This and That

Here are some pictures just for fun. I haven't been taking pictures as much lately and have been trying to do better; I especially haven't been posting pictures. So these are just some random pictures of what we have been up to.
We went to the Aquarium with the Jones family a few weeks ago. This is what happens when you try to get all the grandkids to pose for a picture instead of looking at the cute little otters.
One day Matthew put on Justin's beanie and insisted on wearing it everywhere. We had to go get Koyle's shots done that day and Matthew wore his beanie the whole time. He looked so stinkin cute!

When Jacque was here we went to a park up in Provo Canyon that has some old train cars. Matthew of course loved them.
This is what happens when a little boy wakes up at 5:50 and then doesn't take a nap. He falls asleep on the couch at 4. (Don't mind that he is naked, that is our potty training and it is working miracles. More on that later.)Painting! Need I say more?
I have also been taking some cute videos of the boys (mostly Koyle) but I need to play with my new camera and figure out how to get them on my computer, etc. So as soon as I do that I will post some.

Early Birds

Why did I get the lucky privilege of having early bird children? I do the same thing as others when it comes to bedtime and sleep, but my children always seem to think that the wee morning hours are the best time to wake up. Why couldn't I have gotten my sisters kids who sleep in and she often has to wake them up in the morning? Perhaps it is because I can handle it. I learned in high school and college how to function on very little sleep. These skills came in quite handy when Matthew was little. And I have always been more a morning person than a night person myself, so it is not so much that I mind waking up early. It does feel good to get up and get the day started. You can accomplish a lot of extra things just by waking up early. Here is my problem with it all. When your 5 month old wakes up at 5 a.m., or your 2 year old decides that 6 a.m. is the best time get up, it makes for VERY LONG days. I run out of things to do with the kiddos by the afternoon because we have already been hanging out for 10 hours. I can only take so much baby talk and trains before it is time for a break. And being home most evenings by myself means we are usually very bored by the time daddy comes home. Really, what am I supposed to do for 15 hours a day with two small children?
And you might be thinking, just put your kids to bed later so they don't wake up as early. But remember that part about a) being ready for a break and b) they are tired because they have been up since o' dark thirty. So I don't really think that is a good solution.
I'm not really looking for a solution, just sharing some thoughts as I embark upon another lovely day that started very early : ) I hope you enjoy your day too.

Giving or Receiving?

We have had another eventful week and a half. Last Friday my sister came up to spend the weekend with us and to celebrate her birthday. It was really fun having her around. We made a delicious carrot cake and played some games the night of her birthday. On Saturday we went up to Bridal Veil Falls and trudged through the snow with the stroller but it felt so good to get out and get some fresh air. Jacque and I also worked all day on putting together a genealogy chart to display at my grandma's funeral. Jacque did an awesome job and it turned out great!
Sunday after church we drove up to Rupert and met the rest of my family there. That night we went to Grandma Koyle's viewing and then Monday morning we had the funeral in Gooding, followed by a lunch, and then we drove back to Burley for the burial. It was a very nice funeral and it was good to see family again. I love my Koyle family and I couldn't help but feeling a little sad knowing we will never all be together again like that. That night I drove back to Boise with my parents and Justin came home.
With everything that has been going on lately I really felt the desire to do what I could to help my family. The thing I have to give of most right now is time, so I went and spent the week at home to offer my help and support. I was able to get the house all clean, and spend some time with my aunt, as well as cook dinner, do laundry, and just be there. It was a fun week. We got to go and watch Lindy dance which is always a joy!
Friday I drove back to Rupert with my aunt and uncle. Justin met us there and then we continued on to Rexburg to spend the weekend with my sister and her family. We have had this trip planned for a long time and despite all our unexpected travels lately I still wanted to come because it is most likely my last chance to come visit for a long time. Saturday I went in to the school and got a hair makeover. I am LOVING it so far. My hair had gotten so thick it was out of control-really. I couldn't do anything with it. We probably took half of my hair off (not exaggerating) and it is actually manageable now. I will post a picture as soon as I take one but my camera is dead right now. Saturday night we went out bowling and had a great time. We are headed back home on Monday and the countdown to move date will begin. I need to start working on my list of things that need to get done before April.
Moral of the Story: All week as I was "helping" my family I couldn't stop thinking that I was the one receiving help. I had a wonderful week with my children and I was able to get a lot of things done. Giving service to others really does make you feel better about your own life. And being around people I love always makes me feel happy and in control of life as well. So, if ever you are feeling in a slump or like life is getting a little crazy, find something that you have to offer, and then give it to someone in need.

Memories of Grandma

My Grandma Koyle passed away Tuesday night. We found out January 20 that she had cancer; she chose not to receive treatment, and I guess it was a blessing that she went quickly. I don't have as many memories of Grandma as my cousins who lived in Gooding with her, but those I do have are special and fun. I would always like to remember them. Just for starters, Grandma lived to be 85. She had 10 children, 59 grandchildren, and 112 great-grandchildren! I love my huge Koyle family.

• Christmas Candy Bags: Since Grandma and Grandpa had so many grandchildren, they couldn't buy presents for all of us and so every year they would deliver candy bags to us. They came in a brown lunch sack and always contained an orange, a dollar or two maybe, lots of that awesome old fashioned hard candy, peanuts, and Grandma's famous homemade peanut brittle. It was always so exciting when they showed up to deliver our bags. One year Grandma decided she needed to stop making them because it was just getting to be too much work for her. Her spoon had melted while making the brittle and she had to pick all the pieces out and start over-I think that was the straw that broke the camels back.
  
• I also remember one year they came and spent Christmas with us. I remember thinking that we were pretty special for them to come and stay because Grandma and Grandpa didn't spend the night with us hardly ever.
• Randomly, Grandma and Grandpa dropped in to visit right before I was getting picked up for Senior Prom. So I have a picture of me all dressed up with them. I wish I had a digital copy of it. I will work on getting it scanned so I can post it.
  
• My little sister LOVED Dalmatians when she was little and I remember Grandma coming up and making a dalmatian quilt with Lindy. She showed her how to help tie the yarn on it.
  
• Grandma had diabetes. I remember her always having to test her blood. One time we must have been out somewhere together and I'm guessing I was young enough that she didn't want to leave me alone. I'm not sure of all the details, but I remember being in the bathroom with her and she had to give herself a shot in the leg. Not sure why but that memory has always stuck with me. Probably because I was young and the idea of my grandma giving herself a shot was perhaps a little shocking.
  
• I remember one time we went to visit when she lived in Buhl and we had spent the night and she was making us breakfast in the morning. She made some sort of shake concoction full of 'healthy stuff' that tasted a little funny, but she also made us cinnamon toast bread that was piled high with cinnamon sugar. She had just learned that cinnamon was supposed to be good for diabetes and so she was trying to eat a lot of it. Never mind all the sugar she had mixed it with : )
  
• I remember always playing with the my little ponies and watching Shirley Temple movies while staying at her house.
• Grandma was always baking and cooking things while we were there. She was ready to feed whoever might feel like stopping by to visit-and somebody usually did.
• I remember one time she took us down to play at the Little Wood River (not sure if that is correct, but that is what I remember calling it). She let us play down there while she went to talk to grandpa at the power plant or something...then she came back for us and told us it was time to go home. I think Grandma must have liked to go places and do things because I also remember just going places with her, you know in to town to the Dairy Queen or something. Her car had those automatic seatbelts that came across when you turned the car on and I thought they were so cool.
• Grandma and Grandpa had a house in Boise at one time and we used to go over and visit a lot. I was pretty young and don't have many specific memories of that but I do remember jumping on the bed with my sisters singing that song "Teeter totter, bread and butter, wash your face with dirty water". Grandma was always having to tell us not to jump on the bed.
  
• I remember the guest bedroom in the old house and it had this huge beautiful bed and was just full of beautiful things...a little girl's dream. There were tea cups and lacy doilies and hats, and just stuff. (Can you tell that memory is from when I was a little girl?) I have a million memories of that old house, but I will save them for another day since this post is about Grandma, and not about her house : )
  
• Grandma was always doing something.
• She loved her family and was so proud of them. Her house was always full of pictures of her family, and she had that map of the world with a pin for every person who had served a mission and where they went.
  
• Her beautiful white hair, and her beautiful smile! Grandma was a beautiful person, inside and out. Even if you never knew her all you have to do is look at her family and you will know that she was a good person. It's like in the scriptures, she was a tree that brought forth good fruit. "By their fruits you may know them"

Good bye Grandma! I love you, and will always remember you. I know you are with Grandpa now and you must be so happy to be together again. I bet you were happy to see your baby girl that you never got to raise as well. Just the other day when we stopped to visit you, you were telling Justin how you had a daughter that died...I don't think I had ever heard you talk about her before. Thank you for your wonderful life.

Potty Training: Take One, and Two

We had been building up to the big day for a while. We had Matthew pick out his Mickey Mouse undies, we bought the jelly bellies for his candy machine, and talked a lot about it. I strategically chose to start after Christmas when I knew we would be home for a while with nothing going on and Justin would be around for a few days. So, the big day came. We explained that Matthew would get a penny each time he went potty to put in his candy machine, and he would get to put a sticker on his potty chart. When he filled up the chart we were going to the Aquarium! The first day was a little rough, but I expected that. My biggest concern was that Matthew didn't seem to care in the slightest when he peed in his pants. So, the next few days we just went naked from the waste down. This worked great! Matthew didn't like peeing on his leg and he quickly learned to stop it and run to the potty. On day 5 we even starting having success pooping in the potty! Things were going great. Matthew was on track to filling his potty chart by Friday, and Grandma was coming in town so she was going to get to come to the Aquarium with us.
Then, we got a very sad and unexpected phone call Thursday night from my parents telling us that my cousin had died. We packed our bags and Friday afternoon were headed to Idaho for 8 days. Things were a little chaotic. We were spending every day over at my aunt and uncles house and needless to say Matthew wasn't getting the constant attention a potty training 2 year old needs. We tried to stay up on it, but after the 4th nasty poop episode at my aunts house-I was done. This was not the time to deal with potty training. So, we went back to pull ups. I would still take Matthew to the bathroom occasionally, but the longer he was in pull ups the less he was holding it and he started just going whenever again.
When we finally came back home I thought we would just jump right back into it: Think Again! Matthew no longer saw the excitement of undies. His attitude was: Why wear underwear and have to go to the bathroom if I can just wear pull ups and not worry about it? So after a few rough days, I bagged it. Justin was out of town for the weekend and I was not ready to deal with it. I took a few days to re-coupe and I made a sweet train tracks potty chart and a behavior incentive chart thing for pooping. We needed another package of underwear so Matthew got to pick out some train undies, and we started the whole adventure over again.
It was not as hard the second time to get back into it, although it didn't happen overnight; it still took about a week. As long as I take Matthew to the bathroom about every 2 hours we don't have any accidents. Pooping was not going as well though. By the end of that first week, we still had had no success. So as part of our date night, Justin and I went shopping for something train that would motivate Matthew. We ended up with a cool remote control train engine. We showed it to Matthew and put it out in the family room where he couldn't reach it and explained that he had to go poop in the potty if he wanted to get the train. It still took 2 days, but finally he did it! We have still had a few accidents in that department but they are definitely getting fewer and farther between. He has stayed dry during naps from day 1. He has started staying drying at night, almost every day. I am not quite ready to let him wear undies at night though, but we are getting close.
So in short, Matthew is more or less potty trained...and it only took us a month to get there ; ) We are not 100% but hey, I already saved myself one month of diapers!
When Matthew gets to the train station on his chart he gets something. The first time it was a little train book, and the second time we got to go ride the train they have at the mall! He has been in train heaven lately.