On Being Cute and Relaxing Gun Laws

Ever since Ariel got bangs, Annika has been asking for them too. I figured out that she would probably look cute with bangs becasue her hair was always getting in her face anyway, and then her part would get all messed up. So, I decided to cut them myself. After I was done cutting them and she looked in the mirror for the first time she proclaimed, "Bangs look great on this kind of face!" I giggled and asked her what kind of face that was and she said matter-of-factly, "A beautiful one." The whole rest of the day I kept being surprised at how cute her bangs really were and commenting on them. She decided that she looked super-cute with the rest of her hair back in a ponytail. That night when I told her it was time for me to brush her teeth, she asked if I wanted to brush the cutest one's teeth first. Adriana was in the room am mock-indignantly put her hands on her hips and said, "Hey, I am the cutest!" I laughed and told them that everyone in our family was cute. The next day she asked me to do a ponytail again and while I was doing it informed me that she was the cutest person in our whole family. I told her that everyone was cute to which she replied, "But not as cute as me," in a sing-song voice. I was laughing so hard. Sometimes I worry that Annika will suffer from middle-child-syndrome, but I guess we have the self-esteem part taken care of.


On another note, Alice found her toes!!! It think it is so cute when babies play with their toes. Next thing you know she will be sucking on them.


Alice and Annika, the cutest little sisters in our house.

Running through the sprinkler is not enough for these girls, they must have their beach towels, sunglasses and water-bottles.




Remember how I wouldn't buy Dallin a toy gun for his birthday. Well........
Papa took care of that. There are a lot of factors that lead up to this momentous event in our family. All of the kids have really been getting in to Avatar, the Last Airbender, and play fighting a lot, which Nikolay has a lot of fun with too. He especially likes to play fight with them right before scripture time in the evening. Then they started watching Narnia over and over again, leading to more play fighting. Santa Claus gave Annika and Dallin foam swords for Christmas becasue they wanted to be Musketeers, but they hadn't really used them much because they couldn't "play" fight without getting really offended at each other. This all changed with the aforementioned movies and the reoccurring nightly sword fights with Papa. A few nights ago the sword fighting got so intense that one of the swords was rendered useless, even tape couldn't fix it. It just so happens that earlier that day, we went to a small town street fair where a cub-scout troop had a duck-shooting booth set up. The kids couldn't get enough of the nerf-guns. Afterward, Nikolay said, "Maybe we can find those kind of guns at a specialty store." And this is when I made my fatal mistake, I informed him that you can buy them at Walmart. There is a whole aisle of them. So yesterday he came home from and innocent trip to the store to get bread and apples with 2 nerf swords, and 3 nerf guns. That is how we spent our Memorial day. We do have some rules though: No shooting at people (we use stuffed animals for target practice) and they can only play with the guns under Papa's supervision.
A classic father-son moment.

P.S. Have you ever seen Nikolay smile so big in pictures?

Changes

I just love that Annika will let me take her picture now, and that he sun came out today. I still can't get used to how often it is overcast here. Like yesterday it was overcast all day, so I when I looked out the window it looked cold to me, but it was very hot and humid. She is holding her favorite, not-so-little pet, Lolly.

Alice has started sucking on her two fingers like this. Nikolay really doesn't like it so we put a big mitten on her hand, but it is proving hard to break the habit. I had to snap a picture, because like a few people have told me, it is cute.
When Dallin saw that I had the camera out he said with this huge smile,"Cheesey!" So fitting. He has taken to adding -ey to the end of words for emphasis. His career path has also changed, instead of wanting to be a bird, he wants to be a doctor and a Papa. Notice his shirt is on backwards.
Ariel did her third grade country report on Ukraine. I adjusted the skirt that I had bought for myself while in Ukraine, to fit her waist, although it is very long on her.
Ariel finally got her long wished for "side-bangs." She looks so much more grown up to me with them. I am so glad that her hair isn't in her face anymore.
I finally got a bath shot of Alice. It takes a lot of planning. Usually I would only think of it after she was already in the water so I couldn't run and get the camera. Like the strategically placed wash-cloth?

Guilt, Whack-a-Mole, and filling my own cup

I got to go to a yoga class today and at one point the instructor advised us to "be present" and clear our minds of our to-do lists and anything else we may be thinking of. At first I mentally balked at that thinking, "Why should I concentrate on being present now? I want to save my being present energy for important moments like when my kids are trying to tell me something I am not actually interested in." So that made me feel guilty about not actually being interested in all the things they want to tell me. Then I got thinking about how I usually don't feel guilty about a lot of things, or when people talk about how LDS women feel more guilt than they should be, I usually think that I am not part of that category. And that got me thinking about the whack-a-mole analogy I have used throughout my life to describe the feeling I have that as soon as I get one problem solved, another one pops up, and so on. I most recently used that analogy while talking to Rebekah on the phone about something really important like, "Is it right for us to spend money on dance class for our kids when other kids are starving in Africa?" and my kids one by one started having emergencies that needed my immediate attention. Don't they always need my attention even when it isn't that they sprained their fingers or had a poopy accident? Then I got thinking about how, they don't always need my attention, because I do need time to "fill my own cup/bucket/balloon" so that I have the physical emotional energy to help them, I mean isn't that why I think that going to yoga class is justifiable in the first place? So maybe I should try to clear my mind and focus on my breathing, and be present.

More Pictures

Golf ball sized hail on our lawn last Friday.

Alice in her carseat.

Kind of a funny look, but I like how she is holding this doll, and maybe I will do what Emily is doing photographing her each month with the same toy for comparison. Too bad I didn't start this earlier, becaseu this picture is at like 3 and a half months.


Adriana turned seven.

Annika holding Alice early in the morning. Notice they both have bed-head. Well maybe just Alice.
Kisses from my favorite little guy.
I'll try to write more soon. I have been so busy lately, which is good.

Just Pictures