Gr8

Love this picture. Love this girl. Love balloons.

June is eight now. Or at least she has been for about an hour as I write this. I had her late in the evening. The nurse told me that I probably wouldn't have her until the next morning. But I guess June decided it was time to get the show on the road. That attitude has followed her through life. When she puts her mind to something, she can accomplish almost anything.

There was no friend party this year. Instead I took her to Color Me Mine. We had a great time, the two of us, but there are no pictures until we get the finished products. (So stay tuned.)

We opened presents this evening, and I think she liked all her gifts. Her favorite is probably the Build Your Own Fairytale Kit. It is just a big empty book with lots of stickers and stuff to put inside while you write your own story. That is right up her alley. She loves to read and write. I'll have to take some pictures as she builds her story.

I love when only one person knows you are taking a picture.

 Another big hit: the Heelys. You know, those shoes with the wheels in them.

Ivory came up with that idea all by herself. They are not for the faint of heart. I see kids zipping around in them at the grocery store and it looks easy. Contrary to how kids make it look, I think they take a bit of practice. And let's be honest, my children are not the most graceful. June was headed for a sore tailbone, so Tyler remedied the situation while she was practicing. It led to lots of giggles from the peanut gallery.

Robyn especially could not get over her large bottom. This does not bode well for me in the future.

And to finish we have the traditional spitting on the cake. June actually requested that she NOT have cake this year. She said I could surprise her with any other kind of dessert. So I got her cake anyway, but when you put the word cheese in front of it, it becomes a whole different kind of delicious. June seemed pleased with my choice, despite the fact that it was technically still a 'cake'.

Happy Birthday June!! You sure are greight.

Wordless Wednesday: Guess Who?

Count Your Many Blessings

Pearl (Pearly, Pearly-P, Pearlite, The Babies)

This girl is a doll. She is a squirmy little thing, but only because she is so intent on everything around her. She sits up by herself now and eats some solid stuff. (Although she still spits up and I forgot how much I hate it when spit-up goes techno-colored.) Everybody in the family loves her. Daisy and Ivory giggle and fawn over her until she gives them a smile. Robyn and June tote her around and give her kisses. She is spoiled. In the above picture, June was in charge and she had changed her into one of my shirts (?) and put up a cushion protection around her in case she should fall. She looked up at me and beamed, showing off her cute dimple. Sakes alive, could she get any cuter?

Daisy (Daiser, StinkPot, Goose, Dais, Daisy-Cakes)

Don't be fooled by the cuteness folks. This kid could find trouble faster than a shark smells blood in the water. Latest achievements: Finding gum under a bleacher (and chewing it), sampling her own boogers for the first time, taking off multiple poopy diapers, and drawing all over her bed (YET AGAIN!! Please do not ask how she continues to get markers. This does not reflect well on her parents.)  I adore this little duck, but man, she keeps this momma busy.

Ivory (Ives, Ivy-Spivy, Ivers)

Ivory is my little ray of sunshine. She is happy and fun, and throws a temper tantrum in there every once in a while to keep it real. She is doing a dance class at the moment while she waits for pre-school to start and I love hearing her regale me with tales of drama and flare. She still says the funniest things too. This evening the girls were talking about Barbie being fired in Barbie and a Fashion Fairytale. Ivory added, "Yeah, but she didn't even get burned."

Robyn (Yep, we just call her Robyn)

Personality is starting to ooze out of Robyn. She is stubborn and kind, all in one package. She needles her sisters to see where she fits in the mix and then I watch her play with them every so sweetly. She is reading very well and loving school. She still loves to color and really likes girly things (i.e. unicorns, pink, glitter, cotton candy, sugar, spice, everything nice, etc.) She also has a soft spot for the dog and I wash her sheets regularly because they always have dog hair on them.

June (Junie, Juniper, June-bog, Juner)

 This one likes to read, read, read. She is smart and gets almost all my jokes now. She plays games with me and is probably at the perfect age, because she still thinks I am amazing. That bubble will pop sooner than later I am sure, since she is almost better than me at piano, and it won't take long for her to find many areas in which to pass me up. She is such a big help to me and I am very thankful for my oldest daughter. Her birthday is this week. I'm sure you'll hear more about her.

Everyone's a Critic

I went out and got a pedicure this weekend and considering the upcoming holiday, I thought it would be fun to do something different.

Robyn stayed home sick from church today, but when I came home with my open-toed shoes, she was shocked. She then told me that my toes were not appropriate for church. I think we have a conservative on our hands.

Good for the Soul

I heart full moons. They are good for the soul. That serene glow that lights up the night.

Tyler let me go and play volleyball tonight. It was so invigorating. Such a pleasure for my soul.

I have been tickling Daisy a lot lately. The laughter makes my soul sigh and almost makes up for all her cranky moments.

I like good food. Especially baked goods. Give me a cookie any day over a candy bar. Fall brings good baked goods and pumpkin hot chocolate from Starbucks. My soul is holding its breath in anticipation.

Speaking of baked goods. Get yourself over to the church on 800 S. on Geneva tomorrow. (9-1pm) There is an awesome bake sale going on to raise money for a girl with Leukemia. I dropped off some yummies tonight and some of the items for sale looked amazing.

There should be some good soul feeding tomorrow.

I Love to See

Ivory decided after out latest visit that she is going to get married here. I am fine with that. I admit that the only reason we came was to retrieve my crosstitch from the fair, and it being Monday night, it seemed a good time to visit the temple. We really should come more often since it is so beautiful. It was twilight by the time we got to the temple, so we didn't even stay long, but we enjoyed every moment there.

The reflection pool is always a big hit.

The sun was setting leaving a pink tint to the sky. The Conference Center looked gorgeous. Can't wait to come next week.

Although fall is definitely in the air, the nights have still been nice, evidenced by the fact that I just can't seem to put socks on my baby. I promise that I will start doing it soon. Maybe.

Pearl enjoyed the trip. Here is Tyler kissing on her. Doesn't she look bored. What a stinker.

As we were leaving, I snagged this silhouette picture. The girls are so cute.

And then I grabbed this one with a flash. I love it because Ivory looks hysterical and Robyn has red eye. I can't even remember the last picture I took that had red eye.

I really am glad that families are forever. I kinda like mine.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunday Hair

Moody

I finished reading Mockingjay last night, and I started Sarah's Key today. I am thinking that neither of these books are very uplifting. They seem to be good books, but lacking in the warm-fuzzy department.

Therefore, I need to write down something funny tonight to go to bed on a happy note.

Monday, I made fudge for FHE. I remember when my mom would make fudge and she would let me lick the warm chocolaty goodness off the spoon after she poured in out of the pan. So yummy. Ivory was the most convenient child at the time to share in the fudgy experience. She licked off some of the hot fudge, her eyes lit up and she said,

"You're right mom. This is some good smudge." (cutie)

Later, June was completing her homework. She was given three pictures that all rhyme, but she couldn't quite figure out any of the pictures. I pointed to the one with a man looking at a framed picture.
"What is that, June?"

"A cube."

"Yes, but what is the picture in general. What do you call it when people use paint, clay, crayons, etc. It is even a subject in school."

She was still struggling to find the word.

"Okay," I said. "It is a gallery. Have you heard that phrase before? A ______ gallery."

"Peanut?"

(Hahahahaha, I love having kids.)

I Shurf Artol Ot

I Would Like to Apologize to my Readers in Advance

That said, please continue at your own risk.

If you have been a devoted reader from the beginning, you may recall this post about gas.

Obviously, gas and the passing of it is a normal occurrence in life. I admit that I didn't find much humor in it until I was married to Tyler. (For quite a while.)

Flatulence has a vocabulary all its own. I have heard phrases here and there and usually I need my interpreter (i.e. my husband) to fill me in. Here are a few: Covered Wagon, Dutch Oven, Buttercup, Barking Spider. If you don't recognize these, you might try asking your better half, or some guy at the office. Or sadly, you can check out the fart thesaurus and find a whole barrel full of new words to use for this common pastime. (Remember, I did apologize in advance here.)

I am sure most of you have heard of the 'Blue Dart.' Tyler is ever hopeful to light his gas, to hold the Jersey torch high. I regret to even say that he has taught the girls about this. He calls it Toots on Fire. He gets out the matches and does his best to impress the onlookers. I laugh, I cringe, I wonder why I ever married the man. I even take pictures because that is what I do.

So for those of you who have respectable husbands, who would never do such a thing, here is what a blue dart looks like. I promise I did not doctor this photo.

I feel like I should apologize again, but if you have made it this far, you have only yourself to blame. As for me, I am fairly impressed that I caught that on camera.

Just a Normal Friday Night and Some Other Stories

I love when there is nothing to do. And by nothing to do, I mean that there is plenty to do, but we just aren't doing it. Tonight, we kicked back.

Dr. June came back from an awesome 'Science Experiment' birthday party. Check out her goggles, lab coat, and gloves. (Glad you can't quite make out the piles of laundry in the background.)

Later, we started a rousing game of Catch Phrase. I don't know why I didn't think of playing this game with the kids earlier. Even Ivory was getting in on the descriptions.

Robyn: This is something you don't use at all, but you get to use again. (recycle)

Ivory: It has an ear and it eats cheese. (mouse)

Mom: We are all part of the same...
Robyn: MULTITUDE!!
(Someone has been paying attention during scripture study. The actual word was 'family')

June was surprisingly bad at this game. She would give one clue (and not a very good one) and expect us to figure it out.

June: It's a box with stuff in it. (package)

June: A candy shaped like a rectangle. (marshmallow)

June: It's like a jar. (plastic. Hmmm, how is that like a jar?)

Although she did have some great ones, like...

June: The answer to a problem. (solution)

June: You use it with fabric. [Some other clues equally confusing] and then... It's Mars' core. (iron. Wow, way to use your science knowledge to sidestep home ec.)

Anyway, we had a good time. Somewhere along the way, I got distracted. I drew an arrow on Ivory's leg and then another here and another there. Pretty soon I had a maze of arrows that you could follow around her body. The girls thought this was great and pretty soon they were all sporting a maze. I hid THE END on a different spot for each girl. Sorry the pictures are dark, but there is not much natural light at night.

While I was drawing mazes, Pearl was chilling in her high chair. She hadn't seemed too interested in finishing her rice cereal, but while we were occupied, Daisy was dutifully finishing the feeding for us.

Although she is crazy busy all the time, most of that chaos is directed at being helpful. She wants to do everything that we do. Like when she opened a container of formula and poured a bottle of water inside. (Ouch, if only formula weren't so stinking expensive.)

Oh, and tonight we had a breakthrough. She actually peed in the potty. She has sat there innumerable times, but tonight she finally got it. Yay. Although this means that I am going to have to take her more seriously now when she asks to go.

A good Friday night all around.

I'll leave you with one more funny story and a great picture.

The other evening Daisy spilled her cup at dinner. (Usual occurrence.) Tyler looked over at Daisy and said, "What happened over there?"

Daisy answered: "Daisy happened." (No kidding. Daisy happens all the time around our house.)

And finally, here is Ivory getting dressed in the morning. They say you should get dressed to the shoes every day.

A Bird by Any Other Name

I think one of my favorite stages is the sounding-out-words stage. Robyn came home with a color book that she had written and illustrated. It went something like this:

I can see a blue sgui (sky)
I can see a green forist (forest)
I can see a yellow flawr (flower)
I can see a raimbow

But my favorite was this one:

Wordless Wednesday: Drool

Fair Well

Ah yes, that time of year again. Time to smash all the piggy banks and spend every last coin at the Fair. We did have a good time, but I was appalled at how pricey everything was. So I went back and read my fair post from two years ago, and apparently I was appalled back then as well. Not much has changed. I'll break it down for you.

High: I entered something in the fair this year and it was fun to hunt and find it. It was in the last aisle we tried. A nice lady looked at my girls and said, "Can you find the fairies and the mermaids?"

"We are looking for the mermaids, " they all eagerly replied. That threw her off for a minute until she realized I had stitched them. She was telling all the little girls to find the mermaids. I won a first place ribbon, which I think is six bucks prize winnings. That almost pays for one person's admission.

Low: Not much to hunt through really.There were some excellent pieces there, but I wish more people would participate. I sorta wish they would combine the 'creative arts' with the 'home arts' but perhaps they don't have a building large enough for both. Just a thought.

High: The girls LOVED the rides. June has finally reached the glorious height of 48" which allowed her free reign of the thrill options. She took up the torch and braved some whoppers, by herself mind you. Here is the flying ride. She looks so tiny on it.





She also rode the Gravitron thingy. (You know, the one where it spins you inside until you are lifted off the ground.) You couldn't pay me to go on that thing anymore, but she thought it was cool. I can't wait for the other girls to get taller, so she has some company.

Tyler took the job of chaperone for any children who still needed adult supervision.



And some rides they can do themselves.



Daisy went on one ride and only because we had some leftover tickets. She didn't seem to mind watching the majority of the time.

Lows: Ivory really wanted to ride the bigger rides, but she is just so tiny. She got turned away at the first height stick and she cried. I tried to explain that I felt her pain and had to wait many years myself to go on the good rides. We walked through the kiddie-ride section, but she was not fooled. She finally opted for the Tilt-a-Whirl, and I think she got her money's worth.



During the ride festivities I did manage to lose Daisy once. There is no describing the panic that grips you, when you turn around and can't find a child in that first sweeping glance. And the longer it takes to find the child, the faster the hysteria builds. It probably only took me a minute and a half to find her, but that is plenty long in my book.

High: I was such a smart mom this time around. I brought food to the fair. Genius I tell you. I fed the kids dinner and no one was telling me they were hungry.

We did buy some treats because that is half the fun of the fair. June ate almost an entire funnel cake by herself. She probably could have eaten the whole thing if her mom had stopped snitching.



Low: Some of the girls lost their privilege to have a treat. (Yep, I am that mean mom who follows through on punishments.) We bought them pity fries, but hopefully they learned their lesson.

Low: I don't think Pearl loved the fair. She likes to be held and she doesn't like sleeping on the go. So she cranked in the stroller and fussed until she finally passed out.

Poor kiddo. Maybe she will like it better next year. If there is a next year. Luckily for her, between now and then, I will forget how expensive it is and probably just remember those happy smiles.

Boy Will be Boy

I think boys have this inherent need to tease. It doesn't have to be often or even cruel, but there is an embedded desire to play pranks on friends and family. Usually these antics come out at work. Excellent examples can be found on The Office. However, it is only natural that we women, married to men, are going to have to accept our fair share of baiting and taunting now and again.

My husband is no exception. When he sees an opportunity to have a little fun at the expense of my sanity, he can't help himself. Read on.

I was hanging with the girls in the loft. Tyler had just gotten out of the tub with Pearl. She was a clean, happy, warm baby chilling in her diaper. She is old enough now that Tyler has started tossing her into the air. And like all the others, she loves it. Tyler was giving her big air. He would toss her up and then catch her low, just out of my line of sight. I wasn't really even paying attention. Up, down. Up, down. And then he stepped out a little too far and threw her down the stairs.

I SCREAMED!!

But even as the adrenaline pumped into my system, I was already figuring out the true story. See, I think Tyler has been watching too much television, particularly too much Burn Notice. (Although, that show rocks, and I love it as much as he does.) These wise words were given by Micheal Weston just a few episodes ago. Spys and magicians use many of the same techniques. They both know people trust their eyes more than they should. If they think they know what they are looking at, they don't look too closely.

Therefore, when Daisy's baby-doll happened to be in the optimal position, he took full advantage. On the last toss, Tyler gently set Pearl down, switched babies and chucked the doll down the stairs. On close inspection, you will notice that this baby looks nothing like Pearl.

Daisy has helped accentuate the differences by drawing on her with marker. However, when flying through the air, they can look remarkably similar, especially when they are wearing the same color scheme; white and peach.

Before I even finished screaming, I realized that it was a doll sailing down the stairway and not my baby, but the damage was already done. My heart was racing and I was trying to catch my breath. Tyler of course, was laughing his head off, and truth be told, it was pretty funny.

He totally got me.

Dream Weaver

I have very vivid, disturbing, frustrating dreams. Almost every night. For instance, just last night I tried to set up a pack-n-play for about half an hour to no avail. (Frustrating.) Later in my dream I was at an amusement park on a ship. June went down a port hole and when I went to follow, I realized the hole was filled to the top with water. I was torn between my aversion of going down under the water in an enclosed space and knowing that my daughter must be down there. Guilt wracked me as I tried to convince myself that it was just part of the ride and she couldn't actually be hurt down there. (Disturbing, see?)

And that is just one night. I could get up almost any morning and tell you my dream and you would furrow your eyebrows and ask if there is something wrong with me. (Most likely.) For this very reason, I tend to hold to the theory that dreams don't mean much; that there isn't some hidden agenda that your sub-conscience is trying to send. That said, I think some people have very profound, moving dreams. My friend Kristen had one such recently. Her blog is private so I asked if I could share. She said yes. I think it is truly fantastic:

Every so often I have a dream that feels profound. Last night, I dreamed this:

I was riding a bike down a crazy busy downtown-New-York-City-type street. Narrow and lined with skyscrapers. I was riding with a zillion other people, like the Boston marathon of bike rides. I knew a lot of the people I was riding with and didn't know all the rest. It was a nice day, and a nice ride. Then abruptly, the road ended, just literally dropped right off and we all rode, before we could realize it, over the edge and into an enormous, dark abyss. I began free-falling through the blackness, aware that other people were falling too, but unable to see or hear them. It was pitch dark and absolutely terrifying. I knew I was dying and I was overwhelmed with fear. Still falling, I finally stopped flailing, and closed my eyes. I said this prayer: "I guess this is the end. I did the best I could. It doesn't seem to make sense to try to do some sort of last-minute repenting....I tried to do my best...I hope it's enough."

As soon as the words of that prayer were spoken in my mind, I landed at the bottom of the pit. But, to my shock and relief, I instantly realized that the entire floor of the immense pit was covered in an eternity's worth of human beings, arms stretching upward, and catching each of us that had been falling. As I landed in a stranger's arms, a thought came powerfully into my consciousness: We are saved by love.

The stranger placed me gently on my feet and I instinctively reached my arms up, prepared to catch the next person falling.

And then I woke up.


Awesome huh? Sweet dreams everyone.

.5

Pearl is six months now. She's a keeper. For the record, she is gaining weight like a champ. After bringing in the big guns (formula), she was 14.1 lbs at her last check-up. Not too shabby in my book. We are still trying to find the best formula, but she is patient and will drink most anything we put in her bottle.

She is a momma's girl. I can handle that. She blows tons of raspberries and sits in her bouncer and kicks until the cows come home. Man that girl can kick. Happily, those strong little legs have not figured out how to crawl yet, and I would like her to wait for another month or so. Daisy is enough trouble without another little mobile body in the house.

Other things to note: Her eyes are brown now. So goes the last hope of my ever having a blue eyed child. (Guess I have to wait for the grand kids.) She loves the outdoors and bath time. If you ever need to calm her down, those will do the trick. When winter really gets here, I guess we will have to use the tub method more often.

Homework

June got her first 'big' assignment last week. Her class is supposed to do book report projects each month. This month, they are assigned to read a picture book, or short chapter book and make a puppet of the main character.

Our house is plenty stocked with books, so I sent June upstairs to pick one. I was pleasantly surprised by her choice, and we had a lot of fun making her puppet. Let's see how many of you can guess the main character or the book.

I obviously helped with this project, but most of it was gluing, since I don't trust June with a glue gun. (Since I, the adult, still managed to burn myself three times.) She did all the painting and managed much of the building. I think she is fairly proud of her finished product.

TomBoy?

When I was in third grade there was a boy named Jake Hansen (names changed to protect the innocent) who sat a few desks away from me. He had a crush on me, but that isn't what I want to talk about today.

He spent all day drawing fighting pictures. War, guns, ninjas, swords, you name it, he probably drew it. They were very complicated pictures and I would be impressed by the detail; not so much by the subject matter. I actually wondered why one would spend all day involved in such endeavors, but he was a BOY. Nuf sed.

Today, June asked me for a paper. This is a normal occurrence around here. We probably are not doing our part to save the trees, but we do get some very interesting drawings. Like this:

I am amazed at her creativity. She asked me what some weapons were, but wouldn't show me the end result until she had her twelve 'creepy-weapon' creatures. She plans on cutting them out and having a war with them. She isn't sure who is going to win yet;  she needs to put them on teams. They all have unique abilities. Bom Pack drops bombs from his head and as they count down, he runs away giggling. (He is said to have the advantage over Gun Shot, if he is careful.) Ice Cone has the exclusive talent of shooting his arms out as projectiles and then growing new dangerous limbs.

I don't know all their special talents, but I think my favorite is Firey Death. I have a soft spot for his three eyes. Maybe I should have been paying more attention to Jake in school, because this war stuff is more stellar than I thought.