Robyn Chalae Won't Put Things Away

Okay, kind of a lame rhyme, but the truth nonetheless. I love Robyn, but I am surprised at finding her stuff all over the house. Socks under the dining room table. Her shoes strewn carelessly by the door. Her little fan (purchased at the fair) found everywhere and replaced (by me) in her room each time. (I usually wouldn't bother supervising her trinkets, but if Pearl laid hands on it for one minute, there wouldn't be much fan left.) This doesn't have much to do with anything, except this post is mainly about Robyn, so I thought I would mention some things about her, even if they aren't the stellar things she will want to be remembered for. After all, my parents still call me "Little Messy" even though I have changed my ways.

Robyn has many excellent qualities as well. She is quite the little reader and I find it amusing that her favorite books are geared toward boys. Not that girls (or adults) don't enjoy them. She started off reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and now she is into Captain Underpants. I think she enjoys the humor in them. Speaking of favorites, I have not been faithful about capturing another 'school' photo, so I took one of her in bed tonight. Close enough, right?

Robyn has been on my mind because she has said some funny things lately. I wish I could remember all the faux pas my kids utter, but I will be content with the ones that make it here:

(I asked Robyn if she knew where her cup was.)

Robyn: Yeah, it's over by the cauldron.

Me: ?? (pause)

Me: You mean crockpot?

Robyn: Yeah, I was just about to say that.

(Today, June was discussing why she was going to give her Incan treasures to children in Kindergarten. Robyn argued that they would make their own when they got to 3rd grade.)

June: But what if they move? It would be nice for them to have those things.

Robyn: Yeah, as a remembery.

(For the record, I think that should be a word now.)

Robyn is great. She watches Pearl for me for quarters. Cheapest baby-sitter yet.

There are two Hispanic girls that come play in the garage with our girls and Robyn has taken it upon herself to teach the older one more English. (I actually don't know if Callista needs help, but she seems to enjoy playing 'school' regardless.) Robyn told me that she taught her sentences today. Sweet girl.

Robyn is very concerned with right and wrong and doing things correctly. When she does something wrong, she always says, "I don't want to tell you this..." and then proceeds to tell me anyway. I sure hope that never changes.

Actually I hope that a lot of things don't change about Robyn. Sure, she will grow and learn, but I hope her heart stays pure and good.

Spice

I did have good intentions of taking a photo of something that had to do with cooking spices. I love me some cinnamon, dill, oregano, or lemon pepper (not necessarily together). But I won't lie to you. I am busy. Like, I-can-see-the-white-hairs-growing busy. My cup runneth over. And so, instead of searching for pictures, I need to search the pictures I have already taken.

Photos of the week:

After all, Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...That is what Little Girls are Made of.

Oddly, this one is the spiciest of all.

Don't let that cute face and bear holding sweetness fool you. Pearl runs hot and cold. I think it must be the twos lurking around the corner, and possibly some fifth child syndrome throw in for good luck.

But my days would be empty without Robyn's smiles, Daisy's hugs, Ivory's giggles, June's wit, and Pearl's Loves. They truly are the spice of my life.

Piglets, and Funnelcake, and Prizes...Oh MY!!

Yes, it is time to do the Puyallup. Or, it would be that time if we were in Washington. But since we're not, we'll have to settle for the Utah State Fair. Most of you probably know my secret strategy of putting stuff in the fair so the kids will be enticed to come see the displays and not worry so much about the rides. Well this year was no different. In fact, I told the kids straight up that we wouldn't go on any rides. Amazingly, they were pretty cool about it, and even the little ones enjoyed looking at all the arts and crafts. There really is some fun stuff. I can't tell you how many times I heard a gasp, followed by, "Mom, look at the ______." (fill in the blank with something...anything...I think we saw it all.)

I entered another crosstitch which I finished this Spring. I kept forgetting to take a picture and put it on the blog, so now you get to see it; with a first place ribbon. This pattern is one I have loved since I was a kid. It is not as fancy as some as it has no beads, but I still love it.

The other thing I entered this year was a photo. I have never entered photography before. I was excited to go see all the pictures and it probably was my favorite exhibit. Now that I am more interested in photography, I am super impressed by the pictures people take. Oh, and I got an Honorable Mention.

I was super excited by this, because I heard there is a lot of photography entered and I wasn't expecting any kind of ribbon. Yep, so now I feel just a tiny bit famous. It is just the perfect amount of notoriety.

Afterwards, we had to go see the animals. I think Tyler might enjoy them more than the creative arts, so we compromise and drag the kids to both. Okay, the kids might like the animals more too...Good thing I am in charge around here.

As always the baby pigs are my favorites. And looking at the mom, I am glad I only have one baby at a time.

I was so proud of this photo because I couldn't get close enough so I stuck my camera over the edge and clicked the button.

That is always dangerous because who knows if it will even be in focus. But I got baby pigs and my kids' hands. I can tell that is Robyn's hand because she has no nails. (Evil habit).

One of the experiences of the fair is the people watching. I told Tyler, an hour into our adventure, that it wasn't right that I had already seen five butt-cracks.  People really need to buy clothes that fit. Tyler was amazed at one guy who wore a shirt labeled 'Idiot'. He told me to take a picture, but I wasn't brave enough. So he got one for me. Later, I told him that we needed to put the picture of the lady in the 'Idiot' shirt on the blog and he was startled because he was sure it was a man. See for yourself... what do you think?

We finally decided on woman. If you zoom in, her arms do not seem that hairy, she has a bracelet/watch, her fingernails are longer and she is wearing toe-nail polish. Granted, that evidence is not conclusive, but we will give her the benefit of the doubt. Although the shirt is still questionable.

I eventually slowed us all down for a group shot.

And then I asked June to take a picture for us. Not bad.

Then we decided to get a picture kissing, because we are all sappy like that. We sat, posed perfectly for what seemed like an eternity. And then naturally when we go to ask what she is doing, she takes the picture. And then we laughed about it.

We also took a picture at the classic cut-out.

Oh, and at the Lego Shark too. (The Lego shark is not a regular, but he was pretty cool.)

We ended the fair with a treat. We bought ourselves some funnel cakes and chowed down. Pearl really liked them, but I think she was just happy to be out of the stroller.

 Daisy has the perfect face here that says, "Yep, if I eat one more bite, I am going to be sick."

And then Robyn was sick later that evening, close to midnight. I guess that funnel cake didn't agree with her. I don't blame her. Fair food is not that great. We decided that next year we'll skip the food, and do a couple rides instead. I guess that still leaves a 50/50 chance of someone puking.

Block Party

Labor Day was a calm one around here. I finally got out to see The Help. It was so good. The book was amazing and I thought they did a fabulous job with the movie. All the characters were believable and evoked emotion, whether good or bad.

In the evening, we had no plans, but the neighborhood put together a huge block party, compliments of the Marty Sutton Band. Here they are playing.

It was loud, but awesome.

We just lined up across the street, ate food, and enjoyed a day off.

We kicked up our feet; literally.

The kids played, the band jammed, and we relaxed. It was a great way to close the day. I love that we celebrate Labor Day by trying to do the least amount of work possible. Okay, that isn't exactly true for all of us, but it certainly is a good day to be thankful that we can work...other days.

p.s. I bought those flip-flops on my honeymoon. They are a little worn on the bottom, but still very comfortable. Most shoes don't last 12 years.

Sunset

Once again I am cheating. I had looked ahead and worried about this theme, because what if there wasn't a fantastic sunset the week I needed it. So, I took this picture a while ago, but in the end, it is still my photography, so I don't see why I can't break rules that aren't really there in the first place.

Photo of the week:

It was a beautiful night, but I don't feel that my camera always captures what I see, so I bumped up the purple and pink hues because that is my favorite type of sunset.

And then I did a color burn because it looks cool and I would love to see a sunset that looks like this.

Of course, it could mean the second coming is close at hand, so let's hold off on that.

Criss-Cross'll Make you Jump, Jump

I took the older two girls to Seven Peaks the other day to use their free passes they earned from school. Tyler didn't want the littler munchkins to feel left out, so he set up the small pool for them. They seemed to have a good time. Eventually Ivory decided that she needed to jazz it up a bit and she started running and jumping into the pool. Tyler caught some fun shots.

Pearl spent most of her time in the buff.

Daisy made herself a helmet that shielded her from the splash zone that Ivory created.

They sure are cute little ducks. I find it highly unfair though that Tyler lets Pearl run around naked for an hour with no problems and I leave her diaper off for three minutes after a bath and she poops on the floor. I tell you folks, some times it just doesn't go your way.

Another One on the Road to Edjukashun

Ivory started Kindergarten this week and she is ecstatic to be in the 'big' school finally. I am a bit bummed that all three aren't at the same school watching out for each other, but June loves her A.L.L. school so much, and Robyn still runs into Ivory sometimes, that I can be okay with the whole thing. Ivory rides the bus by herself (since Robyn leaves earlier), and she doesn't mind a bit. There are plenty of people she knows. Apparently, she is getting too attached to the bus because when I picked her up today, she broke down into tears because she wanted to ride with her friends. Note to self: Don't pick up Ivory.

I managed to grab a shot of her on her first day, but I had seen this, and I had to try it. What a fun way to keep memories. (Now I have to go back and do the other girls.)

I'm glad she is only gone half the day. It seems that just when they get to a super useful age, the school gets them. Although, Daisy is better with Pearl than any of the other kids, so I probably have the best matched set at home right now.