Bubble Poppies

My mom and I got to go to a painting class last night!  We were hoping to get to do a handful of them while she was here, but our schedules and the painting classes we wanted to do never lined up, until last night!  It was a fun class that was easy to tweak and make your own.  Unfortunately, there was a very obnoxious group there that were drinking far too much and kind of ruined the class.  They were being loud and rude to each other and saying horribly mean things about other people's paintings.  One lady had so much to drink, she threw something to her friends at the other table and managed to break a wine glass all over them.  It was ridiculous.  So, mom and I finished our paintings pretty quickly and got the heck out of there.

Here are our finished products!

Another one to hang on my wall!

Christmas Time 2011

It seems like we have been just as busy with my mom here as with my dad!  My mom flew in on Friday the 16th, that Saturday Royal and I went to a painting class, then on Sunday we spent a big portion of it at church.  This week before Christmas my mom and I made a big grocery list and we swore we would try and get everything we needed at that trip and then maybe go twice more before Christmas to get things we ran out of or maybe forgot.  That totally didn't work, we were at the store every single day and even had to send Royal to the store on Christmas Eve! A total no-no!  He said there was a line going into the store's parking lot AND there were no shopping carts left.  Really glad I didn't go.... :) 

My mom and I (mostly my mom!) made peanut brittle, and almond roca, and sugar cookies, and shortbread cookies, and blackberry pies and lots of breakfasts and lunches and dinners!  I got to go to the gym and hot yoga at a time other than 6am since I had a babysitter here, that was fantastic!   We had small group and I had choir practice and we did crafts with the kids and we went to Illuminations at Botanica, and we went on another horse drawn carriage ride and looked at more Christmas lights.  It just seemed like we were busy every night.  I know I felt exhausted!  And it also seems like I hardly took any pictures, I'm not sure what the deal is, other than sometimes it's nice to not be packing a camera with me everywhere we go, but then I'm so bummed that I don't have pictures of things that we did.  I have a horrible memory, so all the pictures really help me remember all the things we've crammed in!

Christmas Eve, we got up and my mom and I started cooking right away.  We did breakfast for the kids and then we made our Christmas Eve feast!  I had to be at the church at 2:30 for the choir, so we were trying to get most of the cooking in before then, but it was a really good thing my mom was here to finish up.  We made loaves of bread, bread sticks, clam chowder, potato soup, spinach salad, a blackberry pie, and the breakfast casserole for Christmas morning.  Then also some macaroni and cheese and chicken sausages for lunch and all the other snacks and foods the kids were begging for.   Our church's Christmas Eve service was so good and the kids looked so cute!  My mom said she even got Willow in her outfit and her hair done without a struggle!  I obviously need her to dress Willow more often!

When we got home from church we tried to do a family picture with us all dressed up.  This was about all we were gonna get....

Then we ate dinner and the kids opened up our Christmas pajamas!

And Jayden insisted on wearing Royals...

And Willow insisted that my boots were part of hers...

Then we finally got the kids tucked into bed and Willow crashed hard, but Jayden was just too excited and couldn't sleep and couldn't stay in his bed.  So he sat on the couch with me and we watched yet another Christmas movie, and then he helped me stuff Royal's and my mom's stockings (He doesn't believe in Santa, so don't go getting your panties in a twist), and then finally we convinced him to go sleep down in Nana's bed, but even then he had to have Nana down there for him to stay in bed, and he laid down there and talked forever.
 
Here are the kid's stockings. I think my favorite thing about buying stuff for the stockings are finding the stocking toppers.  Thank goodness I knit these stockings because that means they stretch!

Christmas morning didn't come too early this year!  I heard Jayden talking in Nana's room around 7, but Willow didn't get up until closer to 8, so we had time to get the casserole in the oven and let Jayden go through his stocking before the utter chaos of trying to prevent 2 kids from ripping the wrapping off of everything they see started.  It was fun and the kids were really excited and they got some great stuff! 
It was a nice enough day too that we got to go outside and try out some of the kid's new toys.  Jayden got a skateboard that he's been begging for - a Darth Vader skateboard - Star Wars and a skateboard all rolled in to one = Awesome!  And thankfully he didn't fight me when I told him he pretty much had to wear full body armor to ride the thing.  :)

Willow got a Rapunzel doll with really long hair to brush and play with that she loves.  But she also got her first pair of jeans!  She hasn't been able to wear jeans because cloth diapers are too bulky and girl's jeans are just too tight.  But now that she's wearing undies, regular jeans fit!

And then my mom and I spent a few more hours in the kitchen concocting Jesus' birthday cake.  Jayden told me he did not want just a regular cake, "cake is gross mom".  So, we got a little creative.  We made ice cream bowls out of cookie dough, and then put in a scoop of ice cream, and topped it with an oreo cake ball (that we ended up cutting in half because we made them so big).  It. Was. Delicious!

It was a great Christmas! 

It's always a little bit of a let down for me when we stay here in Kansas for Christmas because my Christmas' were always filled with tons of family and parties and staying up super late and getting up super early and more food and more family and more chaos.  But with the slow disintegration of my family over the past few years (my brother's death and my parents recent divorce) going home for Christmas wouldn't of felt right either.  How do you do Christmas now split between two parents homes and still have that feeling of chaos and family and too much togetherness?  Well, we didn't have to figure it out this year, we were split across the country and we got to spend it with my mom.  And really now my focus is on making it feel exciting and full and fun for my kids.  My Christmas' won't ever be the same, but theirs are just starting and they don't know anything outside of what I get to create for and with them.  And from what they said and how they were acting the past couple of days, they had a great Christmas.

And it really was a great Christmas!  Happy Birthday Jesus!

Winter Paintings

I got to go paint at Paint the Towne twice last week!  The first class I went to with a couple of my friends and we painted this snowman.

And then the next night, Royal and I went to couples night where we got to paint 2 paintings that go together.  I painted the santa and Royal painted the snowman.  It was a lot of fun and I think Royal had fun too.  Of course, Royal had to put his own touch on his snowman and paint gold buttons with purple W's on them, so I added a purple W to my santa hat so they matched.  :)

Christmas Dog

Jayden took some ornaments off the tree and decided to decorate Sam, he also has a stocking, and some Christmas material tucked in there.  Sam is so patient with the kids and pretty much lets them do whatever they want to him.  He really is the best dog ever!
(I know this picture is totally blurry, but it's the only one I have.  It was early in the morning, no natural lighting in the house, blah blah blah)

A Week with Papa

My dad was here visiting this past week.  We had so much fun and crammed a lot into a short time.  It is so fun having him here, for me he quietly follows behind me finishing my half done dishes, my half unloaded dishwasher, my half finished folded laundry that I always seem to get called away from before I can finish.  For the kids, he is the best play partner around.  My dad expressed a bit of anxiety about playing with Jayden this time because Jayden LOVES to wrestle and he is not gentle at all and well poor Papa is getting older and Jayden is getting bigger and stronger....so Papa starting playing a secret agent game with Jayden and Willow that he plays with the Wagner boys.  They would write secret notes to each other, then tuck them in Sam's collar and have Sam deliver them to the other person.  They dressed up in all kinds of costumes, created a secret hideout in the basement, packed suitcases with clothes for their "adventures" and pulled those suitcases all over the house,  and had lots of light saber and sword battles with bad guys sometimes resulting in someone dying that Papa would have to revive.  Jayden of course was the Master, code named Secret Agent Amigo Tontoya.  Papa was the Padawan, code name Secret Agent Popo.  Willow was the Assistant, code name Secret Agent Siren.  And Sam was the delivery/protector/scouting dog, code name Scout.

We went to swimming lessons, and went Christmas shopping, and Papa got to babysit for me one night.  On Friday night we went on a horse drawn carriage ride and then drove around Wichita looking at Christmas lights.

On Saturday morning, Royal and my dad attended a Warrior conference at our church.  I stayed home with the kids and we played with Silly String that they got in their advent calendar.

Saturday was also the day my brother Willie would have turned 31.  We still celebrate it here in our house, because I want my kids to "know" him to an extent.  We talk about all my other siblings birthdays, so why not Willies?  One of my grandpas died when I was 2 or 3, and I really feel like I don't know him at all.  I know he liked taking things apart and that he drove a logging truck and that he would of taught Willie how to ride a motorcycle, but I have no idea what he would of liked to do with me.  How would he have loved me?  The kids and I talk about Willie whenever something reminds me of him, whether it's something someone says, a song on the radio, the way Jayden or Willow put a hat on their head, a picture that they see of Willie, or a certain day of the year.  And we talk about what Willie would of loved to do with them, what they would of loved to do with him.  And that almost always leads to talking about car accidents and bodies that get hurt and death, but that always leads to Heaven and Jesus and God's plan for our lives that are meant to prosper and not harm and how those plans don't always make sense to us, but our Heavenly Father loves us and is trustworthy.  And this time of year we are talking about Jesus all the time anyway as we are getting ready for His birthday, so it's the perfect time to talk about Willie and the fact that he is with Jesus right now.  There is a big piece missing from their lives and I want them to feel like they have an idea of who Willie was.  And maybe in the end, they will still ended up feeling like I do about my grandpa, since they don't have any real memories with Willie to keep with them...

We made some oreo cake pops for Willie's birthday.  What started out as what were going to be snowman heads, ended up looking like crazy bird heads with hats thanks to me not finding all the materials and not wanting to shop around until I did and just using things I found in the pantry.  What really mattered was that they tasted delicious and we had something to sing Happy Birthday to Willie over.  :)

That night we went to a Thunder hockey game, where Jayden picked up a sweet Thunder hat that he wore to our friends bowling birthday party that we attended the next day.  Told you we were busy!

Monday was our last day with Papa, but there's no rest and relaxation over here in the Lovingfoss house.  We had swimming for Willow in the morning and then we all got to go to Jayden's class for a gingerbread house making party.

Then on Monday night (I really wish I would of had my camera) I got my dad to go to hot yoga with me.   He did awesome!  And even managed to get up into a modified head stand!  And he even said he'd come back with me again next time he's visiting!

Another thing was that Papa was trying to teach Jayden some chivalry by telling Jayden that he needed to tell me everyday that I was beautiful, and Jayden would always get shy and say something really quick and fast and laugh about it.  Then yesterday, we were printing off Papa's boarding passes and Papa asked Jayden if he'd told me what he'd told him to.  Jayden looked at me and said, 'Mom, you are as beautiful as a sweet pig!'  I started laughing and Papa swore that wasn't what he told him (uh huh, sure dad!) and then Jayden ended it with, 'Doesn't that just melt your heart, Mom?'  I'll take being a beautiful sweet pig as being a compliment any day, as long as it comes from Jayden, and he's trying to melt my heart and not hurt it!  :)

We are missing Papa already.  Jayden climbed into bed with me this morning and said, 'I really wish Papa was still here, he was so fun to play with'  And my darn breakfast dishes didn't clean themselves this morning!

First Snow

I didn't even see it in the forecast that it was going to snow, so it was so fun to wake up and look out the windows to some white on the ground.  Well, it wasn't really much of a snowing, it was actually way more of a dusting, but thanks to the wind constantly blowing around here, it blows the dusting into little piles.  Piles that made the kids insist they put on all their gear and go out and throw snowballs.  (Jayden hasn't figured out yet that the snow around here is never wet enough to make snowballs out of it.)

First snow angels of the winter

And Jayden is bound and determined to make this sled work, but we are lacking a major thing that you need when it comes to sledding here....those would be....hills...

Willow opted for wheels.  :)

6,280

6,280.  That is approximately how may diapers I have washed, stuffed, and reused on Willow over the past 3 years.  Using cloth diapers has saved us about $2200!  Willow was in diapers for 3 years and 1 week, which is 157 weeks.  I usually washed about 20 diapers per load and I pretty much washed them twice a week, so about 40 diapers a week.  157 x 40 = 6,280 diapers over the last 3 years.  If I would of bought nothing but large boxes of diapers at Sam's club, they have about 200 diapers in them.  So, 6,280/200 = 32 boxes of diapers.  At about $40 a box, that's $1280.  Now,  chances are I would not have always made it to Sam's club to get the huge box and would of had to buy some at a grocery store, so most likely that number would be higher.  If you check other web stats on how much it costs to diaper a child they are closer to the $3000 range.  We also primarily used cloth wipes, only buying disposable wipes to take in diaper bags, which made it easier to throw out the wipes when we flushed the poo down the toilet. (poo in the toilet where it belongs, not in the landfill)  This saved us about $1000 over the past 3 years.  So, $1280 in diapers and $1000 in wipes = $2280.  Our diapers in the very beginning when we bought them (I used Bum Genius 3.0 One Size diapers), cost us about $300 and our wipes we got a few free with our diapers and the rest my mom made for us out of a flannel sheet we found at Goodwill.

Besides money, the environment was also part of my reasoning to use cloth.  Disposable diapers take around 500 years to decompose.  That means that Willow's disposable diapers would have still been around for her great-great-great-grandchild, perhaps even the generation after that.  And the diapers would have left behind all the toxins that are inside the diaper and put them right into the ground, helping to destroy our earth and poison our water.

I also feel like I have limited exposing Willow to all the horrible chemicals that are in a diaper, on her most sensitive areas.  Disposable diapers are full of dioxins (unless you are using chlorine free ones), created from treating wood pulp with chlorine, that has been shown to cause cancer.  They also have petrolatum in them, a bi-product of turning oil into gasoline, which is on the known carcinogen list. And the perfumes and dyes and other chemicals within them have been linked to an increase in asthma in small children.  Not to mention, the diapers can dry out and cause skin irritation, and I know a handful of people whose children break out in rashes as soon as they put a disposable diaper on.  I just don't feel like disposables are a safe alternative, at all.

All that said, after using cloth diapers for the past 3 years (I used g-diapers with Jayden once I started growing a conscious about how horrible disposable diapers are), I really believe anybody can do it.   And I think everybody owes it to their kids to look into it, because there are so many options out there.   We did use a few packages of disposables over the past few years (so it's not like I am perfect) when we traveled, or when there was a really nasty stomach bug running through the house, or when I just couldn't get the diapers cleaned and dried on time. 

Cloth diapers are easy to clean, easy to use, better for your babies, better for the earth, and better on your bank account.

Anywhoooo, I'll get off my soap box now.....:)
Potty training in my house is not an easy thing, and I even hesitate to post this for fear that it will cause some major regression on Willow's part and I'll have to eat my words.  I am INSANELY jealous of my sister Kaylee, whose children pretty much potty train themselves at 2 years and 2 months old, both day and at night.  It just does not happen like that for me.   Everyone told me because I clothed diapered, she was going to potty train so fast and easy because they don't feel as dry and they don't like that.  Well, not my kid.  I really tried hard to not pressure her.  The days she wanted to wear undies, I let her.  The days she wanted to wear diapers, I let her.  I let her choose all the time, oftentimes changing throughout the day.  Eventually it led to the same conundrum that we were in with Jayden.  A child who will go potty in the toilet, but refuses to poop in the toilet.  Willow thought it was hilarious to poop in a diaper and terrifying to poop in the toilet.  She would run around with her diaper on laughing and taunting us, "I have a diaper!  I have a diaper!  I poop in my diaper!"  There was no question she knew when she had to go because she never pooped when she had undies on, she always asked for a diaper.  So, we told her once she turned 3, her diapers were going to go away and she was going to have to use the toilet.  After her 3rd birthday, we waited for our family to leave and for her to go through the clean stack of diapers on her shelf, then I didn't wash her dirty diapers, so she knew she didn't have any left, and the poop strike began.  Jayden lasted a week without pooping until he finally couldn't hold it any longer and we managed to get him to the toilet on time.  I really didn't think Willow would last that long, she is by far a more frequent pooper than Jayden was.  Willow made it 3 days.  3 longs days of lots of cuddling a girl whose stomach hurt and what felt like a million emergency runs to the bathroom only to have her jump off the toilet in a panic determined to hold it longer.  Until finally, there was just no holding it in anymore and luckily she was sitting on the toilet.  I wish I would of had a camera to take a picture of her face when it happened.  It was a combination of panic and shock and holy cow did you see that?  She was so excited when it happened and talked about it for a really long time.  And you know you are with a good group of friends when Willow comes running out of the bathroom and the entire room erupts in applause for her. :)  Over the next couple of days, there was still a bit of panic when she had to go, but she has managed to go in the toilet, and today she marched herself off to the bathroom without me knowing and came out declaring she had just pooped!  Yay Willow!

 
And even though I have been looking forward to not dealing with dirty diapers for quite some time (5 years has felt like forever!), now that I've finally washed my last load of diapers and it's sitting on my bed waiting for me to stuff and fold them, it makes me a little sad.  My double stroller gone AND done with my diapers in the same month....sad....my kids are getting bigger...

Christmas Tree Hunting 2011

The day after Thanksgiving, we got to continue our tradition of cutting down our Christmas Tree.  Out here in Kansas, they can't grow a real Christmas tree, ahem....fir..., only prickly pines.  But we are luckily enough to have found Windy Knoll Tree Farm where we can hunt and chop down a tree, instead of having to go to a tree lot, or even worse, buying a fake one!

It was a little chilly outside and the wind was blowing.  So we found our tree as fast as we could!

Found it!  Jayden's request for the tree was that it would be bigger than any other tree we've ever had.  I think this is the biggest one yet, measuring in at 8 feet.

And Royal gets to sawing it down.  And Willow tries to get Jayden to move around to the other side so it doesn't fall on them.

Only to move them directly into the path of the falling tree.  You can see Jayden's little red glove pushing against the tree and he actually manages to push it off to the side so it doesn't land on Willow.  I was too far away taking pictures and Royal was underneath the tree, so it was up to Jayden to save the day! :)

 

Jayden said, 'I saved her with my muscles!'  Then later in the day when I said something about how big and strong he was, he said, 'Well, I CAN actually feel some whiskers starting to grown in.'

Then we got home and got to decorating!  And I lit a candle that smells like Christmas trees, because our Virginia Pine just doesn't have any Christmas tree smell to it.

And our countdown officially starts to Jesus' birthday!  Merry Christmas!!!

Me and Willow

Royal's parents leave early tomorrow morning to head back to Washington, and we have about 10 days to get ready for our next visitor, Papa!  But in the meantime, we have enjoyed having them here!  Jayden has had a constant wrestling, sword fighting, basketball playing, Wii playing, any game that Jayden could make up playing partner in Grandpa Fireball.  And I have someone who picks up all the slack in the kitchen and around the house, so I can run off to appointments, grocery stores, hot yoga, hockey games, etc... with or without kids, and thanks to Jayden being distracted when we are home, it leaves me a little more one-on-one time with Willow.

Grandma did Willow's hair, and then mine too.  (don't worry, she's not actually getting her hair foiled, she just wanted to have her hair done like me)  And I don't think I'm so cool that I can't post a picture of myself with foil in my hair.  :)  Just keepin' it real.

Then this morning, Thanksgiving(!), thanks to the extra helper I had in the kitchen who was willing to put our turkey in the oven, I was able to meet up with some friends to do a quick 4 mile run, while Royal and Fireball were out with Jayden, scouting animals for hunting.  And while it sounds like Jayden is a natural at spotting animals, he was the only one to see a buck, he's not so natural at keeping his voice at a whisper and as soon as he yelled, 'LOOK!  A BOY DEER!', the buck shot off in the opposite direction.  At home, Willow couldn't bear to be left behind, she told me she would cry if I did, so I got my old single jogger that Jayden used to ride in, and threw that in the car with some blankets and snacks, and headed to Sedgwick County Park to burn off some calories before I ate my weight in chex mix.  It's just not Thanksgiving without eating so much chex mix during the day, you can hardly bare the thought of actually having to eat the turkey that's been cooking all day in the oven.

At the Dentist

Willow had her 1st dentist appointment this morning! She did great and was pretty excited about it!

I'm sure getting to watch Jayden the past couple of years helped too, she knew what was going to happen and was more than happy to be sitting in the chair and letting people count and clean her teeth.

She was also pretty pumped that she got a new pair of sunglasses!

No cavities for this girl!  20 healthy teeth and a new pink toothbrush to boot!

Jayden also has a mouth of healthy teeth!  He has 4 adult molars, 2 adult teeth, and 4 loose teeth!  He was super excited to be going to the dentist.  He loves his hygienist, he asked me after his appointment if he could invite her to his birthday party!  :)   On the way to the office he asked me, "Who cleans my teeth?"  I said, "I think her name is Diane."  He says, "Oh yeah!  Diane!  I love her!"  I really wasn't too sure that he would remember who she was, I mean it had been 6 months since we had been there!  But when we got called out of the waiting room by someone other than Diane,  Jayden looked at her and said, "Who are you????" in a voice that said there was no way he was going back there with her!  Luckily, Diane was waiting for him around the corner and Jayden went running to her and gave her a hug!  Guess he remembered her!  :)  And then he proceeded to talk and talk and talk her ear off.  I'm just not sure how she got all of his teeth cleaned.  :)  And now he is trying to figure out a way to go get his teeth cleaned again before our next appointment in 6 months.

Jayden's Thanksgiving Feast

Willow, Grandpa, Grandma, and I got to go to Jayden's class today for his Thanksgiving Feast!  Jayden got all dressed up in his Indian garb.

Willow did a few centers with Jayden, but was pretty darn entertained with the kitchen area in the classroom.

The first center was making a bag of Indian Trail Mix - a.k.a. a bag of candy.

Then it was coloring and face painting.

Me : Hey Willow, look at me and smile so I can take a picture of your painted face!
Willow : I can't smile, it will mess up my paintings
Me : Well, what kind of face can you make?

Then it was onto fruit kebobs center

And then the cheesecake center

And finally onto saying what they kids were thankful for - Jayden was thankful for Grandpa! - and eating.

Jayden and his girls.... :)