Jonny!  (Notice the undies!?)  You might also notice that we rearranged our living room quite a bit to accomodate the tree this year.  I'll take a better picture later.  We think it looks good.  A nice change.

Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving all on our own this year.  It was nice and cozy and a huge success!  This is me prepping the turkey to go into the oven.  I did a lot more prep the day before than I usually do, so I didn't have to wake up super early to get it all done in time this year.  It was nice!

Photos never do justice to the deliciousness of our turkeys.  So moist, so golden, so good.

Audrey helping me by setting the table.  (Not pictured: Darcy helping Audrey by unsetting the table.)

Checking doneness.

Doesn't this look fun!?

We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie.  It was all good!  The neighbors brought over an amazing pumpkin cheesecake that was definitely my favorite dessert.

And debuting this year, a kids snack tray, because they were "starving" all morning!  It did the trick.  The indulged while they watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials.

This is my favorite part!  Cranberry sauce.  It's the easiest and the most important part.  (Excuse the salty mess from when I made the brine for the turkey.)

We all wrote in our Thanksgiving book again this year.  I love that new tradition.  So much more meaningful!

Thanksgiving 2015: A SUCCESS!

The first snow and other things

This was the first snow of the season, right before Thanksgiving.  In case you're wondering, we brought the scooter in out of the cold so it wouldn't get rusty.  ;)

For some warmer news, my little lemon tree, which had been lacking in any blooms all spring and summer and fall, finally bloomed when I brought it inside.  Something must have been eating them off, just like they eat the pea blossoms off.  I'm so excited!!

A little selfie with the kids while we were killing time in Jane's vision therapy appointment.

I've been painting a lot lately!  I realized that the girls didn't have anything for their room.  So I got this brilliant idea to do little paintings of all the things they love, then I will frame them in little thrift store frames that I spray paint the same color . . . the vision is exciting, but it doesn't seem like much yet.  Anyway, this is the first installment.

Arrows are so hot on Pinterest right now.  I don't have a place for them in my house--tribal isn't my style, although I think it's cool.  However, my BFF's daughter just got her own room and had just the spot for this with these colors and everything, so that's where it's gone.  I just think it's fun.  Any requests??  I'm happy to try anything!

Back in April, Dave snapped this picture of Jane napping in her superhero costume.  Precious!

Yoga in November

I signed up for a promotion a nearby (like really nearby) yoga studio was having for one month of unlimited yoga for only $30.  I jumped on the opportunity and spent almost every day in November in a yoga class.  I LOVED IT!  I loved it so much that I signed up for another promo at another studio for hot yoga.  My friend and I plan to go every morning we can in December.  Look for an update about how it goes later.

But I'll say this:
Every time I go to class they ask us to set an intention.  I was always confused about what to think about there.  I finally realized that what I wanted most out of my classes was to learn something new, particularly about yoga.  And I have!  I come out of classes just feeling fantastic and a little more confident and with a few more poses in my toolbox to use at home (which is my favorite place to practice).

Also, I love savasana.  Oh man, it's like going to a spa.  Try it some time!

Darcy in November

I know.  This is not a picture of Darcy.  BUT, a post about Darcy in November needs to start with a mention about who her favorite person has been this month.  That's right: Daddy!  She has given her heart completely to him and no one else.  She loves him so much she weeps with joy when she sees him each night and gets furious at anyone else if they come near him.

Also, and this is major news, Darcy has started NURSERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the joy this little letter brought to my heart.  And she's doing so well in there.  She loves it.  I couldn't be happier!  I think she's happy about it, too.

Stuff from November

Claire's drawings of women are getting quite, uh, provocative.

Darcy's daddy date month is September, but since we didn't get around to it, Dave took her in November.  They went and ran to the store for Mommy and had ice cream.  In piggie jammies no less!  She loved it.  This might have started her obsession with him, which I'll mention in a future post.

I woke up one morning to a living room completely covered in paper airplanes.  It took me a while to round these all up!

We have a ton of dance parties at our house.  Audrey was inspired one night to try break dancing.  She, naturally, had to change into her "hip-hop clothes," and worked on her moves for me.  :)

Previously in our lives . . . that I forgot to post about . . .

Dave took the girls to a Daddy-Daughter dance this past spring.  They had SO much fun!!  He was by far the coolest dad there because he danced to all the songs and was funny and energetic.  The girls were in heaven.  Dave said that it was exhausting, but most of the dads just stood around and looked bored and embarrassed, but he felt neither and said it was so fun to see the girls having such a great time.  The screaming when Let It Go came on was deafening.  Well, when any song that was popular came on, actually.  He said there was a lot of squealing.  :) 

I forgot to fix the red-eye in this picture.  Sorry!  They're beautiful anyway.

Funny little super hero eating cereal.

Remember how Dave and the girls went to the fireworks in Pocatello while me and the little kids stayed at my parents' house?  Well, this is proof!

Jonny Says

One night when I was putting Jonny to bed, I tucked him in under his rocket quilt that mom made him.  He snuggled in and smiled, then said, "I love this blanket mom.  It's so . . . blast-off-y!"

According to Jonny being one of the boys in the family is a great honor.  He and Daddy are the boys, but "Dad is the boyist."  :)

I was reading a book that referred to a Jessica Simpson song, and I couldn't remember it, so I just pulled up the youtube music video.  Jonny was sitting with me and watched it, too.  He said, "Oh . . .  she's sooo pretty."  But then he sweetly smiled at me and said, "You're so beautiful too mom."  He's so nice to me.  I am noticing, however, that he seems to like blondes.

Jonny is obsessed with the show Justin Time.  Obsessed!  He spends most days calling me Olive (the girl on the show) and Darcy is Squidgy (the little imaginary sidekick).  He pretends to be Justin, of course.

Jane's Vision Therapy

Last update, I forgot to mention one major change around here.  Jane went to the eye doctor, finally, and we discovered that the reason she had so much trouble with reading last year was because she was seeing completely double!  So, she now goes to vision therapy twice a week to strengthen the muscles that help her eyes work together.  She is doing so great!  They report to me every week that she tries so hard and is such a cheerful little thing, even though it's hard and probably gives her headaches.  She will have to continue therapy for up to ten months, but I feel like it probably won't be that long.  At least I hope it isn't that long!  It's very expensive!  Still, she's excited to finally be able to fix her eyes and get up to reading level--that was the goal she set for herself this year.  I love her.

The Picture-less Update with Kiddisms

July:

• Claire is terrified of Shrek!  Shrek is way past it's prime, but it's on Netflix.  She wakes up with nightmares, though!
• Darcy's words: more, night night, weeeee, Daddy, Mom (just MOM), and bottle

August:

• Darcy tries to sing Bob the Builder since she's heard it so much by now.  Jonny is obsessed.  Darcy even gets excited when we put it on in the car because she knows the song.
• Claire said, "The Holy Ghost told me in my heart that Heavenly Father loves me."  :)
• Everyone got a stomach bug bad a week into school.  Ugh.  I hope we don't have as bad a winter with sickness as last year.

September: 

• Darcy says "weeeee" when we ride in the car!  It cracks me up!
• We went to the Boise Balloon Festival (or Balloon Glow) like last year.  It was so fun.  Colder, but fun.  We met up with the Olsons and had food and face painting and cotton candy and glow sticks and balloon animals . . . fun.
• We had a great block party planned in the common area with our neighborhood.  Dave and I were really looking forward to it.  The wind picked up as we were all gathered with the inflatables and big screens and food table and ruined it.  We all stuck it out and huddled together.  It was fun despite the weather.  I love our neighborhood so much!
• Jonny started potty training.  Ugh.  He has gone number one and number two in the potty multiple times, and yet . . . he has so many accidents it was going to ruin our house.  We are back to square one.  Wish us luck!
• I've been reading Narnia to the girls at night.  We finished the first book and get to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe next.  I think they like it!  I love re-reading it.
• Jonny cut Darcy's hair.  It's not terribly noticeable . . . and it was inevitable really.

October:

• Darcy is in the crib now, and I've moved Jonny to a twin bed.  Finally!!  Going well.
• Audrey is taking orchestra at school this year!  She plays the viola.  It's rough, let me tell you.  Dave helps her a TON.  I think he likes it, and she does, too.
• I've been taking walks at night after Dave gets home while the weather is still nice.  It's so great . . . 
• ...but it's suddenly freezing cold!  Despite that, Rachael and I have been walking to get Claire and Olive from school around noon.   It's fun to chat, and the exercise is nice.
• I'm trying to transition from bottles with Darcy.  She does fine with sippy cups, but still cries and cries when she doesn't have one for naps and bedtime.  I'm weak, so I cave.

November:

• Rachael taught me how to properly curl my hair!  Game changer, people.  I have seen this way no where on the internet.  It's genius.  I've had a lot more great hair days than usual.
• I signed up for a promotion at a local yoga studio for a month of unlimited yoga class.  I go every day I possibly can.  It's AWESOME!  And . . . I signed up for another promotion at another studio for December.  I'm having so much fun.

And that's it for now!  I hope to update monthly.  It's hard to get so far behind, but I do this every year, so  . . . we'll see.

My Big Project

I started a blog.  It's a reflection of the big project I started a long time ago.  You can see it here.

Halloween

It's now become a Groll tradition that everyone comes down to our house for Halloween.  It is a fun place to be on Halloween, admittedly.  We love it.

A bee keeper with a few bees.

A medieval princess, the phantom of the opera, a pink power ranger, a ballerina, and red riding hood (and a lady bug not pictured) 

A mouse, a knight (reluctantly), a super hero who cries a lot, a tiger, a cat, Dorothy, and a lady bug.

I usually try to carve these with the kids a week before Halloween, but we did it the day before (or was it day-of!?) this year.  No problem.  :)

Mom stole the show with an epic scarecrow costume.  She even won the Ward costume contest!

Flynn Rider looks way better with a goatee . . . and a cupcake :)

We took quite a few pictures of Darcy in her costume.  It was just the cutest.

Flynn Rider, a couple of Rapunzels and Pascal.

Success.