Love That We Named Her Pearl

The Pearl is not my favorite stone. I am really more of a Tanzanite kind of gal. Or perhaps silver or Marcasite. However, there is one Pearl that I am enamored with. And I love her name. She is such a sweet 'P'. We often call her Pearly. (Maybe we are using her middle name...Pearl Lea?) Whatever you call her, we love her, and today more than usual since it happens to be her birthday.

Good morning beautiful!!

Actually, that made me think of this song. I had to go find it, so listen to it while you read. I think it is a fun song.

I should point out that I did wear my pearls today and I can't seem to take a picture of myself.

I'm sure it would help if I switched to the wide angle lens but I can't be bothered. Also, Tyler called me something funny today. He called me 'Mother of Pearl.' Clever....why didn't I think of that? (Darn him, when he outwits me.)

I let Pearl get all gussied up this morning. We did hair and I let her wear a smidge of lipstick, because she thinks that's uber cool. I love doing her blond hair. It is just so novel with all the brunettes around here. I really hope it lasts for a few years.

And then we put the camera away and went about a very busy day. Pearl was ultra patient (for a three year old) because I wouldn't let her open gifts until Dad came home. She would ask so sweetly every now and then if she could open her presents. And I would remind her we were waiting on Dad. Needless to say, she was very excited to see him. All the girls were really excited for her too. June and Ivory wrote a song for Pearl, and they performed it.

I can't tell you how heartwarming it is to see your children doing special things for your other children. Really, I feel like it is a gift to me. (But I won't tell them that and ruin it.)

Pearl was super cute. She would pick out a present and then sit back in the big chair before opening it. One at a time.

Once again, she didn't really need anything, but we dutifully got her presents. After watching her throw this one around a bit, I am instantly regretting it. I'll have to tell you what she breaks first.

A big hit was the Bubble Blower. Tyler took it up in the loft and rained down the bubbles.

Pearl was loving the waterfall of delight. We had to turn it off when the floor got slippery.

I should have made Pearl a birthday cake, but Robyn had already requested mini donuts for FHE treat. I thought about it for a bit and decided they could double as a birthday cakeish item. And they are very cake-like anyway.

Pearl didn't notice one bit. She was in heaven. Especially as we sang to her. She really seemed to understand that this was her special day, especially since Ivory went through this same routine less than two weeks ago. Pearl was ecstatic that it was her turn. Of course, she probably thinks we are doing this birthday hulabuloo regularly now.

I made her wait until after cake/donuts for a special gift. Pearl was so excited, she had to put it on right away. Here she is wearing her new dress from Grandma Dargan and holding her balloons that she picked out.

We were going to take her out to Kangaroo Zoo in the evening, but we misjudged time and ran out of it. So, we'll get to keep celebrating later. We did get her measured before bed. I love our growth chart...I'm just sad we didn't start it ten years ago. (Learn from my mistakes.)

Finally just as she was going to bed, I remembered to take a picture of her showing off her latest trick. Someone knows she is three.

This isn't related, but a game I heard about came in the mail today. I purchased Sleeping Queens. It was fairly inexpensive on Amazon. The girls loved it and we played it all day. (Thanks Minimal Day...usually I hate you.) Somehow Tyler caught a picture of us playing. I think I am losing here (yet again) and Robyn has awesome hair from Dr. Seuss day. June loved it so much she added extra rules to each sleeping queen. It was a hit!

My Favorite Four-Letter "F" Word

Maleen and I were discussing the plan for the upcoming birthday. She explained that maybe a trip to the Kangaroo Zoo would be fun. This sounded acceptable, but I always brace for the cost.

"What does it cost?" I inquired.

"Oh, we still have that coupon that we can use...so it's... [bum bum bum] FREE!"

Ah, sweet, heavenly music to my ears! "FREE" is my favorite four-letter "F" word. What else would it be?

One Birthday Party Down, Four to Go

This is an odd year, where everyone turns an odd age.  I decided a while back that on even years we would just have family parties, and on odd years they could have a friend party. Wow, the chaos! After we got through the first one, I already want to renege my part of the bargain. But I can do it. (I am partly consoled because the next birthday is Pearl and she isn't having a friend party. I am not a bad mom. She wouldn't even remember it.)

Ivory requested a late night pajama party, and almost all her friends could come. We started with one of the kids favorite games: The Dice-Dancing game, made up almost five years ago. It was inspired by a number game at my neighborhood skate center growing up.

It was about this time that Tyler donned earplugs and kept them in the rest of the evening. Poor guy. That many children can be extremely loud!!!!

We played another game after. There are plenty of versions, one commonly using a thimble full of water. We like to use a spray bottle at our house. But since the kids were younger we opted to spray people on the hand instead of the face. And I think it led to much less crying. Here is Ivory thinking of her category.

Here is proof that Ivory invited boys to her party.

(And oddly, one of the only tantrums was from one of the boys who flopped on the floor and cried when things didn't go his way. Maybe he was trying to fit in with all the girls.)

Then we painted. Nothing says 'party' like allowing kids to make a mess. It looked so pretty beforehand.

I just cut letters out of contact paper, and stuck them on watercolor paper.

The kids did a great job, and painted in many different styles.

The contact paper peeled off like a dream after. I didn't get any pictures that evening, but here are our family's letters.

After painting, Ivory opened gifts while I finished up the cake. This picture cracks me up, because this is how all kids parties seem to go. They all want to be as close as possible to the person opening the presents. I promise Ivory is in there somewhere.

(Too bad we don't continue this tradition....can't you picture a baby shower with everyone huddled around the new mom?)

I had maybe planned to do a more elaborate cake, but in the end, I wasn't feeling it. So, I made Wacky Cake, which is super delicious, but not very pretty. The melted candy bars on top make up for the fact that it is in a bread pan. (I promise.)

And then we watched a movie and I made caramel popcorn and prayed that some children could just sit down for an hour. (They couldn't.) But all things considered, we will call the party a success.

The only downer was at the end when one of the children was very hyper and rambunctious. I asked her several times to calm down and she was struggling keeping her hands to herself. (Not surprising since it was past their bed time and they were full of cake and popcorn.) But Ivory turned and told this child that she didn't even want to invite her to the party.

I was so disappointed in Ivory. It was the truth. Ivory did not have this child on her original list, but I had intervened because this child had previously invited Ivory to her birthday. Maybe I should learn not to meddle. This doesn't excuse Ivory's rude comment, and I spoke to her sternly multiple times. I think the problem originally stemmed from Ivory not being very discreet in handing out the invitations at school. I'm sure there were hurt feelings there as well. But it is unrealistic for us to invite a whole classroom of children to our house. (Plus, Tyler's head would have exploded.)

I wonder if you have found good methods of passing out birthday invitations, or helping children feel included. Obviously, Ivory brought a treat to her class to share with everyone on her actual birthday, but that doesn't make up for not going to a party. I have talked with my own children telling them not to feel bad if they aren't invited to a party, because people cannot invite everyone. And perhaps it is a part of life that everyone needs to experience. (Minus the rude comments of course.)

It has been on my mind a lot because I don't want my girls to be the 'mean girls'. (You know what I am talking about.) I hope I can raise them better than that.  

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

I do feel that throughout my life, I have had great friends. They have and do inspire me to be a better person.  I know that I easily fall into the mode of focusing in on my family to the exclusion of all else. (This is done because children are hard to ignore.) But friends are what get me through the hard times, and talk me through my follies. (Of which there are many.)

Recently I was able to catch up with an old friend and meet some new ones.

First, there is Sarah. I grew up with her and she is A. Maze. Ing. I have to give her credit for a lot of my personality. I am probably as outgoing as I am because of her. We spent many happy days together. Then, of course, we grew up. I moved out to Utah and basically lost contact with most of my previous friends and acquaintances. (This is why we are all glad we can make new friends, because it is hard to keep up when you physically move.) But glorious day, Sarah was coming out to Utah for a friend's wedding and asked if we could meet up somewhere.

It was really great to see her again. She looks just the same. She is married to the nicest guy and their little boy Jack was super sweet. We met out at the City Creek Center. I'm glad she got to meet my troop of ruffians. They were as well behaved as expected, especially if you don't count the uber tantrum Ivory had over a notebook that I wouldn't buy her. (Luckily that was before Sarah arrived.)

And who am I kidding? These five are probably the bestest buds I have. Talk about making new friends. Granted, I had to grow these ones first, but they are turning out pretty well.

Some other friends I have recently met are Sarah and Emily (and company). I told you how I met Sarah at the zoo. And then how I lost the photos I took of us at the park. Well, we had her and her hubby over to play games. They are ultra fun and surprisingly deft at game playing. (It is not often the Cazier's take a loss. Okay, we have our fair share of losing, but we don't like to admit it.) While Sarah was over, she mentioned that her sister Emily would be in town. Emily! THE Emily. My cyber twin. So we arranged a meeting. And I forgot my camera. (Are you even surprised???)

Luckily, Emily had hers, and sent me a picture. See, I am not making them up. Well, I am not making up that I have met them. They are so great.

Sarah shared her home, and free In and Out Burger. (Free because she forgot her money and the cashier let her take the food, telling her to come back and pay later. Wow!!) I got to meet baby Jonah. (The boy I never had.) Both Emily and Sarah are just nifty people. They have fun kids and interesting thoughts and ideas. And I secretly wish I was one of their sisters, because then I would have a better excuse to hang out with them.

Like I said before, If family is the glue of life, then friends are the glitter. Love my friends.

AMEX Anyone?

Maleen and I got away for a little "Mom & Dad" out-on-the-town time. Mostly this was spent shopping for the littles. After we finished in one shop, Maleen expressed how pleased she was that I was buying everything because then it wouldn't be on her account. Ah, so that's how we stay "in budget!"

Anyway, I whipped out my AMEX and handed it to the cashier. She politely explained, "We don't take American Express." Maleen pointed at the little sign that apparently exists on all cashier's tables and mumbled something about how they have a sign and everything. As I sheathed the AMEX, I was trying to bumble my way, unsuccessfully, through an excuse.

I grabbed the next card and handed it to the cashier. She tilted her head quizzically and repeated, "Sir, we don't take American Express."

Looking down I realized I'd put my card in my wallet, only to draw the exact card out again. I just started laughing and fished out my VISA. Probably wouldn't be the last four-letter word of the night.

AMEX: it's everywhere you think your VISA is.

Pass of All Passes

Yes, we broke down and bought the pass of all passes. Actually, we broke down way back in October, but we're finally getting around to activating our passes of all passes. I must say, if we use these passes more than two or three times, we'll probably get our money's worth. (Now, who's betting that we'll actually use them enough?)

We've got a Humphries that visits us every month and wonders why we don't go play laser tag with him. We finally bit the bullet laser and scheduled a trip out to the laser tag arena in Lehi. Of course, we missed the appointment, but we promptly rescheduled. And we made it the second time. We had loads of fun!

Mostly the girls were enamored of the rock wall, this of course being their first time out of the watchful gaze of mamma bear who says something along the lines of, "@#%& No! You're NOT going anywhere near that death wall! Now eat your Brussels sprouts and be thankful I've only beaten you twice this morning! Better yet, go do your extra math homework, you haven't completed the unit on quantum mechanics yet." Ok, she hasn't said most of those things...

Anyway, the hits were the rock wall, laser tag, and the Frogger ride—in that order. Here's some evidence of our fun:

June on the rock wall. She was the first to tackle it. Other children liked the idea.

I think Daisy was stuck to this chair. She was in it for about 30 minutes. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down...you get it.

June, descending, her favorite part.

Ivory attacking the wall. Robyn is also scaling—but that picture didn't turn out.

Still stuck to the chair.

Ivory (and some other inconsequential person) climbing the wall.

We didn't get any pictures of laser tag, since we were too busy annihilating the other team. They've got pretty good gear up there. Maybe the next January Laser Tag Epic Birthday Event will take place in Lehi? I guess we'll see.

Extra! Extra! Birthday Girl Turns Seven!

A most anticipated birthday happened yesterday. Perhaps it is because she has to make it through a long winter to reach her date, but Ivory was super excited to finally celebrate and become one year older. (I teased her that we would still have cake and presents, but I would like her to remain six this year. She didn't go for it.)

Ivory requested breakfast in bed. I even came home early from running, but upon entering the house around 6:30, she was already awake in the living room. My guess is she was already experiencing birthday excitement. I told her that it would be rather hard to bring her breakfast in bed when she was already up, and she immediately said, "No, I'll go back to bed." And she did.

Dad and I were able to bring up her tray. And all the girls benefited from a warm breakfast. (Not a common occurrence around here.) Although watching Pearl eat, I can see why I might skip the extra work. I'm pretty sure that Pearl didn't touch her french toast. She only dipped her finger repeatedly in the whipped cream.

Ivory spent her time comfortably upstairs. I like how she made an 'I' with her French Toast strips.

We let Ivory open one present before school. She has been wanting a new small blanket for some time, and she was able to pick it out of the line up. Her previous blankets (Crabby and Soft) are well loved. I am sure the new one (dubbed Canada) will have a special place in our home.

I would say that Ivory had a great day. Dad took her out for lunch. Mom met her with Balloons after school.

In the evening, we opened the rest of her presents. She loved everything. She is still at a great age where she is easy to please. She got gum and tic tacs and thought they were great. She got books and notebooks and was ecstatic. The lava lamp was a huge hit. (She needed some kind of night light, and I thought this would be fun.) It hadn't warmed up enough in this picture to be making cool bubbles, but you get the idea.

Tyler also made her a really cool shelf, but it is not mounted on the wall yet. Pictures to come.

And after dinner, we of course had a treat. Ivory requested store-bought cupcakes. Works for me. But I did buy the more gourmet tasting ones than the ones with cute toys on top. Here is Ivory making her wish.

When she was about to blow out the candle, we thought Daisy was going to steal her thunder, but instead we realized she was just leaning in to give the birthday girl a kiss. Super sweet.

Ivory is a delight in our home. She brings a fair amount of drama, but she wouldn't be Ivory without it. We just joy in the good days. (Of which there are many.) I couldn't imagine our house without this cute personality in it. We sure love you Ivory Elaine.