thoughts on a sunday (from a couple weeks ago)

• Layla has been into reading the scriptures lately.  This means that she carries around her Book of Mormon and asks me if I want her to "read" it to me.  When I say yes, then she opens it up and begins a story.  I will have to ask her to "read" to me tomorrow so I can remember what she says, but it's pretty cute.  

• Today she brought her scriptures to church.  She carried them around all three hours, and home again.  They got pretty heavy going up our hill.  

• The people sitting in front of us commented on how well behaved our kids were in Sacrament meeting.  I thought for a minute, then concluded that they were actually pretty good.  It's not usually that pleasant, but we were in a short bench, which I think is the spot that produces the most reverence for my children.  If only we could be early enough for that spot each week...

• We  had the craziest Saturday- I think out of all my Saturdays.  The poor Grovecrest 5K was again scheduled on a day with terrible weather.  Those PTA ladies deserve a hug because they put so much work into this event and the weather is bad nearly every year.  This year Ellery ran the Fun Run, and McKay ran the 5K.  Layla and I were spectators, along with a very dedicated, supportive pair of grandparents.  It was pouring rain for the whole race- we were out in the thick of it for over two hours!  We got our rain gear on, set up our chairs under our giant umbrella and made a little fortress on the grass of the Jr. High.  Besides the PTA, the runners, and one other lady with a stroller, we were the ONLY people there.  We were the whole crowd.  It was great and terrible at the same time.

• Ellery ran a great mile- even coming in before lots of upper grade boys!  She only walked for a little bit.  McKay did a speedy 5K with Brian, and they both got 2nd place in their age groups...which means they both got medals.  This was exciting stuff, I tell ya.  We waited around for the raffle prizes to start, and lucky enough, McKay Matthews was the first name to be drawn!  He won a space mission to the Space Center (don't know what it's called exactly) for 8 people!  It was one of their biggest prizes and we are way excited for him to go with some buddies.  Then he and Brian were awarded their medals and we all zipped home to get ready for the girls dance recital.

• Yep, we had about twenty minutes to put on leotards and get two buns perfectly placed before we headed over to the church.  Layla and Ellery have been taking dance from Miss Rachel, a former beehive of mine.  She is a great girl- and so sweet with the girls, and her dance classes have gotten even more popular this year.  There were a lot of dancers, which meant a lot of people there to watch.  

• The girls did great- they loved being on stage.  My favorite moment was in the middle of ABC, 123 Layla whisper-yelled, "Mom!  Hey mom!" and flashed me the I-Love-You sign.  Heart melted.  And seeing her cute little pot-belly and tiny bun up there dancing away- I couldn't even handle the cuteness.  

• And then there's Ellery.  She loves dance so much.  Brian and I have seen a natural talent in her in dance, and we are wondering what to do next for her.  She wants to keep dancing, so we need to make some decisions about what that means, and where that would take place.  She was fun to watch and did such a great job.

• After dance, we had another half hour to get dressed up to get back out in the rain for Mack's soccer game.  We somehow made it in time to his game in Alpine (with the grandparents still in tow- those two deserve their own medal!) and set up our little huddle under the umbrella once again.  This time it was even colder...and wetter...and more miserable.  McKay and his team did awesome in the less than ideal conditions, and I'm sure its a game he will always remember.  They were freezing and soaking wet.  His team didn't win, but McKay did score two goals!  It was awesome.

• I never really understood the feeling of loving watching kids play sports.  Baseball does not thrill me at all, and football wasn't much better.  But soccer?  I'm loving it.  And I'm totally into McKay and his little team and watching them play.  I am excited to see how he improves with each game, and it's thrilling when he does well and plays hard.  And guess what?  He's eight.  So then I kind of step back and tell myself to relax because he's eight and this is a tiny eight year old team.  But I would much rather watch that little team play, than RSL (who McKay and Brian are WAY into).  So I guess I am not such a terrible sports mother, after all.  I can do this.  

• Today the girls and I all wore pink with white sweaters.  This is another thing that thrills me.  And it wasn't even planned.  

• I got Ellery that dress at Kid 2 Kid.  She loves it!  I saw it there and knew I needed to get it for her, even though it was more than I'd usually spend on a second-hand dress.  It was long and fancy, and those two things are hard to find for six year old girls.  I told her she could use it for dress up, or wear it to church and so far, she is doing both.  She was wearing her bride dress almost everyday after school, so this is a nice addition to her small stash of fancy gowns.

• Tonight my parents came over for dinner.  It was nice having them here and visiting, except for my kids went totally insane.  It was a barrage of "Grammy look what I can do!" and "Let me show you this!" or "Guess what I did yesterday?" and "Do you want to see my dance performance?"  I could go on and on, but I was exhausted just witnessing these every-minute exchanges.  It was like they had never had visitors before!  We need to work on this...

• This week was spirit week at Grovecrest, in preparation for the 5K.  We had fun coming up with costumes for each day.  I was proud of my kids, especially McKay, for being confidant enough to dress up and participate.  It can be scary when you don't know if anyone else will, or if they will laugh at what you show up in.  I'm proud of McKay because for three days straight he was the only boy in his class to participate.  None of the other boys dressed up.  On Friday, which was nerd day, there were some other nerdy boys, but that's it.  On Disney day, McKay wore a size 3T shark suit and pinned a note on himself that said "Fish are friends, not food," making him Bruce from Finding Nemo.  I was sure he was going to chicken out on this one because the suit was super small on him and hugged him right where it counts...but he prevailed and Bruce went to school!  As we were walking there, he got a lot of attention from his costume- many comments and people thought it was funny and clever.  I thought this attention might bug him, because although he loves to make people laugh, I'm not so sure that he's comfortable with a lot of attention.  But he kept on walking and off he went.  He said he took it off after a little while in the classroom, which I expected because it looked so uncomfortable. 

• Ellery had a bad experience when she dressed up like Minnie Mouse for Disney day, and some girls in her class laughed and said Minnie Mouse was for babies.  I find that funny coming from Mulan and Tinkerbell, but whatever.  She handled it well, and it ended up being a good learning, growing experience for her too- so I'm proud of Elle.  

• This reminds me that I am reading a parenting book about listening to kids feelings and it might be changing my life.  I love finding truth in books and applying those truths to my life.  I feel grateful to have been led to find certain books that my family needs me and Brian to read lately.  

• I wish I could read more books on parenting.  Jana and I had a great conversation this week about this.  I was telling her about some books I was planning on reading and how I felt like finding them has been an answer to my prayers.  In one of the books the introduction is about how the author noticed that the majority of parents don't have a plan in the raising of their children.  They realized that this was something big enough- this raising of their children- that they wanted and needed a plan.  So they wrote one.  And soon friends and family started asking for copies of their home-made plan.  And then eventually they wrote a book about it.  

• This really hit me, because although the Gospel gives us a lot of purpose and direction in parenting and raising a family, I feel like there is so much more to it.  The social, emotional, educational, responsibility-promoting side of parenting that I really don't know much about.  And I know that Brian and I will benefit from making and implementing more specific plans for our family.  Jana talked about how Heavenly Father did not just "wing it" when he created the world...He made plans.  It really made me think.  So that it is the story of why I'm reading parenting books right now.  I'm making us some plans...

• We had fun dying Easter eggs last week.  Layla was particularly excited about this.  It was fun for all of us.

• Earlier that day, I was working in the garden in the backyard and the girls were playing out front.  At one point I started hearing some crying and it sounded like it was coming from across the backyard- far away.  After a few minutes, I decided that the crying was more like screaming and it sounded pretty intense, so I thought I'd better go check my girls.  I got to the driveway and realized it was Ellery screaming.  I ran to find her at the front door, with her finger shut and stuck in the closed door, with Layla hovering around her trying to offer comfort.  Ellery was yelling, "GO GET MOM!  SHE'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO!"  Layla didn't want to leave her, and Elle was desperatley trying to get her to go find me.  Poor little thing.  I got to her and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.  A little bit of panic hit me, because I knew I just had to push the door open hard.  I did it and out came the most bruised, swollen, disfigured finger you've ever seen.  I have no doubt it hurt like crazy, and was super scary for Ellery.  She was not herself for the rest of the day.  She was pale and super sad and laid on the couch with her hand on a pillow, watching tv.  I tried to get her to ice it, but she didn't want anything touching it.  We worried it might be broken, just because of how she was acting (similar to when Layla broke her wrist) but the nurse said that there's not much they can do but put a splint on it.  So a couple days later we got a splint and she was really happy to wave that thing around for all to see.  She is fine now, but it was quite an ordeal.  I felt so bad that I left her there for that long, not knowing it was my child in distress.

• Since that incident, Layla has asked me to put her owies (wherever they may be) on a pillow and lay on the couch with an ice pack.  It's the only thing that will help sometimes.
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• We had a great Easter last Sunday.  We had a fun BBQ and Easter egg hunt up the canyon with the Matthews', and then had dinner at Grandma and Granddad's the next day.  We did our own Easter egg hunt that morning, which was fun, and ended the day with our Resurrection egg lesson.  It was a nice weekend.

•  I really love getting my girls Easter dresses, and my boy and Easter tie.  This year I bought Ellery's dress about a month early, and was having a hard time finding anything for Layla.  Then at a last attempt at Target, I found that little gem.  They coordinated perfectly and the girls looked so cute in them.  McKay wanted a pink tie, and Brian went with him to pick one out.  He decided on pink and gray plaid.  

• McKay climbs this tree in Grandma and Granddad's backyard and he gets so high that I can't even watch.  I love it and hate it at the same time.

Happy Sunday from my happy family.

thoughts on a sunday

• I have such a hard time remembering what I've put on this blog and what I haven't, and I really can't remember what I did with this little gem of a story.  My friend Tamara is in primary and told me that one of the bishopric was teaching sharing time.  He asked the kids if they knew anything about some specific kind of reptile (I'll have to ask Mack tomorrow what it was- something like a black-headed frog).  Tamara said that McKay's hand kept going up every time he would ask a question about that animal- he knew all about it!  She said, "I can tell McKay reads a lot.  We were all impressed with his knowledge on the black-headed frog."  

• That is not surprising to me because non-fiction animal books are pretty much his favorite.  He probably knows a lot about many obscure species.  Right now he is also loving Geronimo Stilton books.  They are his favorite, along with the Roald Dahl collection Lindy and Al gave us for Christmas.  He is on his last book in that whole set- Matilda.  It's been fun talking to him about whatever Dahl book he's reading at the time.  

• Included in the collection is a sort of auto-biography, although Dahl does not like to call it that.  McKay wasn't super into that one, but I picked it up one day and really enjoyed it.  He has quite a collection of stories and you can really see that some of the villains in his books come from his own childhood.

• Anyway, what I really want to do is profess my love for the library once more.  I know I've done it many times already, but I truly do love it.  I love that I can get animal books and chapter books and early readers for my kindergartner.  And when I get a late fine, I even feel okay about that sometimes because I am giving back to something that has given us so much.  Okay, that's quite enough about the library!

• I am going to be so sad when this pink kitty can no longer fit into the pink kitty costume.  For now we are sporting it whenever she gets the feeling to, and I love it.

• This weekend Ellery learned an invaluable skill- one that she will use for the rest of her life!  The child can now do pony tails.  This has been very big around here.  She is willing to show anyone who is interested.  

• Today was the first time that I did my girls' hair and Layla's turned out easier and better than Ellery's.  Layla's hair is still a lot finer than Elle's, and she just doesn't have as much of it.  Usually that is tricky for me to work with, but after doing what we called a "braid crown" on Layla- which turned out so cute I could hardly stand it- I tried it on Elle and she just had WAY too much hair for it to turn out.  That, and maybe my skill level on braid crowns is pretty juvenile so there could be hope for her yet.  I tried a braid headband on Elle instead and although cute, it did not last much past church.

• Today in sacrament meeting the primary kids sang and Easter song.  Layla was so delighted that she got to go up and sing with the kids for the first time.  She didn't sing a single word of the song, but her and her braid crown looked adorable hanging over the banister in the front row.  My other kids sang great and we could see them both, which is always nice

• That reminds me that one of my favorite things ever as a mom is hearing one of them stuck on a primary song and absentmindedly singing it.  It is one of the best sounds I can hear.

• This reminds me that I have come to notice something special about my little Ellery.  She is very receptive and drawn to being obedient.  Not necessarily to me or Brian- she is a regular kid in that regard- but with spiritual things.  She has as strong desire to do what is right in that spiritual sense, and I can tell already that pleasing her Heavenly Father is very important to her.  

• Also, Ellery has an imaginary friend named Sammy, and this week Sammy was causing all sorts of problems around here.  At Target Layla kept squishing her in the cart, in the car McKay was sitting in her spot, and the tears and fights that come if someone says she is not real- I have just about had it with Sammy.  In retaliation to being annoyed with Sammy, Layla invented her own friend name Elsa and boy would Elsa and Sammy get into it.  

• It is also necessary to note that Sammy looks just like Ellery, and shows up in the mirror whenever Ellery looks into one.  I have no idea what Elsa looks like.

• Brian and his dad are still training for their 50 mile trail race in June.  They are running themselves ragged, it seems, and I for the first time I am seriously worried when he doesn't come home when he says he's going to- there are cougars up there!  They have had quite the adventures so far.

• This is McKay's animal report he did last week.  He chose African Wild Dog.  This is a bad picture, but he was running out the door for school when I realized I never got a picture of it.  Then a week later he brought it home and I realized that this will live in his room for probably a very long time (finally got rid of the the kindergarten Valentine's box this year!) and I don't really need a picture of it.  

• This year for April Fool's I put eyeballs in my girls pb&j, and I sent McKay to school with a home lunch of plastic play food.  I knew I would have to bring him his real lunch, so I timed it perfectly and Layla and I stood outside the lunch room until we knew he had started his meal.  I think at first he was shocked, wondering what he was going to eat, and then a little embarrassed because he got a lot of attention because of it, and then by the time I came in to deliver his real lunch, he was relieved and was laughing about it.  His teacher told me that was the best reaction she's ever seen.

• I did a big declaration last time about St. Patrick's Day and not going overboard, and I'm ashamed to admit, I went a little overboard for April Fool's day.  The lunch things were easy and fun, but then I decided to do some stuff for dinner and that was stupid- it took way too much time...but then I'm glad I did it...but then it was too much....I don't even know!  We made meatloaf "cupcakes" with mashed potato "frosting", and then I made mini "hamburgers" which were nilla wafers and frosting made to look like the inside stuff.  The meatloaf was fine- it was the burgers that took too much time.  I was annoyed at myself, but then my kids thought it was great, so that made it a bit better.  Always learning...

• The other night I came home from running errands and Brian told me Mack wanted me to check on him.  So I went up there to kiss him goodnight and as I entered his room, he sat right up with wide, excited eyes.  "I've been waiting for you!" he exclaimed, while scooping two chewed fingernails off of his bedside table.  "I wanted to show you these champion fingernails I bit off.  Look how big they are!  They are champions!"  I guess I was a little impressed.

• McKay has been having a very difficult time falling asleep lately.  He lays in bed for hours and works himself up to where it's after ten and he is still miserably laying there.  We have tried everything- praying, fasting, waking him up earlier (that works pretty good most of the time), and many suggestions like doing math or singing songs in his head.  We've told him what we used to do when we were little and nothing really helps.  It seems like it is getting more frequent.  I feel bad for him, but really it is a problem that I can't fix for him.  He calls it his "trial" and frets over it quite frequently, to the point where I think he dreads going to bed.  Tonight he witnessed his uncle getting a blessing from my dad, and we explained that it was a blessing for comfort with some stressful things he is going through.  McKay didn't skip a beat, and as soon as he said "amen" he asked if Brian could give him a blessing for his trial.  We waited until we got home, but he didn't forget and after the girls went to bed, he got a blessing for his trial.  

• So I was telling Brian that it really is true that the kids take turns being "the hard one".  For the last several months, Layla has been our biggest struggle.  She has been kinda terrible.  Just in the last two weeks or so, we have noticed a steady decrease of Layla meltdowns and pee accidents (I really thought she might be fifteen and peeing her pants) and a pretty hearty increase in little Mack's behavior.  It's not pee accidents and tantrums, but just neediness and whininess and a general "What is going on with you lately?" feeling.  I am accepting that this is just the way of raising children- probably always something to work through with at least one of them.  Thankfully they are all minor things, and thankfully I know that nearly every hard thing my kids start doing is a phase.

• With that being said, it feels SO good to think Layla is adorable and sweet again.  I hope this phase lasts for a long time.  

• Tonight we asked her to go brush her teeth and after a few minutes she came back in, holding the tube of toothpaste with the blue paste smeared all over her cheek, her hair and her neck.  I took her back to the bathroom and told the others to read scriptures without us.  When she was all clean we went back in and were getting ready for prayers when Layla said with panic in her voice, "I want to read the scriptures!  I didn't get to read them!"  Brian pulled them back out and showed her the picture and told her about it.  It was cute that she didn't want to be left out.  Also, Ellery is ALWAYS the one to remind us to read scriptures every night.  

• The last several months (six maybe?) we have been using the Gospel Art Kit pictures, the ones with the stories printed on the back, for our scripture study.  I think it's working well for now, although I know at some point we'll have to change it up.  

• I have a new little nephew who was born last week.  Jana and Mark welcomed a surprise boy on Saturday during conference.   

• Brian got to do Jana's epidural and we all got to watch him to that- which was awesome.  We took a lot of pictures (which annoyed him, I'm sure) but it was so neat for me to watch him work.  I also got to be there for the birth of baby Roylance and that was amazing as well.  Such a cute little guy!

• This one just because I think he's so cute.

• We just finished a week of Spring Break- and since Brian only gets this off every few years, we decided we needed to do something fun.  We went to Goblin Valley and stayed in the yurts with Darrell, Jenn, their kids, Marilyn and the grandparents.  It was really fun- especially playing night games, and overall favorite for our family.  There are more details to write, but not right now because I am ready to be done.  

• We then went to Moab, just on our own, and had a fun time there, but learned that our kids would be happy just swimming and sleeping in a hotel, watching movies.  More on spring break later...I hope!

Happy Sunday to you!

thoughts on a sunday

• The other day during a snuggle session on the couch, Layla was dolling out compliments.  
• To me:  "Your bun is blonde."
• To Brian:  "Your breath smells like...(pause)...salad."

• Thank you is all you can say to those compliments!  Ellery soon joined in and told Brian, "Your nose is long and smooth."  Those girls of ours.

• McKay is not ashamed to sing the Macarena.  In fact, he seems quite proud that he knows it, "maca 1, maca 2, maca 3, macarena, hey- macarena!"  I can't tell him, well, because I really don't know.

• We moved the  easel upstairs for a family home evening activity a couple weeks ago, and it's amazing how when you move something, all the sudden it becomes played with again!  They rarely use the easel, but then move it upstairs and it gets used all day.  It's back down again, but they had some fun with it and asked me to take several pictures of their creations.

• This happened in February, and I think I forgot to mention it.  McKay prepared as story for the storytelling festival at school.  He chose Little Pea, which is a cute book about a little pea that hates candy and loves vegetables.  He practiced while we were in Disneyland so it would be memorized when we got home.  He did great and his teacher picked him from his to move on to the second grade level.  He was  nervous to do it again in front of the whole second grade, but he did it.  He was kind of bummed to not progress further than that, but we were really proud of him.  It was a fun project to work on- and he worked hard.

• McKay had made several good friends this year in his class- most of which don't live in our neighborhood.  Skylar, Kyle and Aiden are his favorites and they all love soccer.  He begs to play with them (mostly Skylar) almost everyday, but I say no almost every day because it's hard to fit in a play date at four o'clock when you have to drive them ten minutes away.  We have a few homes going up for sale in our neighborhood soon, and I am hoping and praying for some good friends for my kids.  We'll see...as long as Mika the dog moves away, my kids probably don't care who moves in.

• This is a picture of when McKay had Skylar and Aiden over one Friday, after school.  I am used to the neighborhood boys, who are much quieter than this group was.

• Ellery had been wanting to have a pajama party for quite awhile, so a couple weeks ago, we did just that.  She invited her friends and they watched about twenty minutes of Frozen... about the time all the candy was gone, and they played school the rest of the night.  We took them home about nine o'clock and when you're six, that is just about the most exciting thing ever.  I was happy to do it for those cute girls.  

• Dr. Seuss hat day at school.  This was our attempt at crazy hats.  One of them got a prize in their class- can't remember which one.

• Every day after school I say to my kids, "Okay, good, bad, silly, learn," and then they tell me something about their day for each of those things.  McKay's good and bad almost always have something to do with scoring goals, or missing goals in the recess soccer games.  Ellery has recently decided that she hates doing "good, bad, silly" as we call it, and whines that she just doesn't feel like telling me anything after school.  

• We had fun a the BYU Rugby game a few weeks ago.  Rugby is a crazy game that I am still trying to understand, but it was a gorgeous Spring day, and fun to get out and do something together.

• There are holidays or silly little things where I might go a bit overboard for my kids.  It's so easy to get wrapped up in going all out for every. little. thing as a mom.  I am learning more and more to choose to put more time and effort into the things I actually want to, and not for those things I feel like I have to or should because other people do.  St. Patrick's day is one of those "holidays" that I am fine not being a super mom for.  We wear green.  The milk is usually dyed green in the morning- as long as it's not too full.  And I make a green dinner- always have.  

• When I went in to do art in Mack's class, we made leprechaun beards.  We talked a bit about leprechauns before we started and I was amazed at the stories that came out in that brief discussion.  Leprechauns seem to have turned into a close cousin to the Easter bunny and leave actual presents for kids.  Like big presents.  And most all of them talked about how they set traps for the leprechauns.  I was left wondering if we were the only ones who didn't set leprechaun traps.  I briefly felt bad for my kids, but then I realized that was stupid and I don't have to do things that everyone else does.  My kids have great experiences and memories and it's okay if we don't do something for everything.  I am not saying doing these things is bad, or wrong, just not my thing, I guess.  I don't want to celebrate St. Patrick's day any more than we already do.  The end.

• Layla was drawing a picture of me.  She got to the eyes and stopped, looked deep into my eyes and said, "Wait a minute.  One, two, three, four, five." as she counted my eyelashes.  She then continued on with drawing my eyes.  I have five eyelashes.

• I took my girls to get haircuts on a whim this week.  They hadn't had them since August, and Layla's hair really needed a trim.  The lady said that her hair was an inch longer on one side!  I took them to Aspen Salon, and they were SO excited to get their hair washed in the sink.  I told them how I used to work there and clean those very sinks.  It was fun and Layla's hair looks SO much better and is a lot less tangly.

• Ellery's hair wasn't in as desperate need, but she still got a healthy trim and enjoyed the experience very much.  

• McKay's class has been working on a play for months now, and this week it was finally time for the big performance.  He was one of the narrators and he did a great job.  We have all been stuck on the songs from the play Glow.

• Right before McKay's play, he had a cub scout field trip for his den meeting.  They went to a metal recycler.  McKay had been saving cans for weeks to bring with him- their den was trying to earn enough money for ice cream.  They also got to see a car get smashed at the end.  That was just about the coolest thing you could show a group of wolves.  He loved it.  He was dropped right off at the school and went straight to the play.  

• He is scheduled to get his wolf in April's pack meeting.  He has awesome cub leaders, especially Sister Argyle.  She loves scouting, loves those boys and is super organized and fun.  We feel really lucky that he gets to be in her den.  And so proud of our wolf!  He loves cubs scouts.

• Brian has been busy in cubs too.  He is the Cub Committee Chair, and was in charge of getting arrow of light awards for the boys.  He decided to make them, and with the help of his dad in providing and preparing the wood, he made beautiful, unique plaques.  He used a stencil to stain the arrow, and then a wood burner to outline it and write the boys name.  Everyone at Pack Meeting was super impressed with the awesome awards.

• Love these two frozen bums- one in a leotard (or biketard as Miss Anita calls it) and one in a swimsuit.  This picture is just a perfect description of my girls right now.  Also of note- Ellery sits in that spot almost exclusively while watching tv, and Layla is so excited for summer- she asks if its here nearly every day.  She is definitely a warm-weather girl.  Also, in the background of this pic, you will see a pink fly swatter- and that would be the toy my girls picked out at the dollar store.  Yep.

• Yesterday Layla took a nearly two hour bath...in her swimsuit of course.  She can still stay in there forever, playing with her girls and singing to herself.  It is sweet to watch and nice to have her doing something she loves for so long.  

• We celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 21st.  I didn't do anything for Brian- not even a note- which I kind of felt bad about.  But we had decided to go out on a date and that was it.  That's why I was so surprised and touched when he had a vase of tulip bulbs on the table when I woke up, with a sweet note.  He knows how much I love tulips and that I can't plant them up here so close to the deer, so he got me some to grow inside.  Such a thoughtful guy.  And they are gorgeous- blooming already on my kitchen table where I can see and enjoy them everyday.  

• This is a good time to talk about Brian.  He is training for the Squaw Peak 50 mile trail run in June.  This is something he really wants to do and he is working hard to be prepared for it.  Last week he woke up at 4:30 a.m. to run ten miles before work.  I mean, I just don't even know what to say about that.  Who does that?  He is crazy, but so dedicated to making this a good experience.  He's been logging a lot of miles and hours and it is completely common for him to fall asleep any time he sits on the couch.  He says his body will adjust to running this much, but I am getting a bit worried about him.  He is working himself hard.  

• Lets not even talk about the 100 miler he wants to do next year.  

• This week we took little Mack on a special date with just mom and dad.  He  picked Olive Garden.  It was fun to have him alone for a night and it made me think that we should have dates with one kid more often.  I know it made him feel special and I hope he felt loved.  I sure do love that boy.  I am so proud of who he is and how he is growing.  He is sweet, tender-hearted, smart and funny.  We are lucky to have him in our family.

• We are struggling with Layla these days.  I find myself not wanting her to grow up too fast, yet counting down the days until she's four and hopefully some of this sass will go away.  I don't know what it is about her.  I guess she is stubborn, she is independent, and she likes to feel like she's in control of herself.  Being the third kid, I seem to be in a hurry and rushing her way too often, and a lot of times that is when problems occur.  I have been trying to offer her choices, even in the heat of a melt down, so she feels like she is in control and that has been helpful. 

• She's still struggling with wetting her pants.  It's pure laziness.  I don't know what I did wrong, honestly.  She just doesn't like going and waits too long.  She rarely has full on accidents, it's mostly just wet in her undies.  It seems like she will go a few weeks doing great, and then things turn and she'll have four accidents in one day.  I don't even know.

• It's hard for us to know what to do.  I haven't figured out what type of discipline works for her yet.  Seems like it's nothing.  With McKay and Ellery, I know what is going to be effective for them- and it's different for both.  I have learned what they respond to and what they don't.  With Layla, I haven't.  I really have no idea.  Some things work a little, but nothing seems to really get her to think about her behavior and sink in.  Brian and I are sort of at a loss.

• Ellery is super into gymnastics still and I am amazed at the small spaces where she can pull out a cart wheel.  She can now do a one-handed cartwheel, which looks pretty awesome.  I am so happy that she loves it.  Moving her up to a different class seems to have been really helpful for her and she's improving quickly.
  
  
  
  
  

• Ellery got to dance at the PG High drill team performance.  She did awesome- she was right in the front and was so fun to watch.  Brian and I had some thinking to do after we watched so many dance performances that night.  It's hard because she has a lot of talent- you can tell from watching her- but we are not sure if that is a road we want our daughter to pursue.  For one, it's SO expensive, and then we worry about provocative dance moves and costumes and, well, we just worry.  If it's her passion and a natural talent, it's hard to steer her away from it.  What to do...?

Happy Sunday!

thoughts on a sunday (or just pictures from the last month with thoughts)

Here's the thing about my pictures lately.  I don't edit (usually) and I use my iphone (usually) and so these pictures aren't the greatest...but that's okay. 

This moment.  I don't even remember it, but how can I not want to preserve the moment when my eight year old son brushes my three year old's hair and that six year old cuteness in the silky owl pajamas supervises.  I just can't forget this.

I don't know how it is in your local second grade, but at Grovecrest, you don't even wear a stinkin' coat.  Don't even need it...not when you've got a hoodie and gloves.  That those boys are wearing these days, especially if they play soccer at recess.  We are so in on the coolness.

We zipped home from California (got up at four a.m.!) so we could make it to Ellery's gymnastics recital.  The performance had a Wizard of Oz theme and Ellery was one of the Lullaby Leaves, not to be confused with the Lullaby League.  We were assured many times there is no such league.  She did great and was so excited about the performance.  

Okay, now this moment.  This is just the best.  Ellery and her friend Maddie were dancing to Frozen music, of course, and Ellery was directing the choreography.  She kept saying, "Maddie, sashay around me," and Maddie shashayed around and around and around her.  I love this Frozen mania. 

You know, now that I am describing all of these poor-quality photos, I am just feeling grateful that I have them.  I am so grateful that I have a camera in my pocket nearly all of the time so that I can take a late-night picture of my son trying so hard to rollerblade.  This craze- this rollerblading obsession- came on strong and fast.  Eto "showed" him how to do it, and then once we came home from the Allred's, the blades came back on and he practiced until I made him come in.  Then in the morning Brian and I realized that the blades were very poor and not working properly.  This is when the negotiations and then begging for a trip to the store to buy rollerblades started.  It was his favorite sport!  He was SOOOO into it.  He just had to have his own blades that worked.  Luckily, Grandma had a pair of purple blades that were only a few sizes too big that he could borrow.  He practiced for hours and all was right in the world for awhile.  

The blades were put on a few times at home and he even tried to get some friends to join in.  

Then just this week, after over a week with not a word about rollerblading, he told me it was over.  The end of rollerblading came hard and fast.  And now I have a fantastic real-life lesson about not rushing out and spending money on a whim- like he was begging and begging to do, promising it wasn't a phase and that it was truly his new passion in life- but to save your "fun" money for something you really want and know you will use.  He's had his eye on a florescent pink soccer ball for about six months now and that I can support.  Six months is a long time for a kid to hold on to a "I just gotta have that" thing.  

We enjoyed the Olympics- especially Brian, of course.  McKay would beg every night to stay up and watch with Brian.  Sometimes we would let him.  It was kind of a bummer that they started at seven- the girls are usually (hopefully) getting in to be at that time.  They must have seen enough though, because they were inspired to create an ice skating rink for Elsa.  

Its been many, many weeks of waiting for this child to be picked as Student of the Week.  It finally came and she was so thrilled!  She thoughtfully picked a share item to bring for each day of the week to show her class, and had to make a poster all about her.  That poster.  That poster, that poster, that poster.  We had gone to the cabin over the weekend, which left little preparation for the big Ellery poster.  I at least had pictures printed, washi tape to decorate and cut her name out in cute paper.  We got to work on it on Sunday afternoon- it was due on Monday.  

She picked all the pictures, told me where they should go and I glued them onto the poster.  We both placed tape around the photos, and it looked cute.  She was super excited to "decorate" it with markers, and since I had done most of the glueing and taping, I was super supportive of her adding her own flare to the poster.  Her poster.  

When she grabbed, without thought, a red and a blue marker, I didn't say anything.  (You see, those were not the colors we had gone with).  I didn't say anything when she started doing...um...swirly lines in all of the blank spaces.  I didn't even say anything when the swirly lines looked like what can only be described (even by the artist herself) as scribbles.  If she was happy with the scribbles, so would I be.  

Well, after she had put the lid back on that blue marker, she looked down at the poster and frowned.  "It doesn't look good," she said.  "It looks like I scribbled all over it."  She had a point.  

This is when I got a bit...frustrated.  Okay, maybe a lot.  Why hadn't I said something?  Why did I just let her go with absolutely zero direction?  Why did she chose blue and red and swirly lines?!  I was fine if she was fine- but she wasn't.  She was embarrassed of the poster we had just spent nearly an hour working on.  "What if Mrs. McAllister says, 'Ellery, why did you scribble all over your poster?!"  This was her concern.

I had to go outside to get away from it for a minute, and told Brian what had happened.  He and Mack were outside playing catch.  He came back inside, looked at the poster and at Ellery and decided we could use the back.  I'm glad he was patient with her and willing to help a super annoyed mom make the situation better.  

We spent another 15 minutes ripping off all the pictures and doing it all over again on the other side.  The next morning, I asked her if she wanted to do some stars on her poster- I know she can do some great stars!  We picked markers together, and she thoughtfully put starts in certain places on her poster.  

It turned out just right.  It's hard- I wanted her to be proud of it.  I didn't want to do the whole thing myself, but letting her do it on her own wouldn't have worked either.  I learned that maybe guided creative license is the way to go in some cases- like this one.  Is that even a thing?  I don't know, but it was a learning experience for us both, I think.

Here's my poster.  Hehe.  That same week was teacher appreciation week and I was in charge of decorating Mrs. Herman's door.  I was proud of this door and spent way too many hours putting it together.  The great thing is that it gave me a reason to use my new paper cutting machine and I learned a lot about that.  It did, however, take way more of my time than it should have.  

The reason I am so proud of this door is not because I think it's super great, but because it was 100% my own idea.  I didn't use pinterest, which I would usually in a case like this.  The kids in McKay's class loved it and were so excited to see Olaf.

Did I mention Frozen mania?  Yeah.

I was also in charge of having Mack's class write thank you notes to their teacher and stay in the class while she went to breakfast.  I used my machine again, and had the kids put together little cupcake die-cuts and glue them on a card for her.  They also wrote their names on the shells of the door poster.  Layla had to come with (not ideal) and she was pretty good.  McKay had to step in and help me with her for a few minutes.  After we were done with the cards, we played Heads Up Seven Up and they all seemed to love that.  

I like spending time in the classroom.  It's a great way to just step into the world that they are in for so many hours of their day.  I like getting to know the kids and getting a feel for the dynamic of the classroom.  I teach a craft to McKay's class about every month, so I know his class pretty well.  But I have only gone into Ellery's class once for her Valentine's party.  Hopefully next year I can do more in her class.  

Elle is doing great in kindergarten.  Her reading is really taking off and she's doing awesome.  This is a story she wrote in school.  I was sad I couldn't give her a hot dog for lunch, like she had hoped.  She's such a good girl.

Layla and I were outside playing one morning.  She was showing me how she rides her bike so I popped open the back of the car to sit and watch.  Well, that is much more exciting than riding a bike, so of course she hopped in the back with me.  Zeek was across the street looking over at us, so we decided to invite him to join us.  It turns out that sitting in the back of the car is pretty exciting for dogs too, because he was eager to jump (and it took him some effort) in with us.  We sat there for awhile and Layla rubbed Zeek all over with a tissue- you know, cleaning him.  Not a bad way to spend the morning.  We like our neighborhood buddy- such a sweet dog.

I think that this girl looks really cute in her BYU shirt.  That's all.  Oh, and the morning this picture was taken, she screamed at me while I was curling her hair.  She hated curling her hair and I was a terribly mean mother for making her do so.  Then Brian, that smart man, complimented her when he got home from work.  He said, "Oh Ellery, I love your hair today.  That is my favorite way that you do your hair- it looks so beautiful like that."  

The next morning, when it was time to do her hair, guess what she requested?  You know she wanted those curls again!  Nicely played dad.  Nicely played.

Our friends the Smiths (Ian, Buffy, Riley, Peyton) came up to visit from Texas.  These girls have the cutest little Texan accents.  Our kids were friends when Riley and Mack were just two and the girls were newborns.  Now, six year later, they had a two-day play date and it was so fun.  

We went to breakfast at Kneaders (as much as I love that place, I had never had their french toast until this day!  Mmmmm.)  We played at our house for awhile, then went to BYU to outfit the Smith in some BYU apparel. 

After that we went ice skating.  My kids were a little nervous to do something new with new people, but they ended up having a lot of fun.  Well, all except for Layla.  She kind of had fun and kind of was over it at the same time.  

It had been about ten or twelve years since I had been skating and I re-learned that it is not my favorite thing to do.  It's especially hard when you need to help and three or six year old skate- so, so exhausting!  McKay was awesome though- reminiscent of his rollerblading days, he had a similar form-   a stick-man on blades.   He worked really hard and I loved hearing him say after we'd been there for about half an hour, "I made it around once without falling!"  Super proud of himself for that.  And he just kept skating- wouldn't use the blue walker, wouldn't' hold hands.  By the time we left he was doing jumps- half of the time landing them even!  It was cute, he and Riley skated together quite a bit.  

Elle mostly had help by either the walker or me or Brian.  She did awesome too, and we all were even more impressed with those Olympic ice skaters.  

We had the Smiths over for Sunday dinner the next day and after while of not really knowing how to play together, they bonded over a game of steal the flag (who knows how that really went down) and the grown ups got to talk and laugh and it's like we hadn't even spent six years apart.  I love friends like that.