mack in june

Summer buzz.

Played on coach pitch in PG this summer.  They named themselves the blue Ninjas.

He did awesome and improved so much over the season.  By the end he was doing awesome hits every time and actually paid more attention to what he was supposed to do in between hits (run) a lot more than last time.  His favorite position is catcher, even though the mask was way too big for him and he could hardly see out of it.  

Lost a tooth.

Tooth fairy delivered and was surprised that his favorite part of the loot was the floss that tied the money together, "she brought me my own floss!"

Mack and Elise.  

McKay found a ladies hair elastic on the road one day.  He put it on his ankle.  Then a couple days later he found one of mine laying around the house.  He put that on his other ankle.  This became a big thing.  At one point he had three on one ankle.  One day he started explaining their meaning to me, which I didn't even consider.  If a certain color was on top that meant a certain thing.  "Green on top means I'm happy, black on top means I'm scared, tan on top means I'm mad."  Who knew there was so much to these little rubber bands.  They were there for a couple months, and have since been removed and he's over them.  But my goodness they were constant companions for awhile.

may pics

In the Noni gardens one night for FHE.  Who is that naked baby?

Sweet Elle on the hulk.  

Brian picking at his gross callous, checking the OR schedule- two things he does religiously.  

Sleepover.  When Jaynie moved back home we moved McKay into the pool room and Layla downstairs with Ellery.  These two missed sleeping together- it was a hard thing to split them up and know that it would never be the same for them again.  They loved sharing a room and talking and making each other laugh and being little stinkers in bed together.  But I really wanted to do it to prepare them for the room assignments in our new house and I'm glad we did it.  They were so excited one night when we let them have a sleepover in McKay's room.  They watched a movie on McKay's bed and had popcorn and candy in the dark.  They loved it.  And then Elle slept on a mattress on the floor.  It was a good night for these two.  

 Reading with Grandma, another favorite past time.  I love their faces in this picture.  So enthralled.

Sunday walk up to Bridal Veil Falls.  

Layla in Aunt Mar's boot.

And Layla in Grandma's shoes.  A favorite thing for her to do, I guess.

That's May!

workin' in the yard

One of the highlights of living with Grandma and Grandad was enjoying their beautiful, big yard.  We had never had a private yard to ourselves and these kids were in heaven when they finally got to experience one.  Grandad was nice enough to let the kids (mostly Mack) "help" him with the yard work.  Mack loved this so much and I think felt like a big huge man when he worked alongside his Grandad.  These are precious memories that I don't want these kids to forget.  Ellery helped some too, but would mostly get distracted by one thing or another. . .usually bugs or flowers.  

kindergarten

As my boy is about to embark on first grade, I feel a need to document the last days of kindergarten.  Mostly pictures.

I think when Brian's dad found out we were going to be living at their house for the last half of the school year the first thought he had was about the dance festival and how he would be able to attend!  McKay had lots of supporters that morning, many who had been in the same dance festival in their elementary days.

In the classroom, needs a haircut.  

He was one of the artists in the picture above.  Birds.  

I will always remember walking this little backpacked kid to school every morning.  Actually, I won't remember every morning because Dad, Grandma and Grandad had their fair share of walking him too.  And he actually hardly ever walked because he wanted to ride his scooter most of the time.  I will remember him balancing on my arm as I walked and he rolled along beside me, or racing home.  I think we all enjoyed those walks though.  There is just something about kindergartners, I think.

McKay showed Sharp the playhouse as we said goodbye to his classroom for the last time.  I was happy to be able to volunteer in his classroom every Wednesday for a few months.  It's always fun to see them in the school environment.  I just love watching him.  

Mrs. Sumsion was a great teacher for him.  I was worried about transferring in the middle of the year, but she made him feel special and was very sweet to him.  He fit in nicely and she was a kind, laid back teacher that he did really well with.  

Goodbye Cascade!  It was really special that he was able to go to the same school as Brian and all his aunts and uncles.  I am proud of all this guy did in kindergarten.  He is a little reader now and it's been so fun to see that happen for him.  He's a smart kid and we sure love him.  I can't believe I have a first grader!  So happy/sad about this.

mother's day time

Somehow my kids came up with mother's day time.  What that means is a designated period of time when we pick a little paper out of a jar that has something that we wrote down to do together and we do it.  I have no idea how the name happened, but that's what it is.

They love mother's day time.  Ellery especially.  The pictures above were when we were being Mario characters.  Ellery was Peach and Layla was baby Peach.  They had special healing powers with their wands.  McKay and I were probably bad guys and we battled for a long time, but it was always nice when a little Peach came to heal us up so we could keep going.

I love me a little mother's day time!

hale

McKay:  "Elle, Hale is a place where bad guys go and there's only graves there.  So there will be cheetahs there and all animals that are bad.  Every bad person who is bad goes to hale."

Elle:  "Okay, I don’t want to die."

McKay:  "I don’t want to go to hale, I want to go to heaven."

Elle:  "McKay please don’t go to really dark places.  I don’t want you to die."



Just a typical conversation in the car between these two.

Hale sounds pretty scary. . .I definitely want to avoid those cheetahs.

thoughts on a sunday

Three babies in a crib.  Carson, Layla, Gemma.

• I'm here, on a Sunday!  Still trying to keep this up, even though I am quite irregular.

• Summer is almost over and yet I still feel like I'm waiting for it to start.  We have not really slowed down much since we moved in, and I just don't think we will.  By the time the next couple reunions are over, it will be time to start preparing for school to start, so basically this summer has been a wash, as far as summeriness goes.  I know that's not a word.  We've had fun and been busy with good things, but haven't had many of those lazy, outside, summer days.

• Our little Ellie girl is as sweet as can be, but she can turn on you in an instant.  One day Brian sent her to her room for one reason on another and she came unglued- got very upset- and then changed all the words to the little song "My Dad's the Greatest Dad" to reflect how she felt about him at that moment, which was not at all great.  It was quite funny, although she intended for it to cut him deeply.

I rarely brush her hair in the summer, and that is Sparkles, who I don't have the energy to tell you about right now.  She's a guinea pig and here she is wearing one of Barbie's crowns.

• Oh, I remember now why she was in her room.  We were all going down to the church parking lot to ride bikes (we live on a hill) and me and Mack rode ahead on our bikes while Brian pushed Layla on her bike and Elle tried to maneuver down the hill on Starburst (her bike).  Something happened on their way down that made Brian send her to her room and made her turn on the greatest dad.  This is a big long story, but I wanted to share it because I was a little bit happy at how it turned out.  McKay  and I rode our bikes all around the church and our neighborhood and had races and looked at different dogs that we passed.  It reminded me of how important alone time is with each child.  It's hard to make time for that, but I notice how good it feels every time I have alone time with one of them.  They need me and/or Brian all to themselves sometimes, without trying to compete for our attention.  I need to be better at making that happen more often.  It was a sweet little evening with just me and my boy.

• This week was Pioneer Day.  Brian and I got to speak on Sunday about the pioneers.  I am happy that it's over and now we don't have to worry about when we get that phone call, or in this case, that handshake at church.  I don't get nervous like I used to about speaking, but I do hate how preparing for a talk kind of takes over your life for a little while.  

• On Pioneer Day our neighborhood has an annual BBQ/party.  I did not want to go, and surprisingly, Brian had to convince me.  I am so glad we went.  First of all, it was right across the street so it would have been really weird if every house on our street gathered just outside except for the rude new people.  Second, it was really fun.  We got to meet some neighbors that we hadn't met yet, which was really nice.  Our kids had SO much fun making then shooting off rockets, running around with their friends (and making new ones- go Ellery!) and participating in the bike parade.  I am feeling better about our ward and neighborhood and I just know that it will take time. . .and maybe a calling or two :)

• At this little gathering the old owners of our house were there.  That's always just kind of an awkward relationship, I think.  This was actually really good though, because we got to talk to them for a long time and get to know them on more of a friend level instead of a "we live in your house" level.  They are nice people and I'm glad that awkwardness is lessened.

• We had the Whitney family reunion this week.  We camped at Thunder Mountain for a couple days and the kids had an absolute blast.  I honestly feel like I hardly did anything with them because they were so busy with cousins and new friends and their fort.  We all had a good time.

• I have been forgetting my camera all the time lately.  I forgot it when we went camping and so I just had one day of my phone to capture pics.  Layla loved our little house (tent).  

• Today was a good day at church.  The youth in our stake just got back from the pioneer trek.  Today everyone who went wore their pioneer clothes and sat on the stand.  The whole meeting was devoted to hearing their testimonies of trek and the pioneers.  Aside from wrangling our three monkeys, it was a good meeting with a very sweet spirit.  Young people are so impressive sometimes.

• I was also grateful to also feel the Spirit during the last hour of church.  I don't always prepare for church the way I should and sometimes feel so undeserving of any enlightenment or impressions that come when I haven't done my part.  Today was one of those days, but like I said, I'm grateful for them. 

• Layla often puts "ie" on the ends of words.  Drinkie is probably the most regularly used one.  This week I had a bag of crackers and I asked her if she wanted one.  She looked at me and then at the crackers and said, "I want crackie, mommy."  Crackie.  It's a new one and I'm loving it.

• My parents and Nonnie and my one cousin Amanda came over for dinner tonight.  It was fun visiting and the kids sat and read with Nonnie for hours.  I didn't think Nonnie would ever see my house, but I'm so glad she came tonight.  

• Brian is now married to the Olympics.  That is what he will be living and breathing for the next two weeks.  I miss him already.  I have never been a huge Olympic fan.  I don't know why.  I don't not like them, I just don't go crazy about them.  Maybe this year I'll try to get more into it and we can be married to each other, but watching the Olympics.  

Happy Sunday!

thoughts on a sunday (or thursday)

• I've been writing little things down on sticky notes for the last few weeks.  So this is kind of a catch up of all the things I've been meaning to blog about for my thoughts on a sunday.  

• A couple weeks ago the house was buzzing with. . .snails.  It was all about snails around here.  I was weeding early one morning and instead of helping me, the kids busied themselves with snail hunting.  They caught about 25- all in one tiny container- and they were as proud and enthralled as I've ever seen them.  Much to my disgust, they were both quite affectionate with these snails.  Kissing, stroking, smelling.

• McKay wasn't too attached to these snails though, because one day he and his friend Dawson decided to have a lemonade and snail stand.  Snails went for twenty-five cents.  Lemonade for the same.  I think they sold three cups of lemonade, and Ellery bought a snail.  

• I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you about Snaily.  Or Shelley.  Snaily is his name, Shelley is his nickname- the two are interchangeable.  Anyway, Snaily was an empty snail shell. Ellery found it one day and it quickly became her. . .um, pet?  Constant companion?  I don't know exactly what he was to her, but I do know that he was perched on her thumb at all times.  She would make him little beds at night, and then the next morning he would resume his perch on her thumb.  I must admit that I got very tired of seeing Snaily in that position.  Sometimes I would forget he was there, but then I would be quickly reminded when we were out in public, or when Ellery was talking to someone who didn't know about Snaily, and just thought my daughter went around with a snail on her finger.  I guess my daughter did just go around with a snail on her finger.  At any rate, Snaily is lost and forgotten at this point.  But he and Elle had a serious relationship for about two weeks.  I don't miss him.

I can't believe this is the best picture I have of Shelley.  But there he is, stuck on that thumb.

• The other day we were passing the Timpanogos temple.  McKay sat straight up and said with a hint of alarm in his voice, "Elle!  Sit up and put your hand on your heart.  We're passing the temple where mom and dad got married!"  Then they both sat stick straight, hands over hearts, while we drove past, relaxing only after we had passed the parking lot.  It was serious stuff.

• We had some birthdays a couple weeks ago.  Thirty-one.  Our birthdays were pretty low-key this year.  On my birthday, Brian sent me a sweet text every hour telling me what he loves about me. It was the highlight of my birthday.  I love when he does romantic things like that.

• McKay has a new phrase that he's using quite often.  "That's odd."

• Ellery is still not super keen on playing with friends.  Did I just say keen?  She is still quite a homebody and says she doesn't want to miss anything at home.  We've been praying about it with her and we set goals to play with someone every so often, but whenever we've tried, the girls in the neighborhood haven't been home.  She is content just to play or follow me around the house and has declared Layla her best friend.  It is sweet that they are starting to play more, and they sure love each other.

• My favorite thing is hearing Layla call her sister Ellie Jane.  She calls her that, or Elle most of the time, but when she says Ellery, that's pretty cute too.  

• Another thing Layla says "Shhh, quiet," when she doesn't want to hear what you're saying.  

• She is proving to be quite an independent little thing.  We just barely got Ellery to start buckling herself in the car, and here is my not even two year old who loves buckles and tries often to buckle herself in her carseat.  Could not  be more different from her sister in this way.  If it was up to Ellery, I would be buckling her and wiping her bum until she was eleven.

• Layla thinks that any sort of a dessert with frosting is called "happy birthday".  She also thinks anything with a flame is happy birthday too.  

• We get the big bags of pirate booty sometimes and this last time we had it Layla really enjoyed it.  She would continually ask for more "shake your booty," as she called it.

• Here are some actual thoughts that I've been having lately.  It has been hard for me to find my groove in this new home.  Cleaning it takes me FOREVER.  Like if I cleaned the whole thing, it would probably take me seven hours.  I am used to cleaning my whole house in less than two.  What is wrong with me?  I cannot understand why it takes me so long.  Maybe because there's kids to feed and clean up after and entertain in between cleaning, but seriously, I've got to find a better way.  

• Aside from cleaning, I've been in a weird place anyway.  There is a lot to do to get our house how we want it.  A lot to buy.  A lot to plan for.  Then on top of that, it's summer and the kids need my attention more often.  I am finding it hard to find a balance of doing house things and being a fun, attentive mom, and I'm afraid I'm not doing very good at either.  I have decided to relax a little on the house stuff and just enjoy summer.  I can wait until Fall to get things done.

• Ellery told me that instead of being a missionary she would like to be a visiting teacher.

• McKay  was lamenting that he did not have a brother the other night at dinner.  He asked us if we could have another baby so he could have a brother and we said, "Probably not".  Then he said, "If there was one that I liked for sale could we just get him?"  We told him adoption didn't work that way.

Happy Sunday!

pictures on a sunday (phone dump)

I wanted to make skirts for my girls to wear on the 4th of July.  So I did.  I am not a seamstress at all, so I am proud of these little circle skirts.  Maybe I can do more of this sewing thing after all.  Thanks to Adele, Jenn and Missy- definitely needed their help/machines/support to do it! 

I turned 31!  I thought it would be hard to turn 31, but it wasn't.  Instead of a birthday cake, I requested shaved ice.  It was delicious, as always.  I loved being out a little later than usual with my family, eating my favorite treat.  The three kids played under these cool trees while Bri and I watched them let their imaginations go and it was the perfect ending to my birthday.

Brian's sister Jaynann got married two weeks ago.  As we waited outside the temple I suggested we take a picture.  We took about five and each time I asked him to just make a normal face.  He never did, so I hope he's happy with this shot.  

I swear I was still up to my neck in boxes when Brian decided to plant a garden.  Remember, he's the yard man- but I didn't know that the garden fell under his jurisdiction.  It does, apparently. . .which is fine with me. . .except I would have liked a little more thought to go into our garden.  We, and I say this in the most loving way possible (Bri), know nothing about gardening.  So for me it was a little premature.  After about a month, I'm happy to report that tomatoes have made it, some kind of melon or pumpkin is thriving and everything else, including our basil plants, have died.  The weeds are also doing quite well.  That's our garden. 

These guys decided to be triplets one night.  I had to take a picture because it was too cute to not capture.

The kids went to the dentist.  Elle is still in the no cavity club, although at this dentist it's not nearly as big of a deal to be in the club.  Layla's lower jaw is not growing as fast as her upper- it should catch up.   Mack had three little cavities between a few of his teeth, so he had to go back the next week.  I talked up laughing gas like you wouldn't believe and aside from not liking the "pinchy water" he did great.  I'm sorry McKay, for giving you my teeth.  

 And this child?  She wants to be naked ALL the time.  Wherever she is- as soon as the idea strikes- she says to me, "Naked-naked dance?" which means, "Mom,  I would like to remove my clothes get naked now."  I don't always let her, especially when we're out, but at McKay's game this week she found her own way out of her dress.  And she naked danced all over the field.