Cookies, Coloring, Penguins and Cuties!

I made these delicious cookies on Wednesday for a YW service project. Anyway, Tori had to try them out of course and she was so funny with them that I had to take pictures to remember how much she cherished her chocolate chip cookies! I thought I loved chocolate chip cookies, but I guess not as much as Tori!The first one she devoured in a matter of seconds. The second one, that is where the cherishing started. She sang to it, danced with it, played with it, hid it, and slowly ate it morsel by morsel. The next day she had another cookie and this time she ate it bit by bit until the last bite that she shoved in her mouth! What a funny girl!

One day we were super bored and it was way to scorching to go outside, so we decided to color with markers. As you can see, she loves markers. She is not such a fan of crayons when she is being an "artist". But the consequence of markers is the great big mess. Tori always turns into a colorful tattoo! This is the most Tori has actually colored! She did it for about 45 minutes. Check out her pointillism in the Winnie the Pooh picture! Hurray for washable markers!Tori has also started drawing things. The top picture is a "Tee" aka "Tree" and the bottom is "Aninals" aka "Animals". She makes drawings all the time on her magnadoodle, but I am lucky to catch them before she quickly erases them.Thursday, which is 1/2 price day at the zoo $3.75(!) for us to go visit the aninals! Tori loves seeing all of the animals and we actually got to pet a Badger. Sorry, no pictures of that, but it was super cool. Tori loves to watch the penguins and although the zoo was super crowded, Tori and her buddy, Hannah got front row viewing. It was fun to get out of the house even though it was blasted hot!I really love this dress on Tori, but I can never get her to look at me and smile when she is wearing it. Oh well, this will have to do! Better luck next time! Tori is growing up so fast and with that she is growing an ever bigger attitude! I think that she will be just like me S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N! She threw a fit the other day that lasted at least 1/2 an hour because we wanted her to come to dinner and she had to stop playing with her toys (back-story: we just went to Goodwill and got this Sesame Street CD book that I have wanted to get Tori, but could never justify paying $20 for in the store, but at Goodwill: only $1.49. Needless to say she loves it with a passion greater than food and reason. It is now hiding for future playing fun. We also got 6 "new to us" My Little Ponies for $1.99 and Disney Princess Nesting Blocks, another toy I have been wanting to get her but couldn't spend $10 for just card board with pictures on it at the store, but at Goodwill: $1.49). I think we are now entering the "terrible twos"!And last, but definitely not least, Brookie. I think that she is getting bigger every day! I can see her growing! It is crazy! She is so fun to be with and she is such a laid back baby.

Young Women + Lake + Boat + Inner Tube = F-U-N!

What more can you ask for on a scorching summer day? (It was 96* on the lake...at least the water was warm!) I packed up my munchkins, left them with a friend and off I went! We went to Black Canyon Reservoir up near Emmet and we had a blast. Of course I participated in the tubing...look for me in the pictures (it's like where is Waldo, but where is Kendra). I love the inner tube, especially when I get to go fast and feel the exhilaration, but not get soaking wet in the process. I am sure that Brother Jones tried to knock me off a couple times because we were going over those wakes like no one's business, but he said he wasn't trying very hard and we didn't capsize. I had soooo much fun! The last time I went boating I got knocked off of a banana and there is now a diamond earring at the bottom of Hyrum Lake in Utah! We also had a picnic dinner and s'mores to end a perfect activity. When are we going again?

Summer Days

There is a lot of fun going on in this house! We are trying to keep cool in our weather. Summer activities include watching shows, drawing, coloring, singing, dancing, listening to music, reading, playing with toys, going to the library and of course, the POOL! In this lovely collage you will notice me attacking the girls on the LUV sac. We decided to keep the "Big Ball" in the living room so that we can enjoy it during the summer. Tori loves to watch her shows on the "Big Ball". As you can see, she invites all of her friends to join her to watch Sesame Street. Her other favorites include: Dora (Season 3 because it has a purple background), Wonder Pets, Blue's Clues, Elmo, Baby Einstein, and Muppet Babies. We love going to the library and getting new movies! We also have Netflix on our Wii (it is a must have!). Tori plays with Brook a little bit more lately and will talk to her or bring her a toy...at least she exist in her world! Please note that the drawing on the magnadoodle is a "cat". Tori told us. Tori is talking so much and will at least try to say anything that we tell her to say. Our new favorites "I love mommy (or daddy)" and "ah man!". Oh and we have officially switched titles, we are now Mommy (not mama) and Daddy (not dada). We miss the old titles, but she says the new ones soooo cute, we will let her keep them.

Isn't she the cutest thing?! We were stopped at least a half a dozen times at Wal-Mart on Saturday by people saying how cute Brooke is or how beautiful and big her eyes are. It was funny! She is growing like a weed and it is fun to watch her character develop. She is so fun! She is very curious about things, always happy and makes the funniest noises. There is not a food that she does not like! She has eaten just about every flavor of baby food out there and loves it all. It is getting really hard to keep her from watching TV because she moves around all over the place! She does have a new tooth! But of course there is no need to complain about anything here, she is a really great baby and we love to watch her grow!

We decided to pull out the bigger pool and boy did Tori have a blast! We put the slide in and she loved that too. We have invited some of her friends over to come and play in the pool too. In this collage is Tori's "bestie" Hannah. They were so cute playing in the pool and sprinklers. They hug all the time. It is quite tender. I love the picture of her blowing a kiss to the camera and the one with her big wide smile! She is getting so tan and now officially has a pretty prominent swimsuit line! Her hair gets blonder every day in the sun too. Who would have guessed. She has amazing coloring! As you can see, Tori loves to drink water any way she can. It grosses me out!

Oh, and Jason and I hired our first babysitter so that we could go see Eclipse. We left after the munchkins were in bed and had some delicious Frozen Yogurt. Then we went to the movie. It was really fun to get out, but way expensive. At least we got out! I have also been cooking up a storm here and trying new recipes. It is way fun! Yesterday for a Visiting Teaching lunch I made a chocolate cream pie and today for a Pie and Quilt Tie activity for Relief Society I am making a Cream Cheese Chocolate Mud Pie! It looks marvelous and I hope that I get to try it! Well, our summer is going great and we are waiting in anticipation for Yellowstone next weekend and for the Olesens to come in 24 days! We are stoked!

Ahhhh...Summer fun: Pool, Sunshine and a Night In

Wow! I just downloaded the last pictures off of my camera! I know. This is quite a feat!
One day (don't even ask me the date because I cannot remember) I took Tori outside during Brookie's nap for an hour of pool fun! Oh boy... it was a hit. Tori was a little skeptical at first, but as you can tell by the pictures she was inside the pool in no time. At the front of the pool there was a sprinkler, but Tori didn't like it up too high and it became a little drinking fountain. She proceeded to get drinks and then spit them at me. A couple times she was so fast that I thought she was going to get the camera wet. All in all she had a blast. I think that next time we will get the bigger pool out too because this small one was a bit to small for swimming. (That's Tori's favorite thing to do in the bathtub.) Tori got her first little sunburn on her shoulders, but she tanned right up in a few days. Please note that she wasn't wearing a swimmer diaper, so she is sagging! Ha ha ha!

I have taken about 50 pictures of out little miss sunshine in the last few weeks. She is so cute sitting up and she has just stepped into her 6-12 month clothes that just are sooooo cute on her. Brooke is always smiling and she gives the funniest little faces for the camera. I took the one with baby food all over her face today and the ones in the light blue shirt & jean shorts today. Her new favorite thing to do while she talks is to make raspberries. She spit her food all over her face today when she learned that it is more fun to do raspberries in your peas! ha ha ha! I had the camera close by and I took a shot, priceless.

Jason and I don't get out much having such small munchkins. We will soon get out on the town without munchkins, but when money is tight and when you have to pay a babysitter it can get a little pricey! ( I mean, let's figure it out...dinner: $40, movie:$20, babysitter:$20...it all adds up!) Well, I decided to take matters in my own hands. Using our new grill I made grilled steak kabobs with red peppers and onions (scrumptious!), huge baked potatoes with chives, broccoli and grilled pineapple. All served on our china (ok...maybe our walmart plates), using our silver(ware), in our crystal glasses (that is the only real thing!). Jason even picked me a whole vase of roses from our rose garden out front!
Although the steak got cold (because we had to put Brooke down), we were serenaded by Elmo (because Tori was still up and to keep her entertained Elmo was in the DVD player), and my pictures didn't turn out so great (because I forgot to close the blinds and I didn't realize until later that I hadn't taken a shower and I was wearing one of my work shirts), we were able to have good food (that is what a microwave is for!) & conversation!
After Tori went down we watched "Invictus", which is a fabulous movie, and we ate Tillamook ice-cream. It was a great date night in. It was fun! and I am sure we will do it again!

Dinger Shindig (June 2010)

I know this is a lot of pictures, but Marie took at least 150 and this is what I have whittled it down too! Well, after a nice spa week at girls camp I came home to 6 visitors! Auntie Marie, Auntie Michelle, Briana and Lance + Grandma and Grandpa Dinger who graciously watched the amazing duo during camp. Although technically Auntie Michelle, Lance and Briana are Choltkos, I will still call this the "Dinger Shindig". We had one of these fabulous shindigs when Tori was just a little younger than Brooke and then when Tori turned 1. Anyway, you probably don't really care, but I am sure glad the whole famdamily came to visit. 10 people in a 3 bedroom house was a little crazy (especially since we only have one working shower!), but we had a BLAST! As you can see above, we hung out a lot. We sat around and talked and played with the munchkins who both had colds (Brooke with twin ear infections). It was great to see the Choltkos...we don't get to see them all that much, but it was sure fun to catch up. Briana is in college and Lance is in High School! When I met them they were , well, 6 years younger! Ha ha ha!

A shindig must always include an amazing Barbecue or some kind of celebration, and we had both! Jason got a BBQ for Father's day from his parents. So we enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs for Father's Day dinner. We also celebrated Gwennis' (that would be Gwen and Dennis) birthday. They turned the big 67! Their birthdays are just a few days apart. Anyway, it was a great excuse to have cake! Be proud of me...I finally posted again! Love you all and I am glad that we were able to have some fun together even though we all live far apart. The next shindig will be in OHIO!!! That's right!

Is my life really that busy?!

I know that is what you are thinking! Ha ha ha! Well, I will let you see what the girls have been up to and if you want you can read the captions! I still have to blog about a Dinger Family Shindig (All of the Dingers plus the Choltkos came for a visit and I still haven't posted a blog). This is what happens when my munchkins wake up at the lovely hour of 6 AM and their naps don't overlap (because Tori decides that napping is optional sometimes!)!!! At this very moment in fact she decided that the doorway was a better fit place to sleep than her bed. I went to put Brooke down for a nap and ran the door right into Tori! She slept through it and she is still sleeping like a log although there is a chainsaw going right outside her window!
That is motherhood and boy do I enjoy it!

You need to click on these to make them bigger. Brookie now recognizes the camera and becomes a complete ham when I get it out...on the other hand, it is really hard getting a smiley picture of Tori! Tori has recently learned to ride "Horsies" on our backs. She loves it. At first it was a little shaky, but now she is a pro. Brookie is sporting the cute little blue dress that Tori got from Auntie Joy. I love this dress. It is like an heirloom dress.

Isn't she adorable!!! Brooke has learned how to sit up! And she falls so gracefully. Tori just clunked down. There was no grace! She is already starting to scoot around and gets up on her knees to do the bouncy thing...all mothers know that his is the precursor to crawling! Ahhhhh! She also performs gymnastic moves like the bridge: with her back on the floor and pushes up on her feet and hands, and also the bear walk: just the opposite of the bridge with her stomach down and feet and hands on the ground! She is babbling a lot too. She says dadadadada, mamamama, and bababababa. Isn't the corner right picture hilarious?!
Tori has all the sudden become a mag pie. I love it. She says anything and everything (or at least tries!). Her other new found hobbies: hat wearing and dancing in the rain.
On hat wearing: Brooke needs to wear hats in the sun, so I pulled the hat ziplock out of storage and it became Tori's new friend. She loves hats! The two she is sporting in this collage actually belonged to my nephew, Oscar! All the clothes are from Livy! This purple dress is soooo cute! Tori loved it too; she immediately twirled in it when she got it on.
On Dancing in the rain: One day, right before Daddy came home, Tori and I went out to play in the sun. Well, to our surprise it started raining out of no where, but good thing she had a hat on! The rain didn't stop her one bit. She played on the wet slide, danced, and even made footprints on the cement with Daddy that evaporated quickly because it was still 80* outside! She loved watching the rain make polka dots on the cement. She is so fun! (Please note the fabulous mac and cheese on her shirt front! ha ha ha!)

The Lost Files: Girls Camp (June 15th - 18th)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I must say that I have never been to Girls Camp like this! It was amazing in so many ways! What was so different:
1- I went as a leader! That was really fun. I got to go to Girls Camp 7 times when I was in Young Womens! I was one of those summer birthdays so I got to go when I was 11 (my birthday was two weeks later) and I got to go the year after I was a senior (because I was still 17!). Oh those girls sure got to know me (that was the main reason that I went) and all of my shenanigans! I think that they had no idea that "Sister Dinger" was so wild and pretty silly. I think that they liked my fake Spanish accent the best.
2- We slept in tents! Not just any tents, the "Ritz" of tents. We slept in these 8'X14'X12' monster tents. They are hunting or sheep herding tents and we didn't even have to set them up! It was amazing how big these things were. These things were at least 12 feet high! I am used to cabins (yes I went to camp at least 4 times in cabins) and adirondacks (these 3 sided bunk bed things with an open front with moss, all kinds of things crawiling everywhere and a fire pit in the middle).
3- It was absolutely FREEZING!!! Why did I even bring deodorant?! I was a Popsicle! My outfit: I wore my understuff (of course!) a tank top, a shirt, and a zipper hoodie on top; and jeans and scrubs on the bottom. Plus my ski coat, socks and tennis shoes. And I was still cold! It rained, it hailed and sometimes the sun showed it's smiling face, but I was plastered to the fire! As long as I was moving a little, I wasn't as aware of how cold I was, but when I took my shoes off at night to get into my sleeping bag...that was a shock! Oh...and the irony...this year's theme: "Rise Above the Storm!" Really?! But of course it turned out to be a good analogy in the end.
4- We had a COOK!!!! What?! And we had the most amazing food! Yeah, I am not joking...there was not one foil dinner or roasted wienie in our camp...huh, uh! There was Spaghetti and Meatballs with Caesar Salad, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches, Omelets, Orange Chicken with rice and crunchy noodles. I felt like I was at a resort, we were so SPOILED!

The skit dress rehearsal

5- Practiced and beautifully performed skits! Ours, wasn't really a skit, it was a performance. Background: We decided that we were going with an Americana theme and our sub-theme to "Rise Above the Storm" was "Stars and Stripes Above the Storm: Daughtersof Liberty". The author of our skit was worried about what the skit should be about so of course she prayed about it and this skit came to her in a dream. First one of the girls was Pres. Lincoln and started out "Three days and Two night ago...." It was totally creative and of course had the under tone of the Gettysberg address but likened to the girls at camp. Now, imagine behind Lincoln on two sides of a stage the girls are split into 2 groups. On one side there are people behind the American Flag and on the other, girls are behind the Title of Liberty (a flag from the Book of Mormon). Each girl was a performer and on one side there was someone representing America and on the other side, the Book of Mormon. So the pairs were: Christopher Columbus and Lehi, Nephi and family; Thomas Jefferson and Mormon (he compiled and abridged the Book of Mormon); Betsy Ross and Captain Moroni (maker of the Title of Liberty); General George Washington praying over what to do with the troops and Moroni burying the Gold Plates; and Lady Liberty with Angel Moroni. The flag bearers would walk across the stage and one pair would be set up. Then the flag bearers would come back and the next pair would come out... and so on. I mean this thing was amazing! In the background was the song "We are as the Armies of Helaman." At the end the girls sang the chorus of the song: "We are as the armies of Helaman/ We have been taught in our Youth/ and We will be the Lord's missionaries/ To bring the world his truth." I am getting teary eyed just thinking about it. They all end seperated again with the American side saluting the flag and the Book of Mormon side the title of liberty. It was so amazing and really cool for the girls to see that God really is the same today, yesterday and forever. And to see them make connections with the Book of Mormon and history. Can you tell that it was inspired!?
6- One Outfit! You get a camp shirt and pajama bottoms (this year navy blue scrubs with stars on the bummy) and you stay in them the whole time. It's a little tradition I guess. Apparently I wasn't in the "know" because I brought outfits that I didn't need. I stayed in the same outfit practically the whole time! Why change if I am just going to get cold! And apparently that is the attitude of the whole ward.

The Lake

7- There was a beautiful lake (which I will admit I could not convince myself to even get in the canoes and such because it was sooooo COLD). But of course the crazy girls had to get in. I was the photographer.
8- I actually learned how to use a compass! I was the leader for the 3rd year orienteering. They decided this year to not mark the spots that the girls were to go to because apparently in previous years they would cheat, so there was a little bit of frustration when we ended in the wrong spots...but anyway, it was fun.
9- I was mistaken I don't know how many times for a girl and not a leader (come on...I am almost 32 and these girls are between the ages of 12 and 17!!!!) It was a nice compliment (I guess). Or maybe it wasn' a compliment and just a reflection of how I acted... because I acted more like a girl than a leader. Hmmm...maybe I am a little immature. But, I am fun!
10- Decorated Port-O-Potties! The Youth Camp Leaders (YCLs) decorated all of them...ours was definately the best: The Tiki Hut (but my hair always got stuck in the hanging pineapples and tiki heads). I also visited the Princess Pot and the Alison in Wonderland Pot (that one came with mints in a box that said "Eat Me"!). Oh and I must say that I have never been a Port-O-Potty that hasn't stunk, but these smelled good and had hand sanitizer in it!!
What was the same:
1- Great fireside talks
2- Testimony meeting with the girls
3-Cold showers (really that should just be singular. I only took one the whole time!)
4- FUN!
My favorite moments:
1- Playing Werewolf (it's like playing Mafia but with more roles) with the girls around the fire and getting to be the narrator one game and using only my "Spanish" accent. They were in stitches! Ha ha ha! It was pretty dang hilarious!
2- Sitting around the campfire with the leaders really late at night
3- "Goodnight Moon"-The last night I went to bed a little earlier than normal because the weather was finally getting to me...I was told to get the girls to go to sleep. So I walked in and said "You guys need to be quiet of I am going to get in trouble." They of course giggled and thought I was kidding, but I proceeded and they realized I wasn't kidding. Then they asked me to tell them a story. I told them that I only knew really little kid stories by heart like "Goodnight Moon" and "Napping House". They said that they loved those, and so I recited them both. They still were a little awake and they asked me to do "Goodnight Moon" again. You see, when I read it to Tori and Brooke, I get real quiet and whisper the last line "Goonight noises everywhere". There was not a peep after I said that line. They were asleep (or maybe just quiet).
4- Teaching the girls how to make journals out of scrapbook paper and composition notebooks. One of the girls said "Sister Dinger, you are a really good teacher." Warm fuzzies!
All in all, I had a fantastic time. I am sure there is more to tell, but that is all you are going to get. If you are still reading this I am surprised that you lasted even this long! I was really glad have the opportunity to go and to get to know the girls. It really was (I am going to say it again) AMAZING!