Not-So-Wordless Wednesday - Playing in the Water

Kylie got some new water boots from her Auntie Shawna and we just had to try them out. She had so much fun, exploring the "cuddles" (her word for puddles).

I'm trying to find the perfect leaf...

And here it is!

At the beginng of the "cuddle".


Half way....

Made it through the "cuddles"!


You can check out more Wordless Wednesday posts here!

WFMW: Backwards Edition: Blogger Help!

So this week its the Backwards Edition of Works for Me Wednesday which means I get to ask you a question and hopefully you can help me.

Here is my question: How do I get my blog to load faster?

It loads fine on my computer at work, but at home it locks up my computer. I have friends and family that say the same thing that it locks up their computer. Consequently they don't visit as often as they & I would like them to.

Any suggestions?

You can find more Works for Me Wednesday here!

Happy Birthday TRISTEN!!!

2 days old

1 Year Old

2 Years old

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Tristen, Happy Birthday to you!

Since I cannont be there to celebrate your big day today, I have to "sing" it you you on my blog.
I cannot believe you are 2 years old today, you are growing up so fast. I hope you have a wonderful day today and everyday. You are loved more than you could ever know. You tell Mommy to take lots of pictures, so I can see you on your big day.

Sing Like A Girl

This morning at church I was singing our closing hymn, and I was leaned down real close to Kylie so I could show her the words in the hymnal. She is showing some interest in reading so I wanted to show her the words I was singing. And I was singing to her, she apparently thought my voice was too low, she looked at me and said "Mommy you need to sing like a girl. Like this, Ahhh" which was as high pitched as she could make it.

I thought this was so funny. I've been having trouble with my voice sounding really gravely and cracking if I try to make even somewhat high pitched sounds. I've been to the doctor and I thought I was making progress. However, I guess Kylie doesn't feel the same way. Oh well, it is the innocence of a child that gives you the truth.

Kindness of Strangers

Kylie and I were checking out at the Dollar Store when she decided that she wanted to get a toy out the the quarter machine. She was already getting a treat so I told her "No". Of course she pleaded with me, and I told her I didn't have a quarters for the machine. Well a lady behind us was listening to us and apparently decided that she wanted to give Kylie some money. She gave her two quarters and helped her "spend" them in the machines. She was so kind and patient waiting for Kylie to decide which toy she wanted. Before she was even done "buying" her toys another gentleman came up and gave her two more quarters because in his words "I just love children."

It was so touching to see this kind of kindness among strangers, especially towards a child. I know those kind gestures made an important impact on Kylie. She was so happy she made sure to tell them all thank you even before I said anything! I think she had a "perma-grin" the whole time she was spending her quarters.

Dr. Randy Pausch - from Oprah

This vide0 is very inspiring expecially if you have children. Take 10 minutes of your time to watch this, you will feel inspired.

Wordless Wednesday - Snowman Peek-a-boo

Where did she go?

Here she is!

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Best Shot Monday - Innocent Joy

Here is my Best Shot of the week, a picture of the 2 most important people in my life...my husband and my daughter. They mean everything to me. As my blog title indicates this blog is innocent joy and these are the two people that create most of my innocent joys.

Over at Mother May I, Tracey asked the question, What sentiment does your best shot stir up?

This picture can summed it up in one word: LOVE.

Want to see more best shots?

Head over to Mother May I, for more Best Shot Monday's!

Wordless Wednesday -My Nephews!

"T"

"C"

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Theme Thursday - Pure

Does it get any more Pure than this?

Check out more Theme Thursday over at The Land of K.A.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to my beautiful family. I love you both more than you will ever know. You guys are my world and I would do anything for you.

Love, Me

Wordless Wednesday - Butterflies

I know this is supposed to be wordless but, I need to give credit to my husband. He took these pictures while he was in Florida.

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Tag: Six Unimportant Things About Me

I just got tagged from Lynn. I've never been tagged before so hopefully I do it right, here we go!

Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you.

Post the rules on your blog.

Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Let your tagger know when you entry is up

1. I like to watch reality shows, Biggest Loser, John & Kate plus 8, American Idol, Little People Big World are some of my favorites.
2. I can't stand it when the driveway has any snow on it, I'm always outside cleaning off the driveway. My husband thinks I'm a little obsessed with it, he could be right...
3. I like to participate in Meme's, especially Wordless Wednesday & Weekend Snapshot
4. I love to find shop on Ebay, possibly a bit of an obsession.
5. I'm listening to Alicia Keys "As I Am" cd, so far so good : )
6. My 2 favorite movies are "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias"

I am going to tag the 1st 6 or so commenters on my last entry: willthink4wine, sandy carlson, Steve and Emz Journey, Soliloquy, Life Through a Lens, and Liza

Weekend Snapshot - Beautiful Girl

I was playing with the camera and Kylie was willing to let me take her picture. This was the best one. I just love it!

Find more Weekend Snapshots here!

Ash Wednesday

So yesterday was Ash Wednesday, Kylie and I attended Mass last night as you can tell by the above picture. Kylie was so proud of her "Father, Son, Holy Spirt" (her cross) that when she accidentally rubbed it off she was devistated. She was getting tired, Mass was at 7 and 8 is generally her bedtime, and she was trying to lay in my arms and she rubbed her head against my sweater. When she did it I told her to be careful because your cross will wipe off. I had no idea how important that cross was to her. She almost started crying about it, so I told her that when Mass was over I would try to get her another one. That seemed to make her happy. So when Mass was over we waited for Deacon to finish talking with the other parishioners and we asked for another one since hers accidentally was wiped off. He was more than happy to oblige, matter of fact the cross he gave her was much larger and darker than her original cross.

This morning Kylie was looking in the mirror and noticed that her cross was starting to wear off. She said "Mommy look at my Father, Son, Holy Spirit its going away." I told that that is what happens. She was really upset about it, so not knowing what else to say I told her she needed to talk to Jesus about it. She said, "No you talk to him". So I told her I would see what I could do about it. That seemed to satisfy her.

Wordless Wednesday - Nature

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Congratulations Greg, We are SO proud of you!!

Today Greg passed his checkride to become Captain on the ERJ 170 airplane. He is officially type rated on the ERJ 170/190 airplane.

Kylie and I love you so much and couldn't be more proud of you. This was one of your personal goals, and now you have achieved it.

Wordless Wednesday - Look! it's one of the village people

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Stylin'

Today I asked Kylie if she is going to go to school tomorrow. This the dialoge that resulted from my question:

Kylie: Yes, and I'm going to wear my pink flower headband! (She was so excited, her face just lit up when she said this)
Me: Ok that will look very nice
Kylie: And they (her friends) will say I'm Stylin'
Me (laughing): stylin' huh
Kylie: Yeah, and Mommy that means I'm pretty.

Apparently she feels the need to explain what words mean now. I sometimes feel like she is a sixteen year old in a three year old body.

For Kylie, Just because I Love You...

I Understand Completely...

We were swimming at the YMCA today and I was helping her put on her bubble so we could go swimming. I was telling her how she doesn't have to worry about going under the water (this something she worries about) because the bubble will help her to stay above water and while she is swimming. Before I could finish she looked at me and said "Mommy I understand completely, I completely understand, just don't worry about it" while looking down and shaking her head. It was like can you stop trying to explaining already and just go swimming already????

It just just too funny, but are 3 year olds really supposed to be talking like this?!?

Happy Birthday Jesus

The above video is from Kylie's preschool Christmas progam. I thought it fitting to post it today, to remember the true meaning of Christmas. The birth of Christ.

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family, we love you.

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Pictures

My Angel

Reading her book

Hello Santa!


Kylie's true smiley personality!

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Too Much Little Einsteins

For Thanksgiving Kylie and I flew to North Dakota to visit my parents. Daddy couldn't come because he ad to work over the holiday - that kind of stunk since we don't see them that often. While we were taxiing to the runway Kylie said "When we gonna take off?" "Pretty soon, we have to get the the end of the runway" I said. "No, Mommy were just driving on the road."

When Daddy dropped us off he told Kylie to make sure that she waved to him since the airplane flies almost directly over our house. So as we were taking off Kylie yells in her loudest voice BYE BYE DADDY!!! ...It was 7 AM, I'm sure everyone that was trying to sleep was more than impressed with her.

As the airplane left the ground Kylie looks up and says "Activate the lights Mommy and Activate the air! Pat your legs faster!" I really think she has watched waaaay to much Little Einsteins. Then she looks at the clouds we were flying through and says "How are we gonna get through these clouds, this is badiculous (ridiculous)."

She was so proud to be able to sit in the seat with her booster seat. I was so relived that she sat as well as she did, I was a little worried that she wouldn't sit good or that when we got to North Dakota she would think she was too big for the booster seat in the car. But that didn't happen either.

Jesus and God

Kylie and Daddy were talking about who loves who more, this is the conversation:

Kylie: I love you this much (with arms spread as wide as she can)
Daddy: I love you as much as the whole world
Kylie: Well, I love you to Jesus and God

Does it get cuter than this? When Greg told me about this conversation I thought it was so precious.

Works For Me Wednesday - Fun Family Christmas Website

For this weeks Works for Me, I want to share a really great website I found for Christmas. The website is http://www.northpole.com/. This site has so many fun things to do with your children for Christmas along with lots of great recipes. Here are some of the FREE Things To Do:

*Send a letter to Santa *Send holiday postcards *Stories to read & color *Santa's Birthday Cards *Games to play *Christmas Karaoke *Holiday recipes *Northpole Wallpaper *Puzzles & Activities *Good Deed Calendar *Visit Elf Pal Academy *Educational Activities *Q&A with Santa *Find the hidden stories *Naughty or Nice List *Santa Tracker (Dec. 24)

The stories are cute, you can personalize them with your childrens information. What child doesn't like to hear their name in a book.

This is what works for me! Check out Rocks In My Dryer for more great ideas!

Works For Me Wednesday - Backwards Edition

This week is a backwards Works For Me Wednesday, where I ask you a question, and you help me with you answers.

I am trying to figure out how to explain to a three year old what lying is. I have been told that she is too young to understand and that I should just chalk it up to it being her age. But I would like to at least introduce her to what lying is, but I really not sure how to do it and make an impact. I have tried to call her out when she its very obvious she's lying to me - or not telling me the truth.

For example, I will ask her she picked up all of the toys in her bedroom like I asked, and she will say yes and then when I check they are still all over the floor. Usually I will say something like "I asked you if you picked up all the toys and you said yes but they are still all over the floor - that is lying. Telling me something that is not right" I don't know if this is the right approach or not.

I would be grateful for any suggestions you may have. Be sure to check out Shannon's blog for lots more great WFMW posts!

Wordless Wednesday - "Dorfy"

Dorfy has returned from the land of Oz! Kylie had so much fun being Dorfy this year, she is already thinking about who could be Dorthy next year. She said she would even share her dress! I thought that was quite kind of her.

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1st Report Card

Greg and I went to our first parent/teacher conference today. I had no I idea that they even had conferences in preschool! Kylie is three so we will have a lot more conferences to look forward to. I was actually kind of excited when I found out about the conferences, I really didn't know what to expect. We were pleased with everything we heard, there wasn't anything that I could say we were suprised to hear. She is doing well, she has adjusted to the schedule and the class rules (even points out to the teacher when she missed something), and very outgoing (which is an understatement). Her areas of improvement are: needs to work on picking up better, and playing with all the children. She likes to pair off with a couple of her friends and then not let anyone else play with them. Her teacher said both things she needs to work are are age realated. Overall her teacher said she was very pleased with everything. Greg and I are very proud of Kylie, we feel very blessed she is our daughter.

Works for me Wednesday - No Tangles for long hair

My 3 year old daughter has fairly long hair - past the middle of her back, not quite to her bottom. One of the things she hates more than anything when it's time to comb her hair is, you guessed it - TANGLES!

One of the best ways I have found to combat the terrible tangles is after she is done with her bath, I comb her hair while wet, then I twist her hair into a bun on the top of her head. I try to put the bun as close to the top of her head as I can so she doesn't have to sleep on it and I try to leave the bun quite loose so it isn't pulling. Then in the morning take out the bun - without pulling her hair and voila! no tangles! Style as desired.

Another great thing this does for her hair is it makes it really curly. She has some curl to her hair but this really enhances it.

This is what Works For Me! For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday participants, check out Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer.

I'm trying to WIN a DYSON Vacuum!

The Domestic Diva has a Pink Dyson to give to one very lucky person! In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, Dyson has agreed to give away one of their Dyson Vacuum Cleaners in the Pink color. Dyson is notorious for being known as the vaccuum that never loses suction.

I would so love for the winner to be me, because I really, really want a new vacuum! I've been bugging my husband for at least the last 6 months or so for a Dyson vacuum. Imagine how happy he would be if I won it?!

Wordless Wednesday - Making Dinner

Kylie apparently busy "making dinner"! She is wearing her costume for Halloween. She just had to put it on as soon as it arrived in the mail. She is so excited to be "Dorfy" from the Wizard da Boz.

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Wordless Wedneday - At the Lake

When they got on the boat...



A few minutes later...


The girls had so much fun look at the water and trying to find fishies in it. That kept them busy for quite a while. So much so that Kylie fell asleep before the ride was over...

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Kylie sings...

This video isn't the greatest, it was one of those moments where I just had to capture the moment. So I took this video with my digital camera over my back in one had and drove in the other. This is Kylie's favorite song that Daddy recorded. She calls it "Daddys fast, fast song". She loves to hear it and asks to hear it just about everytime we are in the car. Greg and I have both decided that maybe Greg should record a different song for her to like. Anyway it is just very cute to see her singing with Daddy.

Butterflys and bugs

This week in Preschool Kylie's class is learning about the letter 'B'. Today when Kylie came home from school Daddy asked her about what she learned about today. This is the conversation they had:

Kylie: I played with clay today.

Daddy: What did you make with your clay?

Kylie: I made a butterfly and a bug. Did you know a butterfly is a bug?!

She said that with such amazement, she just had no idea. Butterflys and Ladybugs are her favorite bugs. It is so much fun to watch and hear the innocence of a child.