I have a couple of singers on my hands

That's right. They may not be ready for Broadway just yet, but Hannah and Brooklyn are well on their way to their musical careers, if they so choose. (LOL)

Hannah and Brooklyn sing all the time. They sing just about any song they hear. Here are a few of their favorites:

"I Am a Child of God" (They actually know all the right words, and they sound adorable singing it)
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
"Mamma Mia" (That's right. They are ABBA fans now. :))
"Honey, Honey" (Yet another ABBA jingle)
"Connected" (From 'Barbie and the Diamond Castle.' - Yes, my eyes start twitching after hearing this song too many times.)
"Strangers Like Me" (From 'Tarzan')
"Rock Star" (by Pink - This one is WAY cute to hear them sing)
"I'm Yours" (by Jason Mraz)

As you can see, they have quite the array of songs they like. Any show they watch that has music in it, they seem to learn the songs really quickly. They love singing, and I hope it's something they will love forever. I love hearing them sing because it's such a happy sound. It's pretty amazing, too, because they actually sing on key, which is pretty good for 2 year-olds.

Oh, and Greg jokes that when Hannah and Brooklyn go to school they are going to be disappointed that life isn't a musical. They'll probably go to school expecting their teachers to sing the lessons to them, and they'll be pretty sad when it doesn't happen. Oh well, they can live in a musical for now. :)

WANTED:

Someone to potty train my twin girls. They will be 3 in February. Must be enthusiastic, energetic, and self-motivated. Must like children. Experience preferred. Payment will be made upon completion of the potty training process. Very sweet girls. Must meet them before saying, "No." :)

So, of course, I'm talking about my girls. If I really knew of someone who could help potty train my girls in about a week, I really would be tempted to pay them to do it. Unfortunately, I'm not joking. :(

Hannah and Brooklyn will be turning 3 in about a month, and they have NO desire to be potty trained. They are totally fine wearing their diapers. If they have a wet or dirty diaper, they just let me know they want to be changed. Greg and I ask them if they want to go on the potty quite a bit, but they always tell us no. We made a major potty training attempt about a month ago, but it was a disaster. After a full day, the girls were crying and screaming when we went to put them on the potty. It was a total nightmare, so we decided to give them a break.

The most frustrating part is that I KNOW that they are smart enough to do it, but they're very headstrong and fighting them on the issue does absolutely no good. I guess that they're just not emotionally ready yet, but that doesn't quite take away all my frustration. :(

So, what do we do from here? We have been told by numerous people that when a kid is ready, potty training is super easy. The bad thing is that I don't see them being "ready" anytime in the near future. They just don't care.

So, I'm asking for your help. Please let me know whether I should wait, or if I should just try "forcing" them again. I just don't know what to do. I've never done the potty training thing before because Abbey went to transplant before we could get potty training really under way. And, of course, this time is totally different because I have two to potty train. (LOL) Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

How to save money grocery shopping

I don't know about you, but over the holidays, I got really lax and didn't cook all that much. But, we ate though. How on Earth did we manage that one? Well, between all the holiday parties and eating out, I probably only averaged cooking about 1 or 2 nights a week for a couple weeks straight. Did I mention it was heavenly? Ah, the memories.

But, alas, we all know that it's way too expensive to eat out all the time. Heck, it's almost getting too expensive to eat all together! So, I've been researching online and trying to find some ideas on how to save on groceries and get better at meal planning. Here is a bit of a summary of my findings:

1. Don't go shopping hungry. (We all know that, right?)
2. Go alone. (Taking kids and husbands only adds to the grocery bill. Trust me, it's true.)
3. Make lists and stick to them.
4. Plan out your meals for the week before you go. This way, you will avoid any unnecessary trips to the store, thus costing you more money in the long run.
5. Try to avoid buying processed foods. (We all know they're not good for us, but the more processing a food goes through, the more expensive it will end up being.)
6. Only buy food at the grocery store. Save paper products, cleaning supplies, toiletry items, and medicines for stores like Wal-Mart.
7. Try sticking to the outside perimeter of the store where most of the essentials are located: dairy, bread, milk, meat, produce, etc.
8. Buy store brands whenever possible.
9. Stock up on price loss leaders. (These are the items that the stores put WAY on sale to bring you in.)

So, these are a few of the things I came across while researching. If you have any other tips, ideas, or advice, please feel free to share with the rest of us.

Visiting with Santa

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. I am pretty bad at uploading pictures to my computer, so that's why I'm so behind. Sorry. :(

Anywho, on Greg's side of the family, we always have a Christmas party, and this year was no exception. We had a delicious Dutch oven dinner and dessert, crafts for the kids, and a special visitor. I betcha can't guess who. (lol)

Brooklyn has really become quite the Santa Claus fan. She will go up to him, talk to him, and even sit on his lap. Hannah, on the other hand, is still pretty leery of Santa. Oh, she'll go over and talk to him, but she won't get too close. She would only sit on Santa's lap with Grandma. Here are some pics.

Hannah and Brooklyn with their crafts

Hannah and Grandma with Santa

Brooklyn and Santa

A Season of Giving

I love Christmas. One of the things I love most about Christmas is the giving spirit. For the past couple years, our neighborhood has hosted a little get together for people to bring donations for Christmas. It's great because we can get all the neighbors together for some hot chocolate and donuts, and stand around fires as we come together for a good cause.

Last night, our neighborhood had our annual Christmas get-together. We had a great turn out! I'm so grateful to all the people who helped out with treats and donations. With everyone's help, we were able to gather a lot of needed items to donate to The Family Connection. Hopefully these items can really help some people out there who are in need.

Another thing I love about this time of year is the reminder that it is about how blessed we are. We are truly blessed, and Christmas time can really bring out the best in good people. I love hearing heartwarming stories of people helping other people. That's what it's all about.

I also love getting together with family and friends to celebrate the season. It's great going to parties with family and friends to celebrate the birth of our Savior. What a blessed time of year!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Hannah's surgery

Well, Hannah had surgery yesterday. She had her tonsils and adenoids removed, and got a new set of tubes put in her ears. She was just supposed to have a tube taken out, but when the doctor got in there, her left ear was infected, and he asked if we would be okay with doing tubes again. Since they were already in there, I told him to go ahead.

Hannah had to have her tonsils and adenoids taken out because of breathing problems. She has always been a mouth breather. She has also been a really loud snorer, and occasionally has apnea episodes while she's sleeping. We decided that her adenoids were giving her troubles and got her checked out. The doctor said that taking the tonsils out would also help with the problems, so we did both. I'm really glad we did it because after the surgery, the doctor told us that her adenoids were totally blocking off her nasal passage. And, he said that her tonsils were huge, too. Interestingly enough, on the way home from her surgery, she started to fall asleep in the car, and she had her mouth closed and was breathing through her nose!

Poor Hannah. I feel so badly that we had to put her through that, but it was something that had to be done. Right now, my biggest fight with her is to take her pain meds, but I'm making her take them at least for these first few days to keep her comfortable. She drank really well yesterday, and I'm hoping she'll continue that. We're all stocked up on Jell-O, popsicles, pudding, yogurt and ice cream, so Hannah should be set for the next few days. Hannah is such a little trooper. She's been such a good and brave girl through this. I'm praying for a quick recovery for her so she doesn't have too much pain.

Headlamps are the COOLEST!!

And, I totally have one. Yeah, I pretty much look like the dork in the picture except my head isn't shaved. Are you jealous? (lol)

Well, you should be. It's an Energizer brand, and it's got a red light, and 3, that's right, 3 different LED functions. It's equipped with an adjustable head strap and padding under the light for my forehead comfort. You can also adjust the angle of the light. It's perfect for those times when you get to the movies late and need to look for a seat. (Picture me walking in wearing a headlamp saying, "Excuse me, are these seats taken?" (hehehehe))

But, in all seriousness, I really do have a headlamp. Now, what on Earth would I need a headlamp for? Well, I have been running on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with some other ladies from the ward. We go at 5:30 AM, so it's still pretty dang dark outside. We have so much fun. Sure it's early, and I kinda feel like a crazy person wearing a headlamp, but it really does help. I really enjoy running, and it's been great to go with other people and chit chat on the way. Yesterday, we ran about 5.1 miles and it felt great. It's a little cold when you first start out, but by the end you're cookin'. Monday morning, it was drizzling a little and I wore a bright yellow rain-type jacket of Greg's. Not only was it big on me, but I looked quite conspicuous. Greg told me I looked like I was wearing a fishing jacket. I felt a little like the bad guy in "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

So, if you ever want to go running on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday morning, just come on over to my neighborhood at 5:30 AM. Then, you could see me wearing my headlamp. Or, if I'm feeling particularly cheeky one day, maybe I'll wear it to Wal-Mart. ;)