Smiles

Nature's Highlights

I found a white hair yesterday. If my count is correct, this brings my total up to three, possibly four. And they're definitely white, not silver or gray. They also stick straight up, which is the only thing that really bugs me about them.

Phoebe was near when I discovered the newest one. She actually got really excited about it.

Me: Well, I've got a new white hair.

Phoebe: Another one?

Me: Yup.

Phoebe: Just like Anna!

Now, according to Phoebe, I have both the voice and the hair of a Disney princess. Nice.

Look-a-Likes

Yes, it's kind of blurry (it's hard getting a picture of these active girls), but it's still sweet.

Ward Family

When we moved here we felt like this was the house we needed to be in. At the time I thought it was because of the local elementary school. Our experience with this school, however, hasn't been all sunshine and roses, though when we're done with it we might be able to see the positives.

No, I think one major reason we needed to live here was for the ward. We've been in some truly wonderful wards in the past. Our ward in Wisconsin saved my sanity. I made so many wonderful friends in our Pleasant Grove and Provo wards. Our time in our first Wymount ward is full of happy "we're all in this tiny-apartment-no-real-income-too-much-homework situation together" memories.

This ward has welcomed us, certainly. But they've done more than that. They've taken care of us. They've brought meals, watched our children, invited us to dinners and desserts and play dates. They see our kids as adorable and smart and kind of feisty, but not as the naughtiest children in the Primary. I know we've been here for almost six months so we're not the new kids anymore, but I'm still amazed that they've done (and continue to do) so much for our family.

I need to learn from their examples.

The War Room

Last night I went into the playroom (we put the boys back together while our family was in town and haven't separated them yet) to gather the kids for dinner. The light was off, so I flipped it on and this is what I saw:

Just before I took this picture Peter was using his flashlight and an orange plastic car track to point out various locations on the map. This is what I heard:

Peter: Over here will be the Navy, and on this side will be the Coast Guard, and in the air will be the Air Force.

This is when I flipped the light on to get a better look.

Phoebe:  Hey! This is Shadow Class!

Cooper: Yeah, this is Spy School!

Phoebe: Yeah, but mine is Princess School.

So I turned the light off and let the lesson continue while I took pictures in the dark.

Choose the Right

This week Cooper got a special note thanking him for being well behaved while waiting in line. Because he got the note, his name was entered into a drawing. This morning he was one of ten kids from the whole school chosen to get a prize.

It's been a rough year for our boys, so this is proof that Cooper made at least one good choice during the school year.

The Women, part 2

Look, it's four generations of strong willed women! Here's the version of this picture we took three years ago.

Peace

When we got to church on Sunday Sophie was not in a good mood. In the last month we've learned that she is quite good at communicating her needs and wants, and in the few minutes before church began she was communicating at full volume. I had visions of not being able to hear the blessing over her screams. So I did the only thing I could think of: I whisked her away to the mother's room.

In twelve minutes she went from being an angry baby to being clean and fed, which equals happy in her world. Still, I was nervous.

When the time came, Bryan carried Sophie up to the front of the chapel. During the blessing I didn't hear a peep from her. I wondered if she'd gone to sleep. I was able to hear everything that Bryan said. Afterward, Bryan told me that she was wide awake and watching him during the whole blessing.

One thing that Bryan said that stood out to me was that Sophie would bring light and happiness and peace into our family. I think her calm demeanor during her blessing is a beautiful display of that peaceful nature.

Family Ties

When we found out that Sophie would be born in December, I realized that there was a chance we could have a baby blessing and a baptism on the same day. And that's just what we did. We're thankful that so many family members could join us for these two important events.

This picture was taken after the blessing and before the baptism. 

Dressed In White

Yesterday was a very important day for our family. I don't have access to many pictures yet, but I will share two that should give a good idea of what happened.

Event one:

Event two:

Generations

Do You Hear That?

We discovered something magical. The sound of running water acts like a tranquilizer on Sophie. She hears it and within seconds she's succumbed to slumber. It's awesome. I am currently listening  to the sleep-inducing sounds of a water white noise app.

Now, if only it would encourage her to sleep for more than two hours at a time...

Dazed and Confused

Over the last few weeks several people have asked me how I'm doing. They ask it in a probing, head-tilted-to-the-side-to-convey-caring kind of way. I've given the same answer to each one. In a sing-song voice and a smile on my face, I say, "Tired."

And that's precisely what I am: tired. So tired. I don't expect to be anything else at this point. I also don't have any lofty plans like cooking dinner or cleaning my house. I did manage to prepare a meal a few nights ago. We dined on macaroni and chicken nuggets. Gourmet, I know. My visiting teacher came over this morning and I asked how she felt about doing some service. Then she helped me fold the six loads of laundry that were piled in my hallway. That's the most cleaning I've done in a while. But again, I figure that's how things should be right now.

So if you happen to see me and I look like I haven't slept in weeks, or talk to me and I sound distracted and confused, just remember, I'm really tired.

Do Your Best

Tonight was the beginning of merit badges, pine wood derbies, and blue and gold dinners for our family. Peter and Cooper both have their sights set on being Eagle Scouts, not because they know what it means, but because eagles are cool.

Peter is a little disappointed that he doesn't get to sell cookies.

Keeping the Sabbath

Sophie went to church for the first time yesterday. We got lots of "Oh my goodness, I can't believe you're back already!" types of comments. Peter brought several classmates over to see his baby sister and at the end of Sacrament meeting both boys told her that they'd be going to class, but would be back soon. Sophie and I spent a lot of time in the mother's room so she could eat, but otherwise she was happy to sleep in her car seat.

I snapped this picture of her when we got home, just before I changed her out of her church dress. I remembered taking a picture of Phoebe wearing the same dress, so I did a quick search and found it here. It wasn't planned, but both girls wore this cute outfit on their first day of church. 

Existential Games

We're all trying to figure out our new normal around here. Bryan kind of went back to work this week, but ended up working from home for two of the days. He's also worked out an arrangement where he takes the boys to school and goes into work late, then comes home early and picks up the boys from school and finishes his work after bedtime. I'm very thankful for this, even if it only lasts a short time.

That leaves me and the girls at home. The tiny girl is in an eat-sleep-eat-sleep kind of rotation, so she and I aren't keeping regular hours yet. We spend many hours each day sitting. The not-so-tiny girl is still active and energetic and seems to have a hard time understanding why I'm not chasing her around like usual.

Yesterday I was sitting, feeding Sophie, when Phoebe ran up to me.

Phoebe: Mommy, come play hide-and-seek with me!

Me: Oh Phoebe, I would like to, but I can't right now because I'm feeding Sophie.

Phoebe: That's okay. You count and I'll hide.

Me: But I can't come find you.

Phoebe: I'll find myself.

Me: Okay. One, two, three, four, five, ready or not, find yourself.

It's Great to be Eight!

Peter had a birthday last week. He turned eight. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that means that he is now old enough to be baptized. This very important ordinance will take place later this month.

We kept his actual birthday low-key. He celebrated with cake, video games, presents, and bowling. The girls and I stayed home from the bowling, but I hear it was great fun.

Here he is reading a special birthday card about getting baptized that Bryan found for him.

This is his reaction to a present that he requested and I put together for him. It's a writing kit. A good friend of mine made one for her daughter and I showed it to Peter, which is why he asked for one. She wrote up a blog post about it here.

Peter's is a little different. Instead of a box, his is in a notebook. I didn't have access to the art, so I omitted that part. I did include the writing prompts (and found additional writing prompts by searching Pinterest) and the character and setting ideas. I also printed off comic book paper (which came from another project that the same very talented friend made for Cooper, found here) for him to use in addition to the lined paper in his book. There's a pocket in the front that holds colored pens and colored pencils.

So far he's used it to write out instructions to a video game and to make some worksheets for Cooper. Perhaps that means that he's tapping into his genetic predisposition for technical writing?

He got a science kit that he's been eyeing at Costco.

And here's the gift we saved for last. He looked in the bag. Can you tell that he's a bit excited?

Here it comes...

Minecraft Legos! Bryan has this set and Peter was overjoyed to get his own. He spent the next day building.

And as is tradition, here are some of his favorite things right now as a newly minted eight-year-old.

FAVORITE FOOD: Spaghetti and meatballs

FAVORITE DESSERT: Neapolitan Ice Cream

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Cheetah

FAVORITE BOOK: Spaceheadz

FAVORITE COLOR: Red

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Lego Ninjago

FAVORITE MOVIE: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Series of Unfortunate Events, Holes, Turbo
FAVORITE SONG: Families Can Be Together Forever

FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Clue
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: Minecraft

FAVORITE THING TO DO: Play Minecraft

FAVORITE LEGO SET: LEGO Minecraft Micro WorldFAVORITE MEMORY FROM BEING 7: Going to Disneyland, living next to the MTC and every Wednesday seeing the new missionaries go in
FAVORITE PLACE: Gamestop
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Science

FRIENDS: Angel, Brooklyn, Madelyn, Quentin, Zakkarhy, Max, Alex, Edward

The Force

Cooper was very patient about getting his visit from the Tooth Fairy. By the time said fairy came, two boys needed visits.

We didn't realize that Peter even had a loose tooth, and come to think of it, he might not have. See, on the night of his birthday (which I'll write about tomorrow) he was full of energy and bouncing around instead of getting ready for bed. He was bouncing so much that he bounced his knee up to meet his face. The result was a yell of pain. I came to investigate and found one of Peter's teeth just barely hanging on. A moment later, it was out in his palm. That's right, he knocked his own tooth out. Not exactly a happy birthday moment.

The first question was if it was a baby tooth or not. You'd think we would have known from looking at it, but we didn't. I thought it probably was since there was no root, but I wasn't sure. Thankfully our home teacher is a pediatric dentist and lives a few minutes away from us. We called to get his expert opinion and he came right over. It was indeed a baby tooth.

That night Peter wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy and asked for a new toothbrush. He's never been one to want money. We told him the Tooth Fairy had Christmas break off. Well, he (because the boys are in agreement that their Tooth Fairy is a boy) finally delivered.

On Sunday morning the boys woke up to these notes under their pillows.

They also found the red and green toothbrushes pictured below.

Their Tooth Fairy has skills. And when they asked if I had made the notes, I could honestly answer no.

Bryan's Year

Remember my end-of-year movie that Google+ put together? Well, tonight Bryan got one too. He's kindly letting me post it here. Some of the pictures are also in mine, but there are a few special ones that are only found in Bryan's.

For instance, the first picture was one we took this summer. The building that we're standing in front of is one of the dorms at BYU. Specifically, it's the dorm where I was an RA for two years and where Bryan proposed. All of those buildings are being torn down and rebuilt, so it was very important to us to take the kids and get a picture while it was still there.

Another special picture comes near the end. Bryan went on several business trips in November and December. His last trip took him an hour and a half away from where his sister and her family live. After he finished his meetings for the day, he got in his rental car and made the drive. While there, he got to meet his brand new nephew who was only a few days old at the time.

There is a random movie stuck in there of a couple guys from work, but the rest is awesome.

Tough Love

It's good to have such a loving, doting big sister.

But sometimes the loving and doting gets to be a little too much.

Frozen

For Christmas my parents sent me the soundtrack to Frozen. The kids and I have all been enjoying it. Today Cooper and Phoebe sat calmly in front of the CD player, lyrics in hand, and listened to the whole thing. It was awesome.

One side effect is that we've all been singing the songs. Cooper really likes the beginning song, Frozen Heart, and has been singing that. Phoebe sings several songs, but today I heard this song more than any other. She has the tune and the words, except she pronounces the words like a pop singer. I don't know where this came from, but I'm trying to undo it. I do love hearing them sing though.

We Are Family

My dad, brothers, and children all share a particular sleeping trait. They like to slumber with one leg crossed on top of the other, like they're sitting in church, not lying in bed asleep. I checked on Sophie a few nights ago and found her like this:

It might be hard to see, but I'm pretty sure this is the newborn baby version of the same thing. She already bears a strong resemblance to the rest of us, I guess this removes any doubt. She definitely came to the right family.

Always

Sophie has a fan club. The three most vocal and active members are Peter, Cooper and Phoebe. They go out of their way to hug and kiss her. They speak to her in soft, loving tones. Yesterday Sophie was sitting in her car seat, crying, and Peter sat and sang to her until she calmed down. It was very sweet.

Today I was holding Sophie when Phoebe came over for a hug. She leaned in, put her arm around her new sister and said with her eyes closed and a peaceful smile, "She's ours forever."

Yes, she is.