Dance Recital 2010

A couple of weeks ago the girls had their Dance Recital. It was crazy! Good crazy. Between the three of them they were in 13 dances which meant they had 13 costume changes. And this year Emma's dressing room was across the auditorium from Eva and Ella's. I was running back and forth like a crazy woman most of the time. They did so well, though. Even though I never really got to sit down and watch it, it was such a fulfilling experience for me as well as for them to see all of their hard work from the year pay off. They are already talking about next year. Amidst the craziness I did manage to get some pictures...

I am happy to say we all survived another year of dance and can't wait for next year!!

Park City

One of the ways we celebrated my, Lee's, Emma's and Ella's birthday is by going to Park City. My brother's family was staying at a time share there and we went up for a couple of days. My parents also went up. It was very nice to get away and be with family. Here are some fun pictures of our little trip:

Sadie the swimmer

Ghostly Ben

Ella's a little fish

Beau loves his sister

Livia lovin the hot tub

The kids all made fun visors and necklaces.

The finished product

We also took the trolley up and down Main Street and did some shopping.

The girls wanted their picture taken with "Loosey Moosey"

Ben just could not resist this picture.

The kids all had fun but the adults had a great time too enjoying some lazy time, good food, shopping...it doesn't get much better than that. Thanks to Ryan and Cheryl for letting us crash with them. We had a really fun time. It was a great way to spend our birthdays.

11 and 5

Happy Birthday to Emma and Ella!!

Their birthdays were on the 2nd and 3rd. Having their birthdays so close is perfect for them because they have such a close knit bond. They LOVE each other! And I love seeing their relationship constantly grow. Just today I saw Ella run into Emma's arms as she came home and Emma scooped her up and gave her a big hug and kiss. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I hope they will always treasure the relationship they have with one another. I feel like every year we celebrate their birthdays, one after the next. But we also celebrate their sweet bond.

Emma:

Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Number: 3 and 5
Favorite Drink: Rootbeer
Favorite Food: Chinese
Favorite Game: Mouse Trap
Favorite Animal: Penguin
Favorite Song: Check Yes Juliet
Favorite TV Show: Good Luck Charlie
Favorite Movie: Alice in Wonderland
I Feel Sad When: People are mean to me
I Feel Mad When: I do something wrong
I Feel Proud When: People cheer me on
I Feel Scared When: There are big storms
I Like It When My Friends: Help me
I Like It when My Teacher: Compliments
I Like It When I: Do something good
On The Weekends I: Like to play with friends
During The summer I: Go swimming
At School I: Do boring work
I Am Good At: Being nice I Wish I Could: Have a cell phone!!!!!
I Am Special Because: People love me
What Makes You Laugh? My Daddy!!
If You Were A Parent For A Day, Which Rule Would You Get Rid Of? Chores
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? Teacher
Do You Think It Would Be Hard To Be A Mom or Dad? Yes
Why? You would have to keep up with a lot of things!
If You Could Have A Magical Power, What Would It Be? To go back and forward in time!!
What Is The Best Thing About Being 11? I am older
What Is The Best Thing About Being You? I am the oldest sibling

Ella:

Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Number: 5
Favorite Drink: Chocolate Milk
Favorite Food: Roll Sandwiches
Favorite Game: Wii Sport Resort
Favorite Animal: Cat
Favorite Song: Number 11- Which means Forever And Always By Taylor Swift
Favorite TV show: Spongebob
Favorite Movie: How To Train Your Dragon
I Feel Sad When: I have to come home and I can't play with Isabelle anymore
I Feel Mad When: Emma squirts me with water and I don't want her to
I Feel Proud When: I hug you (Mom) and Dad
I Feel Scared When: I have bad dreams because it feels like it's real life
I Like It When My Friends: Be nice to me
I Like It When My Teacher: calls me "Smart Cookie"
I Like It When I: Go to school
On The Weekends I: Like staying home with you (Mom)
During The Summer I: Help you (Mom) water the plants
At School I: Listen to my teacher
I Am Good At: Kartwheels
I Wish I Could: Go to Cherry Hill all day
I Am Special Because: Jesus made me
What Makes You Laugh? Dad tickling me
If You Were A Parent For A Day, Which Rule Would You Get Rid Of? Ben and Emma and Eva doesn't have to do their chores
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? Baseball player
Do You Think It Would Be Hard To Be A Mom Or Dad? Yes
Why? Cause we have to take care of kids
If You Could Have A Magical Power What Would It be? Make bad guys dead
What Is The Best Thing About Being 5? That I have to drink chocolate milk at the table and not in a sippy cup
What Is The best Thing About Being You? That I listen to you (Mom) and Dad

"All Ready For Kindergarten"...

...I think I have heard that from Ella dozens of times since she "graduated" from Pre-school on Thursday. She is ready and we both cannot wait for her to go. I have no doubt that she is "all ready for Kindergarten". Like Miss Tiffany says, she is a "smart cookie"! I feel like she has grown so much these past few weeks. I cannot believe how grown up she is getting.

My baby is a Kindergartener!!

CrAzY!!

Class Programs

Both Eva and Emma had their class programs recently. They did so well. Eva was one of a few brides who got to try to kiss their grooms but the grooms ran off too fast. Emma's program was a patriotic theme. She even had a singing part with a little solo.

Both these girls did a fabulous job! I love watching them perform!

Spring?

With all of this strange, bipolar weather we have been having I can't help but wonder, is it really Spring? And then I look outside at my Irises. Yep, sure is.

I LOVE this time of year!!

Love

Love

Isn't that a beautiful word?!

What would life be like without it? I can't bare to imagine.

Thankfully, we have it.

I have felt more loved recently than I have in a long time.

I am floored by the outpooring of love that has been shown to me and my family these past few weeks.

First with my miscarriage.

It came in so many forms:

Condolences

Meals

Treats

Flowers

Cards

Phone calls

Sweet Comments

Cakes

Movies

Books

And more

And then it was my birthday and it started all over again:

More treats left on my door step

Cookies

Cupcakes

A yummy lunch

An amazing blog post from my hubby

More sweet comments

Flowers

Cards

Frankly, I am quite overwhelmed, but so very appreciative. It has touched me like nothing has in a very long time. Thank you to all of you who have shown your love to me and my family recently. This has been a month filled with LOVE that I will remember forever!

Happy Birthday Lara!

This is Lee, infiltrating Lara's blog.

I thought that part of her birthday present could be to let any who read her blog know how great I think she is. At the same time, I'm sure you already know.

With Lara, what you see is what you get. There's no masquerade; no front or fakery. She really is as nice and genuine as she seems. I don't believe she knows how to think an evil thought. Her heart is pure and she truly teaches best by example. She is miles ahead of me in terms of BEing good. All I do, I do in hopes that I can become good. She already IS good. And that's what I think I admire most about her - I love her because I see in her what I hope to be someday...and no, that's not just me trying to sound cute - that's the absolute truth.

So, here's to Lara's goodness; her purity of thought; her genuine love for others; her quiet but powerful example. How honored I am to be her husband. How humbled I am to daily look upon in her awe. Lara is a true gem - rubies have nothing on her! (Proverbs 31:10)

Happy Birthday Lara!

*FYI - Don't want to take away from Lara's new post last night. See below...

Those Were The Days

Don't you love going back and looking at old photos? This is one of my favorites. I just had to post it.

My "Poopy" Mother's Day

I usually do not really care for Mother's Day festivities. In the past, I have thought that my husband can read my mind. So when he doesn't read my mind and I don't receive what I was thinking he would (or should) give me, I get upset, but of course I never show it. That is why I don't do Mother's Day really well. I have learned to expect nothing and just enjoy the day with my family. But this year I needed something. I needed to have a good Mother's Day. That is why I told Lee exactly what I wanted. A Cold Stone Cake. That's it. I am a simple gal. I couldn't wait. I was wondering what kind it would be, if I would have to share it with the kids, if I could have a nice big slice while I watched the rest of Pride and Prejudice (Thanks MW).

*

I went to bed early Saturday night. I was emotionally drained and overall, tired. As I was laying in bed I heard all of my little elves getting things ready for the next day. I went to bed with a smile on my face, anticipating my yummy cake and the darling homemade gifts from the kids.

*

I woke up thinking I would take a shower and get ready for church before going downstairs. Lee had meetings like he does every Sunday morning, but I had a hunch he and the kids left me something special downstairs. As I was getting ready, Eva came up to inform me that Sonny (one of our cats) had even left me a little gift for Mother's Day. At first I thought, oh how cute that Lee would get me a gift and put Sonny's name on it. Then I realized that it was probably not what Eva meant. She then told me it was a mess and I knew exactly what she meant. My kids tried to explain to me that Dad, thinking he was being helpful, put Monte in the basement the night before and shut the door so that he could not knock over the pretty vase of flowers that Dad got for me. Monte loves flowers and always knocks them over. But Dad forgot the fact that we have two cats that need access to the basement to get to their litter boxes. Sonny could not get to his. To make matters worse the cats were left with no food in their bowls (remember I went to bed early) so I imagine Sonny got pretty hungry during the night and decided that instead of going hungry he would help himself to our tomato plants that were on our table waiting to be planted. I don't think his tummy liked the tomato plants because the "present" he left for me that Eva was talking about was diarrhea and throw up all over my house.

*

So, when I came downstairs I had a huge mess to clean up to say the least. I was fuming! Why in the world would Lee think it was OK to close the basement door? Why couldn't he just put the flowers on the mantle out of Monte's reach? Why didn't anyone notice the cats had no food before going to bed? This giant mess could have easily been prevented with a little common sense. Instead, I was stuck cleaning it all up, on Mother's Day, in my church clothes. As soon as I got to church I was going to let Lee have it!

*

When I finished cleaning up I decided to take a look at all the little gifts and cards. Aren't homemade gifts from kids the best thing ever? They were so cute and they even made me a big sign. Then I saw Lee's note. It said the usual Happy Mother's Day, I love you stuff, which for some reason made me even more furious after what I just had to clean up. It also said that he made reservations for The Roof for us, but if he would have took a gander at my planner that was laying open about three feet away he would have noticed we can't go at that time. The note also said to plan on a lobster dinner and creme brule for dessert when he got home after his after church meetings. I have to admit that after hearing about the lobster dinner I almost forgot about the yucky mess. Then I realized the note said nothing about a Cold Stone Cake. How come? And why would he make creme brule if we were going to have cake?

*

I soon realized there was no cake. I ran to the freezer to double check. Sure enough, no cake. How could this be? No cake? That is all I wanted, all I needed!!! Oh, Lee was going to get it. I took the kids to church nice and early so I could have a chance to "talk" to Lee before it started. By the time we drove there I decided I would tone things down and try to just nicely explain what happened. After all, we were at church. Well, Lee saw right through my nice act. He knew I was T-O'd. And then because he happened to be conducting he had the nerve to tell the whole ward what had happened to me that morning. I was done with Lee and his poor choices.

*

As I was sitting there I knew I needed to forgive Lee and realize he really tried to make my Mother's Day nice. It's just that he is not as smart as me and that is of no fault of his own. So I forgave him. I still had my lobster dinner and creme brule to look forward to.

*

Lee came rolling in around 5:30, took out the lobster and thought for a minute. He then asked me how bad I wanted lobster. He said something about it needing to thaw in the fridge for hours and hours. I gave him the "whatever" look and at that point I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that lobster. So instead we had hamburgers. Oh yeah, the creme brule didn't happen either.

*

Now that I have had a couple of days to think about it maybe I was a little hard on Lee. Wait, no, I don't think I was. But I will say this in his defense. He is always the generous and thoughtful one on special occasions. He usually always pulls through. That is one of the reasons why I love him so much. Everyone is entitled to an off day, right? Even if that "off" day was a day I really needed to be an "on" day. Lee rescheduled a date for The Roof and he did make lobster and creme brule the next night for me and it was divine!!! Even though my Mother's Day was a "poopy" one, I still love him and wouldn't trade my hubby for anything...except maybe a Cold Stone Cake.