Here's to a BIG week!

This week has been CRAZY, but also very rewarding!

I was told by the parents I nanny for that I should read up on potty-taining because they think their daughter is ready for it. I took that to heart and started attempting research! I read a book listing 11 pointers for potty training but honestly, I was disappointed... It all seemed really logical to me! Things I would naturally do! I figured I would ask some experienced potty-trainers and find a more helpful book but THEN I show up to work on Wednesday and R was wearing underwear! Apparently she woke up and refused to let her mom put a new diaper on her, she wanted to wear underwear! As with most things, I confidently got in WAAAYY over my head and agreed that I would start the training, how hard could it be, right?

After about half an hour I called my parents! and later that day when I heard the neighbor (who is a good friend of mine and mother of 4) outside, I rushed out with lots of questions!

Apparently I was doing everything right and was re-assured that I should just keep doing what I'm doing but I could NOT understand why she kept having accidents! In my mind, once she learned what to do, and felt how gross it is to go in her pants, she would catch on... that's wishing, not reality!

The second day started out better but by 10:30 she was DONE and wanted her diaper back! I am very stubborn and was NOT about to be defeated by potty-training so right before she woke up from her nap I filled up 3 sippy cups, two types of juice and one with water, I also lined all her favorite snacks up on the counted, and displayed the new coloring kit she could get by going #2 in the potty! I went in to her room with a great big smile, enthusiasm, and lots of potty talk! We had a GREAT afternoon! We taught her curious George doll how to use the potty and then gave him m&m's for a job well done! This worked really well. I also skimmed the potty training in less than a day book and got some great pointers!

The third day was SO rewarding! she only had ONE accident (#2 only) and had totally caught on! The only problem is, I think I made her too reliant on me because although she had no accidents, she never went to the potty by herself. She would tell me she had to go and then just stand there until I came over and walked her to the potty...

All this was accomplished JUST in time for her 2nd birthday which is today, Saturday! I am excited to see how she progresses this weekend and if she is more independent on Monday when I go back to work. I will, however, be devastated if I show up and she is wearing a diaper!

The plus from this experience far out ways the difficulty, I now have my own fine tuned potty training method and wished I had read that less than a day book before beginning! I would of course change some things to suite my own personality (and my future children's) but I now feel A LOT more confidant about going through it as a parent!


Potty training took its toll, 3 BEAUTIFUL days and no park are hard on a two year old! Also, S was neglected socially! She got all her meals, naps and diaper changes but when she was awake she mostly had to amuse herself! (P.S. R's only accident on the 3rd day was when S was being fussy and getting all the attention!)

Favorite quotes from R this week:
     -"Ok emmy, you have two choices! We can go to the park or go on a walk"
     -"emmy, we can go to the park or you can sit on time out!"
     - after her first poop and lesson on wiping she sang this repeated for a few minutes "No poop in the vagina"
     - "Monkey George went poop, monkey George needs markers! I will give them to him" smart kid, but I'm smarter!
     - Q: R, what does mommy wear?
        A: Underwear!!
       Q: What does emmy wear?
       A: underwear!
       Q: what does daddy wear?
       A: Shirts!! (haha, obviously!!)


On another note, Brandon and I had a BEAUTIFUL weekend filled with excitement (and no potty-training)! Friday night the elders quorum threw a fiesta for the ward! Decoration included streamers thrown over the basketball hoop in the cultural hall. (yea that's it! Sometimes I wish I were a boy, i am SO not cute enough to be in relief society) . It was a really fun evening with a Mexican themed pot luck, a pinata for the kids, and a tortilla throwing competition in which Brandon tied for second place! Brandon went on a long ride this morning while I went on a run and cleaned the house a bit! Then we headed down to the beach where we met up with quite a few families from our ward! later we went to my friend/coworker at BYU's wedding reception which was catered by in and out burger! Tomorrow we plan to go on a nice long walk along the beach after church and feed the missionaries!

Sorry for the long post with no pictures! I'm pretty sure R's parents would not be too happy about me putting a picture of their naked child online and we didn't have our camera with us this weekend! But rest assured we both have smiles on our faces, I have some extra freckles, and Brandon is a shade darker!

2012 thus far

I have officially been nannying R (23 mo) and S (2 1/2 mo) for an entire month! R was going to stay in preschool until mid February but she just loves being home so much that she has not gone in over 2 weeks! She loves adult attention and being able to do her own thing which she gets a lot of at home. At first, she had a very difficult time sharing me with her new little sister, but we have come SO far in just a few weeks and she is really understanding that S needs my attention sometimes also! S is so darling , its crazy how natural it is to love such a helpless little thing! She has been fighting sleep lately and loves to socialize, unfortunately if she doesn't sleep enough, she breaks down in the evening and screams for 30 minutes at a time!

So... here's my question! R has started getting time out when she either does not listen after multiple warnings, or refuses to do something she needs to do (ie. a diaper change or wash her hands). She LOVES the timer and makes sure I remember to set it! She gets so excited when it goes off. Yesterday she put herself in time out, haha I laughed so hard! She kept getting up and trying to walk around with her snack and after only telling her twice that she needs to stay at her table, she goes "R needs time out, R stay at table" she put down her snack and headed over to the stairs, then she says "Timer emmy, timer". I'd be afraid I was not getting through, but when I ask her why she was in time out, she always gives me the right answer! Anyway, back to my question... would it be bad to give her, her own time out timer for her birthday? a pretty one that she can watch tick down...

While looking for timers, I found the coolest time out tools on amazon! Including my favorite, A little floor seat that beeps when it no longer feels pressure so the parent can walk away and know if the kid gets up!! It also lets the kid know they can't get away with it because it beeps until they sit down again! oh, and its small enough to take to grandmas house or the park so you can keep the consistency! Time Out Pad

On another note, Brandon is doing GREAT! He LOVES it here in San Clemente, as do I, and finally has his own biker gang!! ok, when he reads this, he will laugh and give me that "really, em, really... biker gang?" look! In reality, its made up of him and 2 family guys from our church but he loves mountain biking with them and goes every weekend! He has been wanting a nice bike since his got stolen almost 2 years ago and FINALLY found one that won't brake the bank but that is great quality! He has been riding around on a cheap one (mountain bike standards) that is 3 sizes too small, and has a broken something important, fork maybe? His new bike is as big as bikes come and our neighbors (both build bikes for a living) tuned it up for him and made sure he put it together perfectly! Technically, the bike is for his birthday... but it was on sale now so he was afraid of waiting until April to buy it!

Because I worked so hard the past 4 1/2 years in college, my parents wanted to get me something special to celebrate my graduation! I have a REALLY hard time thinking of things I want... I just like small things and am in heaven when I get a bag of dried mangoes! My dad had me think about it for a little while and I decided that I wanted a treadmill! Our neighborhood has very few street lights and is a little bit ghetto so now that I am working from dawn till dusk I can't run outside... meaning I've stopped running completely! It arrived last week but we have had some electrical problems since our house is old and they take up lots of power! Brandon finally got it up and running smoothly so my training can now begin! Training? you ask... Brandon, Cory, Rick, and I are running in the Camp Pendleton mud run (10K) in June, I am SO excited!!

We also went to my fist ever surf competition!!! It was AWESOME!!! unfortunately we only got to see the 7 year old boys and 13 year old girls, I was hoping for some pros... but it was still fun and a lot cuter!

Holiday catch up...

Christmas was GREAT! We had excellent weather which meant we got to go on hikes and eat Christmas lunch outside by the pool! We also went to a boat parade. Unfortunately the pictures did not turn out great but it was still fun!

Brandon and I both got kindles and I LOVE IT!! I was hesitant because I love books so much, it was hard to imagine not turning paged and having to sit in awkward positions but you wont spend more than a few hours with me without me pulling it out to read! I also got a steam mop which cleans my floors like nobody's business! Brandon got a new head lamp which he loves and some other trinkets that amuse him greatly!

We had red and green waffles for breakfast... I ran out of green so it looks yellow, I'll do better next year!

We spent new years in San Clemente but Brandon's family came to join in the fun! Again we had wonderful weather and spent a day walking along the tide pools!

Also, I found a job!! It is such a blessing to have one! I really wanted a teaching job but just couldn't find anything!! As for working outside of education, I was not qualified for most of what I found and have no experience outside of teaching! I finally found a nanny job which still allows me to teach even if it is not in a formal setting! There are two kids ages 22 months and 7 weeks! Some days are smooth and great while others are pretty chaotic (2 year olds on benadryl are now officially my worst nightmare!) We go to the park, the beach, and sing songs/read stories. I am excited to add the library to the list once they get a double stroller! The baby is tiny but she is a very happy and calm baby which is great for someone like me who has never had one kid to take care of all day let alone two! The two year old is very advanced for her age (given that she is not even technically 2 yet) and can talk well enough to communicate anything she wants to say. She can also count past 10, knows her ABC's, a few shapes and colors, and has a better memory than me! She also loves painting and stickers and has better fine motor skills than I have seen in some 4 year olds! Oh and she is a lefty!!

She found her Halloween costume in the closet when we went to get a jacket and insisted on wearing it! Strangers have never in my life been so friendly as they were that day as I pushed a cow along the beach in a car!

Holiday Spirit!!!

Thanks giving was great, the best part was... NO DISHES :) We went to Brandon's grandma Hatch's house for thanksgiving and since we were coming from all different directions it seemed best to go out to eat, so we went to Marie Calendars! The food was great and the company was even better!

We spent the rest of the break with Brandon's parents and brothers!

It was a beautiful weekend with weather in the mid 80's!! Just the way I like it!

Once we got back, It was time to start getting ready for Christmas!

This is the view outside our apartment looking through the window beside the door!

Carolers in our living room! (The camel bone box has frankincense and merr in it, compliments of Saudi Arabia!)

Our lovely reindeer

Joy in the kitchen!

Ah, my favorite part! I just LOVE Christmas trees!!

Here is the living room as a whole! Can you see the Christmas train on the table?

 Now the tricky part was figuring out where to hang our stockings! I had to get a bit creative since we didn't want to put holes in the wall only to use them 1 month out of the year! My mom made Brandon and I stockings last year for Christmas, she also gave me 3 more for future use ;)

yes well... we make due!!

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Next up, Dana Point Boat parade of lights!! Were going on Saturday night and I am SO excited!!

Recent Happenings

October 19th was my last day as a BYU undergrad. I spent it with 33 wonderful children and a mentor teacher who has taught me SO much about teaching. They were SO cute and asked Mrs. Bindrup, not only one of my closest friends in the world but also the 5th grade teacher 2 doors down, what they could get me as a parting gift. She suggested many things, one of which being garden tools for the garden I wanted to plant when I got back to California!

On the 20th, Nikki (Mrs. Bindrup) drove me to the airport but before dropping me off we stopped at the coziest little Italian pizzeria SetteBello. The pizza was different than what I'm used to, being traditional Italian, but it was SO good! They also had Italian gelato which was really good! The place is in down town Salt Lake and if anyone is looking for a fun/unique/romantic date venue, It is a must :) Unfortunately neither of us brought a camera, but here are some older pictures to show you how much Nikki and I love driving together! And yes, if anyone was wondering we got lost once! But we got back on track pretty quickly! We are getting MUCH better with directions :)

Yes, we can be normal too... sometimes!

When I got back to California, Brandon surprised me with York peppermint patties and wheat-thins! What a great husband! We also went to a play that our stake put on; The Music Man, one of my favorites. Then we went to dinner at Grandma Hatch's house and got to reunite with Brandon's parents and brother Rick! Brandon's Aunt Diane lives behind his grandma so we got to see her also! For those of you who grew up with fruit trees in your yard, you were lucky, lucky, people! I had raspberry and rhubarb bushes at one time, my mouth still waters at the memory! Anyway, Brandon's grandma has an orange tree in her back yard (and lemon trees and grapefruit trees) so we went orange picking! BEST THING EVER! Being able to pick a giant juicy orange off a tree and eat it on the spot is the BEST feeling in the world! All you need is a little brother to climb up and get you the best ones :) Then you have your husband pick an entire bag full and eat them for the next week :)

While it was snowing on the east coast, us over here on the west coast were wearing shorts and flip flips while planting gardens on a beautifully sunny day with 80 degree weather :)

All though I have the cutest Halloween decorations on the block, something is missing!

A flower garden!!! :D (these are the gloves and tools my students gave me!

Its not much, but its my garden! Now just wish me luck on keeping it alive!

One last thing... you may have noticed my haircut! Please do not mention it to me and we can still be friends ;) I will acknowledge it in a few months when it has grown to the length I intended it to be cut!

Neanderthals, Mummies, and S'mores... Oh my!!!!

The past little while has been SO much fun!! My students are so cute, sweet, and, of course, smart! For school pictures, we took a class photo where the kids could dress up. One boy wore a pink tutu, another had a Wisconsin cheese triangle on his head! I wish I had a copy (and was allowed) to post up here, it was epic!

After studying Early humans, I assigned a project. The students were allowed to choose from about 6 options, one of which was to create a rap about early humans! We had two students create raps and although both were good, one was EXCEPTIONAL!! OH my goodness, I have never laughed so hard in my life. Luckily, all three of their parents gave permission for me to record them so I was able to put it up here! I just have to say that I find it absolutely HILARIOUS and a little ironic that Aidan introduces himself in the 3rd person and my pe-schooler who always spoke in 3rd person was also named Aidan!!

We have moved past early humans, Mesopotamia, and are now studying ancient Egypt! Everybody knows that you can't study ancient Egypt without mummifying chickens!!! Before starting, the kids had to name their chickens! Some included King Amun "Bawk" & Queen Chikititi, those are the only two I remember off the top of my head. Unfortunately I can't show the awesome expressions on the kids faces due to laws protecting their identities, but here are some pictures of their hands... and the chickens of course!

Step 1: wash your chicken and lay it on newspaper and paper towel! (If you lay your chicken directly on the newspaper, the ink will stick on and you will have newspaper clippings tattooed on your mummy!)

Step 2: Get really grossed out! (this is a boys hand, I was surprised but the boys were much more squeamish about touching the chickens than the girls were!)

Step 3: Dry your chicken as best you can with paper towel, inside and out!

Step 4: Use a blow dryer to get the chicken as dry and you can. This step takes some concentration because if the blow dryer is left too long in one place, you could fry your chicken!

Step 5: Now that your chicken is dry, you must massage herbs into its skin. The cloves, rosemary and other herbs will lesson the smell later on in the process.

Step 6: Pour salt inside the chicken to suck up any moisture.

Step7: Pour salt into a plastic bag and place the chicken inside. Get salt all over the outside of the chicken and use the rest as a bed for your soon to be mummy. (The moisture will sink below the salt leaving the chicken relatively dry.)

This process will be repeated again in a week just to make sure the chicken is completely dried out. After sitting for another week, the kids will tightly wrap their chickens in muslin and place each chicken in a sarcophagus which they bring. Each group needs to choose what they think will make the best sarcophagus for their chicken, it needs to be airtight and non-biodegradable. The class will then dress up as Ancient Egyptians and perform a traditional Egyptian funeral ceremony and bury their chickens in the schoolyard. They will dig their chickens up the last week of the school year to see how well they did at mummifying their chickens!

In science we have been studying heat! What better way to apply what you have learned about heat transfer than to roast marshmallows in your classroom? For science, all the 6th grade classes give 3/4 of their class to another teacher, this means I keep 1/4 of my regular kids but the other 3/4 are kids from other classes! It is very interesting going from teaching all gifted and talented kids to having kids from all types of families. One boy, who has become my little buddy, has ADHD and chews paper constantly, it helps him stay calm! He always says hi to me in the hallway and is great in class. He is one reason teaching is so rewarding! When you are able take a child who comes from a rough background, has a learning disorder, and most teachers dread having in their class and really get him excited about learning, It makes everything you do worth it!

Now that I have mentioned all the fun we have, please be assured that the kids are learning! No kid could possibly include so much information about neanderthals into a rap without learning SOMETHING about them!! I can't believe that this experience is coming to an end in just a few short days, but I am happy to say that the next time I post, I will be in California with my favorite man in the world!! :) :D :)

Time is passing...

Brandon is so sweet! Even when we are so far apart, he finds ways to make me smile! He is so patient with me on my emotional days, and gives me all the love, support, and understanding I need. I try to be there for him too, but I never do as well as he does for me. What a great man!

Recently in 6th grade I gave a spelling test. I said "Look at me when you finish spelling this word, when your all looking I will know I can move on!" As if they had planned this, about 6 kids looked right into my eyes, all in weird ways! One boy (the closest to a punk you can get in an accelerated class) was raising his eyebrows up and down at me, a girl widened her eyes as far as they would go and stretched her head toward me, other children did similar things! It was so uncomfortable that I said "Don't look at me creepily, just look forward!" The whole class started laughing and it took some time to get back to the spelling test! Oh how I love these kids!

My biggest trial right now is with a little girl who has had very little structure in her life. Her parents take her in and out of school in whatever country they are currently living to go on trips around the world. Luckily for them, she is intellectually gifted and catches up easily. They are back in the US from their world travels for a while and she is having a difficult time adjusting. She bosses the other kids around and does whatever she wants whenever she wants. The worst part about all of this, is that I can't subtly re-direct her. I try giving a whole class instruction such as "Make sure your pencils are down and your looking this way," even though she is the only one not already doing so, and she doesn't do it! This means I have to either point her out in front of everyone or just let her distract the whole class! I have been making sure to catch her doing good things and casually talking to her during breaks or coming in from recess so she knows I like her (and I really do), but honestly, I don't think it phases her one bit that her name is constantly being said in a that's not what you should be doing right now tone! The school has some social workers who will be taking her out of class for a little bit each week to work on social skills, I hope it helps because the other kids are beginning to treat her differently.

We are starting a unit on Ancient Egypt pretty soon part of which entails mummifying chickens!! I am SO excited! The kids will clean the chickens out completely and use hair dryers to dry them out. After sitting in plastic bags for a week to drain, they will blow dry them once more. Following that they will warp the chickens tightly in muslin, seal them in non-bio-degradable containers, and bury them in the school yard! Come May they will dig up the suckers (as my dad would say) and see if they were preserved! I hope it goes well! Last year tomb robbers, probably kids from the previous years class, stole one of the chickens! Haha Gotta love kids!