Drowning

I'm feeling like a failure (again) today. How do you have more patience with your kids.... just being kids? Maybe my expectations are too high? How do you teach children to be obedient (like the FIRST time, not the 20th)? What are relevant consequences for being disobedient? How do you discipline without raising your voice? (Especially when they are so much louder than you and don't hear you, or do hear you and ignore you.) 
I need things that have worked, not just good ideas. HELP!!!
I'm in over my head and I feel like I'm ruining their childhood.

Stories

My musings of a situation with Isis (after discovering quite the mess):
Isis' goal: I want a pirate telescope.
Isis' process: Hmm... no available cardboard rolls? No problem... I'll just choose one of these new toilet paper rolls out of the package.... too plush for a telescope... that's easily fixed.... now what to do with all this toilet paper?... ah, yes, the bathroom garbage can... hmm, that's full and I still have more paper.... well, it is TOILET paper.... oh... that's getting to full too... umm... yes, a plunger, that's what I need... wait.... why isn't this going down? why am I standing in a wading pool?........ MAMA!!!!!!! 

I guess I should be proud of her attempts at being resourceful. :)


Recent Elise event:
(As a preface, "stupid" is a bad word at our house.)
So we watched Charlie Brown Christmas the other night and the following conversation took place at dinner:
Elise: "That girl say stupid!"
Me: "Lucy said 'stupid'?"
Elise: "Yeah. She say 'You stupid Charlie Brown!'"
Me: "Was that a nice thing to say? Do you think it hurt Charlie Brown's feelings?"
Elise: "Yep. Me punch that girl in the face."

What the? ...Not quite the direction I was going for a lesson on compassion...
(Still... Jeremy and I had a hard time suppressing our laughter.)

Best Daddy

On Friday Jeremy went camping with the scouts. The girls were sad they weren't going with him, so Jeremy promised to take them camping when he came home. They were going to camp in the backyard... then the temperature dropped 30 degrees this weekend... so he suggested the play room instead. :)

Brushing your teeth while camping requires a head lamp of course.

Excited to read bedtime stories with a flashlight!

I am so in love with my awesome, wonderful husband who is such a FANTASTIC father to his girls! We are so, SO blessed.

Halloween

Our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Elise was going to be Sleeping Beauty but then found the cat costume.

Visiting a pumpkin "patch"

"Wolfy" the witch (from Jeremy's made up bedtime stories) came to visit our house.

She's quite the flier...

Pumpkin carving.

Our playgroup Halloween party. Mmmm... dirt and worms  (jello in straws - awesome)

Mummy dogs...

Made some superhero masks...

Time for trick-or-treating!! (And Elise changed her mind again... off as Snow White)

The rediculous amount of loot!

Hmm... which is next

I let them eat what they wanted for 20 minutes then we put it away.

Elise had to try every single lollipop she got (but not finish them) :)

I should have sent Isis back to this house more than once!

My Halloween baby

Aubrey

Because I'm her mom and I can't get enough of this cute baby face! :)

Odds & Ends

Since I just can't keep up with our life here's a montage of other things I haven't yet shared. :)

My sister introduced me to pintrest over the summer. I try to only look at it when I feed Aubrey. :) One idea that I loved was this pantry. So before I unpacked our stuff, I painted it. Before it was just white like a normal pantry.... then Tennessee Slate Blue....

then stenciled....

then filled...

It is a silly, and frivolous thing but I LOVE it! It makes me happy every time I open the pantry door (which is often.) :)

Moving isn't complete without playing in boxes

This is totally what marker caps are for, right? 

(You can't tell me you never did this as a kid.)

What could be more entertaining that watching/listening to the piano get tuned?

"Painting" with a pan full of baking soda and colored vinegar... :) The fizzing is so much fun!

Thank you(?) Uncle David for introducing my girls to Nutella sandwiches... Hmm... was she trying to look like Daddy?

Proof this struggle never ends for me... :)

We had a good rain storm and this is how Elise made use of our flooded street.

We had to make a trip to Lake Mead (in September of course).

The girls "decorating" their room

We have a few trees in our new yard that must be climbed. Yes, Elise got up there all on her own.

Isis learned to ride without training wheels!!! Hooray!!! Now she rides every day.

I'm the big sister. Watch Aubrey, this how suck your thumb...

Family hike to Red Rock

Elise thought Daddy's shoes needed a little decoration.

More fun times at home with Mommy and Elise. Shaving cream! :)

Elise's handiwork with a camera.