A Typical Day

Gabby and I are staying busy these days. I thought I'd share a typical day in our life. My alarm goes off about 6am and I usually wake to find Gabby has ended up in my bed. She sleeps like a rock and doesn't twitch as I crawl over her and start getting ready. I wait until the last possible moment to get Gabby up as she is not a morning person.

Gabby now has opinions about what she wears. She typically rejects whatever outfit I pick out and we spend a few minutes "discussing" what she should wear. She wins the battle and typically ends up in some unique combination which compels me to issue the disclaimer: "She dressed herself" to everyone we see.

I drop Gabby off at her preschool at 7:50 on my prompt days. I often have to do her hair there since she's usually still too angry about being clothed before we leave the house. She asks every morning if she can go to school 'nakey'.

My work is really close to Gabby's school and I start my day at 8am. I'm still enjoying my job and starting to get more interesting claims to handle. There's a Super Target within walking distance so I can get grocery shopping in on my breaks typically. The day usually goes by fairly quickly and I head out at 4:30 to get Gabbers.

Gabby is always so excited to see me and show off her artwork of the day. She has a hard time leaving some of it behind if it's not ready to come home with her. Before we even get in the car, she asks if we can go to Wendy's for "red chicken nuggets." She calls them that because they come in a red box. If we do stop for red chicken nuggets, Gabby helps me order saying, "Excuse me, I would like 5 red chicken nuggets, please!" She gets upset if ever she gets a yellow box, so is very clear about the color preference.

We get home a little after 5 and eat dinner. If I cook, Gabby likes to sit on the counter and assist me. We both like a little alone time to unwind from our people-filled day. Gabby prefers to to watch a show and insists that I go away. Usually by 6, Gabby is ready to play. Lately, we've been making masks. We've made bunny, butterfly, tiger, and elephant masks. Tonight was the elephant mask. I make them from scratch under Gabby's direction. She'll then spend some time being that animal. I have to pretend to be an animal,too, only I don't get a cool mask. We play dress up, hide-n-seek, color pictures, read stories, etc, whatever Gabby comes up with. Gabby likes to play computer games so she'll do that some evenings and is getting pretty good and it gives me a chance to get other things done.

She's better about taking baths without David, but she does have to have purple water. We use color bath tabs and it's purple water every night. She hates getting washed, but enjoys playing after that's out of the way. She has some new Wonder Pet bath toys that she's

Bedtime is still a battle, but getting better. I either read stories of Gabby's choosing or we tell stories about Farmer Jed. Farmer Jed has animals with identity crisis's and trouble picking roses without getting pricked by a thorn. Gabby usually ends up finishing the stories and they're quite fascinating. We say prayers and I have to lay with Gabby until she's close to sleeping and I can sneak away. I usually read my own book during this time.

I'm a bit of a night owl so I'll be up for a couple of hours doing the things I enjoy such as blogging while listening to Rush as I'm doing now (I am a Rush 24/7 member so I can still get my Rush-fix every day). Of course I cram in the other stuff like cleaning, laundry, and paying bills where I can. We're busy, but happy and the days are flying by far too quickly.

This is my favorite mask that I've made so far. For some reason, she looks more like a bank robber to me than an elephant. She's insisting on wearing it to school tomorrow to show off for her friends. She wore the tiger mask on Monday. She's gotta be the coolest kid there, what with coming in homemade masks, mismatched clothes, and crazy hair. She sure does make me laugh!

A Trip to the Zoo

Since it's blessedly hot now, I wanted to get out and enjoy some sunshine with Gabby. We hadn't been to zoo since we moved here so that's where we went. The Torgersons met us there and we had a fun time. Salt Lake Zoo is about the same size as Little Rock's so it didn't take too long to see it all. Especially with Gabby only allowing 10 seconds to see each animal. She kept us moving.

Gabby and David checking out some exotic turkeys

David frozen in disbelief that Gabby let go of his hand

Gabby showing the giraffes her "tricks" as she termed it.

All aboard the train!

Maggie Leigh is losing hair and getting chubbier by the day. What a cutie!

Gabby's serenade to the elephants

Cinderella

Presenting the story of Cinderella

Recited by Cinderella

Seriously!

This could only happen to me! Yesterday, I was cleaning my ring at the island in the kitchen. I was rubbing it with a cloth when it slipped out of my hand. I heard it hit the floor. I look down and can't see it anywhere. So I start looking more carefully and still can't see it. I get on my hands and knees to look under the cabinet. I feel under and notice that there is a space between the baseboard of the cabinet and the cabinet itself. I thought, "No way could my ring be under there," and searched the rest of the kitchen. Oh, but it was under there. My ring dropped perfectly enough to bounce once and go through the space above the baseboard. A shot in a million! The space was wide enough for my fingers, but not my hand. I got a hanger to slide in to try to hook onto the ring. There just wasn't enough space to maneuver and I couldn't see a thing.

I took a limited amount of tools when I moved out and had to make do with my trusty mallet and a screwdriver (that reminds me, I need to do a post on why everyone needs a good rubber mallet, I'm very attached to mine). I banged out a hole and was able to see that my ring was in fact under the cabinet. I used the hanger to slide the ring towards the opening. I still couldn't get it out with my fingers or get it on the end of the hanger. I finally got a spoon and was able to scoop it up and out. I still can't believe my ring bounced under there. Here's a shot of my handiwork and just how small the space is that my ring bounced through (I am going to patch the hole, though you'd have to lay down to see it). What are the odds?

Happy Mother's Day

I was blessed with such an incredible mother. The further I get in life, the more I appreciate all that she gave to our family. There are 6 children in our family and she gave everything she had to us. We weren't an easy lot of kids by any means. We were actually pretty awful for the most part. I only have Gabby and I can't believe the amount of work a child takes. My mother not only raised 6 children, but she raised us well. We didn't have that much in the way of material possessions, but we always had a wealth of mom's time and love. Mom is always being described as nice, she's literally one of the nicest women you'll ever meet. She has tremendous faith in God and blessed each of us with an example of serving Him. She's just as much of an amazing grandmother now. She loves her grandchildren and they love her just as much in return. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

This is the first Mother's Day that I've gotten gifts and I have to say that it's kind of nice. My parents sent me the purple flowers yesterday with a really sweet note. When I got home from church, I found the yellow roses and candy. Jen and David put my spare key to good use and left them for me. I was so surprised! Yellow roses are my favorite as is Dove chocolate and Red Vines. I'm so glad I have such a great family who are so thoughtful and nice. Thank you!

So this has been a perfect Mother's Day for me. Gabby is in Richfield for a few days so I'm getting a break from Mom-duty. I love being a mother. I sincerely feel so honored to be Gabby's mom. She's such a special and amazing girl. I'm excited to be apart of her life and see who she becomes.

Gardening According to Gabby

Gabby decided we needed to grow some corn out back. I bought her a new watering can while we were out shopping yesterday. She was thrilled to put it to use. When we got home, she went into the pantry and pulled out a can of corn. She asked where she could plant it so I suggested off of our back patio. She emptied the corn on the ground. She then said she needed dirt. Luckily, we had some by the edge of the house. She set to digging and getting the right amount of dirt. She piled it on top of the corn and watered it. Gabby devised this process all on her own. Last summer, we tried growing soccer balls(seriously, we went through the same process with a soccer ball last year). We'll see how her corn turns out.

It's been a while since I've posted a good crack shot of Gabby, I'm sure y'all have been missing them.

May in Utah

Yes, that is SNOW! It snowed on May 1. I formally declare this, "Worst Winter Ever!" The snow didn't stick for long, but it's just not right to be snowing in May! Gabby is so over the snow and cold weather as well. She asked me the other day why springtime can't stay since she's so tired of winter. She said she just wants it to be warm. Amen!

Gabby has discovered a new talent, photography. She took about 30 pictures of Soapy the other day. Soapy is doing well and her and Gabby have not had further arguments (at least to my knowledge).

Jen and I have been taking the kids to the park the past couple of Saturdays. The West Jordan City Park has a fabulous playground designed as a frontier town. Gabby and David have loved meeting up and exploring it together.