How well do you know Eliza? Quiz

Eliza has loved telling people what some of her favorite things are lately, ever since she was asked what her favorite animal was in gymnastics class in September!

Although, with some things, she has new favorites every day and loves to anounce, "That's my FAAAaaavorite!"

So I asked Eliza to report on some of her favorites. You can test your knowledge on how well you know Eliza or get to know her a little better from these clips!

1) What's her favorite animal?

2) What is her favorite color?

3) What is her favorite movie?

4) What is her favorite book?

5) Where is her favorite place to go?

6) What is her favorite TV show?

7) What is her favorite toy + Bonus Question: What's Reuben's favorite toy??

Answers: 1) Zebra 2) Purple and Pink 3) Disney new one- The Princess and the Frog 4)"The Lion One" I'm not sure what she's talking about. 5) The Zoo! 6) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! 7) Princesses Bonus: Balls, of course!!

Get any of them right???

Please, share!

For Eliza in Utah

Here's a corny video I made for Eliza who is in Utah right now with her dad.

I'm posting it specifically for her, but if anyone else would like to watch they can (probably won't be very exciting).

I love my Eliza girl.

The many FACES of Eliza!

(Click on picture to see a larger version)

Best Christmas EVER!

(Well, at least she loved the panda!)

Contrary to what this picture seems to depict, this year seems to be turning out to be the best Christmas ever!!!

My criteria for that declaration relates to Eliza's comprehension and interest level in the magic of this holiday season!

She has manifest this through her obsession with presents, Santa ("What's Santa saying, Mom?"), UNCLE ROBBY (more about that later), hanging candy canes on the Christmas tree "all-by-m'self!, the Christmas tree, Christmas lights, baby Jesus, a plethura of Christmas books, and .... presents!

She is SO much fun and totally has made the angry mobs of Christmas shoppers and drivers more bearable! hehe.

And check this out:

Love her sooooo much!

I love YOUR little brain, Mommy!

Eliza has moved on (somewhat) from asking Why? about everything. Now she has starting asking about what everybody and everything is thinking, but instead she asks, what are they saying.

What is Grandpa saying? What is the kitty saying?

She asks this a lot when we're not around the cat or dog or grandpa.

Lots of times I make up something. Usually if we're out running errands, and Eliza asks me what Zara (the dog) is saying, I tell her- "Zara's going [insert snore sound] because she's sleeping!" or "She's saying. I wish Eliza would come home! I want to play with her so so so so much!"

So a normal conversation while driving in the car:

Eliza: Mommy, what's Oma saying?
Me: Oma's saying, I better go help those sick kids!
Eliza: Why?
Me: 'Cuz that's what Oma does! She helps sick kids feel all better, just like the doctor! (pediatric nurse practitioner's hard to say)
Eliza: What's Grandpa sayin?
Me: Grandpa's saying, Man! I need to get this computer to work!
Eliza: Why?
Me: Because that's what grandpa does for work. He helps computers so they don't get broken.
Eliza: Mommy, whatch u sayin'?
Me: I'm saying, It's so fun to be with Eliza! She is such a fun girl to play with! Fun, fun, fun!
Eliza: What's Abby sayin? and on and on and on...

One of Eliza's favorite people to ask about is her cousin, Reuben.

I enjoy answering about Reuben because usually I can say, "I think Reuben's saying, I'm sleepy!"
Eliza: "Why?"
Me: "Because it's sleepy time. It's time for kids to go to bed."
or
Me: "I think Reuben's saying, I'm hungry! Let's eat lunch!" Eliza: "Why?" Me: "Because it's lunch time, and we need to eat our food all up before we go play!"

Steve told me that one morning Eliza asked him...
Eliza: "Daddy, what's the sun saying?"
Steve: "I don't know. What do you think the sun's saying?"
Eliza, using a deep, husky voice: "Where IS everybody?!"
Apparently the sun talks kind of like Ernie from Sesame Street.

After I heard this story, I was laughing really hard about it and said to Eliza
Me: "Oh, 'Liza, I love your little brain!"
Eliza immediately responded with: "I love YOUR little brain TOO, Mommy!"
I cracked up more and Eliza giggled and said: "We're talkin' bout funny stuff, huh, guys?"

Eliza's best quote of all is from Halloween night. We had dumped out all of her candy from her pumpkin pail and laid it out. She studied it and then suddenly began jumping up and down yelling, "Yippeeee! It's not DOG FODD!"

Here's a video of it:

We have NO idea where that came from. I swear I don't feed my daughter dog food...

Eliza's becoming a proper and bonafide Southern girl, as well, and seems to have mastered her "Yes ma'am's!" It's adorable... although she's still learning to use yes sirs instead of yes ma'ams with men... but that's adorable too, just in a different way.

I've also really enjoyed that Eliza has started saying, unsolicited, "I love you soooo much, Mommy!"

And sometimes when I say something to Eliza like, "Here you go, sweetheart."

Eliza will look up at me and say, "Mommy, I your sweetheart?"

Yes, Eliza, yes. You are my sweetheart.

SUPER STAR!

Holiday Wish List anyone?

Todays Mama and Provo Craft are offering $3800 in prizes, including a Madsen bicycle, Amber Alert GPS, and goodies from Provo Craft! FUN!

All you need to do is:

Answer the following questions and send a link back to Today’s Mama and Provo Craft using this link. Then, tag 10 friends.

All instructions here.

AND I actually thought the questions were fun, sooo...

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

• Black clogs that have thick rubber soles and can be comfortable but nice enough to wear to work. Something like this or maybe this or go for really fun, not as practical with this or this or this! or this ... OK, I'll just go make a shoe wish list on Amazon.
  

• A new charger for my camera so I can finally use it again!
  

• Music to work out to on my IPOD or clothes to work out in.
  

• Next semester's textbooks paid for. (pretty boring, right?)
  

• Target Gift Card (that's kind of a wish for more wishes stunt)
  

Can I add a dream list?

• Iphone

• A Job lined up for when I graduate in May?!! that I enjoy, has flexible hours, and benefits. Too much to ask?

• Kindle

• My own house

• Furniture
  

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you ever received?

• Probably Aunt Joan's origami money creations that I look forward to getting every year! In the past I've received a money picture frame, jewelry, mobile of cranes, and much much more awesome origami.
  

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

• Maybe to sew or embroider something for my mom or sisters. Last year I made them all purple beaded necklaces! Mom's the only one who wears hers, though.
  

4. What was the best Christmas gift you ever received as a child?

• Hmm, hard to pick just one. The year that grandpa got us a trampoline was pretty exciting. The little boom box I got at age 11 pretty much rocked my world for years until someone broke into our house and stole it. But then insurance gave us money to replace it so I got an even bigger stereo that I still have/use today!
  

5. What items are top on your kids’ wish list this year?

• Probably anything princess (suppressing gag).
  

• Art supplies

• A Dollhouse with little toy people or animals to play in it!
  

Eliza is SUCH a thankful child. Lots of times when I hand something to her, be it a sippy cup, her rain coat, a stuffed animal, or some food, she says so enthusiastically, "Mommy you got this for me? From the store? Oh, THANK YOU, MOMMY!" It's soo cute and sweet.

Then she goes around and tells everyone, "My mommy got me a new [raincoat]!" even though she's had it for months already. So maybe I'll wrap a beanie baby that we already own, and I bet she'll still be excited! (I'm on a tight budget, ok?)

Eliza also pretends to give people and her toys imaginary presents and has me act out that they unwrap them and are so excited to see that they got an imaginary flower, some fruit, a toy, a sticker, a toothbrush, or some other random object that Eliza has an affinity for.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

• Peppermint Ice Cream or Chic-fil-a's peppermint chocolate chip shake. YUM!

• Mom's Christmas wreath cookies and gingerbread cookies.

• Our shepherd's meal on Christmas eve where we eat what the shepherds might have eaten before they saw the star... homemade bread, cheese, dried fruit, grape juice, nuts, and some fresh fruit. We all sit down and eat it picnic style by the fireplace and read the nativity story.
  

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

• A new fabric quiet book for Eliza for church! We already have two that Mom and I made for Abby back in the day, and Eliza loves 'em! but they've lost some of their pieces.
  

• I have some other things in the works, but mums the word!
  

8. Favorite holiday songs:

• Winter Song by Sarah Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
  

• Straight-up hymns
  

• MoTab carols

• Some classical music that I don't feel like talking about.
  

9. Favorite holiday pastime?

• Sleeping
• Eating
  
• Playing games with my family!
• Baking with my mom.
• This year, studying for my MSW licensure exam that's in February!
  

Now tag 10 friends:

What if i don't have 10 friends, especially who have blogs? Umm, Katy, Abby, Mom, Aunt Barbara, Jennifer, Rebecca, Abigail, Kim, Sheridan Ladies!, Sarah H., Sarah A., your mother, and you if you're reading this!

BUT it won't hurt my feelings if you're not feeling it!

Picture with a 1000 words or less: New Moon

New Moon

I have not yet seen it.

Mom, Abby, and Katy (not pictured) saw it opening night Friday morning at midnight...

I stayed home writing a paper.

Ahh, the life of a grad student. So Glamorous.

Dad was nice enough to keep me company. I know it broke his heart to stay away from that teenage love triangle and watch sports center instead.

Is there anyone out there that was planning on seeing it but has not seen it yet? Abby has been nice enough to volunteer to see it again with me ...if I make her. I'm sure it'll take a lot of convincing.

Hair cut: Before and After

My best friend, Jennifer Tuttle Beebe, has been in town visiting her family for Thanksgiving, which has been SO fun!

She also happens to be an AMAZING hair stylist!

Behold!

Before:

(I think this pic is hilarious. I had just woken up from a nap and

was having trouble cutting my waffle. haha. Eliza looks adorable in this pic, tho!)

After:

Thanks, Jen! Totally wish you lived here! ;)

Larger than life...

Today as Eliza and I played imaginary picnic or "Pig-nack" inside the McDonald's playplace, she told me, "Mommy, no! You sit there, and I'm going outside." I redirected to her and told her to say please and speak nicely, so she did.

As she climbed back in to the little space we'd been playing in, I switched sides so she could get in to the small rectangular space easier.

"No! That's MY chair!" I redirected her manners again, but cracked up that apparently her imagination was detailed enough to include chairs. I moved back to my "chair" and helped support her little body as she climbed over the rope divider.

As I put my hands on her to lift her up and over, I had a distinct impression of just how enormous this little person's spirit and personality was. I was awed at her power and intelligence... and I felt grateful to be a person in her life who could be there to "help" and assist her...

...even if all I was doing at the time was trying to not ruin her "pig-nack."

I love my little, larger-than-life, Eliza!

Fair Feathers Food Fun Family Home Evening

We spent our Family Home Evening a few weeks ago at the SC State Fair. So Eliza, Abby and I met up with Mom & Dad and Katy, Aaron & Reuben.

We had a blast! But if I'm gonna keep this blog going during the rest of this semester, I'm going to have the pictures speak for themselves.

The Caterpillar Rollercoaster! This was the only ride Eliza rode. But she rode it three times! Once as soon as we got there with me. After eating during the middle of our time there with Oma. And then on our way out with Aunt Abby! She was just barely 36" -- just barely tall enough to ride the littliest, easiest kiddie rides. She was excited to ride them but did not want to ride them without me, so that left like 3 ride options.

Caterpillar it was!

If you look closely, you can see Eliza and me in the right corner.

The animal barns were the best part for Eliza, I think.

I had Eliza pose with the peacocks! If you have been around Eliza lately you know why!

For you out-of-towners, the peacock is Eliza's favorite animal to impersonate. Even though I have attempted several times to teach her what sound the peacock makes by showing her youtube videos, etc., she continues to say that the peacock makes this terrible loud, growling honk that sounds like a dying goat! Maybe I should try to get a video of it. She also has a peacock beanie baby that she would take EVERYWHERE if I let her.

She loves her some peacock!

Goats and Sheep. We ran into some friends, the Sheridan's who were riding the Elephants and Camels, and Br. Sheridan shared some sheep food with Eliza. Eliza was ecstatic.


Eliza loooooovvvvvvedddddd riding the pony! She was adorable.

These llama's were crazy smart! And really soft too! He was like eating out of the food machine before I had even turned the knob. Eliza really like them until I got some food and then she just wanted me to do it.

The fair food was a hit as always. Check out Kate's blog to hear more about it. Below, however, is a picture of me right after I took a bite of a "Pig Licker" or the chocolate and powder sugar covered bacon thing. BLAH!

I'll try everything once?

This last Friday, we also attended the annual little Halloween carnival at Pine Island put on by my dad's company. Eliza only wanted to keep her costume on for like 5 minutes. Oh well. At least she was nice enough to try to share her Nerd's with Reuben!

What are older cousins for but to expose you to hard, small, choking-hazardous sugar items...?

Abby and I hadn't gotten quiet enough out of the fair on Monday night, so we went back out on Friday night after Eliza and the old folks were in bed. (Well... Dad was actually still awake when we got back)

I think we ended up riding every single crazy, scary, adult ride plus some. I only got nauseous once, and that was right after finishing off a 10-inch gyro that I shared with Abby right before hopping on the ride that drops like 10 stories in 2 seconds.

Otherwise, it was a complete blast, and we stayed until the rides stopped running! Abby was the best fair date EVA! Thanks, Boo!

Spooky Spiders

Eliza and I made spider hats for halloween!

We got a book from the library about spiders, got a $1 spider from Target that only has 6 legs, have been admiring all the spider halloween decorations, and have been running into spiderwebs all over the place in our walks in the woods.

So we made spider hats!

For anyone who's interested, I love getting weekly pre-school lesson theme plans from this blog on my blog reader. I've gotten some great craft ideas from there too, and the spider hats were one of them.

Reuben enjoyed the spider fun too.

He was very cute walking around with it on his head, but unfortunately it did not stay on him long.

No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund.

"Parent alert: the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses.

"They may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect."

Check out the article here.

I still think Eliza is a genius (not because of Baby Einstein), AND I'm totally getting some money back.

A Child of God serenades a cockroach

So we had the bug man come through and spray last week. So since then, some dead bugs have turned up in the basement.

Every time Eliza sees any bug (dead of alive), she says, "Ooo! Mommy, a BUG!"

But when it's a dead bug, for some reason, Eliza has developed a really strange but sweet(?) system for dealing with it.

She sings to it, of course! What else would you do?

And what song does she sing? Well, she starts out with the last line of I Am a Child of God, which goes, "Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday!" and then she goes on into the rest of the song from the beginning.

Then when she finishes the song, she looks up and smiles at me, and says, "Mommy, they're happy now!"

So not really how I had envisioned the song's usage when I taught her I Am A Child of God recently, but that's neat...?

After all, God cares about each little sparrow, so that applies to the lowly cockroaches too, right?

I guess I'm glad to see Eliza showing some compassion to the little creatures, however gross they are.

Turkey Trot: How to Train to Run a 5k Race in Four Weeks

So in 5 weeks, some of my family and I are going to run in the SC Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Ninth Annual Dan Davis Memorial TURKEY TROT!

Race information can be found HERE.

I think the last time I ran in it was like in 2002. It was really fun. The course goes through downtown Columbia.

I've been working out consistently, but not hard core. But I like a challenge to work towards that's not related to weight loss or something like that. Honestly, I wish I could just be playing soccer, but I don't have time to belong to a team.

Anyways, so Cool Runnings website has these 4 steps to preparing for a 5k or How to Train to Run a 5k Race in Four Weeks eHow.com. I think I might start at Step #3, though.

I'm curious to see what I can get my time down to. Doubtful that I'll break 21 minutes like in high school, but perhaps I can keep up with Abby who's been training hard core during this cross country season. It'd be nice if I can average about 8 minute miles.

We'll see.... I can already feel my sides cramping.

Anyone want to join in?

A heart so big...

I miss my dear friend, Amber. Today is a year since she passed away.

I believe that she would want to be remembered.

I am grateful for the warmth and joy she brought to my childhood and life. It's been really, really hard to cope with the loss of Amber. It's been a hard year...

I miss you, Amber, and you are loved.

Exciting News...

Eliza is POTTY TRAINED!!!!
(Eliza enjoying a potty treat)

Hip-Hip-Hooray!

I love that when I smell a poopy diaper, it belongs to somebody else's kid!!!


We used the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day
method if anyone's interested. Thankfully, Eliza was ready! She's been diaper free (except for night time) for a month now!!!.

Cousins Dancing!

Here's a low quality video that is sideways!

But in person, it was ADORABLE!!

Weeee!

Eliza is ecstatic!

Oma and Grandpa put up a swing in the front yard!

Weeee!

(It's almost impossible to get her out!)

In case you didn't know...

... This is Princess Eliza ...

...And this is what a princess dance looks like...

I've got it pretty good with a girl like her.

Who else has been lucky enough to get to dance with a princess before 8am on a Saturday?? :^)

Welcome... I'm worried that the exclusive, private stuff is too complicated...

Mom and Dad celebrated their 27th Anniversary on Aug. 26th. Yay! Katy made the cake (I made 7 layer dip for dinner), but as fabulous as that was, they still decided to take a mini-get-away trip to Charleston the weekend after their anniversary. They took their bikes and toured Charleston on wheels and tested out some delish restaurants too.



And it's very sad for all of us in SC, but Robby head back to BYU and started classes on Monday (Aug. 31st).

(Robby says he looks like an 80's aerobic instructor in this pic- haha)
Eliza doing something crazy on the kitchen floor, wearing all pink- her favorite color these days. Who's surprised?

We got a family pic on the last day Rob was here:

(Click on it to make it bigger)

My semester classes and internship are getting busy these days! Eliza and I are still having a blast and staying busy on my no-class days, though! Some of her favorite activities that maybe I can catch some pictures of soon are...

• Swimming
• Pet store
• Library
• Park- for swings and slides, but mostly to feed the fishies!
• Play in the giant (collapsable) house thing that my parents have for her in the basement. It's "Eliza's house!"
• Play computer games on PBSKids.org (sometimes inside Eliza's house on my netbook).
• Play LEGOs; this requires that they all be dumped out in order for it to be entertaining, apparently.
• "Play GAME!" She likes me to pull out board games that are for adults and pretend to play them. It's funny, and she's relentless with the game demands.
• "Hide!" She's learning how to play Hide-n-Go-Seek. But mostly she just likes to play under the covers and get tickled.
• Go on walks, although she doesn't really walk. She either RUNS! or rides in a stroller or gets piggie-back-rides. I'm getting more and more buff every day. Her favorite is to take the dogs with us and go into the wooded trails. She's hard core!
• Singing and dancing to any music at any time!
• Entertain people with her crazy monster voice. I'll have to get a video of that.

I just signed her up for a fall gymnastics-like class at The Little Gym, which I'm really excited about! And toddler time at the library starts next week too! Yahoo!

Beach Babe and Ender's Game

We had a blast in Charleston once again last Monday!!
Eliza was a beach SUPERSTAR! or a Ponyo Fish or a Little Mermaid or just a big girl, depending on whichever struck her fancy from hour to hour!

AND Introducing.......................

Tiffany Enders! Robby's girlfriend of four months now. She's from Palos Verdes, California, outside of L.A., and she and Robby met in their BYU student ward. Hopefully she won't hate me for posting these pictures of her, but I think she looks great! She has her own blog, Life As I Know It.She made the trip out to see us and see SC last week, and we tried hard to impress her with some of our best Southern Wonders like Charleston with the beach and Hyman's Seafood, Shealy's BBQ, and Columbia Museums.

We all thought she was REALLY sweet and loved seeing how much fun Robby and she had together! Thanks for the visit, Tiffany!Here's a pic we took while waiting for Hyman's

I loved this pic of Mom with both her Grandkids!!

And here are some pics of us enjoying the Shealy's feast! YUM! Best Southern BBQ EVER!

Steve was too busy with work to come to Charleston with us, but was able to take a break to hit up Shealy's!

I love how busy Eliza's getting in this picture. That's because we had busted out the dessert! She's my girl!

Steve reported that he and Eliza had a blast at Davey and Bianca's wedding, and that Eliza was a dancing queen! Hopefully they'll have some fun pictures to share soon.