Sherwood Family Reunion, July 2010

Saturday- Picked up Lindsey Allen (Greg's niece) from EFY at SVU on our drive up to Palmyra, NY. The girls did great in the car, but by the time we got to the Hill Cumorah Pageant Clara was pretty irrational from lack of sleep (we woke her up at 4am to leave, and she only slept about an hour in the car the whole day), but she still enjoyed the show. We got to visit with the now famous Brock Allen (Greg's nephew) before the show began.

Monday- "Glenn Sliding:" a favorite pastime from Greg's childhood. We hiked up a little creek to a small waterfall/pool where the kids slid a short distance down the rocks.- I don't have the photos, yet, but hope to add them, soon.

Tuesday- Lake day: swimming, jumping, tubing, and pushing Daddy in the water at Lake Owasco.

Clara and Meghan

Wednesday: The Amazing Sherwood Race- designed by Greg Sherwood

(Clara with Maya, her look-alike cousin)

Thursday: Church History sights

SJ and Brett were good buddies

Friday: A rainy day... some hang-out time and a walk through the Sacred Grove

(Great shot, Kim or Scott!)

Saturday: Home Sweet Home

SJ's 1 year old stats

Height: 29 7/8" tall (75th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs, 9 oz. (between 50th and 75th percentile)

Words (in order of when she learned them):
hi/hey
bath
bye-bye
Yeah!
da-da (says this all of the time)
ma-ma (says this only occasionally)
Mmmm (not officially a word, but still very cute- she says it when she likes what she is eating)

Likes:
-playing dropsie
-Music/dancing
-Kissing and hugging- especially baby dolls and stuffed animals
-Playing in water - especially the toilet (no we don't let her but she can be quite sneaky and very fast)
-Playing hide and seek and chase with her big sister
-Clapping and cheering "yeah!"


Favorite Foods: BANANAS, most other fruit, frozen peas, beans (black, white, kidney), pasta

My favorite moment of each day is right before I put SJ down for bed. We rock and snuggle and sing... she buries her head on my shoulder and makes the most perfect noise... a mix between singing and purring. This IS the good life.

And... the moment you've all been waiting for. She is walking!!!

Our Baby is One!!!

Happy Birthday, sweet Sarah-Jane!

We can't believe a year has gone by since this...

Blender Pancakes

My friend, Kelly, gave me this awesome recipe for "Blender Pancakes." They are 100% whole wheat, but they don't taste like it. We've been enjoying them a few times a week.

3/4 cup whole wheat (You don't grind or soak it, just pour it in.)
1 cup milk
dash salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
2 tsp baking powder

Pour wheat, milk, and salt into blender. Blend for 5 minutes. Add eggs and oil, blend and add baking powder while still blending. Pour onto hot skillet. Don't let mix sit too long before using it. Makes 8-10 pancakes. Add grated apple, sliced bananas, or strawberries for variety.

Here are some we topped with fresh peaches. YUMMY!

Also, they are a lot less messy than smoothies.

Happy 4th!

We had a very fun weekend, filled with...
-a party and parade with playgroup friends
-replacing the brakes on both cars (0k, not the most fun part of the weekend- but productive!)
-a downtown festival
-a cook-out and fireworks with Aunt Suz and Uncle Sean
-a trip to the pool with the Horrances
-Gelato from Gnam-Gnams (Have you tried this place? It is awesome!)

Here are some photos:

We love our country and our freedom!

Clara's Ballet Recital

Clara LOVED the ballet class she has been taking this summer. She dances around the house, all day, and is always pretending to be a character from the book/movie series Angelina Ballerina. Her favorites are Angelina, Alice, Flora, or Felicity, and while she is pretending to be them, she bosses around an imaginary Henry).

l
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Who Ya Gonna Call?

The Story of our New Vacuum:
We have lots of hardwoods and lots of tight corners, so an upright doesn't work well and pulling around a canister vacuum is a pain. After using a $10 yard-sale-find for 8 1/2 years, we finally splurged on a new vacuum. I went for the industrial backpack vacuum.

I think I'm in love.

Plus, I have my Ghostbusters costume all set for Halloween.

More big news:
I got this measuring spoon-magnet-hangy-thing for Mother's Day. No more searching the drawers for the measurement I need. I am a new woman.

Ahh... the simple joys of a housewife.

Belated Soccer Wrap-Up

I knew it... I knew joining Facebook would interfere with my blogging. I am way behind. Here is a summary of Clara's soccer season (which ended over a month ago).


Clara Sherwood, #0

Season highlights:

• Clara seeing me eating a banana on the sidelines... then running off the field and refusing the go back until I gave her a bite.
• Clara falling down every time she saw someone else fall down, then waiting for the coach to come and pick her up. (He did this during the first game, so she thought it was part of the sport, I think)
• Clara got to play goalie a couple of times. One time she got bored and ran to the playground adjacent to the field... good thing her team was stacked and they didn't get scored on even with an open net.
• Clara spent more time picking flowers and dancing than playing soccer
• Clara never got the hang of the "handshake in a line" routine after games. Check out the video... she was so confused. :)
  

Clara's favorite things about soccer:

• Snacks and drinks after practices
• Snacks and drinks after games
• The practice when her Daddy subbed for the coach and they got to play "pirate."
• Playing with boys (the rest of her teamates were boys, and most of her little friends are girls, so she liked making new friends).
  

Strawberries

We went strawberry picking this weekend. We barely made it in time for the end of the season, which is ending early, this year, because of all of the wet weather. (I'm not sure who was more disappointed - Clara or myself- when all of our regular picking spots were already closed.)

Luckily we found a farm with some strawberries left.

We made strawberry shortcake, strawberry popsicles, and fruit leather with our stash. Yummy!

Sarah-Jane, 9 months old

Stats:
Length = 28 3/4 inches (between percentile 75 and 90)
Weight = 20 lbs. (between percentile 50 and 75)

• New skills: turbo crawling, pulling up, cruising, waving (see this sideways video)
  

• Does not like baby food (anything pureed), but will eat finger foods

• Loves people... anyone who looks at her gets a huge smile and a wave

• Loves baths... is desperate to get into the tub if she hears it running!

• Has two bottom teeth, and 6 of her top teeth are on the way... all at once!

• Favorite song: Little Sacka Sugar (I know, you think I'm making this up... how can a baby have a favorite song? Let me tell you, she goes nuts whenever it comes on- just dances her little heart out)

• She's gotten very playful, lately (read: busy, busy... into everything). We figure we only have a couple of weeks before she starts walking.She is a happy, happy girl and we love her!

(I started this post a while ago, but am just now finishing it up... so she is actually almost 10 months by now!)

Topsail Island, May 2010

We spent a week at the beach with friends.
6 adults + 6 kids (all 3 and under) + one beach house =
lots of craziness, not a lot of sleep, but TONS of fun!

Happiness is...

a new swingset...

and learning how to pump all by yourself.

Conference Takeaways

I wanted to record some of my favorite quotes from General Conference (every six months, the leaders of our church speak about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the issues we face today, including inspiration and counsel).

From Julie Beck, Relief Socity General President:

"Women should be women and not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters? We know the Lord has laid high responsibility upon us, and there is not a wish or desire that the Lord has implanted in our hearts in righteousness but will be realized, and the greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling to qualify us for those responsibilities.”

Measuring Success:
Good women always have a desire to know if they are succeeding. In a world where the measures of success are often distorted, it is important to seek appreciation and affirmation from proper sources. We are doing well when we develop attributes of Christ and strive to obey His gospel with exactness. We are doing well when we seek to improve ourselves and do our best. We are doing well when we increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help others who are in need. We know we are successful if we live so that we qualify for, receive, and know how to follow the Spirit. When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us. Peace, joy, and hope are available to those who measure success properly.

From Elder Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Ideas for watching over our children...

"(1) reading and talking about the Book of Mormon with your children

(2) bearing testimony of gospel truths spontaneously with your children

(3) inviting children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted upon

Parents who do these things faithfully will be blessed to recognize early signals of spiritual growth in or challenges with their children and be better prepared to receive inspiration to strengthen and help those children."

From President Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency

"When we are tempted to judge, let us think of the Savior, who “loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. . . .
“[And] he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, . . . [for] all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.”
As I read the scriptures, it appears that those who receive the Savior’s strongest reproach are often those who hold themselves in high esteem because of their wealth, influence, or perceived righteousness.
On one occasion the Savior taught a parable of two men who went into the temple to pray. One man, a respected Pharisee, prayed: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
The other man, a hated publican, stood “afar off, [and] would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
And Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”2
In truth, we “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”3 We are all in need of mercy. In that last day when we are called to the judgment bar of God, do we not hope that our many imperfections will be forgiven? Do we not yearn to feel the Savior’s embrace?
It seems only right and proper that we extend to others that which we so earnestly desire for ourselves.

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An old Jewish legend tells of two brothers, Abram and Zimri, who owned a field and worked it together. They agreed to divide both the labor and the harvest equally. One night as the harvest came to a close, Zimri could not sleep, for it didn’t seem right that Abram, who had a wife and seven sons to feed, should receive only half of the harvest, while he, with only himself to support, had so much.
So Zimri dressed and quietly went into the field, where he took a third of his harvest and put it in his brother’s pile. He then returned to his bed, satisfied that he had done the right thing.
Meanwhile, Abram could not sleep either. He thought of his poor brother, Zimri, who was all alone and had no sons to help him with the work. It did not seem right that Zimri, who worked so hard by himself, should get only half of the harvest. Surely this was not pleasing to God. And so Abram quietly went to the fields, where he took a third of his harvest and placed it in the pile of his beloved brother.
The next morning, the brothers went to the field and were both astonished that the piles still looked to be the same size. That night both brothers slipped out of their houses to repeat their efforts of the previous night. But this time they discovered each other, and when they did, they wept and embraced. Neither could speak, for their hearts were overcome with love and gratitude.8
This is the spirit of compassion: that we love others as ourselves,9 seek their happiness, and do unto them as we hope they would do unto us.10
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Here are my (Nicolle) goals for putting the teachings of our prophet and apostles into action:

-Love more people more unconditionally

-Increase my ability to receive personal revelation... especially regarding parenting

-Increase my compassion and service for others

Happy Easter

We had an Easter Brunch/ Easter Egg Hunt for about 30 people at our house.

(Is Greg helping selflessly or does he see some Reese's eggs in his future?) hmm...

Sarah-Jane got in on the egg hunt action. She liked to shake the eggs with jelly beans inside.

The Easter Egg Hunt was followed by a treasure hunt... 3 adorable baby chicks were at the end!

Clara named them Bear, Bird, and Molly.

We adopted these little girls for a few days, then passed them on to our friends, who raise chickens. (Greg wanted to keep them, and I actually thought about it, but there were just too many reasons that made it not a good idea).

We had such a great time... thanks to everyone who came and participated and brought delicious food!

Sneak Peak

Clara is playing soccer for the first time, this season. Greg thinks I am more excited than Clara is. (He might be right.) She does love it, though.


Not only is she the only 3 year old, she is also the only girl on her team of 4 year old boys. She has had a couple of practices, and her first game is next week. I can't wait. Oops, I mean Clara can't wait. We'll let you know how it goes. If it is anything like the practices, she'll spend more time picking clovers and dancing than actually playing soccer.