Something good happens every day. Here's what happened in May 2015:
Fri 5/1/15 to Wed 5/13/15: I stopped writing. :( I am getting out of the habit.
Thu 5/14/15: David went potty on the toilet today! He definitely has been showing more signs of wanting to use the toilet by himself lately. Lizzy has been helping him. He was very excited to wear his Spider-Man underwear, too.
Fri 5/15/15: I did not write. :(
Sat 5/16/15: Brad and I took Scott and Emma to find clothes and camping equipment for Trek at the DI and Walmart today. The DI is always an exciting adventure every time we go there. We always find something a little out of the ordinary there. For example, Scott and Emma found an old VHS tape of "Kiki's Delivery Service."
Sun 5/17/15: My CTR class loves the story of Nephi and Lehi from the Book of Mormon. Today we talked about Nephi getting the Brass Plates from Laban. Lizzy became so excited by it, she kept talking about the story all the way home from church, and even helped give a FHE lesson about it. What was her favorite part of the story? The part where Nephi found Laban drunk in the road. Lizzy has been on a big Word of Wisdom kick lately.
Mon 5/18/15: The gym has become a regular part of my routine now. Today I began working out on the elliptical again, after not being on it since March. I am starting off slow, for 12 to 15 minutes. My heart rate still climbs up too high when I am on the elliptical, so I try not to overdo myself. I still use the treadmill or cycle on the bikes on days when I use the elliptical, just so I can keep my heart rate high for at least 30 minutes.
Tue 5/19/15: Lizzy has been improving so much in school lately! She went from not being able to memorize letters and numbers at all, to identifying all numbers between 1 and 10, and also learning how to read words. I was incredibly impressed with her tonight as we were going over her sight words on her first word list. She went from previously knowing only 2 words on the list ("mom" and "I") to knowing 15 out of 20 words in a matter of weeks, plus more. Now she knows how to read "me", "my," "can," "like," "he," "look," "up," "at," "the," "see," "to," "it," "is," "away," "feet,""play," and "girl," plus she's learning how to read more.
Wed 5/20/15: I finally got around to working on my garden beds today. I tore up a bunch of grass and weeds around the boxes, and then worked the soil and weeded one of the boxes. Lizzy helped me plant 6 tomato plants (2 large ones, 4 grape ones), 2 bell pepper plants and 2 Anaheim peppers. We found all sorts of bugs while we were working on the garden. Lizzy's favorites were the ladybugs and the butterfly chrysalises we found buried in the soil.
Thu 5/21/15: I cleaned up the living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway today, while listening to fun upbeat music on my new iTunes playlist. It's nice having things clean-- even if it's just temporary.
Fri 5/22/15: I am happy to have Scott and Emma home for Memorial Day weekend. Glad the unnecessary drama this past week did not prevent them from spending the holiday with us. Lizzy was so happy to have them home tonight. I made a beef and bok choy stir-fry dinner tonight. One of Scott's and Emma's favorites.
Sat 5/23/15: Brad, Scott, Emma, and I had a fun round of "Ticket to Ride" this afternoon. I was happy to win with about 129 points. Scott tried to block me to one of my destinations, but he ended up giving me more points in the end. Sister Western brought over the most adorable little balloon people and animals tonight, for the kids to play with. Lizzy and David were thrilled, of course. Sister Western often makes extra balloon creations when she's practicing her craft, and it was very sweet of her to think of Lizzy and David to give the extras to. Lizzy and David were very happy. Lizzy kept calling them her "babies."
Sun 5/24/15: Brother Hyde highlighted our family in his Sacrament talk this morning. His talk was on living in harmony with our families and making a Christ-centered home. Sister Ruff came back to church today and taught the CTR 5 class. I am very happy to have her back. Our family hung out with the Bruce Clan tonight. Lizzy and Scott had permission to have a sleepover, which made Lizzy extremely happy. She packed her pillowcase full of fun stuff, like her Rapunzel hair and dress, and one of her balloon babies she got from Sister Western.
Mon 5/25/15: Today was Memorial Day. We dropped off Lizzy and David at Grandma and Grandpa's house while the rest of us went to watch "The Avengers: Age of Ultron." The movie was okay. Lizzy and David had a fun morning with Grandma and Grandpa at the park. We had lunch at Grandma's house: roast beef, potatoes, and salad. We had dinner with the Bruce Clan later in the evening. Loralee made some delicious cheese and ham rolls and some lemon meringue pie. It's going to be sad when they move away to Vernal.
Tue 5/26/15: I took Emma to the dentist today, and she was cavity-free. Yay! It was a super quick trip, too. We were in and out of there in about 15 minutes.
Wed 5/27/15: I found "My Neighbor Totoro" at Target this morning! I had been looking at Walmart and Best Buy for it, but they didn't have it in stock at the stores near our home. I want to give it as a gift for Eric and Claire for their birthdays. The two of them liked watching it with Lizzy and David when they came to Utah a couple of weeks ago.
Thu 5/28/15: My mother flew off to California today, to spend time with the Montgomerys and Susie for a few days. It's kind of weird not talking to her on the phone.
Fri 2/29/15: Brad and I bought a new camera today, since David dropped my camera a few days ago (it's getting repaired at Forsters Camera Shop). My new camera is a red Nikon Coolpix. It can take photos with 20.1 megapixels, which is pretty impressive for a $75 point-and-shoot camera.
Sat 2/30/15: Today is Grandpa North's birthday. We had a celebration at Grandpa's house this afternoon and evening. We thought it was going to be a farewell party as well, but Grandpa and Silvia have decided they are going to separate after only being married for a month. Only Silvia will be returning to Chile-- not Grandpa. I was sad that they are splitting, but I am also relieved that Grandpa will be staying in Utah. It was a mixture of emotions. My highlight of the evening was watching the kids play croquet in the front yard. Lizzy and David had fun playing on their own while their bigger siblings and cousins played two games. It was nice spending time with Rosie and Tricky, too. We are looking forward to puppy-sitting Rosie for a month while Tricky is in Costa Rica.
Sun 2/31/15: I did not write. :(
