Right of Passage

Trevor had his play, "Save the Plants" today. As you may remember, Ben was the Bumble Bee in the same play when he was in second grade. Trevor wanted to be Sir Field Mouse so bad when it was his turn. The teacher had the kids write down the top three roles that they were interested in being. I guess she said that they probably wouldn't get their top request (my guess she was trying to not get their hopes up in case everyone wanted to be Burpee Tomato). So Trevor didn't want to put Sir Field Mouse as his number one pick because he wanted to improve his odds of getting the role. I had to explain what his teacher actually meant. He put on his paper that reason he should get the role of Sir Field Mouse was because of his great ability to speak in an English accent. And I agree...he had to say "Yes, My Lady" many times in the play and with his English accent it was awesome. He had so much fun and just loved being up there. I got teary eyed thinking of how grown up he was. Way to go, Sir, you rocked this play!

Painting the town

I just had one of those days. I felt like I kept telling Lydia "not right now" when she asked for something. She kept asking to paint her nails. But not only that--she wanted to do it herself. And I was weak, so I let her do it. She had so much fun and it appeased her for the day!

He's had a Birthday!

Grant is another year older and wiser too! I cannot get through this without Primary songs coming into my head. How does one post about Birthdays without putting some Primary song lyrics in it?

This year I decided to go against Grant's wishes and throw him a surprise party. We have an understanding that neither one of us want surprise parties. Ever. But as I was trying decide what to make Grant for his Birthday dinner (in retrospect, I wonder why I didn't just ask him what he wanted like I do for everyone else?), I thought that he loves hot dog roasts. I figured if we were having a hot dog roast outside, we should just invite his parents as well. And then I decided if I was already making dinner for 9 people--why not just ask the rest of his family...and then Todd and Heather too because they are practically family. I was thankful for everyone who was able to come up and that they decided to brave the weather. We had BLACK clouds all around us all night, but it only sprinkled for a few minutes. It was fun having everyone up. I think in the end he wasn't mad at me for going against his wishes--I just hope that he doesn't do it to me in return. Ever. (:

This is the dog that Karmin made for Grant--I have a matching one from my Birthday. (The ears are made out of balloons.)

These clouds were much darker in person--I promise.

There was actually a double rainbow that came out for the lucky Birthday boy.

Snuggles

We had a fun, but tiring weekend. The boys went to a father and son campout on Friday night. Which meant that the girls and I had our own campout in the living room. Needless to say, none of us got much sleep. And I think it hit Ben (and well all of us) on Sunday. He just kept snuggling with Piper...and Piper (our best snuggler) didn't protest. Poor guys looks so tired. But they are so adorable together.

Trevor's Autobiography

Trevor had to write an autobiography for his class. Here it is for history's sake:
My Autobiography
By: Trevor Ely
I was born on a Thursday in April. I go to school at ***** Elementary School in *****. I live with my Mom, Dad, Ben, Karmin, Lydia, Nana, Papa, and last but not least, Piper (Elizabeth). Something silly I did when I was little was I slept in weird places. I love my family because they’re kind, loving, and keep me company.

My name is Trevor and I am 8 years old. When I was first in school, I was in Mr. ****’s class. My friends were Noel, and Cade and Conner. I was six at the time. I’m talented because I can do flips, and push-ups, and I got my green belt in karate. I plan on going to college to BYU. I think my cousin MaKade is going there. It sounds so cool! What I like about school are the subjects.

I like my life because I like being with my family. What I like to do myself is read. I mostly read big books. I like to play tag with my friends. Once we even played “Dark Tag”—a game where you have lights out and play tag. I like having family home evening. We do six things: song, prayer, scripture, talk, activity, and treat. Life means to choose the right or wrong, a choice kind of, a time to choose on your own.

In the year 2030 I will be 26 years old. I will be my Mommy’s neighbor. My job will be an author, Lego designer and builder, a regular builder—like a construction worker, and an architect. My plan is: go build, then go make lego sets, and then at night I will write. I will have kids and a wife. I will play with my kids and have time for my wife. My biggest accomplishment will be to finish school.

As I said in the beginning, I was born in April. I would like to travel to South Dakota. I hope to be a great builder, and father. I know someone would like to read this because my Dad just said, “I would read it,” because it is about me. I have learned in my life so far to keep the commandments and to attend church so I can get to heaven.

Con-Grad-Ulations!

Our sweet Minnie graduated from Preschool today. (Prepare for a lot of pictures...)
Karmin went to the same preschool that Ben and Trevor went to---and hopefully Teacher Barbara will still be teaching for the rest of the kids because she really is the best teacher ever. Karmin had so much fun this year and I think she won the heart of a few people.
Their theme this year was pirates. This graduating class was super quiet. If Minnie wasn't there singing (as loud as she possibly could) the teacher would have been singing a solo. After every song, the teachers would tell the kids to take a bow. Karmin has learned from ballet that girls curtsy. So everyone else would take their bow and Karmin would take her shirt and curtsy instead. It was kind of hilarious. We thought she was just about the cutest pirate ever. Que pictures:

Scouts

I have a feeling that scouts will be a common theme in our home now that we have 2 scouts here.

Trevor earned his Bobcat badge this week. He totally has the upperhand with this scout stuff. It is like he has been a scout for about 2 years now without actually being a scout. He has seen Ben earn all of his stuff and has participated in much of it, but he has also been to the scout meetings too tagging along with me. So earning his Bobcat wasn't too hard once he turned 8. He already had a lot of the stuff memorized. So really it didn't just take him a month to earn it--he's been working hard and diligently for 2+ years on it. Way to go, Trev!

10 Months

So this cute girl turned 10 months! I think I just posted about her 9 months, so this month went really quickly. (:
She learned how to scream this week. She only does it when she is happy and at this point it is still very cute; which is good because it is very loud. She is getting more consistent about waving to people which is more like she is reaching hand out to give a high-five....with maybe a twist of her wrist here and there--if you are lucky. She is doing great with crawling. If she has a purpose to where she wants to go, she crawls normally. However, if there is any question on where her final destination is, she will only crawl with one leg normal and the other one tucked under her...just in case she needs to stop suddenly.

I love this picture--she looks like she is making an embarrassed agreement in the fact that we are talking about how cute she is.

Her sleeping is better, but still looking for any other suggestions. One suggestion that somebody gave us has been miraculous. They told us to use white noise, and a lot of it. That has actually helped her to sleep several hours at night. So I am feeling more human again, but there is still room for improvement.

Mother's Day

I had such a nice relaxing Mother's Day. Lydia was a bit sick this weekend, so I stayed home with her because I wasn't feeling a 100% either. We got to play and watch church movies though, so that was fun. That evening, Trevor and Grant made everyone dinner. They made crepes (Trevor's specialty) and bacon. Then we had a picnic outside. I loved it. For some reason I especially enjoyed not making dinner today. It was a very nice break.
I got gifts all day long from the kids and Grant. I got beautiful roses from Grant. Ben got me coasters that he made at school and a sweet letter. Trevor made me a pen holder with some flower pens inside. Karmin painted me a picture of a red spider and spider web and gave me a pot holder with her hand print on it.

I love being a mom. I love how each of my kids just makes my life that much more complete. And the joy that I get as I see them smile and watch their successes fills my heart. They each are so different and add so much to our family. I appreciate their dad too. He is a great guy! There is a children's book that we have that Ben won't let me read because I always cry when I read it. It talks about remembering the first night that the child in the book was born and how the parent remembers every milestone since that time. I often think back to that first day with Ben. Grant and I were so excited, and we had no idea how that little baby would forever change us. As that night came, I think I had a little glimpse. I barely slept. I knew every noise that he made. My life was quickly revolving around this sweet little baby. At the end of the book, the parent tells the child about heaven and says that the child will be there one day and it will be a safe place to be--where they won't feel the bad things of the world. And then the parent promises the child that they will be there too. And that really is how it is---heaven just wouldn't be heaven without family.

Arrg! This Be Our Party!

For our "family fun thing" this week, I took over the reigns. I planned a mystery dinner for the kids. We gave the kids invitations in the morning, telling them that we were having a dinner party that night, and in the spirit of it, they could come dressed up. I think they were a bit confused that we were "just eating dinner" for our family fun thing because in their mind we eat dinner every night--how could that be fun?

Everyone dressed up though (minus Piper) and so we got some pictures before dinner. When they got to the table I gave them a menu where they could choose 5 different things to eat, 1 drink, and 1 utensil. But they were choosing from things such as "scallywags" and "treasures chests" (so they didn't know what they were really choosing. We had 3 courses, and in the end everyone got everything, but after each course they had to give up everything from that course. So for instance, Karmin ended up ordering ice cream in one course, but she didn't have any utensils to eat it with...so fingers came in handy. It turned out to be so much fun. Which I was thankful for because when the kids were doubting before dinner, I started to doubt it as well.

Her Style

Grant has a had fun documenting some of Lydia's outfits lately. I use to take more pictures of her when she was little(r), but I think nothing surprises me anymore with her that I have let it fall by the wayside. But when Grant is home, he gets a kick out of it. So here are a few of her latest outfits that Grant has captured. She is such a character. She is just full of personality and nothing slows her down. She loves making funny faces. She definitely is the outgoing one in our family. We love this beautiful sweet girl!

Decisions

There are so many times in life when we have to choose between two good things. Sometimes it can be hard, even for the smallest among us. Which one should she choose?

 It can be hard deciding which one is best. Luckily we can sometimes try both options before making a final decision:

And the winner is:

9 Months

Miss Piper had her 9 month check up. She is doing very well. She is in the 25th percentile for weight, and 30th for height. Two days before her "birthday" she started to crawl. And on the same day, she pulled herself to a standing. Next week, she most likely will be running a marathon.

Piper in crawling action--she is even talking in this picture...what a multi-tasker!

The only thing I didn't ask the doctor, that I might split if I don't get an answer soon, is what to do about her sleeping. So any advice? We've had her "cry it out" for several weeks now, and she is still not sleeping. She just cries. For hours. I just don't know what to do about it. I'm tired (and this is the reason this is almost a month late, and why there has been a lack of posts lately). But during the day she is a joy and loves being able to crawl. It has really helped her to be entertained. I love it.
--But seriously...any advice for sleeping?