Potty training joys!

So, I finally decided to buckle down and potty train Liam. He has been doing a great job with very few accidents. Well, I got over-confident and we went to lunch and to Target today with Liam wearing big boy pants. Of course, since we were out I got distracted about how long it had been since I took Liam potty. So, we are standing in Target looking at patio furniture and I hear Ashley go "Ohhhh" and I looked over and Liam was standing in a puddle of pee! Luckily I had grabbed a bunch of napkins at the snack bar when we got a drink. It was pretty gross. And, even though I have four kids, cleaning up pee off the floor of Target was a first for me! (Note to self- pull ups really are a good thing!)

One more picture

Here is a few more pictures.  Our huge deck and backyard and our kitchen.

More Pictures

I took some pictures of the current state of our house.  We are just waiting to get the floors in. ENJOY!! We added the double french doors to one of the bedrooms, closing off the hall entrance to turn it into an office.  The fireplace is gas and will soon get handmade craftsman tile and brazilian cherry mantle.  The post is going to be wrapped in brazilian cherry.  The hardwood is going to stretch all the way into the office.  It should be very nice!

Heather

AHHHHHH!!

So, we ordered 2 beautiful cream colored couch's for our living room about 3 months ago.  We went to Reno to pick them up today.  We put them in our trailer and thought we didn't need to strap them down because the darn things weighed more than a hundred pounds a piece.  We had a lovely meal at PF Changs then headed home.  On the freeway in Reno at 70mph one of the couch's jumped out of the trailer...like literally jumped.  Shows you how powerful wind can be.  The couch is completely ruined.  I cried the whole way home.  I decided we were actually very lucky today though...The couch did not hit anyone's car or cause an accident.

Oh the drama's of life...Scott promised to order me another one.

Heather

Guinn family update

Hi All. I thought I would sit and write a bit to update everyone on my crew. We are all enjoying summer, although it has been really hot already this year. Ashley graduated from high school on June 5th and she is going to go to college at Texas State University- about 45 minutes from home. She wants to become an elementary school teacher. She is working as a dental assistant for a friend who is a dentist for the summer. She babysitts most weekends (for other people :( ), so we don't see her much any more. She always tells me I should get used to it since she will be going away for college soon. (Am I the only one who thinks it's weird to have another generation of adults in our family all of a sudden?)

Sarah is loving being out of school. She keeps talking about being the big sister of the family once Ashley leaves. She is such a little mommy to the boys, especially to Austin. She carries him around all the time and it looks so funny because he is getting so big. But he lets her cradle him in her arms and they both just love it. Sarah is becoming quite the little reader. She loves to read "chapter" books and her favorite ones are from the Junie B. Jones series. She just laughs and laughs at those books. (They are pretty funny.) She is really toothless right now. She had to get 5 teeth pulled to make room for her permanent teeth. The dentist said her permanent teeth are really big and she has a tiny mouth. She said that Sarah will definitely need braces, but hopefully we can make the crowding less severe now. We'll see. I miss her baby teeth smile. She looks a lot older with big teeth and gaps!

Liam is a little squirt. He keeps us all on our toes. He is such an active boy, but he is also so loving. He likes to grab ahold of Austin's hand in the car and tell me "mommy look, look". It is really cute. His new word this week is "nexterday". I am not sure if he is trying to say yesterday or tomorrow. Nexterday kind of works for both. He discovered the word a couple of days ago and he uses it every chance he gets. He definitely picked up the Guinn talkative gene. I am not really sure who the kids learned their gabbiness from- neither Jeremy or I are very talkative. But our kids sure can fill the air with talk! He likes to tell me "mommy, I yuv my baby brudder". It just melts my heart.

Austin is growing like a weed. He is definitely the baby of the family. We had a check up with the pediatrician today. She asked me how many words he says. I could only think of 3 or 4 words and she said he really should be using that many in addition to momma and dadda. I was a bit shocked because all the kids have always been a bit ahead of "normal" developmental milestones and Austin isn't. He is very baby'd by everyone, so I guess that explains why he is "delayed". Of course, I still think he is totally brilliant. Yesterday we were in the car and Liam fell asleep. Austin reached over and grabbed onto Liam's hand to hold it- he gave me a big smile and then went to sleep holding his brother's hand! It was so sweet- I think Liam is teaching Austin to be loving.

Well, I will close for now. We miss everyone. I hope we can work out something to get everyone together again. It would be great to re-connect with all the sibs! I love you all.

Steph

We've been busy!

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd share a few pictures to show what we have been up to. We have been in our house for almost 3 months and haven't wasted any time making it our own. In addition to endless hours of wallpaper stripping, we have ripped out walls, put walls up, created new doors and closed old ones off!!  We also ripped out a wood stove and hearth and replaced it with a gas fireplace in a much better spot. Scott is going a little crazy with all the destruction.  We have slowly put things back together and we almost have a house again.  Our next step is getting our hardwood floors installed.  I am very excited about that, we have quartersawn oak with brazilian cherry border...it's going to be gorgeous!  Moby Dick the RV is all put together and has been for sale for a while, but no bites...so sad.  I got a promotion at work. Nothing else new.  No baby attempts until we have floors in our house:)

Family reunion

Two posts in one day...I'm on a roll!

So, I think it's time we started planning a family reunion. Since three of us are in Texas, we thought we could plan/host the first one, just to get the ball rolling. San Antonio is a great place to visit and is easy to get to. What do you think? What time of year are you (and your spouses, kids, etc.) available to come? Comment on this blog or send me an e-mail with potential dates, and we'll go from there. I miss my family!

We're not in Kansas anymore...

So...yesterday one of my coworkers called me away from my office to go look at something outside. I went to the window, and there were four baby armadillos burrowing around looking for food or shelter or something. I have never seen an armadillo except at night while driving, so it was quite a sight to see four of them during broad daylight. I went out and took pictures with my phone so I could show my friends. One of them came right at me! It was freaky, and I must admit I squeeled a little and jumped to get out of its way. They look like little aliens. It's so strange that these creatures live here in Texas...and that they were right outside my window at work. Below are some pictures that my coworker took (I don't have Internet, so I can't get them off my camera without being charged an exhorbitant fee). Enjoy!

My summer so far

I stayed in Idaho to take Anatomy and Physiology because I didn't think I could handle that class with a normal load along with it. I'm doing pretty well...could definitely be better on the lecture exams, but overall alright. I'm also taking a clogging class, which is kicking my butt! But I love it.

So this past semester I've been involved with a program on campus called the Heber J. Grant Program. It's a scholarship program that "assists individuals in their efforts to overcome disadvantaged backgrounds." It's not just the scholarship, but an entire program devoted to the scholars. There are 4 areas in it: Applications (students who evaluate the scholars applications), Mentors (students who assist new scholars in their transition into BYU-I), Ambassadors (students who publicize the program both on and off campus), and Instructors (students who teach a basic life skills class). Basically its THE best program on campus. It's ALL student run with ONE paid faculty. The leadership runs like this...So, this semester I was a coordinator in charge of pairing mentors with mentees and keeping contact with all of them; making sure the mentees are getting the service they deserve...etc. It's been quite the rollercoaster ride, let me tell you. But it's also been an AMAZING growing and learning experience, and I'm so glad for the opportunity. So then, we just had the whole selection process for the fall semester's leadership. I applied, interviewed, then was invited to be the Area Director over Ambassadors! EEK! So now next semester I will be in charge of presenting the program to potential donors and to potential students...and yeah. I'm way excited, but WAY nervous to be "in charge" instead of just a coordinator with an Area Director telling me what to do. It's gonna be fantastic though.

Aside from Heber J. Grant, I also had to find a job. If you've ever lived in Rexburg, you'll know what a task that is!!! I finally had to go with my very last resorts and try the local opinion center. You know those obnoxious people that call you and ask you to take a survey? Yeah, I was one of the obnoxious people for a whole THREE days! That's how much I hated it. If you know me, you know I HATE calling people. So then I had to go with my VERY VERY VERY last resort and go back to KFC. Ugh. So now I'm working at the good ol KFC again. But I recruited one of my friends so I'm not in the dump by myself. Plus it's money and free food...I shouldn't complain, right?

Church has also been quite the eventful place for me. My best friend up here, (named Rachel..and that's definitely not all we have in common...) got called as the Relief Society President. I guess I should have seen it coming when she called me to be her 2nd Counselor. So there you have it. After have 5 different callings since I've been here (a different one EVERY semester), might I also add they were the made up callings they give people JUST to give them callings? Well...now I have a "real" one that requires a whole lot more than I ever thought. But it's been amazing, and I'm serving with one of THE most amazing people I have ever met.

Well...that's my life as of right now. Hope it hasn't bored you too much. Lots going on!