We have a huge (actually several) dirt pile in our back yard that the girls love to play on. The latest craze seems to be riding down the tallest hill on this yellow sleddish thing that us Croney's used to ride on when we went water skiing. (We used it as a knee board before knee boards were in style.) Although they have had several disasters while attempting to do this, we can't talk them out of it. Yesterday was no exception. The sun was out, and the girls were feeling the groove. For a while. The story seems to be that Ryenne and Emmy were loaded on to the board, and "accidentally" started down the hill before Kate climbed aboard. Being determined as she is, she dove for it to try to catch a ride. Bummer. . .she missed.
I was in the house when I heard her hysterically screaming. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I could ask her to pose for a picture at the time. Instead, I tried to do what any compassionate mother would do, and took her to the bathroom to clean and doctor her up as best as possible. I'm still feeling a little bummed about the picture, because it would have been a really great one. She had dirt packed into both nostrils. We got those blown out, and then examined her mouth, which was also filled with dirt. She was bleeding pretty good, and I was having a hard time deciphering what was skin, dirt, etc., so I went to get Courtney. As soon as he took over, I couldn't help it. All of my efforts to be a good mom went out the window. I just started to laugh. Hysterically. She had done an A+ face plant!
Luckily for Kate, she walked away with only a slightly fat lip and some scratches. And luckily for us, she is very tough! We (once again) tried to dissuade the girls from any further rides down the dirt pile, but to no avail. It seems we are raising three thrill seekers.
Good thing Uncle AJ can do cosmetic surgery. I'm afraid that one of these days we may be needing his services. Only next time, I think I'll take a picture.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Baby's First 1/2 Marathon
Last weekend, my sister-in-law Kelsey, sister Jodi, & I finished a 1/2 marathon in Ogden Valley (with my OB's permission!). It was pretty chilly, but beautiful, and we had a great time! This was their first 1/2 marathon distance and they did great! Way to go Jodi & Kelsey! They are already planning another one in August, but I guess baby girl Wood & I will have to bow out of that one as she is due to arrive the middle of August! We'll definitely be cheering them on!
More Pink On the Way. . . .
We went to our ultrasound today, and yip- it's a girl! Best of all, everything looked healthy. And yes, Courtney is holding up quite well. The girls were really set on a boy. They kept asking the technician, "is it a boy?". . ."we want a boy". . ."can you see it yet? Look and see if it's a boy." . . . When he finally said he thought it was another girl, they sat there for a just a second, and then started chanting, "Yeah, yeah! We get to do her hair!" They are pretty excited!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
The Easter Bunny Comes to Our House!
The girls were so excited for Easter this year! Ryenne was sure to leave the Easter Bunny a snack on Saturday night to help buoy him up for a busy night of delivering goodies. After a bit of thought, she decided that lettuce (celery) and some water would fit the bill. We were awakened Easter morning by a very excited, giggling Ryenne. The Easter Bunny had been so hungry that it ate all but one stalk of celery! 
The Hunt begins! At our house, the Easter Bunny hides the girls baskets and leaves candy and goodies EVERYWHERE! The girls love to wake up to trails of candy lining the hallways, window sills, and floorboards. Everywhere they look is evidence of the Easter Bunny's appearance. Once they find their baskets, they are lined up and given the "ready, set, go"!
Ryenne is a pro. Any self-respecting Easter egg hunter who carries the Croney blood line knows that the first item of business is chocolate. The first sweep is on a chocolate-only basis. Once all chocolate is picked up and accounted for in your basket, only then do you make a second run to gather up less important items, such as jelly beans, etc. These only serve to fill up your basket so you can win the "who has the most candy in the basket" contest when you gather with your siblings to compare the goods.
Grandpa Croney was on hand to help teach Emmy the tricks of the trade.
As you can see, Kate made a haul. (Good thing they left the celery for the Easter Bunny. I could tell he must have been in a grand mood when leaving Easter goodies for the Wood girls!)
The Hunt begins! At our house, the Easter Bunny hides the girls baskets and leaves candy and goodies EVERYWHERE! The girls love to wake up to trails of candy lining the hallways, window sills, and floorboards. Everywhere they look is evidence of the Easter Bunny's appearance. Once they find their baskets, they are lined up and given the "ready, set, go"!
Ryenne is a pro. Any self-respecting Easter egg hunter who carries the Croney blood line knows that the first item of business is chocolate. The first sweep is on a chocolate-only basis. Once all chocolate is picked up and accounted for in your basket, only then do you make a second run to gather up less important items, such as jelly beans, etc. These only serve to fill up your basket so you can win the "who has the most candy in the basket" contest when you gather with your siblings to compare the goods. 
Grandpa Croney was on hand to help teach Emmy the tricks of the trade.As you can see, Kate made a haul. (Good thing they left the celery for the Easter Bunny. I could tell he must have been in a grand mood when leaving Easter goodies for the Wood girls!)Easter Fun at Grandma & Grandpa Jones- 2008
We had a great time at Grandma & Grandpa Jones' annual Easter egg hunt this year with all the cousins. The weather was a bit chilly, but it didn't slow the kids down a bit! Grandma even hid an egg with $1.00 in it for each of the kids, so they were feeling rich! 
Ryenne on the prowl. 
Emmy's feeling proud!
Kate & Jacob- checking out their booty.
I loved this picture of Jacob in the heat of the moment. I hope he got that egg he was after.
Ryenne on the prowl.
Emmy's feeling proud! 
Kate & Jacob- checking out their booty. Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My Quiet Time of the Day. .
The girls are in bed, and Courtney is out of town for the week. I have to admit- I love this rare time of night, when all is quiet and the dishes are actually done! Ussually I try to curl up with a good book. However, I just finished a good book, and with Court gone, I've no one to chat with. (Most nights, Emmy is still up talking a million miles a minute while I try to remind her that this is "Mommy's time"!)
Anyway, I've been thinking how I've been a little bit hit and miss recording all the everyday moments & funny comments that come with the girls- I usually record those in my journal, but haven't done that much lately. When I do, it helps me remember how fun life really can be!
Emmy makes me laugh. Lately I have been enjoying the time we have together so much. I love to watch her. She is such a fun gal. I love to watch her face while she's playing. She is very animated and when I watch her in action, it just makes me feel warm and happy inside. She gets this look of pure joy that, to me, seems to capture all the best things about childhood.
(The girls made an impromptu "bakery" in the family room. I find this comes in very handy when I have a sweet tooth. The sign on the chair says "Cake & Pie for sale." Very handy, indeed.)
Ryenne will turn 8 next week. I guess she's growing up. I have to admit, it breaks my heart. There has always been something so innocent and childlike about Ryenne, and I hope she can hang on to that. She is happiest doing the things that a child should love. All kids love being outside, Ryenne loves being outside. I love to steal glimpses of her when she outside, because she is never happier than when she is outside exploring. She can spend hours outside alone, looking at the sky, listening to the birds, and doing all those things that adults don't take the time to do anymore.
Most nights at dinner, we take turns thinking of a question. Once the questions is asked, everyone takes a turn answering. Tonight Ryenne immediately announced that she had a question to ask. Her question was, "If you were to build any house, what would it be like?" After each of us had answered, she took a turn. She explained that she would build a house on a road where there were no cars so they could ride their bikes without worrying. (This was on every one's list.) Next, she said it would have an upstairs. (Our house is one level, which I love, but Ryenne feels like she is the only one in the world who doesn't have stairs.) She said her house would have a big kitchen and a garage that was like ours but was clean and didn't have all of Dad's work stuff in it. Her house would have a separate shop that Dad could keep his wood working things in so our garage didn't get dusty. In addition, it would have a playhouse, but one that was finished, not "raggedy" like ours. We would have green grass, and a garden. In the garden she would grow peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes (not to eat but to give away-she hates tomatoes). And flowers. Lots and lots of flowers, including some sunflowers that would grow very tall. We would have a pasture with horses, and a barn with one cow, a pen with puppies, and some kittens. Doesn't this sound wonderful? It is my dream list too (Okay. Maybe not the kittens). . . Perhaps someday when all of our to do projects are finished. I just smiled to myself while she was going through her list, because I could tell she'd really put some thought into it. Little does she know I've had her on my mind too. She was one of my main arguments in trying to convince Courtney that it was time to hire someone to help us finish our yard. Ryenne just needs flowers, green grass, and a garden! That's all there is to it.
Last but not least, when all is quiet and I'm up alone, this time of the day makes me think of Courtney. When he's out of town, I just plain miss him! Tomorrow is our 10th anniversary, and we won't be together. What a bummer. Ryenne & Kate decided at dinner that since he won't be here, they would throw me a party tomorrow, with invitations, decorations, and the works. So I guess not all is lost. Anyway, I sure appreciate him and how hard he tries at being a good dad and husband. He has been very patient with my mile long list of honey-do's for him to work on. (I always get this way when I'm pregnant.) I appreciate that after the initial look of "are you kidding me?"- he usually rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He's even realized that our messy, unfinished yard is bringing me to the brink of insanity, and has finally consented to letting me find someone to come in and finish it. I know how hard this is for him to hire out jobs that he could do himself. He must really love me (and after 10 years, has found he prefers me happy)! I guess that's what I appreciate about him. My happiness matters to him. Even when it's over seemingly silly things.
It's getting late, and I should get to bed. But I was right-I do feel better. It's good for me to use this quiet time to think about all the things I love about the people I love most. It makes me see just how much there is to love! Thank goodness for my quiet, "mommy time" of the day.
Anyway, I've been thinking how I've been a little bit hit and miss recording all the everyday moments & funny comments that come with the girls- I usually record those in my journal, but haven't done that much lately. When I do, it helps me remember how fun life really can be!
Emmy makes me laugh. Lately I have been enjoying the time we have together so much. I love to watch her. She is such a fun gal. I love to watch her face while she's playing. She is very animated and when I watch her in action, it just makes me feel warm and happy inside. She gets this look of pure joy that, to me, seems to capture all the best things about childhood.Not that I do anything really spectacular with her while the girls are in school. In fact, I really don't do anything spectacular with her at all. I guess I should work on that. (When I picked her up from Joy School today at her friend Wyatt's house, she didn't want to go home. I told her we needed to because I had some jobs I needed to get done. She told me "I wish I had a nice mom. I think one like Wyatt's would be good.")
Emmy has been quite busy as of late, and is actually away on vacation and is staying at her Grandma's house. "Kalli" is staying with us while she is gone. Kalli's (who bears a striking resemblance to Emmy) parents are on vacation to St. Lucia & St. Vincent. Most of the time this trade pays off rather well, because Kalli will do all of the jobs Emmy doesn't enjoy doing. Most mornings, she comes out of her room, smiling at how she cleaned up Emmy's room. "Emmy is pretty messy," she says. She calls us Kelly & Courtney and has very nice manners. The other day, however, it got a little bit complicated because Emmy came back for a visit. I had to put Kalli's shoes on, and then Emmy's. The other night we were driving home from Grandma & Grandpa Jones' house. Grandma had given "Kalli" her old cell phone. We were driving along when she asked, "Courtney, does Emmy have a barbie phone?" Courtney answered "Why yes, I think she does." She quickly replied, "Good. Then I don't have to share with her".
(The girls made an impromptu "bakery" in the family room. I find this comes in very handy when I have a sweet tooth. The sign on the chair says "Cake & Pie for sale." Very handy, indeed.)Kate is just Kate. What I love about Kate is that she is so content to just be herself. With Kate, there's no worries about being anything different than who she is. I hope she always feels that way. She is determined as ever, and is loving everything she is learning at school. She loves to stay busy reading and working on math facts, spelling words, or anything else we'll give her to learn. For fun, she likes us to make sheets of math facts that she can work on. She loves when we correct them and write her score on the top. Then she goes through and fixes all her mistakes. Don't know where she gets it, but I hope it holds!
Kate's latest infatuation is texting. (I don't know where she gets that either!) Grandpa Jones watched the girls for us last week while we were at a funeral. When we returned, he'd given her his old cell phone and taught her how to text message. She can't send them, but she keeps the phone charged and has it all figured out. She has her contact list and a bank of messages. She knows how to change her screen saver and choose a ring tone. (I don't know how to do any of these things!) Should we be worried?
Ryenne will turn 8 next week. I guess she's growing up. I have to admit, it breaks my heart. There has always been something so innocent and childlike about Ryenne, and I hope she can hang on to that. She is happiest doing the things that a child should love. All kids love being outside, Ryenne loves being outside. I love to steal glimpses of her when she outside, because she is never happier than when she is outside exploring. She can spend hours outside alone, looking at the sky, listening to the birds, and doing all those things that adults don't take the time to do anymore. Most nights at dinner, we take turns thinking of a question. Once the questions is asked, everyone takes a turn answering. Tonight Ryenne immediately announced that she had a question to ask. Her question was, "If you were to build any house, what would it be like?" After each of us had answered, she took a turn. She explained that she would build a house on a road where there were no cars so they could ride their bikes without worrying. (This was on every one's list.) Next, she said it would have an upstairs. (Our house is one level, which I love, but Ryenne feels like she is the only one in the world who doesn't have stairs.) She said her house would have a big kitchen and a garage that was like ours but was clean and didn't have all of Dad's work stuff in it. Her house would have a separate shop that Dad could keep his wood working things in so our garage didn't get dusty. In addition, it would have a playhouse, but one that was finished, not "raggedy" like ours. We would have green grass, and a garden. In the garden she would grow peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes (not to eat but to give away-she hates tomatoes). And flowers. Lots and lots of flowers, including some sunflowers that would grow very tall. We would have a pasture with horses, and a barn with one cow, a pen with puppies, and some kittens. Doesn't this sound wonderful? It is my dream list too (Okay. Maybe not the kittens). . . Perhaps someday when all of our to do projects are finished. I just smiled to myself while she was going through her list, because I could tell she'd really put some thought into it. Little does she know I've had her on my mind too. She was one of my main arguments in trying to convince Courtney that it was time to hire someone to help us finish our yard. Ryenne just needs flowers, green grass, and a garden! That's all there is to it.
Last but not least, when all is quiet and I'm up alone, this time of the day makes me think of Courtney. When he's out of town, I just plain miss him! Tomorrow is our 10th anniversary, and we won't be together. What a bummer. Ryenne & Kate decided at dinner that since he won't be here, they would throw me a party tomorrow, with invitations, decorations, and the works. So I guess not all is lost. Anyway, I sure appreciate him and how hard he tries at being a good dad and husband. He has been very patient with my mile long list of honey-do's for him to work on. (I always get this way when I'm pregnant.) I appreciate that after the initial look of "are you kidding me?"- he usually rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He's even realized that our messy, unfinished yard is bringing me to the brink of insanity, and has finally consented to letting me find someone to come in and finish it. I know how hard this is for him to hire out jobs that he could do himself. He must really love me (and after 10 years, has found he prefers me happy)! I guess that's what I appreciate about him. My happiness matters to him. Even when it's over seemingly silly things.
It's getting late, and I should get to bed. But I was right-I do feel better. It's good for me to use this quiet time to think about all the things I love about the people I love most. It makes me see just how much there is to love! Thank goodness for my quiet, "mommy time" of the day.
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