Spotlight!

Today in primary, Katelee was spotlighted. What a sweet idea; it made her feel so special. She was very excited waiting for her 'spotlight,' and the whole time she was up in front she grinned like the Cheshire cat. That girl LOVES being in the spotlight! For the spotlight, we were given a list of questions to ask Katelee and then fill out. We stayed true to her answers, and wrote them in her own words, though we guided her a bit on one of them. ;) Here are the questions with her answers in pink.

My age is 4.

My primary class is Sunbeams.

My parents' names are Gerald and Jennifer.

I have _____ brothers and ____ sisters. (We crossed this one out and wrote, "I am going to adopt a baby brother or sister some day."

I know my Heavenly Father loves me because I have a spirit and because I'm nice and friendly and helpful.

My favorite scripture story is Joseph Smith when he sees Heavenly Father and Jesus.

I show love for Jesus by helping my parents.

My favorite primary activity is playing with my friends in the nursery.

My favorite story of Jesus is when Jesus holds the children in His arms.

I serve my family and/or others by cleaning up and setting the table.

I feel the Holy Ghost when we read the scriptures or sing 'Scripture Power.'

I have a testimony because Joseph Smith prayed in the forest and that makes me feel good.

One thing my family thinks is really great about me is that Katelee loves people and is a friend to everyone. (We filled this one in.)

Gardening

Since about March I have really been missing my garden. Seeds and plants began appearing in the stores, and I was so sad that I wasn't planning out my garden, coordinating with neighbors about a truckload of soil, buying seeds, starting my peas... We had a large garden in our old house in Lehi, and it was one of my yearly joys. Someday I'll have a large garden again, but in the meantime, we did plant our own 'apartment-sized' mini garden this year.

We have one large tomato plant, one cherry tomato plant, one strawberry plant, and one pumpkin seed. It's a far cry from my flower garden, large strawberry patch, 8 tomato plants, dozens of pumpkins, and large variety of other foods we used to harvest. But it's still something, and it makes us happy to have them!

Katelee and I enjoyed planting them together, and Katelee is in charge of keeping them watered with her watering can. I've never gardened in containers before, so here's hoping they grow!

First Cavity

This post is a week late, but I had to get it in here. Last week Katelee had her first cavity filled. I feel bad that she already has a cavity, but on the bright side she really loves the dentist. She did so well! The pediatric dentist we go to is excellent, and Katelee thought the whole experience was like a big party. The saddest and hardest part of the day was when they were painting some fluid (what is that stuff, dentist people?) on her teeth they told her she could choose a picture for them to paint. She was so excited to ask them to paint princesses on her teeth. When she was all done, she thought we were going into another room to get the princesses painted on her teeth. Then I had to be the one to explain to her that they were already all done, and no she wouldn't be able to see all the princesses on her teeth when she looked in the mirror. Talk about heartbreak! Honestly, knowing Katelee, I think it would have been better had they just told her that they were giving her a shot and filling a cavity. I appreciate that the experience was fear- and pain-free and that she didn't know she had had a shot until I told her afterwards. But next time I think I'll just ask them to be honest with her, rather than break her heart about the princess paintings.

I took a picture of her when she was having the happy gas.

She was so loopy, it was actually really funny!

After the dentist, I told her she could choose what we did next as a treat for her good behavior. She chose to walk over to a nearby duck pond and throw sticks into the water. It was actually really pretty and relaxing and we had a good time until we started to hear thunder. We stayed a few more minutes, and then made a mad dash for our car, barely reaching it before the downpour started. Perfect timing!

Katelee, you are so grown up, so brave, and so much fun. You thought is was so hysterical when the ducks stuck their bums up into the air, which made me laugh, too! I love you so much, girl!

Creative Katelee

What do you get when you mix play-doh, feathers, googly eyes, and sparkly buttons?

One creatively-designed monster...

And one very proud little girl!

Welcome Summer!

Gerald had the day off today, and so we decided to welcome in summer and the gorgeous weather with some outdoor fun! This evening we went to Chatfield State Park, which is only a 20 minute drive from our home. It is a large reservoir/campground, and it's the first time we had ever been there. We had a blast!

We found a place to picnic, and Katelee dug in the sand while Gerald got the fire going. Then we roasted hot dogs and enjoyed our picnic in the quiet outdoors together. We taught Katelee how to sing "I Love the Mountains" - she learned it amazingly quick. And then she taught us her own "fireside" song, which consisted of only the word "tweet" sung on different pitches. She would sing a line and then we'd mimic her, which she thought was great. We played little games and made s'mores and had a great time talking.

After the food was done, we walked along the beach of the lake.

We found a good spot to build a sandcastle and wade in the water.

Gerald and Katelee had a good time throwing rocks in the water, and Jennifer had fun burying Katelee's toes in the sand.

As we were leaving, Gerald put Katelee on his shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his head and under his chin, and exclaimed, "It's like Daddy is wearing a Katelee helmet!" That girl always keeps us laughing!

After the stress of the past couple of months, this evening away just playing as a family was exactly what the doctor ordered. I love my family so much and am so glad we have so much fun together. We just need to do it more often!

P.S. Yes, we had our last adoption meeting yesterday and we are official!! Oh, and if you are still interested in adding our button to your blog, the instructions are below.

Grab Our Button!

Look what we did! We made our own blog button, and we are very proud of it! Gerald created the image on photoshop, and I figured out how to make it a button. Oh, and of course Janine took the gorgeous photo! ;) We would love if you would be interested in adding our button to your blog! If you want to, this is how you do it:

1. Go into the layout section of your blogger account and add a new gadget.

2. Choose HTML/Java Script.

3. Copy the HTML code from our scroll box below our button and paste the code into the content box on your screen.

4. Save and view your blog.

Voila! Our button should appear on your blog. If you have any trouble, please let me know! THANKS!!

New Family Pics!

Last night we submitted our online adoption profile for review! This is exciting because that means we are almost done with paperwork! I can't tell you the relief that is. As part of our profile, one of my amazing and talented friends took new pictures of our family. If you live here in the Denver area, I HIGHLY recommend Janine! She was so much fun to work with and her work is absolutely beautiful. Here is a link to her photo blog where you can also see more pictures she took of us! Oh, and also check out the new look of our adoption blog, where you can also see some of these new pictures. One of my favorites is now at the top of this blog.

And now I'm off to see if I can figure out how to create a button that goes on the sidebar of a blog. Anyone out there already know how to do it and willing to teach me? :)

Cinnamon Toast

I recently found a new way to make cinnamon toast, thanks to Pioneer Woman's genius. I warn you: once you try making it this way you'll never go back! It's sooooooo yummy. It has just the right blend of flavors (I love that it includes vanilla!) and ends up with this glaze-like gooey/crispiness that is so delicious! So, if you're looking for something to make for breakfast, give this recipe a try! Although, if your family is small like ours, you might need to 1/4 the recipe. :)

Cinnamon Toast

• 16 slices of bread (we use whole wheat)
• 2 sticks of salted butter, softened
• 1 cup of sugar (more to taste)
• 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (more to taste)
• optional: 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg (I've never added nutmeg...if you try it let me know how it is!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and optional nutmeg until combined completely. Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface all the way to the edges. Place toast on a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbling - which won't take long (maybe a few minutes) so watch so it won't burn! Remove from the oven and cut slices into halves diagonally.

Enjoy!

DELICIOUS!!

Fun with my new Camera!

I've been having lots of fun with my new camera!

Here are some pictures I've taken in the last few days:

My Mother's Day flowers that Katelee picked out.

Katelee runs everywhere.

Playing the computer games at the local library - one of Katelee's favorite things to do.

Can you believed it snowed this week?!?

Cheese!

Katelee loves to check the mailbox!

Twirl, twirl, twirl...

Playing hide and seek! Boo! She found me!

I love this tree.

Katelee and I went to a musical concert at a local Catholic high school to hear one of my piano students play. While waiting for her turn on the program, we got out some wiggles by walking around the beautiful grounds and taking a few pictures.

I love having a camera that works!

A Little of This, A Little of That

I have really not been in the mood to blog lately. For two major reasons. Reason #1: my camera really, really stinks. The duct tape really isn't holding it together anymore, and most of my pictures don't even appear. When they do appear, they are usually unfocused. And frankly, my blog is overly dependent on pictures. Reason #2: my brain has been so full of thoughts and ideas about the things we're experiencing these days. I didn't know where to start or how to say what's on my mind. And I quickly became overwhelmed.

Tonight I cheated and opened a box from my parents that was meant to be for my birthday tomorrow. My excuse was that we needed to know what it was so that Gerald didn't accidently buy me the same thing. :) When I saw what was inside, my mouth literally dropped open and tears came to my eyes. A camera! My incredibly over-generous parents sent me a new camera! I can't wait to try it out! And since, Reason #1 is no longer an issue (Oh! Happy Day!) I guess I shouldn't let Reason #2 stop me, either.

So, though I have volumes of words in my mind and heart, I've got to start somewhere. So here are some of the things I've been meaning to write about lately, in a teensy, tiny nutshell.

• Adoption. Every spare second lately has been devoted to our adoption process. It's been intense, thrilling, exciting, emotion, inspirational, exhausting and really just very cool. I have so much I should write about this! We are scheduled to 'go live' on May 21st! Which means we'll be online so that a birthmother could read our profile that afternoon. We'll definitely make sure to keep you updated on that.

Katelee following a FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) family carnival we attended.

• Motherhood. I had a very nice Mother's Day. Katelee was old enough to sing in sacrament meeting for the first time ever. She was cute and reverent, though she didn't exactly sing. :) She colored my Mother's Day card. We played games together. She called it "Katelee Celebration Day," which made me laugh so hard. She truly brings me such joy. I'm grateful to be a mom.
• Unstructured Play. This is a topic that has been a lot on my mind lately, since we attended an adoption training where they taught about the importance of unstructured playtime with your children. I feel guilty about the small amount of time I spend giving Katelee my undivided attention, but even when I do give her my attention, it's usually completely on my terms and conditions and very much structured by me. I learned how important it is for the child to choose the together activity, and how important it is for me to follow her example. This does not come easily for me, but its a concept that rings true to me. Since I've started working on this idea, I've played on the playground equipment at the park, enjoyed many silly made-up games, built a fort, and played hide and seek. Here's a picture of Katelee's toes sticking out of one of her favorite hiding places. Hee hee!

• Changes in my blogging: I have to make some decisions soon about how I'm going to handle blogging while trying to adopt. I feel strongly about keeping this blog private, as I am so open on here. However, it is strongly encouraged that while hoping to adopt we are very active in searching for our child. As part of that, we are encouraged to keep a very regular family/adoption blog. I need to decide how I am going to do that, exactly, and what that might mean for this blog in the meantime... I would love any ideas or suggestions you might have!

Dandelions

Katelee is obsessed with dandelions.

I look at them and see ugly little weeds. She sees them as beautiful flowers that she is actually allowed to pick. There's a moral in there, somewhere.

For about 3 weeks now, every time we walk to the car or the mailbox or go outside to play, Katelee has to pick every single dandelion she can find. She has been leaving little piles of them all over the house. Right now, there is one pile of dandelions under my desk, another pile on my bathroom counter, a third pile on the tile near my front door, and a pile on my keyboard stool:

I graciously accept all her offers and then wait until she's napping to gather all the piles I can find and throw them away. So far, she has never questioned where they disappeared to while she napped. Probably because she simply goes to gather more as soon as possible.

Ah, weed piles in the house. Someday I'm going to miss this. ;)

Words and Illustrations by . . .

As a child, I loved to write books. I was always stapling pieces of paper together and writing my latest story down, complete with illustrations. Katelee also loves to imagine and tell new stories. When she pretend plays with her dolls or animals, she always use the phrases, "He said," or "She shouted!" or "They all gasped," and so forth. Even when she is playing by herself, she is using the words to tell a story. It is really cute.

So the other day, I asked her if she wanted to write her own book. She was sooo enthusiastic about the idea! She told the story, and I wrote the words exactly as they came out of her mouth as quickly as I could. Then she drew the illustrations. I'm frustrated that I can't get the images to turn the right direction, so if you could like to see her pictures at the right angle, you're going to have to kink your neck.

She named her story, "Princess Analiese" after the princess from the Barbie and the Pauper movie. :)

Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a castle. Her King and Queen were wanting to send her away, but she was very afraid.

So instead she had a camp-out in her bedroom. She had a lamb and the princess was so excited cause her lamb had a birthday tomorrow!

She had a birthday the next day after her lamb. She really wanted her freckles to grow. So the King and Queen wanted to send her away because she wanted to play with her friends and whined when it was time to clean up.

(Note: At this point she put on her whiniest voice and proceeded to really whine about having to clean up. Unfortunately, I could not convey this quickly enough or well enough in words to do it justice, so I just left it out of the book. But it was some amazing whining!)

She didn't want to help clean up. So the Queen was sad and didn't want to send her away because she loved her pretty princess. The King sent her away but the queen made her come back.

(Imagine all the voices on this part; Katelee is really good at making the voices!)

"I don't want to send her away! She's my pretty, pretty princess!" said the Queen. "Well, I guess you can stay," said the King. Then the princess said, "Where is my bed going to be?"

"Upstairs where you used to sleep," said the King. The King and Queen didn't have a bed, so they slept there, too. The King loved the princess.

The End.

Update on my Dad

So many of you have asked about my dad. Thank you for caring. My dad is in the hospital right now and has been for the past few days. Sadly, the kidney my brother gave him in January simply couldn't stand against the aggressiveness of his disease, and the kidney has officially failed. My dad is back on dialysis, and has been pretty sick the last few days. We would so appreciate it if you could keep him in your prayers. Thanks for all your love and support!

Stop Growing

Katelee and I have a little daily joke. She'll do something incredibly grown up, and I'll ask her to please stop growing. Then she'll giggle and say, "No! I want to grow!" Honestly, it is a daily routine.

Because lately Katelee has seemed so grown up!

Here are just a few signs that she is becoming a seriously big girl:

• She's taken a sudden interest in the TV shows I watch. If asked, she'll gush her opinion that 'The Office' is soooooo funny (though I've never actually let her watch it) and she really likes to watch American Idol with me. She cried when Katie was voted off the show. But only because I think she liked her name. ;)
• She's starting to read. We've been learning sight words, and she is learning to sound out words, too. She loves it and is so excited to read. She read her first complete sentence by herself a couple weeks ago: "A princess is kind."
• She talks to me like a little adult. And uses words and phrases that sound so funny coming from her mouth. Like today she said to me, "Mom, I have a clever idea!"
• She has started playing outside without adult supervision. But only on rare occasions, and only with lots of other kids, and only when my door is open and I check on her every other minute. (I'm not quite ready for this step yet!)
• She has started to go ahead in her piano books and play songs on her own.
• I no longer dress her, put on her shoes, open locked doors, or buckle her in her car seat anymore. She is so independent. Some of these things I thought I would never miss doing, but I do.

I love you, my big grown-up girl.

But really, stop growing. Or at least just slow it down a bit. You're growing up too fast!

Piano Recital

Last night was my Spring Piano Recital. It went well; the kids did a great job, including Katelee, who loves being in my recitals! Somehow I was put in charge of the camera last night, and so I (of course) completely forgot to videotape Katelee's performance. In my defense, I had plenty of other things on my mind. I was so disappointed when I realized that I didn't get it on tape! She did a wonderful job, as always; she played her song perfectly, and she definitely loves to perform! I did get one picture of her towards the end of her song:

After the recital ended, I made Katelee perform again so I could get it on tape. It's not the best example (notice that she doesn't even sit on the bench!) and there are clean-up noises in the background. But even so, she's adorable! I love how you can hear her count to four as she holds out the whole note at the end of the song.

I made a cake for the recital. Each of the 26 student's names were somewhere on the cake, which they thought was awesome! Every bit of cake was gone by the end of the night. It was definitely a success.

Best Moment of the Day

Katelee has this

sweet, tender

moment,

right before she falls asleep.

If you happen to be nearby,

when her eyelids are drooping and she's almost out,

and you catch her eye,

and smile,

she'll give you the most

beautiful

charming

beaming

loving

smile

in return.

No matter what mood she was in just a few minutes earlier.

I love this particular

smile,

because it's both

sleepy and stunning

at the same time.

I can't get enough of it.

Last night I kept her awake

an extra

five or ten minutes

just because I couldn't resist

smiling at her again

once

or twice

every minute.

Her sleepy smile took my breath away.

It's a small window - the time when I can elicit that smile.

I don't always catch it.

But when I do

it's one of the best

moments

of the day.

Thrifty Tip Thursday

Anyone who knows my family knows I have some pretty cool relatives. My cousins are no exception. Over a year ago, one of my amazing cousins started making her own laundry detergent. I was impressed, but I had a friend who had had a bad experience with this, so I didn't try to do it myself. However, the detergent making spread throughout the family. I think all my cousin's sisters and sister-in-laws are now making their own detergent.

Enough time had passed that I could start asking my cousins questions like: Does it really clean your clothes as well? Does it ruin your clothes over time? What about new washing machines? Because I know my cousins well, I really trusted their opinions. They all are very happy with how well the detergent cleans their clothes; one cousin says it cleans her clothes better than Tide used to; since they have been using it for quite awhile (longer than a year) they can safely say it isn't ruining their clothes at all. Also, if you have a new High Efficiency washer, it works just fine for that, too, as one of my cousins did a ton of research to make sure before she began using it with hers.

I was still skeptical that making the detergent would be a lot of work and effort, and I wasn't sure it would be worth it. But I decided to give it a try. And I was amazed - AMAZED! - at how easy it was to make. And how inexpensive. I have definitely committed to making this for years to come. I usually bought cheap store detergent (All, anyone?) and I have been using this homemade detergent long enough to confidently say that it cleans at least as well as the All or Sun brand detergents did. Probably better. Definitely better. I like the smell. And I made 5 gallons of detergent for less than $4. Are you convinced yet? Here's how to make it if you want to give it a try.

STEP 1: GATHER THE SUPPLIES

You will need:

• 1 Bar Fels Naptha Soap
• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
• Water
• a measuring cup
• a stirring spoon
• a cheese grater
• a large pot
• some sort of 5 gallon container
• and a large stirring stick (for the 5 gallon container)

Notes: I spent about $12 on all the supplies up front, but I only used 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda, and I'll reuse my 5 gallon container, so next time it will only cost me $1 to make. I found all the soap supplies at my local King Soopers grocery store. Walmart sells the Borax for cheaper, but doesn't carry the other things. I used an especially large pot, because I was warned that it's easy to accidently boil over the soap. But I definitely think you could get away with using a much smaller pot, especially if you're watchful so it doesn't boil over. I didn't want to buy a 5 gallon bucket for this, so I went to Walmart and bought a five gallon basic plastic garbage can for about $2. And my large stirring stick is an old wand from our blinds that broke. :)

STEP 2: COOK THE SOAP

• Pour 6 cups of water into your pot and heat it just shy of boiling. You want it warm enough to melt the soap, but not enough to boil over.
• While the water is warming, grate the bar of soap into small pieces. I took a picture of this, but it didn't turn out, but my plate of grated soap looked exactly like a plate of grated cheese! Ha ha ha! Better warn your husband and kids before they try a handful! ;)
• Add the shredded soap to the pot of heated water. Stir the mixture until the soap is completely melted.
• Once the soap is melted, add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup Washing Soda to the melted soap mixture. Stir until dissolved. (This is where your soap might boil over if you're not careful!)

STEP 3: MIX EVERYTHING IN A 5-GALLON CONTAINER

• Pour three gallons of hot water into the 5-gallon container, then add in the melted soap mixture from the stove top.
• Mix everything together.
• Optional fragrance: if you prefer to have a pleasant scent, you can add a few drops of essential oils at this time. I didn't add anything, because I liked the smell of the soap just fine. The amount of fragrance you add is strictly personal preference.

STEP 4: LET SIT OVERNIGHT

• Now that everything is mixed and dissolved, cover your 5-gallon container and place it somewhere it won't be disturbed. Let is cool over night. It will begin to gel as it cools. It does not gel uniformly so the next day it will look like Egg Drop soup. See:

STEP 5: STORE IN SMALLER CONTAINERS

Isn't this a great post for Earth Day? Now is your chance to re-use all those almost-empty detergent bottles around your house and stop adding them to the landfills! ;)

• A funnel and a large pouring container, such as a pitcher, is useful for this step. Pour the finished detergent from your 5-gallon container into smaller containers to use. It will look something like this:

And look what you did! You're amazing! Make sure not to tell your husband how easy this is, so he can brag about what a wonder woman you are! And look how much detergent I now have; everything is filled to the brim expect the clear soap container, which was the last one I filled:

Happy Laundering!