Chalae's Chalet

I have been putting off this post for too long, mainly because I didn't want to bother with all the pictures and believe me...there are plenty. BUT, the kids often ask for their work to be displayed on the blog and who am I to argue since this corner of cyberspace is really mostly about them anyway. So today, you get a lot of blocks. A LOT. I am always happy when they get the blocks out because I like to see their creativity in action. I remember building with the same blocks when I was a kid. My sister and I would always build mazes for our Barbies to get trapped in. Miranda came up with the most ingenious booby traps. I was jealous that my mind never worked as fast as hers. (Probably still doesn't.) Blocks are great.

This all started back one day when Robyn built a house and called it her Chalet (French for cabin). Tyler had told her to name it that since Robyn's middle name is Chalae (same pronunciation, which for you non-French speakers is 'Shuh-lay'). She was proud of her creation and asked for a picture.

Here is the close-up.

Then the girls (June and Robyn) built a castle. Behold.

Very cool, I think.

Then they got the blocks out again another day and since we have some letter blocks June took it upon herself to form everyone's name. Some were harder than others.

Robyn was busy building more structures. In fact, here is a whole town. (Although I think June helped as well.)

This Robyn creation is pretty complex. I feel badly that I can't remember hardly anything about it except there is an elevator there in the back. But trust me, she could give you the detailed specs.

I like her couch here.

And then she built one large enough to use.

Seen enough blocks? Yeah, me too.

So we will leave you with this cute picture. Pearl was amusing herself while sisters built away. I followed her as she was making a loop. She would walk the curb down to the next driveway, then come back and start again. It just reminds me how big she is getting.

What do you do when church is canceled?

The bathrooms broke today at church, and anticipating the overload of children who pee during a three-hour period, they canceled the last two hours of church. It was weird to say the least, but we made good use of our time.

There was a lot of this:

And someone who desperately needs a nap on Sunday afternoon, got one (yeah, that Claire-bear sure does get cranky when she doesn't get some shut-eye):

The girls played nicely for quite a while:

While I kept myself busy:

Then the girls got really silly and played a lot of games that involved wearing underwear on different parts of their bodies. It was ridiculously hilarious, with graphic evidence of how skinny they all are (can we say rib cages protruding everywhere) but I didn't feel it was all so appropriate for the blog.

And then we all went to bed.

THE END.


Don't be jealous. You can always make chocolate chip cookies and wear underwear on your head next Sunday...

Ivory's Six Year Gallery

These are always my favorite posts.

Ivory's birthday is in February. It is always so brown and blah outside. So after dressing up at the art museum (thanks again Jessica) I thought we would do something similar for Ivory's pictures. She was so excited to dress up, and I had so many favorites. I tried to keep it to ten pictures and I didn't even get to show off all the outfits she demoed. So, sit back and enjoy the Ives. She certainly has plenty of personality to fill all these roles. It makes me really wonder what she will become someday. 

They aren't in any particular order. But that last one sure makes me laugh. I promise she wasn't going to hit me with the rolling pin...

Luck o' the Irish

St. Patrick's day was a blast as usual, although we were surprised that we didn't hear from Seamus until the day before. In fact, we were all in trouble because no one had mentioned him and he was annoyed that we had all forgotten him. He threatened to move, but we fulfilled his request to put together a puzzle and color it and he was appeased and even left us some treats the next day. (After we left a hearty offering of gold.)

I feel badly that I did not take a picture of the puzzle before I packed it away. The girls did a really good job at putting it together and coloring it. But I did get a picture of our annual wishing-on-a-piece-of-gold.

Robyn  took a picture of me, but I think the camera was a little big for her hand. She was having trouble steadying it. (Hence the bluriness.)

Pearl was getting in on the action. My favorite was when she had her coin uncentered on her head.

The actual day of green was really fun. We eventually got to yummy things like this, but we started the day with a 5k, family style. I actually let Tyler run by himself since he has been running a lot more recently. I paired up June and Robyn and they ran together, and I took on Ivory, Daisy, Pearl, and the stroller.

Wow, it really slows you down to push a stroller. Ivory ran most of the way by herself, but sometimes she would fall down and then ride a bit, or she would get tired and ride a bit. I did plenty of walking myself. Somewhere along the way Tyler joined up with us since he had finished and was coming back to help out. And not only did he finish, but he WON!!

Turns out he won in RECORD TIME too!! He crossed the finish line sub 17; at 16:55. Not too shabby. But that usually happens when you miss part of the course. He didn't mean to. There was no flagger at one of the turns when he went by, so he just continued on his merry way. He missed an entire loop of the run. He figured out from the times of the other runners that he was probably more on a 22 minute pace. Still pretty good in my book. Right now he is enjoying bragging up first place. (Even if he ran more of a 3k.)

I on the other hand was hoping to finish in less than 45 minutes with my heavy cargo. When Tyler joined me, I remained stubborn and kept the stroller because I wanted to have a reason to be slow, but after relenting the stroller, I realized how much it was slowing me down. (I would like to point out here that I am not a runner and my time would not have been great even without the stroller, but I jogged the entire thing after I let go. I actually felt pretty light without the extra burden.) We crossed the finish line at 41:45. Thanks Tyler for taking the load. I wouldn't have made my goal without you.

Amazingly, the girls (June and Robyn) started in front of us and we never caught up to them. They finished just a minute before us. (40:22/40:43) They said they ran the whole time. And this is seriously impressive because June has no tennis shoes so she ran in boots the entire time. I am having slight guilt issues that I didn't get her some proper shoes before the run. However, she is so used to wearing boots that she didn't even have blisters at the end. (Some guilt relieved. And if I had bought her new shoes, she wouldn't have had time to break them in. See...I did her a favor. I'll keep telling myself that.)

It was really fun to run together as a family, but next time, Tyler can have the stroller. He'll still beat my time. Here we are in our green shirts, fresh from the run.

Hope you had a good St. Patrick's Day.

Service with a Smile

One of my goals intentions for 2012 is to do a service FHE every month. (We aren't going to talk a lot about my intentions here and how they aren't all being done...ahem.) Luckily for me, we mapped out what the service would be ahead of time so I wouldn't be scrambling at the last minute.

So far, so good.

A friend of mine said that I should put my ideas on my blog so that others could benefit. I guess that makes sense. At the same time, I'm not trying to toot the Cazier horn, so just know that we enjoy serving (when children are cooperative and non-grumpy) as much as the next person.

JANUARY

We wrote our list of service opportunities and gave brownies fudge to our school teachers. (It was supposed to be brownies given to our church teachers, but when you have fudge on hand and just enough for three school teachers, that is the way you go.)

FEBRUARY

We did several heart attacks to people in our neighborhood and one lady that Tyler works with. It was fun to sneak up at night and stick hearts on the doors. Although the attacking was done in secret, we did leave our name, so there wasn't any confusion about awkward crushes and the like.

MARCH

This month I tried something out of my comfort zone. I read online that you can take teddy bears and other stuffed animals into your local fire station and they will use them for children that have been in accidents to comfort them or help them trust the firefighters. We always seem to have a plethora of stuffed things around here that are not being used, so I thought I would try it.

We put it on FB as well and had several other families donate with us. It was great. We went and picked up animals and then headed off to the fire station. (This is where my friend mentioned that I should be sharing this info, so I decided to take a camera too and do a real documentation.)

Here we are outside the station. Thank you Tyler for having us face the sun for this picture.

Each of the girls got to carry their own bag to feel like they were offering something. I didn't remember to count, but I believe we had close to 50 animals.

Inside was a little anticlimactic. The fireman on duty seemed a little confused as to what to do with all these cuddly creatures we were bringing in. He said to just put them in the corner. I was suddenly glad I grabbed the camera, because then we had an excuse to stay two seconds longer and make the experience more real for the kids.

We finished the night with ice cream and donuts (one or the other) and everyone seemed content. At least I always feel good after helping someone and eating a donut.

Stay tuned for more Cazier service adventures.

Keeping it Real

I hate daylight savings.

I hate it even more when I am sick.

I am not enjoying dragging my achy body out of bed and sniffling all day.

I am so behind on laundry, it has taken over the closets. I think I heard it chuckling as I walked by.

Found out that I know the Brandon Dorman who illustrates the Fable Haven and Goosebumps book, and many others. I always wondered if he was the same kid I grew up with. This does not make me famous in any way, because he probably doesn't remember me and if he does, it is probably because I chased him around when I was really little. (And then he moved...no big surprise there.)

But still, something to be excited about while I go wrestle the laundry beast. Wish me luck. Odds are not in my favor.

p.s. If you find my missing hour of sleep, will you mail it to me. (With a couple of pillows.)

One of the reasons I love having all girls...

Spring sprang this week. The weather is gorgeous and I firmly believe that the days are getting longer and freedom from the house is in sight. Yahoo. So to celebrate, we went and did this on Saturday.

I just love me a long line of flip-flops. Check out those cute baby ones for Pearl. Daisy was extremely mad that I took a picture of hers and sulked for a good fifteen minutes. (??)

Mine are a little different this year. I saw the cherries and everyone demanded I get them. Then I noticed they were wedges.

S'okay. I could use the height any day. They are guaranteed to be filthy by the end of the summer, but they will be well loved.

I'm already looking forward to a summer with less sock folding. Boo-yah!

We Are Normal

We went to a wedding reception for a great friend back in February. She had it at an art museum and as an added bonus the photographer took pictures of everyone after they went through the line. There was a box of dress up materials. It was perfect time to show off our normalcy.

I think I might be inspired. I have a good idea brewing...

Clogging

June started clogging in January. The opportunity to dance at a competition came up very quickly. I told June that she didn't need to go. But she really wanted to attend. I was a little worried that she would be nervous or disappointed, but I think she had a great experience. AND, she learned four out of the five solos before she went. Good job June.

There were so many kids to dance the solos that they lined them up in rows and had each line dance back to back. (Not a bad idea to get everyone through quickly.)

I like that the lady who runs our studio keeps the costumes simple and modest. And I think it helps the kids focus on the dancing and not the show.

June did a great job. She remembered everything. Except to smile. I don't think she has learned that one yet.

Only three girls came from June's class. (This competition was not mandatory.) Lots of kids came from the younger class though. So fun for them to get a feel for the big world of clogging. (I think June's class is called 'Sparklers' but that might be the name of the little class too. I am kinda new at all this too.)

June received a medal for competing and a first place pin for each of the solos she did.

Yep, you heard right...first place. Okay, so all the young kids got first place. I still think she did a really good job. I love watching my girls grow and explore new talents and interests.

Young Beauty

Last week the Young Women in my ward invited me to come and talk a little about photography and why I like it. They also invited another sister to talk about hair and makeup. So, we had a fabulous night of getting made up and taking pictures. All these girls are so beautiful. There is something so fresh about that age. Yes, we don't have a lot of young women in our ward, but they each bring a special something to our ward family. They are all fabulous. Enjoy.

I feel that you can really see their Divine Worth shining through. So amazing.