Let's Celebrate

I have gotten the girls on a pretty good chore rotation system. Sunday is always a favorite day because I don't demand any slave labor on the Sabbath. Regardless, they are always trying to weasel out of chores on the other days, if possible.

This was my conversation with June today while we were sitting in church:

June: Is today Memorial Day?
Me: No, it's tomorrow.
June: Do we have to do chores? It's a holiday; a celebration.
Me: Oh yeah? What are we celebrating?
June: Not having to do chores?

Man, that girl cracks me up sometimes.

Graduation Photos

A sweet girl in my ward graduated this month. I was honored that they asked me to take photos for her. I thought I would share some of them.



Congrats, lady. Now on to better and brighter things.

As Bro. Hawkes says...

...it's a good year for spinach. Because spinach likes the cold. I do not. And neither does my cottonwood tree.

And so last Monday, when it dumped snow on us, it was not a good thing. See there is a reason that trees brave the winter all naked like. Because leaves + snow = a burden too heavy to bear. My poor tree had four large branches break off.



So sad. My garden wasn't looking too happy either.



And by the afternoon the snow was gone, but the damage it left behind was permanent. The only positive thing was watching Tyler enjoy the new walking stick.



So Mother Nature, if we really need more snow this season, could we keep it up in the mountains?

Wordless Wednesday: Exploring Her World

I've Got Soul, But I'm Not a Soldier

In case you were wondering, we are all feeling better around here. I don't have anything great to say. So I'll just leave you with a few pictures.

We went to a carnival for our ward this weekend. There was face painting and you know how I feel about that. The lady did a fabulous job considering she was expecting to get requests for hearts and balloons and my kids were the first three kids there and they wanted a giraffe, a zebra, and a unicorn.



Even I got one because I am still a kid at heart.



p.s. Don't look now, but you can totally see the skin tone difference between my arm and Daisy's. She is such a tan little bug. (I am not jealous. I am not jealous.)

This last picture was taken because Pearl had her lip sticking out, but I love it because you can see the freckles on my shoulder. We don't often take pictures of my shoulders (for obvious reasons) and I love my freckles. They are one of my favorite things about my body.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Instead of talking about the amount of vomit that has visited this house lately (some from yours truly), instead I will show you some of the writing my children have done recently. However, I will mention that I never realized the amount of damage that can be done to a bathroom if the toilet lid is down when someone throws-up. Nuf said.

This first little ditty is from June. They are given a picture at school and told to write a story to go along with it. I was laughing while I read it, so I thought I would put it on here to remember. Most of the story is on the back, so I will write it out so you can read it.



We are aliens. We do not want to be here! We landed on this strange planet! Do you like us, giants? Our spaceship is green. Our spaceship is very very big! Yes it is. And your skin is brown. How unusual. Unusual giants. Boo-hoo we want to go home to alien world. Our favorit food is green. Our favorit color is apple. And you have captured us and your keeping us here. Boo-hoo we want to go home to alien world! Let us go home now please! Or leav us here. Waaaaa!

This one Robyn wrote in church the other day. She has more words that are hard to recognize, but I am impressed with her progress.



I like mom. You are nice to me because you gave me mrecrtwii (MarioCartWii). I like the way you dres. I like your voos (voice). I love your brown her (hair).

Cute huh?

Lastly, June and I were having a conversation the other day. There was a picture of me when I was little (maybe four or five), and June was looking at it.

June: Who's that?
Me: Someone in our family.
June: Well, it can't be Daisy or Pearl because they aren't old enough yet, so it must be Ivory.
Me: Nope.
June: Robyn?
Me: Nope.
June: (face gets all scrunched up in a frown) *Huff* I am not fat.
Me: Thanks you little toad, that is me.
June: (laughing).

Kids, they make you feel so good about yourself. Okay, I was a little chubby when I was a kid. I think I'll go back and read Robyn's note again.

Speaking of Real Life

June skinned her knee at the bus-stop this morning, causing her to run home crying and asking if I could drive her to school. That was fine. I was going to leave Ivory and Daisy home since they were watching cartoons and the school is literally two minutes away, but Daisy seemed more inclined to be with me when I mentioned I was leaving.

And how glad I am that she came because she threw up in the car on the way home and I would hate for her to have to throw up at home alone.

So I just scrubbed out the car and hosed down the car seat. I put Daisy in the tub and put Ivory in charge of letting me know if Daisy needed help or Pearl woke up. (Luckily the baby fell asleep just as I needed both my hands.) Ivory did a good job if you count that no one died while I was outside. However, when I came in, Daisy was walking around the house naked and dripping wet and all her clothes were in the garbage. (?) So I put Daisy to bed and started a load of laundry, which I needed to do anyway, since Pearl had a blow-out this morning. (Have I mentioned that she still has those daily and no diaper brand has been able to handle them.)

So, we had a busy morning, but two out of the three at home are sleeping right now. Real life. But there are tender mercies all around. What if I had left Daisy at home? And look at these beautiful flowers I got to see with dew on them just because I was in the backyard cleaning a car seat.



Ooh, and now I have time to get breakfast. I chose shower over breakfast this morning. I usually don't get both.

Real Life

My life is not just good, it is excellent. I would go into details, but I am sure it would just make you all jealous. (Especially the part where I tell you I have been changing diapers for seven years straight.) But sometimes I think it is one's attitude that makes life good; after all, my life is still real.

Real, in that I sat there on Monday night playing Shadows Over Camelot with Daisy on my lap as she threw-up every half hour or so. Despite the less than savory conditions, we still managed to beat the game. (Camille and Eric, you are real troopers for playing despite the added frivolities.)

Real, in that I spent all day doing laundry because I was behind and I still didn't catch up by the end of the day.

Real, in that I listened to my third child have no less than five tantrums today. Man that girl can whine and cry, and yet I love her.

Real, in that I went to the dentist recently and I have over $700 dollars of work that needs to be done. The cavity I can understand, but do I really need the crown?

Real, in that although I have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables at my house that I could eat, I still managed to steal June's twix and eat that instead. (Don't worry, Tyler bought her another one.)

Real life people. It goes from day to day. Some days are better than others. Some moments are better than others. But all real.

p.s. It is real fun that I get to snug on this one every day.

Memory Lane

As I was looking for baby pictures the other day, I ran across this photo.



Although it is taken in poor lighting with a bad camera, it brings back very humorous memories. A neighbor, Deanne, ran a pre-school out of her home that year and she let June enter even though June had barely turned 3. June was the youngest in the class, but Deanne was very patient and I still think it was a great experience for June. At the end of the school year, she had a graduation program and the children sang several songs they had learned.

June was a space case. She didn't do the actions, she stared off into space, and at one point she actually stood up on her chair and pulled her socks up while all the children were quietly sitting. (See the above picture.) Fortunately, she had shorts on underneath. Tyler and I were laughing so hard. At a ceremony that is supposed to fill you with pride, we sat and marveled at how clueless our daughter seemed.

I love that her socks don't match. I love that everyone is doing the actions to a song and June is fiddling with something in her chair.



Classic June. She is a little more attentive now, but I wouldn't trade these pictures or memories.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

So Ivory has short hair now, much like her sister. And because mom did both cuts, they look very similar.



Yes, that is a snake they are watching. We get them every year and the girls always enjoy a peek. (This is the second one this spring.)

The difference this time around though (with the haircut), is that I wasn't planning on cutting it. That was all decided for me after Ivory took the scissors to her own locks. She is my first child to do so, and I must admit that the damage wasn't bad. I didn't even notice until I went to curl her hair and it wasn't as long on the one side. I debated leaving it because you really couldn't tell, but in the end, I opted to let it all grow at the same length. And by same length I mean approximate, because I didn't cut it long enough on one side the first time around and then I think I cut it too short when I went to fix the problem, so now I have deemed it best if I put the scissors away and call it good.



I think Ivory will miss having curls, because she asked for them all the time before. Personally, I will miss sitting there as she patiently let me curl her hair because the other girls have never been so tolerant.

I'll leave you with this cuteness.



Ivory loves Pearl so much. She is the first to lend a hand when it comes to the baby. But I don't blame her; it is hard not to love that little bundle.

One of These is Not Like the Others

A lot of people have told me that Pearl stands out, that she doesn't look like my other children. Whereas it is true that she has her own unique look, I think she fits in very well. The more I look back at baby pictures, the more I am certain that she is shaped from that same mold. Oddly, there is only one child that I feel didn't fit the mold, and it wasn't Pearl.

Anyway, you are welcome to peek at these minis and figure out which one is which. Don't click on the pictures, because I think that would show you what I named them, therefore giving it away. (Or maybe you can just click on the pictures once you are done guessing.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter how they come, they are all mine and I love them.

Germ Free...Forever

I bought some mini hand-sanitizers from Bath and Body Works the other day. I had the crew with me at the time and June bought one for herself, along with a cute little holder for it. When she came home she looked at the assortment I had bought for other people and she started to covet my blue one. She asked for it multiple times, and I finally told her that I would take her back to the store and she could get her own. (After all, this is why I give them an allowance.)

So back we went and she brought her allowance, all $17 dollars she had saved. And then she spent it ALL on hand sanitizer. She found every color holder they had and then chose a sanitizer to go with each one. I tried to talk her out of it, but in the end, I would much rather she spend her money on clean hands than on candy or dollar store toys that will break within the hour.

She is still happy with her purchase today, and we all had clean hands this afternoon. (Oh, and they smell good too.)

This is the tooth, that fell out of the mouth, that got kicked by the foot, of the sister in the top bunk... in the house that Tyler bought.

Seriously, we have been pulling on that thing religiously every night for a week. (Here is one unsuccessful attempt.)



So I go to Zumba tonight and miss all the action when Ivory kicks it out. Figures.

Now there is just a hole.



And yes, for those very astute people, Ivory's hair is much shorter than it used to be, but that is another post. While we are talking about other posts, remind me to tell you about June's obsession with hand sanitizer.

Over and out.

Breaking News

Pearl finally smiled for Tyler.

Seriously, he was starting to get a bit irked.

But all is well again and it really is cute seeing him work so hard for a smile.

You can't tell me that she doesn't already have him wrapped around her finger.

I'm The Best...

...I even have the badge to prove it.



Today was an excellent Mother's Day. The kids woke me up to breakfast in bed, cards, presents, and these cute rocks.



Tyler helped the girls make them. (No slacking for him this year.) Tyler also bought me this cool bench (Please ignore the serious children sitting on it).



What makes the bench even cooler is that you can flip the backrest over and it becomes a table. (See Robyn doing a good impression of eating something at the table.)



He bought me two, so we can all sit out in the yard, or put them together and make an official picnic table. I am excited to let my kids eat outside often this summer.

Each of the girls made me feel special today. Tyler had to hand me a tissue once again as they sang in church. (Seriously, when did I get to be such a softy?) I have every reason in the world to feel blessed. Well, at least FIVE reasons...



p.s. My mom is pretty great too. I hope she had an excellent day despite my lack of gift giving. If only I had thought of the rocks first.

Friday Thoughts

*It is a good thing that Robyn turned six, because it would sound even more lame to say that my FIVE year old can kick my trash at MarioKart.

*I love making lots of good food, but somehow it always leads to lots of dishes.

*I hate it when I forget to put another gallon of water in the fridge to get cold, because I am really picky about my water temperature. I am currently drinking water with ice and I don't like the smell of ice.

*I can't decide which I like more...buying cute things for me, or cute things for other people.

*I am pretty sure that Daisy likes books just as much as my other children.

Wordless Wednesday: Baking With Mom

Odds And Ends

I was browsing through my pictures so I could do another Wordless Wednesday (because after all, it must be nice not to hear me blather all the time), and I realized that I have too many pictures that I need to get on here. I have been slacking a bit due to a slight cold and less than adequate sleep. So you get a whole bunch of things clumped together (with words, sorry).

First I will add on a tag to the last post. Tyler mentioned that it was a miserably cold night at Supercross, but they prepared in advance with many layers. Tyler busted out his long johns (which don't see much use) and the girls were fascinated. What could this be that Dad was wearing? Well he told them...MAN TIGHTS. He has found his own way to fit in with all his girlies.



Here is an I Spy.



In other news, we finally busted out the ice cream maker that my parents gave me (TWO YEARS AGO!!!)



Why we haven't taken it out sooner, I will never know. Our first experiment was Papaya Sorbet, since that is what I had on hand. I learned several things. Overipe Papaya does not get better when you make it into sorbet, even if it does have a nice creamy texture.



And even if it doesn't taste too bad, the smell does make a difference. Lastly, when I get out bowls for all the people in my family, it sure seems like a lot.



Our next experiment is chocolate, but what with forgetting to buy cream and buying sour milk that we needed to exchange, it has been a slow process. But tonight...we feast.

In FHE last night we talked about Jesus walking on the water. So June tried it out herself during bath time. I was fairly impressed.



For the record, no one is holding her and she is not holding onto anything herself. How do you think she accomplished it?

We got our carpets cleaned finally. I kept putting it off, but it was well beyond time for a good scrub. They were damp much longer than I would have liked, but Daisy didn't seem to mind in the least. Here she is face down and that carpet is hardly dry.



I always enjoy the extra room, but since the couch was taking up all the kitchen, it was nice to move the furniture back.



Finally, Pearl continues to struggle with nap time. Tyler put her on her tummy yesterday and she slept for a solid four hour nap. Darn the warning about SIDS when they sleep on their tummy. I guess I will just have to soldier through some more sleepless nights. She sure is cute, however she sleeps.