WWF at the Rice's

Lately the girls have been fighting like crazy.  Ally has been especially nasty to Ansley.  She dictates all play.  Manipulates her and yells at her daily.  For the most part she puts up with it.  Not today though.  While I was at work, Ally did something to Ansley that upset her and was laughing at her.  That was apparently enough for Ansley.  She took off from the other side of the room, jumped on top of Ally and started slapping her in the face over and over.  Jerry thought it was hilarious.  I obviously don't condone this but in a small way felt good that Ansley finally stood up for herself.  Ally wasn't hurt but she was definitely stunned.  I foresee them getting along a little better, at least for a little while.  I guess we just needed a little WWF action to get there.

Pictures!

No one was able to come to Ally's family birthday party.  She was a little bummed but we had a good day anyway.  A new and great friend Megan called me and asked if she could take pictures of us.  We went over to Valley Falls and got some great shots.  She is an amazing photographer.  After wards we went back to our place for dinner and birthday cake.

I think I broke my butt!

Today our adult karate class was intense.  Thankfully Brenna was at the house with the girls because class went long and was extremely tough.  It was one of the first classes where I really broke into a good sweat.  We spent most of the class running at one anther full force and then doing moves on each other.  I think I hit my head at least 10 times.  It was crazy.  At the end of class Sensi was showing us how to take people down very little force.  He used me to demonstrate and I went down straight on my tailbone.  I didn't slap out, although to be fair I haven't had too much experience doing it.  So down I went.  The pain was intense.  It hit hard with my butt and then with my head.  Class was over quickly after that but it wasn't until we got to the van and I tried to sit down that I realized that I had probably broken my tailbone.  I have no idea how I am going to get through work tomorrow. Ouch!!

Lutz field trip

Ansley's preschool has been having some issues with enrollment over the past couple of years so they cancelled the fall field trip and chose to have the Lutz museum come to the school with several animals instead.  The 3's and 4's all gathered in the cultural hall and Sarah from the Lutz did her scales, fur and feathers presentation.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  Ansley loved being able to touch the animals, even the snake.  She also brought a rooster and a bunny.  When I asked Ansley which one was her favorite she said, "all of them!"

Ansley, Ansley, Ansley

For those of you who don't know, I have my children tricked into thinking that granola bars are candy bars.  They both actually call them such.  Lately, Ansley, my little junk monster has been refusing lunch.  She prefers to just snack most of the day.  I don't allow her do this and most days wonder if she is surviving on merely air.  Today Jerry informed me of what has really been happening.  It started early this morning when she asked if she could have a candy bar.  Jerry told her no.  He was taking Ally to the bus stop and then they would have breakfast.  When he got back from the bus stop he found Ansley hiding in her room finishing up a candy bar.  He explained to her that she was disobedient and that she wouldn't be able to have another candy bar for a week because of her bad choice.  Fast forward to the end of the day when I get home.  Jerry tells me what happened.  Ansley is clearly sorry and tells me she can't have any candy bars for a week.  I put the girls to bed and then begin my nightly ritual of cleaning up the days mess when I find not one but two tops to candy bars.  She cuts them off with scissors and let the tops on the kitchen floor.  I might have mistaken them for a top and bottom except for the fact that she ate two different flavors.  Oh my Ansley, now we know its not air you have been surviving on, but candy bars!

So much to do, so little time to do it all!

I have been in a purging kind of mood lately.  I don't know if its the winter coming or what but I have just wanted to get my house organized and simplified.  The problem is there just isn't enough time in the day to get it all done.  The regular daily stuff keeps me busy enough and just when I get into a good groove I get called away.  It has resulted in a lot of late nights after the girls go to bed but we are making amazing progress.  Last night as I finally finished what I had planned for the day and sat down I told Jerry I needed about 4 more hours in my day.  His response surprised me, "No you don't!  You need less hours, you do too much already!"  It totally made my day.  Thanks babe!  I love you!

Happy 7th Birthday Allyson!

I say it every year but I can't believe Ally is already another year older.  She is so grown up to me all of a sudden.  She is reading so well and is so mature.  (Well most of the time :)) And she is so tall.  She is finally starting to adjust to her new school schedule too.  We celebrated after school by surprising her with a new bike.  She was super excited.  It's a little big but she rode it well.  After wards we went over to golf land to try to play mini golf.  The course was closed for the week though so we played in the arcade and then went over to the Vernon lanes to bowl.  Ally has been asking for forever and whenever we try to go, there are leagues playing.  Today they let us play but only one game because of leagues.  We had to play on two lanes so we could finish up quickly.  It was rather irritating and much more expensive than playing on one, but she had fun and that was all we cared about.  Ally thought the shoes were awful and old.  Ansley looked adorable in hers.  Jerry and I couldn't bowl to save our lives and ended up being beat by both girls.  Ansley was the highest scorer and Ally wasn't too far behind.  To be fair they were using bumpers and ramps.  After bowling we let her choose where she wanted to eat.  She choose McDonald's so we took her out to the Manchester McDonald's for a happy meal and to play on the playground.  They had a blast and Jerry I enjoyed just sitting and talking while they played.  I am so grateful for my amazing family.  Thank you Heavenly Father for a wonderful husband and two great girls.  Happy Birthday Ally!  We love you and are so happy you are a part of our family.

Friend Birthday Party

We celebrated Ally's birthday with a friend party today because the kids had the day off from school. She had some school and church friends over and we played pin the nose on the pumpkin, and musical chairs and even bobbed for apples.  We also made a Halloween craft.  The girls were all great.  We had wacky cake and ice cream to celebrate and then Ally opened her gifts.  She got lots of great gifts and had a wonderful time.  We owe a huge thank you to Brenna who took me to the store to get everything we needed for the party and who also brought her a great gift, one she has wanted for a while now, a remote control car!

Goodbye Elder Farmer

Today after school we loaded up the van and headed down to Waterbury to say good-bye to one of our favorite missionaries, Elda Farma (as Ansley would say it).  We took him and his companion out for dinner and spent some time hanging out.  He goes home in a couple of weeks and we couldn't let the chance to see him just one more time pass us by.  Good Luck with the next phase of your life Farmer!  The Rice's will miss you!

Sunday Session

Today was another great day of conference talks.  There is nothing better than being uplifted while in your PJ's.  Between sessions were enjoyed some of the beautiful New England weather.  The sun was shining and it was warm enough to be out in jeans and sweatshirts.  During the second Sunday session Ansley accidentally cut her own bangs.  I was devastated.  She had just gotten a super cute haircut and now a huge chunk of her bangs was missing.  She was upset too so I couldn't get too mad.

General Conference

General conference weekend has started off on a high note.  We are getting a temple in..........HARTFORD!!  We could barely believe our ears.  Jerry and I were just talking about how we would probably never get a temple in Hartford because Boston is so close.  We are ecstatic.  Ally asked us what we were so excited about so we told her we were getting a temple close to Vernon and how great that was going to be.  I don't think they understood how great this information was but we were excited and as a result so were they.  The talks today were wonderful.  I always enjoy hearing from the apostles.  It is such an uplifting experience.  The theme for today seems to have been heading the words of the prophet and all General authorities.  It's amazing to me that they aren't assigned any topics and that somehow there always seem to be underlying themes.  Saturday night while the men went to the tailgate for the Priesthood session, Brenna, Megan and I hung out at our place and watched the Relief Society broadcast that we had missed the weekend before while we were at the Big E.  President Monson was great and the guys came back uplifted too!  I am so grateful for the church, the restored gospel and for a prophet on the earth today.  A truly uplifting day.

Oh Ally

So today while I was at work Jerry overheard the girls talking downstairs.  Ally was irritated because Ansley wasn't doing exactly what she wanted so they were having an exchange.

Ally: "Ansley you better behave, you don't want to stay down here with the devil instead of going to heaven with God."

Ansley: "Ally the devil isn't down here."

Ally: "Yes he is, he was bad in heaven so God sent him down here."

Ansley: silence.........

I guess we could always scare them into submission.  Too bad it doesn't work for Allyson.