Not Exactly Makeup

Sophie had a little ink, a little ink, a little ink,

Sophie had a little ink and used it on her face

When her siblings found her out, found her out, found her out,
When her siblings found her out, they to their mom did race.

Mom came in to see the art, see the art, see the art,
Mom came in to see the art, and then she took some pics.

Mom and Sophie washed it off, washed it off, washed it off,
Mom and Sophie washed it off, but there the ink still sticks.

Go, Speed Racer

A member of our ward hooked the cub scouts up with an awesome activity for our May Pack Meeting. We gathered at a local hobby shop and trouped to the big back room. Three of these huge tracks were setup, ready for slot racing cars. We stuck to the green track, which was perfect for novices.

The scouts had a grand time remotely driving the cars around and around and around the track. The adults stood at the corners and spent most of the half hour quickly grabbing cars that had spun off their own slot before another car struck the disabled vehicle or the hand of the previously mentioned adult, then placing the car back on its line, ready to speed off again.

It was kind of harrowing for the grownups.

Luckily, no serious injuries were sustained during the races, at least not to the people. Those poor cars took quite a beating though.

Hold On

Each evening, after we've read scriptures as a family, prayed, and gotten everyone pajama-ed, we get the girls to sleep. They say their prayers, we sing to them, sometimes a story is told, then Bryan plops down next to Phoebe and I lie on the floor next to Sophie's bed, ready to hold her hand.

Tonight, after staying with this arrangement for the duration of a few classical pieces of music that Bryan was streaming off his phone, he got up to begin the bedtime routine with Cooper. I announced that I would hold Sophie's hand for one more song, then I would go cuddle Phoebe for a few minutes.

Not wanting to let me go, Sophie tightened her grip on my hand. She stayed that way until I announced that the song was almost over. Then she smiled down at me from her toddler bed and said, "Okay, I will let you go. I won't hold on so tight." And she loosened her hand, still holding on, but in a more relaxed way.

I looked at her as she closed her eyes, the memory of the smile still sitting on her lips, and I heard her words again in my mind.

"Okay, I will let you go. I won't hold on so tight."

Unexpected sadness settled down on me. Oh, I thought, she will let go someday, I'm not ready! Keep holding on!

But someday, she will need to make her own choices, be an independent adult. How will it happen? Will it be a gradual release, dropping one finger at a time as she steps toward adulthood? Or will it be in one great rush? Will I watch as she bolts into her future?

She's only three, she's still far away from that. And yet I understand that the time will speed by and as I work to catch up, she, and her siblings, will be grown.

I will hold on as long as they need me. Then I will wait, for I know from my own experience that sometimes, even as a grownup, I need to reach for my Mom's hand. And just as she is there, ready when I need her, I plan to be here, ready to hold on tight.

Dream Sequence

I walked around the corner and found the girls like this, under the blanket, speaking softly. When they emerged I asked what they had been doing.

Phoebe quickly told me, "I'm her grandma who died and then I appeared to her in a dream. The dream was under the blanket." Sophie nodded in agreement.

Creative play is alive and well at our house.

Junior Photographers

About a month ago I learned that our piano teacher also teaches art. After mulling it over for a bit, I asked if she'd be willing to teach the boys both art and piano, alternating subjects every other week. She was willing and the boys were very excited. They came home from their first day of art and announced that their homework was to draw something everyday. They also asked if they could borrow my phone to take pictures of things that they wanted to draw. And that, my friends, is why all of these pictures suddenly appeared in my photo folder.

I believe Cooper took the first one and the rest were from Peter.

Foodie

Cooper asks me to take pictures of his food on an almost daily basis. It's always because he thinks that particular food looks cool and he wants a record of it. I humored him for awhile, but recently I've said that he can just remember the food without a picture. Today though, he found this Wheat Chex square with a folded corner and asked so politely that I said yes.

I'm not sharing the picture to highlight the food, but rather the brown eyes of the boy behind the food.

While the Boys Were Away

While Bryan and the boys were pitching their tent and eating hot dogs for dinner at the campout, the girls and I were having our own fun. I told them we would have a Girl Night. Originally I planned this to include doing our hair, painting our nails, and watching a fun movie. But then Phoebe reminded me that her school Fun Fest was that night and asked if we could add that to our agenda.

First, we did hair. Thankfully the girls didn't ask for anything fancy. My style motivation was the 90 degree heat outside and their already sweaty heads.

Then we headed to the school for the Fun Fest. Phoebe had a voucher for five free tickets and I found six dollars in my wallet. That totaled seventeen tickets to split between two girls. We spent four tickets at a bounce house.

And four tickets at another bounce house.

Then we visited a fire truck for free.

We spent our other nine tickets on games like pinball and ring toss. The girls won blue tickets at each game that they then redeemed for these small musical instruments that don't really make music. Then we sat in the heat and watched an awesome gymnastics performance because we'd spotted a girl in our ward that was part of the team. Instead of staying for thirty minutes like I intended, we stayed for nearly two hours.

The rest of our plan was changed to accommodate this. We ate cereal for dinner and watched Sofia the First for our girly movie. Sadly, no nails were painted. I did let the girls sleep in my bed though, the closest we'll let them get to a sleepover. Here they are, two little girls taking up nearly an entire King-sized bed.

We had fun. Two kids are much more manageable than all four, so I guess it was like a mini-vacation for me.

Fathers and Sons Campout

Bryan took the boys on their first Fathers and Sons Campout this weekend. The boys were very excited. Bryan was kind of overwhelmed at the prep work required to make it happen. After spending a few hours gathering supplies and packing everything they would need, they set off to join the other fathers and sons from our Stake. I snapped this picture as they were heading out the door.

These are the only two pictures that Bryan took during the adventure. That's fine with me, because it means his brain was focused on more important things, like making sure no one fell in any bodies of water or had a run-in with a bear. At least we can see what their tent looked like.

The boys had lots of fun playing tag and hide and go seek with the other boys. They were glad that they had taken Cooper's walkie talkies because that gave the boys some freedom to walk the campsite without being totally unsupervised.

It's a good thing Bryan put on the rain fly. After three days of temperatures in the 90s, the heat broke while the boys were sleeping thanks to a surprise deluge. Some of the other campers were soaked. Our boys were dry and only had to deal with the cold, noise, and panic attack that the rain storm brought. Between walking boys to the bathroom in the middle of the night, holding them on the too-small air mattress, soothing that panic attack I mentioned, and hearing other campers who had stayed up much later, Bryan got a whopping two hours of sleep.

They woke the next morning to discover that most of the other campers had packed up to escape the weather. Thanks to a pause in the rain, Bryan and the boys broke camp and packed the car quickly. They surprised me by arriving home three hours sooner than I thought they would. All three were exhausted and hungry and Peter announced he was never going camping again. They all slept soundly Saturday night.

With a solid night of sleep between them and the campout, I think Peter is willing to give it another go. That's good since he has a goal to become an Eagle Scout and that will require A LOT of camping. Now we just need to convince Bryan to go camping again...

Snow Queen

Sometimes after a bath you put on pajamas. And sometimes you put on the fanciest costume in your wardrobe.

Like Daughter, Like Mother

Phoebe's face lit up with happiness last week when she saw that I had picked out my Wonder Woman shirt to match hers.

The Choice to Be Baptized

Phoebe spoke in Primary on Sunday, which was a fun Mother's Day treat for me. When I asked Phoebe about what she wanted to say in her talk, she told me she wanted to share some of the things my brother Jordan had said during the talk he gave at my niece Clara's baptism in February. Jordan was kind enough to send us his notes.

On Sunday morning Phoebe and I looked through the notes and talked about what she wanted to say. Then she dictated while I typed and asked questions. I expanded and clarified a few of her thoughts, but she wrote the majority of the talk. Here it is, for your enjoyment and edification:

The fourth Article of Faith says: We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. When we choose to be baptized and confirmed, we are making a good and righteous choice.

When we are baptized, we promise to take Jesus’ name upon us, to always remember Him, and keep the commandments. The first promise that we make means that we are members of Jesus’ church, which has His name in the title, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The second promise means that we will always remember Jesus in every choice that we make. The third promise means to remember the commandments and obey them.

I remember when my brother Cooper was baptized last year. My dad said a special prayer, then he helped Cooper go all the way under the water. This is called baptism by immersion. Immersion means to be completely covered. My dad baptized both of my brothers.

After you are baptized, you are confirmed a member of the church. This is done when a Priesthood holder puts his hands on your head and says a special blessing where he gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you are baptized, but not confirmed, it’s not complete. In February I went to my cousin Clara’s baptism. After she was baptized, she was confirmed.

I haven’t been baptized yet because I’m six years-old, and you have to be at least eight years-old. I have made the choice to be baptized when I turn eight next year. I feel so excited to be baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I close in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Continuation of the Gifting

Phoebe brought me this beautiful paper bouquet of flowers that she made at school.

And this sweet bookmark.

And this cute card.

Cooper gave me this fun and poetic decoration.

And a book listing ten reasons why he loves me. Because they're so sweet (and this is my blog and I can post pretty much whatever I want), I'm going to share all ten.

Reason # 1: My Mom is very good at baking. She lets me bake with her. I get to handle some ingredients myself, but I have some trouble.

Reason # 2: My Mom reads to me at night sometimes. I love it. She also reads to me at day time. I really love it. Sometimes I read to her.

Reason # 3: My mom always hugs me and comforts me when I'm sad or mad. I always calm down. She snuggles me at night, too!

Reason # 4: My Mom lets me play outside. Sometimes she lets play whenever I want to. Sometimes I have to do my chores first.

Reason # 5: When I need help cleaning or handling something, my mom helps me pick up or clean.

Reason # 6: My Mom loves reading and so do I. I love that she loves some of the same things as me.

Reason # 7: I sometimes come up with good plans. My Mom suggests ideas to help me.

Reason # 8: My mom gives me fun treats that are very, very, tasty!

Reason # 9: My mom helps me read and do other things.

Reason # 10: I love my mom and she loves me, too!

Apparently when you're a big fifth-grader, you don't make gifts for your mom for Mother's Day at school anymore. Instead, Peter made me this LEGO creation and excitedly insisted that I wear it and take a picture. Some moms get macaroni necklaces, I got an awesome pseudo-cyborg LEGO headpiece.

Sophie kept gathering toys and bringing them to me and declaring them my gift.

I hope you all had a swell Mother's Day too.

Because Every Flower Reminds Me of You

My Mother's Day was full of handmade crafts and cards. Cooper and Phoebe made me some fun things at school that I will share tomorrow. For today I will post the cards the kids made during Primary. I helped Sophie make the card that she later gave to me. That experience included me chasing Sophie as she ran through the Primary room, not-so-safe safety scissors pointing ahead as she flew. My favorite part was the sssss she included inside the card.

Phoebe made hers without assistance.

So did Peter... This craft was fun and cute and not made for a kid with grown-man-sized hands.

I loved Cooper's creativity in turning the chocolate into a bird in his hand tree.

When we got home from church and the kids changed their clothes, I asked for some Mother's Day pictures with my people. The girls were faster to join me than the boys.

We took so many pictures. So. Many. Pictures. This slightly blurry picture was the best.

I hope you all had a delightful Mother's Day!