Pre"schooled"

I decided to just teach "preschool" at home. I bought some workbooks and puzzles and crayons and other things, and  Ruby and I work on them for 30-45 minutes 3 x a week. I got frustrated when trying to teach her how to write A's. She wouldn't pay attention or look at the paper when she wrote, so I gave up, only to find out 4 days later that she was paying attention. She drew a perfect A with sidewalk chalk outside without being asked. I got schooled, I guess. 

Today we were working on colors--she was supposed to color the fruits and vegetables the correct colors, and my meticulous child made sure that everything was correct right down to the leaves and rinds. The funny thing is that when she was coloring the strawberry, she said "It needs chocolate!" and proceeded to color the bottom of the strawberry brown. Only my kid, right?

Pretty in Pink

Ruby loves her new pink shirt from Yaya---she put it on as soon as she woke up, and she feels fabulous! I couldn't get her to stand still for very long, so these are the best I could do for pictures! She cooperated enough to show you first position, though (first picture).

Biggest Loser

You might read that title and think, "Great job, Claire! Already on a roll!" You would be wrong. I really am the biggest loser. I had good intentions to start my goals last week, and did well up until Saturday. I was making that stupid cake, though, and needed to try some, didn't I? I am for real starting tomorrow (Monday). No, really! I am!

Cute Family Pictures

Here are some pictures from the week---a couple of them were from the picnic lunch we had on Adam's birthday. There's also one of a "Ruby-outfit". Can you guess which one it is? She was in her room for 20 minutes trying to find a "matching outfit", and she did a good job...with the colors...

We got a snake!

Riiiiight...and whoever believed that I would ever allow a real snake in my house obviously doesn't know me well. I hate them. They're creepy!

I made a snake cake for my nephew's 4th birthday, and for a first attempt at using fondant on a sculptured cake, I think I did a pretty good job. See for yourself. (p.s. the lighting on my camera was weird---i swear it looked better in real life!) 

Something's Gotta Give

So, I love to cook and I love to eat what I cook, and I've realized that this isn't very conducive to any weight loss plans. Something's gotta give. So, for more incentive, I have decided to post my goals and my progress ON MY BLOG. I might be crazy, and it's really kind of embarrassing, but there was one point in my life (4 years ago, to be exact) that I looked REALLY good. I'm going to get there again.

So, short term goals:

1) lose 8 pounds this month (so, from Sept 25-Oct 25)

2) cut out all sweets for one month (no cookies, cake, candy, etc)

3) count calories---back to thedailyplate.com

4) exercise at least 4 times a week

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Birthday Boy

September 24th is my favorite day of the year! On this day, Adam Joseph Freestone was born, setting off a wonderful chain of events. Without him, I would not have such an exciting and happy life. Without him, I would not have Ruby. I am grateful for him---for his steadfastness, his love, his hard work, and his humor...and his good looks, because, as Emma Fox(my niece) said when she first saw him, "he looks good!" Happy Birthday, Babe! p.s. I love you!

New Favorite Things

Ruby has 2 new favorite activities: Dance Class and dressing herself. She's really good at both of them...mostly...Ok, so sometimes she forgets her underwear, but there are A LOT of things to remember when getting oneself dressed. Am I right?

I'm New

I've never done this blogging business before, but I like looking at other people's blogs, so I thought there may be some people that want to know what we've been up to...which isn't much...or maybe it just feels like that. 

Adam is in his last semester (WAHOO!) at BYU. He will be graduating with a major in Chinese and minor in Business Management. We're looking for jobs as we speak, so if anyone knows of anyone that is hiring, we are willing to live anywhere (except Utah, Idaho, or Wyoming. please, nobody take offense to that...). We've liked our experience here, but we are ready to move on t0 the next phase. 

So, while Adam has been busy with school, I have, for most of my time here, been busy babysitting. I've had anywhere from 1-5 extra kids, depending on the time of year. It's been crazy, but the extra cash had helped quite a bit. I now only babysit 1 day a week, so that supplemental income no longer supplements, really. It's been nice, but weird because I now have a lot of time on my hands. My house is cleaner, though, which I'm sure Adam appreciates.

Ruby is 3 now! She turned 3 in June, and she's no longer a baby. She's very stubborn, very opinionated, very fun, and very smart. She's like sunshine, and she makes me laugh all the time. She recently started dance classes, and absolutely LOVES it!! She uses words like, "certainly" "awfully" "professional" "fabulous" "stylish". She likes to lecture us. For example, if she's in time-out, she will tell me "I'm sorry you yelled at me, Mom. That's not very nice to kids!" That's her new favorite thing to do---to talk about "kids" as a collective. "Mom, sometimes kids' legs get tired." "Mom, sometimes kids just want fruit snacks." It's very funny.