Swensen Sentral

Why is it that I always think once I get the house clean (and by clean I mean straightened), then it will stay clean?  I just need to accept that it is a never-ending battle.  Some days will be good, others not.  It's ok Amber.  You'll get to it later....patiently waiting for later.  Good night.

Wednesday - Amelie was playing with play dough and said "Look mom! It's a bride and a groom."  I had no idea she was capable of creating something like this.  She's proving to have some great artistic talent. Wednesday - Estelle figured out how to stand up in her highchair.  Now is when those buckles come in handy. Thursday - at about 10 o'clock in the morning.  After feeding kids breakfast, getting Chase to school, Amelie to preschool, Estelle down for her nap and Sawyer occupied so I can actually get ready for the day, I'm pooped.  So much for getting ready, all I wanted to do was sleep. Thursday - Amelie's last day of preschool.  Her teacher said she was a great student, and is fully ready to be a kindergardener next year! Thursday - Rick got a new car.  He's kinda excited about it (that's an understatement).  Here's what Chase's hair looked like after taking a ride.  I'm pretty confident Rick exceeded the speed limit.  Ame...

The latest on Amelie's eye. At her last eye appt a few months ago the doctor said (once again) her eye was not showing improvement with the patching.  She directed us to faithfully patch 2-4 hours every day (again), but this time stressed that consistency is the key.  She talked with Amelie about the importance of patching EVERY day and not complaining to her mom about it or forgetting.  So we left a bit disappointed but redetermined to do this dang thing EVERY day and get this over with.  It's been hard for her, she's tired of it, doesn't want to do it any more, finds excuses to put it off in hopes that I'll forget.  Needless to say it's been hard for me too.  It's one more thing I have to fight with her about, on top of her clothes, and her hair, and other things.  Well, we did a VERY good job patching consistently almost 4 hours every day, I was very proud of her.  We returned to her follow-up appt last Tuesday hopeful to hear better news. ...

Amelie says the funniest things sometimes. Today she was playing on my laptop, had it on the bed and was kneeling leaning over looking at it. I told her to sit up and put it on her lap because it's not good on her neck to do that. Her reply, "I don't like doing that. It's like being a mom. That's what moms do, they put it on their lap and lean back." What? I didn't know there was a distinction between age groups and how you sit with your laptop.

Amelie "Mom, did you know we have taste bugs on our tongue?" said very proud that she knew that fact. Hee Hee. :)

I love how Sawyer says things right now.  I wish I could write everything down.  The newest phrase he says all the time is "I was s'got" which means "I forgot".  It's too cute.  He also picked up "it's not fair" from Amelie and he says it all the time, even when it doesn't apply.  And yesterday he was arguing with Amelie and told me that "Am-e-yee's tel-wing da twoof" and he was trying to say "Amelie's telling a lie" but he said truth instead.  It's so fun to see him growing up and using bigger words and phrases and understanding the world he lives in.

Britax B Ready Stroller Ok, so I love strollers, kinda like some people love cars.  I get obsessed about them.  Anyway, I recently found this WAY cool stroller that I really like, but it's REALLY expensive.  So I entered a contest to win it.  If you have 5 seconds can you PLEASE help me out by clicking on the link below to vote for my picture as the funniest picture???  Thanks so much!!! http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/210688/voteable_entries/50770447#

My potty training machine.  I've never seen a kid so excited about potty training.  He had 5 successes today and we're only on Day 2.  He wants it so bad, he even jumped for joy immediately after one of them.  It was so cute!  Crossing my fingers that he keeps this up! Oh and he is LOVING his underwear ;)

Think I'm going to start potty training Sawyer soon.  I'm dreading it and keep putting it off, but it needs to be done because he keeps asking all the time to use the toilet.  So I need to catch it while he's excited about it.  Anyway, he said a funny thing to me the other day.  He wanted to sit on the toilet so I let him.  He sat there for a while and grunted, with no success.  Then he said "Mom, it's not working."  I replied, "What's not working" to which he responded "my bum."  Hahahahaha!  He cracks me up.

Took a time out, really needed it, was spiritually filled, now it's back to the races.  By the way, I absolutely love these girls.  Thank you for such a fun time ad for making my life better by knowing you!    These are clickers.  They're supposed to help us focus on being happy.  Click every time you have a happy thought and by the end of the day voila! a happy you!

I don't know what it is, but when Sawyer was taking a bath the other day I just kept seeing Dallin's face so much, so I took these pictures.  Do you agree with me? or am I seeing things?  I call this the Ice Cream Joker.  Sawyer said he ate his ice cream all gone and didn't spill it anywhere.  Hahaha! The height at which Sawyer jumped down the stairs, without any preconceived thought about how bad it might hurt.

 Lele started standing on her own, walking is just around the corner! Amelie begged me to cut her  hair so I finally gave in. Kids outside playing with chalk, getting dirty, life couldn't get any better.   Why do I feel so happy watching my kids get dirty? Maybe it's because they are so happy doing it, they could care less how dirty they get or how they look. They are just immersed in having fun. 100% focused on things that matter most. This little girl cracks me up sometimes.  She's been doing this lately, enjoying the world from an upside-down view.  Notice she sat on someone's chalk drawing.  Took the kids to see the fish pond at the mall.  Yes I DID get asked "Are these ALL your kids?"  "Turtle" out of water - not sure how this little guy got stuck on this ledge but the kids loved it. Testament to the developmental stage that as soon as they can't see it, they forget it's...