The first day of Summer Break

Yesterday was the first day of summer vacation for my two older girls. I have a bunch of ideas to help keep us busy. I really don't want the whole summer spent watching T.V. and playing on the computer.

We (I mean they) started out the day watching morning cartoons. Strike one.

Then we ate breakfast and went for a bike ride up to the community garden. I'll have to do a post on the community garden later, because I just really love it. Brooklyn is good at riding her bike. Savannah hasn't had much practice, and does okay with her training wheels on. I hope to give her a lot of practice this summer riding her bike. I was feeling pretty good about giving her the opportunity to ride on the "first day of Summer." Madison rode a trike and luckily we have two matching trikes so that Charlotte could "ride" one too, but really I just pushed her along for the most part. Right next to the community garden is a park, and so we got in a little more riding practice at the park, and took some time to play on the slides and swings as well.

On the way back home my plan started to fall apart. The two older girls were much faster than I was with Madison and Charlotte. After a bit Charlotte refused to ride, and Madison wanted to walk. There I was trying to push/pull/carry two trikes, a two year old, and persuade a four year old to hurry along. We were away from home for about two and a half hours. I'm glad that we all made it home in one piece.

So, the T.V. and computer got turned on again. Strike two.

Then we had some fun playing with friends for a little while - a total of three hours maybe.

And then it was time to fix dinner, and I just didn't have the energy/desire to keep the kids occupied and they wanted to play a new Wii game, so again we turned on the T.V. Strike three!

Clearly I need more ideas to turn to when the kids say, "Can I play on the computer?" or "Can I watch a movie?" or when I just need a little break myself.

It is a really good thing that I have 79 more days to perfect my summer strategies.
:)

Oh Mother Nature ...

... why do you have to be like this?

"Bahbees"

Madison celebrated her fourth birthday earlier this month. She's a kid who loves Barbies. (She pronounces it the cutest way I've ever heard. More like "bahbee"). So, for her birthday we got her a couple of new Barbies. One of them is a "king" as she calls it - more commonly known as a boy Ken doll. She also got a pink Barbie car. Unfortunately, the car is not really made to fit a Ken doll into very easily.

On her birthday, she went upstairs to play. She was up there for hours, without a single peep out of her. When she came downstairs for dinner, I asked her how her Barbies were doing.

"The King Bahbee had to have his legs cut open," was her reply.

My first thought was that she had a pair of scissors and had tried to cut his legs. "Why did he need that to happen?" I asked rather calmly (I thought).

"Well, Bahbee ran over him with her car. But I'm a nurse and so I am taking good care of him."

Luckily for Ken, his legs were not really cut open. I'm just wondering where Madison got this crazy style of pretend. She is normally such a sweet, kind girl. I guess make-believe is where you can be something that you normally are not. My other children were kitties in make-believe land. Madison, I guess, is a nurse that needs some trauma patients. (By the way, I do NOT watch soap operas!!!)

Even with her over active imagination, Madison is such a great kid. I'm so happy to have her around me every moment of every day. Happy birthday kid. I love you!

(Erin, thank you for the sweet "Sugar Bee" hat. We love it!)

Nine is Divine

Brooklyn is an amazing girl. She loves third grade, and she has made some great friends this year. She is sweet, and kind. She helps out around the house without complaint. She is quick to help her sisters, and to show them love. I am so proud of the young lady that she has become.

Brooklyn had her birthday last week, and she is now nine. (Only one more year until I have a child in the double digits. Yikes.) It has been interesting to watch how she has changed from a girl to a young lady in the last year or two. For her birthday she didn't ask for a single toy. I was a little worried about shopping for her since her interests have changed so much. We had a "crafty" birthday party for her. Amazingly, all of her friends seem to be outgrowing the toy phase as well. We painted several crafts and decorated cupcakes. I think everyone had a great time, and Brooklyn was happy with the way her party turned out. It was a success.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn. I look forward to the divine year ahead of us.

My Baby is Two!

Last week Charlotte passed the 2 year milestone. It has been a crazy couple of years with this kid around here. She is more active than my other three combined. It is pretty much a guarantee that if I don't know where Charlotte is, then she is most certainly making a mess of some sort. Wow she keeps me on my toes.

The plus side is that she does her share of the work around here (haha). As you can see, she does the dishes, and she helps to cook.





As I've been working on this blog post (15 minutes max), she has pulled a chair into the living room, climbed up to the higher shelf of the book shelf, and opened up and dumped out no less than four puzzles. Oh my, won't that be fun to clean up.

Her motto in life is "Chaos is best!" And she lives her life following that motto.

Charlotte loves everyone, and she is as sweet as can be (despite the messes). The thing I love about her is that she is always happy. When we ask her to stop doing whatever it is that she is doing, she says "Okay' in the sweetest little voice, and then goes to find something else to do.

Wow, not every kid is willing to change gears so easily.

Happy Birthday Baby! We love you.

Ballroom Dance Lesson

The other day I had some music on in the kitchen. Jeff walked into the room and I asked him playfully if he would dance with me. Madison happened to be sitting up to the table in the kitchen. (Remember that Madison is three). After just a minute of us dancing she informed us that we were doing it all wrong.

She told Jeff he needed to put one of his hands up in the air, and the other hand on my waist. Then I was to hold his hand that was in the air and put my other hand on his shoulder. Once we were in the right position, she continued to tell us how to spin and move.

All that time watching the Barbie dancing movies has really paid off.

Happy Valentine's Day

One, Two, I love you.
Three, Four, I love you more.
Five, Six, Fiddle sticks.
Seven, Eight, I think you're great.
Nine, Ten, Say it again.

(This poem came home on Savannah's February Calendar. I love it.)

Hope you have a great Valentine's Day!

Trick to Keep Shoelaces Tied

Jeff has really gotten into running lately. Yesterday he showed me this great way that runners tie their shoelaces, so that they won't come untied. Having your shoes come untied in a race could be bad. Really bad.

Now, I'm not a runner. However, I have had the joy of tying, and retying, and tying again, and again, in the same day a certain little person's shoelaces. I don't know if it is the age, or the pair of shoes, but Charlotte's shoes are always coming untied. I tried Jeff's new shoelace knot on her today, and WOWOWOWOW. They have not come untied even once.

Do you have kids that need their shoes tied for them, all day long? Well let me tell you the way to solve that problem.

1. Begin tying the shoe laces as you normally would. The half knot part is done the same as always.

2. Now we are going to tie shoelaces using the bunny ear method. Create two loops, one with each lace. Tuck one loop under like you normally would. Do not pull it tight yet.

3. Next (here is the great trick), loop the same "ear" through the same hole in the same direction. It looks a little bulky, but trust me.

4. Now pull the ears tight. You now have a bow that will stay tied tight.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.
(And the best part is that they are easier to get off than a shoe tied with a double knot. You still can pull on the laces to get the knot undone. You just have to pull a little harder than normal). I'll never tie a pair of shoes the same again.

Ken and Barbie

My girls have never wanted or needed a Ken doll to go along with their Barbie dolls. I mean, when all you have is sisters, I think it is easy to forget that boys even exist. (Sorry Jeff). One day after Christmas, they were reenacting Cinderella and realized that at the very end they did need a boy doll. Luckily Charlotte got a Woody doll for Christmas.

It will be interesting to see if all my girls marry short men.

Teacher Appreciation

Yesterday I volunteered in Savannah's classroom to help with an art project. I was in charge of another project a couple of months ago. I planned a project including paint, thinking that it would be a bit messy, but a lot of fun. It was more like a lot messy and a little bit of fun. And the end results were okay. Not bad, but not amazing pieces of art.

This month I decided to do something a little less messy. I figured that cutting construction paper would be easy, (clean), and fun. I am amazed at the broad range of cutting skills that the first graders had. We were cutting out hearts. I showed them all how to fold their paper, draw a half heart on the center fold, and then cut it out. Well, we had a few kids who had been cutting hearts for years, and others who had never cut a heart out in their life.

This little project only took a minute or two for the faster cutters, and over a half an hour for some of the kids with less practice. Wow. I had not planned on something to keep those fast little kids busy while the other kids were still working on their project. Thank goodness their sweet teacher jumped in and got some more colored paper, so that the kids could make more to take home with them. Whhhheeew! I was a bit frazzled at the end of the project. And I spent less than an hour with these kids.

Teachers happily deal with this all day long.

To all those wonderful people who made the choice to become teachers, and thrive in that environment, my hat goes off to you.

Writing and Coloring Skills

As I was sorting through Savannah's school work that comes home on a regular basis, I got a good chuckle out of this math page:


She is supposed to predict if the answer will be less than or more than 10, and then answer the question "Why?" Her first answer is "My brain knows!!!" and the second says, "Because I say so."

Oh my. I don't think this is what they had in mind when they asked those questions. Leave it to Savannah to say something so funny. I'm glad she is feeling good about her math skills. (She really is quite good at math, and her brain does happen to know the answer!!!)


Here is a picture that Madison recently drew. I love this stage where people are heads w/ arms and legs ... and no bodies.




Brooklyn likes to draw Unicorn Pegasus' and here is one of her recent creations:




And this post would not be complete without showing off Charlotte's marker skills. What a busy girl she is.

Three Random Thoughts of Thankfulness

1. Thanksgiving has come rather quickly this year. We usually have a family home evening lesson about being thankful on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Somehow I forgot about that little tradition this year. Jeff was in charge of the lesson, and he taught the girls about disappointment. It seems that most of our crying around here is due to the girls expecting something, and then when life gets in the way and we are not able to do whatever it was they had set their hearts upon ... Crying. Wailing. All out emotional warfare.

I never would have thought to have a lesson about dealing with the emotions of disappointment. What a great husband I have. He never ceases to amaze me. He even had a scripture story to share along with his lesson.

I am so thankful for Jeff. I'm thankful that he is my best friend. I am thankful that he is a great father. I am thankful that we can share the best of times, and the worst of times together. Forever.

2. At church last week, I was able to attend Relief Society and Sunday School. (Between helping with the primary program, sick children, and Charlotte's need for a parent in nursery, it has been a long time since I've been able to attend both meetings). The lesson in Relief Society was about Joseph Smith's Prophetic Mission. The teacher subtitled it "and our personal life mission" (okay, so she worded it much better). She taught about how each one of us has something that we need to accomplish here in mortality. Several sisters shared their feelings about being divinely led to a specific career. Nursing. Teaching. And in my heart I added "Mothering."

We listed ways that we could seek inspiration so that we can fulfill our life mission. I felt very impressed that I needed to do better (much better) about having personal prayer and scripture study. As I thought about my feelings from the lesson in RS, the lesson in Sunday School reaffirmed my desire to improve in these areas.

I came up with a little thing to help me remember the "important" things I need to do each day. I've been using it for a week and a half, and it is working rather well.

Ready, SET, Go.

Ready: In order to be "ready for the day" I need to begin with Prayer.
S: Scripture Study
E: Exercise
T: Teeth
Go: Go to bed at a decent hour.

So, at certain times through out the day, I say to myself, "Ready, set, go," to see what I need to "do" on my "top priority to do" list. In the morning I say it to remind myself to start the day with prayer. After dropping the kids off at school, when I sit down to the computer I say it... I now read my scriptures BEFORE getting online. By saying it, I remind myself of my goal for exercise when I am tempted to drive to pick up the girls. If I walk, I get in my exercise that way. If not, I have to plan ahead to exercise some other way. And then I say it to myself as I'm getting tired in the evening hours to remind myself to brush my teeth and go to bed. Then I'm less tempted to stay up late eating that evening snack that I don't really need.

At the end of the day, if I can say that I did everything on that list, then I feel I have accomplished something important that day. You should give it a try: Ready, Set, Go!

I am so thankful for Church, and for the lessons that we are reminded of through the programs there, and through the Holy Ghost. I am thankful for my Savior, and for his ability to make it possible for me to be forgiven of my mistakes. I am thankful for the desire I have to be a Mother, and the desire I have to improve myself.

3. Many people I know are going through troubling times right now. I am thankful for the way that they are able to continue to be upbeat through their trials. These amazing people inspire me to be more optimistic through my trials.

There you have it, my three random thoughts on Thankfulness. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Dance Class Rescheduled

Savannah and Madison have been attending a dance class for the last couple of months. They love it. The teacher rewards them with a sticker AND a piece of candy if they are good. It doesn't get much better than that when you are 3 1/2 and 6.

Last week we showed up to dance class, and the door was locked and no one was around. There was a note on the door that said, "The dance teacher is out of town this week. There will be a make-up class at the end of the session." I read the note out loud to Savannah and Madison to help them understand why there was no dance class even though we had been looking forward to it all week.

Fast forward to yesterday, when it was time to get ready for dance class again. I was gathering all the dance clothes and trying to get the girls dressed in time. (Why are we always in such a rush to make it to dance on time?) Madison was extra excited about dance. Enthusiastically she said, "Is this the dance make-up class?" to which I explained that it was not. Today was a regular class. She seemed really disappointed. After a second, I realized that she thought that they were going to get to put on make-up at their "make-up class." How sweet is that?

A few minutes later, I was re-telling the story to Savannah. She also thought that a "make-up class" would include playing with make-up.

I can just imagine a little conversation between the two of them after reading the note last week.
Madison: "We are so lucky!"
Savannah: "Yeah, we are going to get to dance, and wear make up."

Charlotte is Talking!

A few weeks back, Charlotte wasn't saying much. Then one morning, it was like it all clicked in her head and she had it figured out. Now she has a lot of words that she can say, and she is constantly trying out new ones. I love this age, where everyday brings new skills and new abilities. Enjoy this little video of Charlotte talking!

Back to School

Last week my two oldest girls started school. Brooklyn is in Third grade this year. In her school, the Third through Sixth grades are on the upper level of the school. She was so excited to climb those stairs and start a new school year. Brooklyn was born loving school. At two, she would put on a back pack and ask when the school bus would be coming to pick her up. This year, she didn't even want me to walk her to her classroom on the first day. She is really becoming more independent each day.

Savannah is in First grade this year. She was super excited to be able to eat lunch at school. And have three recesses. I'm so happy for her. She loves school. She loves her teacher. She is busy making friends and having fun. I'm happy to say that she did want me to walk her to her classroom and make sure that she was going to be okay. It's nice to be needed.

Brooklyn and Savannah were talking about their teachers after the first day of school. Savannah was saying how super nice her teacher is. Brooklyn wisely informed her that ALL teachers are nice on the FIRST day ... "you have to wait until the second day of school to find out their true character." (Oh how that made me laugh). After the second day, Savannah was happy to report that her teacher IS INDEED as NICE as she had thought. Whew, what a relief that was!

. . . Waiting

So today, I spent my day waiting for the Comcast guy to show up. We've lived here a year, and our great "introductory" rate with our old internet company has run out. And so it was time to switch to another provider to get their great "introductory" rate for new customers. (What am I going to do next year? I've used up the only two companies that provide access to my neighborhood???) Anyway, that is not what I was meaning to focus on with this blog post. Does that happen to you?

As I was waiting, I thought about how I'm always "waiting" for something. Waiting for school to start in another week. Waiting for one of my kids to brush their teeth. Waiting for someone to get their shoes on. Waiting for the next thing to happen. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

While I was waiting, Madison wanted to go outside to play. I didn't dare go to the back yard, because I can't hear the doorbell from back there. So, I did something I never do, and I suggested that we go play in the front yard. Madison wanted to run through the sprinkler. As Charlotte and Madison were having a great time getting wet with the sprinkler, I stopped to enjoy the moment. Something about being outside on a lazy summer day always helps me to do that. I had an amazing thought hit me. This is what I've been waiting for. This time in my life to be a mother. I've looked towards this time all my life (waiting for it to happen). What a joy it is to have these sweet children grace my life with their joy, and with their presence.

When we came inside, after the Comcast guy left, Madison was playing with playdough and made some cinnamon rolls. She was so proud of herself. She said, "I'm ready to be a mom now," and "I'm going to make dinner tonight." I pray that she gets the same opportunity to be a mother that I have. It is well worth the wait.

Family Photos

My very talented sister Amber consented to take family pictures for us a few months ago. She did such an amazing job that I've had a hard time choosing my favorites to hang on our living room wall. I guess that is part of the agony of having such cute kids :)

Meow!

Savannah is six! For her birthday she wanted to have a "Kitty" party. In the photo you can see the kitty masks we wore. I made them out of felt, and think that they turned out great. Jeff made her a couple of pretty cool cakes, but she was in an emotional mood the day of her party and did not want him to cut the cakes in order the shape them before frosting them. Bless his heart, he tried to do what he could to make her happy. (One is a cat, the other is a mouse).

On her birthday, Savannah informed me that she is not a "little girl" anymore. It seems to me that she grew up overnight. (I guess she thinks so too). The shocking thing is - it is the truth.

Savannah can do so many things by herself now. She can read and write. She can take care of younger siblings. She can pump herself on a swing. She can even do chores around the house without too much trouble ... especially if there is a bribe involved. She wants to learn how to ride a bike, and I believe it is time she can do that too. She is a really great kid - kind of emotional - but really great.

We are so happy that Savannah is growing into a wonderful kid, even if I'm a bit sad that she isn't a "little girl" anymore.

Mama's taking us to the zoo this summer!

Last week we went to the zoo with some of our cousins (on Jeff's side of the family). We had a great time!

Here the kids are, pretending to be fish under the water.


Ahhh, some scary lions!


Taking a little snack break.


The whole crew together in one picture.


Thanks Debbie for suggesting such a fun activity.

And the best part is, we purchased a family pass to the zoo. If anyone is planning a trip to the zoo and wants some company, we would love to go with you!

Charlotte is walking ... well, kind of.

Charlotte has not been too interested in walking, which has been okay with me. She already is into so many cupboards and bookshelves that the added fun of walking is not something I've been wishing for. But she does need to walk sooner or later. I can't carry her around forever.

With the help of a doll stroller, she now LOVES to walk around. She has a little bike she pushes around too - the trouble with the bike is that she likes to stand on it like a stool. A stool with wheels is a bad idea no matter what age you are. Charlotte is by far my most active climber.

She has taken a few steps without help, so I'm sure she will be walking in no time. Savannah says that Charlotte doesn't want to learn how to walk, she just wants to learn how to run. I think she is right.