Yes we have an opportunity to live in China for a year. We can take our kids to work with us while we teach all subjects in an American like hands-on, play philosophy, teaching English preschool in Beijing. Much bigger and much more metro than New York City. And it's CHINA! Aaaaah.
Thoughts? We are going crazy trying to decide by Monday. HELP!!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Gracie is 3!
Gracie loves trains. She has always wanted to ride one so we took her on Trax. She cried when we got off but was delighted when we told her we had to ride back on it. We went to the Gateway, picked out some birthday earrings at Claire's, and got some ice cream.
I made their matching purple flippy skirts.
Gracie made friends with another boy who was riding Trax for the first time. He taught her how to make silly faces. Ironically we also rode back with them too. Gracie loved sitting on top of the seats with her face glued against the windows.
Back in June, we started having what Gracie calls "Dance Parties." We turn the music up and have our best friends Gabe and Lilly come over and dance with us. We ALL love it! That is what made her choose to have a dance party for her birthday. She loves dance parties and tea parties. Here is a video of Gracie dancing outside on a board in June while the HOA guys painted our carports. She is pretty good.
SOooo we decided to invite the families in the neighborhood to a dance party in our parking lot.
Don't worry the 500 cupcakes was a joke. We did make 120 cupcakes though. All of them were eaten except about a dozen. Gracie helped frost and sprinkle all of them. She loves sprinkles. And she loved delivering the invitations and taping them on doors. At the party when she was done dancing, she loved handing out cups and pouring water for everyone, and then sneaking into her birthday presents early.
She is amazing at showing 3 fingers already. Gracie loves blowing out candles so I decided to give her a 3 in cupcakes with candles instead of just 3 candles. She had to blow them out a couple of times. The video shows her trying so hard.
We brainstormed music for about a week. Every year we make a new birthday dance mix for Gracie so this year it has songs like the "Chicken Dance", "Hokey Pokey", "Electric Slide", "Move it", "Cha Cha Slide", "Macarina", "All the Single Ladies", "Who Let the Dogs Out", and a new one that is so fun and easy "Jump on It." The sister missionaries came and helped me decorate outside. 2 friends, Elisa and Kristin, painted the kids faces during the party and I painted pink hair stripes, both of which were a hit! Kids came in their PJ's, we taught dance moves and had dancing prizes. Luke was even outdone when he showed how to do "the worm."
Here you can watch Luke teaching all the kids the dance. Gracie is in the red shirt dancing in front of Luke. Our friend Kristin McNinch is in the yellow dancing so cute on the side and her girl Sofie is dancing with Grace. Lilly is dancing really good next to Grace too. The kids copied everything Luke did including wiping the sweat from his forehead. Also Luke had so much fun doing the music, that he is considering being a DJ on the side! Hee hee. 
This dance party was so EASY and such a hit. We might do it again around Halloween. I strongly suggest doing this if you want a lot of fun, not a lot of work, and a fun way to get everyone together. It was only about an hour and a fun back to school party too. Next time I am totally just doing popcorn and drinks, although the cupcakes were what Gracie wanted and fun to make together. She keeps talking about her dance party.
She was so tired but she still had to open her presents: hippo sleeping bag cause she loves to pretend to sleep everywhere, Cars 1, Toy Story 1, Cheetos, little mermaid barbie, paints, earrings, and headbands, and I made a new quilt for bed that I still have to bind.
The next day we hung out with Cousin Sofia and Roman who were in town for Grammy and Papa's anniversary.
And the next day (her actual birthday Aug. 20), we went to a Chandler Family Reunion in Pocatello, Id and met up with my Grandpa Wuthrich before heading for home. It was a fun weekend to remember! And we still can't believe our little Gracie is 3. We love you always Gracie and can't wait to see the little lady you become. LUB!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Swimming Fun!
We are having so much fun with Luke's birthday present. It is 10 ft long and plenty wide. And the tarp we cover it with does double duty, keeps bugs/leaves out, and unexpectedly cooks the water up warm for us. And wow, have I got a not so nice gradient skin color going on. No looking at the parts that never see the sun. ;) I just thought it was cute with Gracie holding onto my swim suit reins.
Star's Birthday Dress
So I never posted this. My sis Nancy gave me the idea to do the flowers like my yellow dress but in a contrasting color. Here is how it happily turned out. I will have to get a picture of this beautiful girl in it without the PJS under it.
I made it all from 2 colors of t-shirts. The headband is made out of a sleeve seam, a flower, and a little bit of tulle. I LOVE IT! The belt I made by stretching the bottom hem way out and it ruffled itself up. Then added flowers. Then I sewed some flowers onto pink ballet slippers that used to be Gracie's. Isn't Star the cutest?
I made it all from 2 colors of t-shirts. The headband is made out of a sleeve seam, a flower, and a little bit of tulle. I LOVE IT! The belt I made by stretching the bottom hem way out and it ruffled itself up. Then added flowers. Then I sewed some flowers onto pink ballet slippers that used to be Gracie's. Isn't Star the cutest?
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Summer Highlights
Nancy & Star Visited!
My sister came and stayed the night with us while Luke was on a business trip to Canada with his dad. We made shade canopys for our strollers, painted our toes the cutest glittery orange, and stayed up talking. Star is scared to death!
Summer Steals!
We found this steal of a deal at the DI. For $3.00 we got a Lightning McQueen Car that actually goes and came with a plug to charge it. Now the awful clicking noise it makes is probably why someone gave it away, but we don't care. The only better deal we got this summer is from Papa Rick. We have been doing ours and their laundry at their house for 1 year. He found us an awesome washer and dryer at a garage sale for $50.00 TOTAL. And they work Great! So glad to not be hauling laundry anymore!!
My 3rd Lundquist Family Reunion!
Overall so fun. But if you really stop and think back about everything... it was tiring, cold, and exhausting too. We stayed in a tent up in Victor, ID (outside Jackson) on a ranch. Luke doesn't like to camp and I am always begging him to do it and like it. Well we had to this time because of no money for a hotel. We stayed for 3 nights and 4 days and it was freezing. Everyone stays up around you till 2-3 am talking, singing, laughing, and then you have to get up in the morning because 1- the cows rub on your tent 2- it is light 3- you will miss breakfast, and you are always so hungry up there. Friday night, Gracie THREW UP 5-6 times in the tent. There were 2 other kids who threw up during the night too and we don't know why. This was so hard. I think Luke, Gracie, and I got a total of 3 hours of broken sleep. We just kept covering her pillow with a clean shirt, towel, etc. and then once she puked on it, threw it outside the tent until morning when I could take care of it.
Katie slept in my sleeping bag with me because it was so cold so that made it super hard when we got back home to sleep in her crib again.
Luke was such a good help to me while there. Even though he didn't get to play volleyball while I took a nap, he did get to take off and go golfing Sat morning.
Even though I worked so hard cooking and cleaning (it was our year) and making tutus and hairbows for the auction, it felt good. I loved that I knew most people there now out of like 150 people that you only see once a year and that they loved and cared about me and my kids so much. The Lundquist (Barber) family truly is very loving and charitable. (Of course I had to ball my eyes out trying to express how I always feel when I am there when they asked for people to share their memories. My first Reunion there was when I wasn't even engaged yet to Luke.) Long days and night for sure, but lots of fun with people that were worth it.
Gracie loved doing "Cheers" with all the other kids.
Kennedy could not get enough of Katie and was like her little Mama. She was so sweet. And the whole reunion, except this picture, Katie had her tongue sticking out between her lips!
The first thing Gracie said to an Aunt when we got there was, "Wow! I think it is like dirty here." She proved herself right.
New Way to Curl Hair!
Yep. Came across a Youtube video on how to do the Classic Wave. Watched it. Copied it. Mastered it. Keeps a wave for like 3 days (even while camping). It is different than the normal way to make ringlets. You go away from your face and you start curling at the top or middle, not at the bottom and twist up like usual. It is so scary and sad though when you have to take a comb through your lovely curls. Try it! (A personal record: I have not paid to get my hair highlighted for 1 year. I did dye it dark by myself right after Katie's birth for the first time, and then I highlighted it once myself after that, took me like 3 hours and my arms were numb but only cost me $7.00. This as an achievement because I am used to being blonde, Luke likes me blonder, and my hair is sooo oily without being damaged from the bleach. I am about ready to see if I can go get it done this time.)
Gracie even let me curl her hair for once!!
Hogle Zoo!
We love the zoo. The carousel and train are super fun.
I am going to have to find the picture of me at this water fountain when I was a kid.
Gracie loves the dinosaurs, but they scare her, especially the one that spits at you. My favorite is the camel and their huge, unexpectedly pointy, triangular humps.
Katie loves brown licorice.
Foam Day!
Yes Foam Day in Lehi. The fire dept sprays thick foam bubbles all over this open field and people just swim and slide in it. Then you can go wash off in the other fire hoses. Gracie did not like it at all. Katie was okay with it till I accidentally let her get sprayed in the face when I turned around. Whoops. I though it felt way cool on your body till I realized all the places I had grass! :)
Can't beat free watermelon!
LOVE!
Luke Turned 30!
So I don't have any picture of Luke's SURPRISE Party that I threw for him cause I was busy. This really makes me sad. All I have left are all my planning notes (like 15 pieces of notebook paper absorbing 2 weeks of my brain power) and remembering Luke being happy about it. It was lot of work planning a meal, organizing a place with volleyball, and coordinating last minute location changes with all the guests, and coming up with 30 birthday presents. We had a great turn out with about 30 people on the 30th of July and he got 30 presents throughout the week of his birthday. So since we don't have any pics, here is what he got: 1- lingerie 2- vitamin water 3- office chair 4- new razor blades 5- forgot black socks 6- orange rolls 7- swimming pool 8- birthday dinner date at Fazolis 9- 30 min massage 10- 30 min of love 11-list of 30 things I love about Luke 12- babysitter for Friday night date 13- 30 min alone with me at the movies 14- bike pump 16- tortilla chips 17- shirt 18- shirt 19- shirt 20- shirt 21- favorite sheets with holes mended 22- red licorice 23- brown licorice 24- black licorice 26- dots 27- cheetos 28- toffee peanuts 29- card and my love 30- SURPRISE PARTY
Goodbye Ponyo!
So I lasted just over 2 weeks with having a pet fish. Gracie named him Ponyo. A ward member offered him to us and I thought it would be fun for Gracie. And a first try at having a pet of any kind. And it was. I think for me, 2 weeks is awesome. I just decided that I didn't need any more to remember to feed twice/day and to clean 1/week. I also couldn't decide the best place for him because he always seemed like he was in the way. We took this picture right before we took him over to his new home so we have proof that I did let Gracie have a pet once. Bye Ponyo, we love you!
Now we will see what else we can still do this summer!
My sister came and stayed the night with us while Luke was on a business trip to Canada with his dad. We made shade canopys for our strollers, painted our toes the cutest glittery orange, and stayed up talking. Star is scared to death!
Summer Steals!
We found this steal of a deal at the DI. For $3.00 we got a Lightning McQueen Car that actually goes and came with a plug to charge it. Now the awful clicking noise it makes is probably why someone gave it away, but we don't care. The only better deal we got this summer is from Papa Rick. We have been doing ours and their laundry at their house for 1 year. He found us an awesome washer and dryer at a garage sale for $50.00 TOTAL. And they work Great! So glad to not be hauling laundry anymore!!
My 3rd Lundquist Family Reunion!
Overall so fun. But if you really stop and think back about everything... it was tiring, cold, and exhausting too. We stayed in a tent up in Victor, ID (outside Jackson) on a ranch. Luke doesn't like to camp and I am always begging him to do it and like it. Well we had to this time because of no money for a hotel. We stayed for 3 nights and 4 days and it was freezing. Everyone stays up around you till 2-3 am talking, singing, laughing, and then you have to get up in the morning because 1- the cows rub on your tent 2- it is light 3- you will miss breakfast, and you are always so hungry up there. Friday night, Gracie THREW UP 5-6 times in the tent. There were 2 other kids who threw up during the night too and we don't know why. This was so hard. I think Luke, Gracie, and I got a total of 3 hours of broken sleep. We just kept covering her pillow with a clean shirt, towel, etc. and then once she puked on it, threw it outside the tent until morning when I could take care of it.
Katie slept in my sleeping bag with me because it was so cold so that made it super hard when we got back home to sleep in her crib again.
Luke was such a good help to me while there. Even though he didn't get to play volleyball while I took a nap, he did get to take off and go golfing Sat morning.
Even though I worked so hard cooking and cleaning (it was our year) and making tutus and hairbows for the auction, it felt good. I loved that I knew most people there now out of like 150 people that you only see once a year and that they loved and cared about me and my kids so much. The Lundquist (Barber) family truly is very loving and charitable. (Of course I had to ball my eyes out trying to express how I always feel when I am there when they asked for people to share their memories. My first Reunion there was when I wasn't even engaged yet to Luke.) Long days and night for sure, but lots of fun with people that were worth it.
Gracie loved doing "Cheers" with all the other kids.
Kennedy could not get enough of Katie and was like her little Mama. She was so sweet. And the whole reunion, except this picture, Katie had her tongue sticking out between her lips!
The first thing Gracie said to an Aunt when we got there was, "Wow! I think it is like dirty here." She proved herself right.
New Way to Curl Hair!
Yep. Came across a Youtube video on how to do the Classic Wave. Watched it. Copied it. Mastered it. Keeps a wave for like 3 days (even while camping). It is different than the normal way to make ringlets. You go away from your face and you start curling at the top or middle, not at the bottom and twist up like usual. It is so scary and sad though when you have to take a comb through your lovely curls. Try it! (A personal record: I have not paid to get my hair highlighted for 1 year. I did dye it dark by myself right after Katie's birth for the first time, and then I highlighted it once myself after that, took me like 3 hours and my arms were numb but only cost me $7.00. This as an achievement because I am used to being blonde, Luke likes me blonder, and my hair is sooo oily without being damaged from the bleach. I am about ready to see if I can go get it done this time.)
Gracie even let me curl her hair for once!!
Hogle Zoo!
We love the zoo. The carousel and train are super fun.
I am going to have to find the picture of me at this water fountain when I was a kid.
Gracie loves the dinosaurs, but they scare her, especially the one that spits at you. My favorite is the camel and their huge, unexpectedly pointy, triangular humps.
Katie loves brown licorice.
Foam Day!
Yes Foam Day in Lehi. The fire dept sprays thick foam bubbles all over this open field and people just swim and slide in it. Then you can go wash off in the other fire hoses. Gracie did not like it at all. Katie was okay with it till I accidentally let her get sprayed in the face when I turned around. Whoops. I though it felt way cool on your body till I realized all the places I had grass! :)
Can't beat free watermelon!
LOVE!
Luke Turned 30!
So I don't have any picture of Luke's SURPRISE Party that I threw for him cause I was busy. This really makes me sad. All I have left are all my planning notes (like 15 pieces of notebook paper absorbing 2 weeks of my brain power) and remembering Luke being happy about it. It was lot of work planning a meal, organizing a place with volleyball, and coordinating last minute location changes with all the guests, and coming up with 30 birthday presents. We had a great turn out with about 30 people on the 30th of July and he got 30 presents throughout the week of his birthday. So since we don't have any pics, here is what he got: 1- lingerie 2- vitamin water 3- office chair 4- new razor blades 5- forgot black socks 6- orange rolls 7- swimming pool 8- birthday dinner date at Fazolis 9- 30 min massage 10- 30 min of love 11-list of 30 things I love about Luke 12- babysitter for Friday night date 13- 30 min alone with me at the movies 14- bike pump 16- tortilla chips 17- shirt 18- shirt 19- shirt 20- shirt 21- favorite sheets with holes mended 22- red licorice 23- brown licorice 24- black licorice 26- dots 27- cheetos 28- toffee peanuts 29- card and my love 30- SURPRISE PARTY
Goodbye Ponyo!
So I lasted just over 2 weeks with having a pet fish. Gracie named him Ponyo. A ward member offered him to us and I thought it would be fun for Gracie. And a first try at having a pet of any kind. And it was. I think for me, 2 weeks is awesome. I just decided that I didn't need any more to remember to feed twice/day and to clean 1/week. I also couldn't decide the best place for him because he always seemed like he was in the way. We took this picture right before we took him over to his new home so we have proof that I did let Gracie have a pet once. Bye Ponyo, we love you!
Now we will see what else we can still do this summer!
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