Jr. High

I took Christian to jr. high orientation last night.  He's my oldest, my first to leave the safety of elementary school.  And I'll be honest ... I'm freaking out a little.  Especially when one of the counselors last night talked about the dress code and how no one should be wearing t-shirts or bracelets that say "I love boobs."  Oh my.   I was happy that Christian quietly said "Gross" but STILL!  

He's nervous but excited for the change.  I'm nervous and nervous.   I just want to know that he'll make good friends, get amazing grades and be the happiest he's ever been.  Is that asking so much?

Fun at the Apple Store

Got Pollys?

Or should it be Pollies? What would the plural of Polly Pocket be? Cause, DANG ... we've got a whole lotta Pollys. Truthfully, none of these are ours. They belong to Grandma/my mom. The woman has more toys in her house than I ever remember having when we were growing up. She loves Polly Pockets because she knows how much the grandkids love Polly Pockets. Case in point ...

There's a 12 yr old in the back, hiding her face in shame. Just kidding, Em! And lovely expression there, Syd. But, see how fun the Pollys are for all ages?

Elle & I spent the day with my mom today, and we decided to organize Polly's closet. Which then turned into a huge undertaking...

Serious amount of Pollys there, mom. But I love that you have them all, for my kids' sake.  I'm thinking you should be banned from the Polly aisle from now on, though.  :)

3/26/72

It's the big 39 for me today. I love it. 40 next year and I love that, too. I just love birthdays period. :)

My girlies made me breakfast this morning,

decided to have a little fun with my camera,

and then invited me downstairs for a birthday surprise. Haley & Paige wrote a few birthday songs and Elle provided interpretive dance. Funniest Cutest thing I've seen in a long time.  :)  Unfortunately, you can't hear Paige very well, so these are the words to her songs.

Cracks me up that Elle can't control her mouth while she dances.  Elle also drew me a picture to show me how pretty she thinks I am. Prepare yourselves for my beauty.

What an awesome day so far and I haven't even made it out of my jammies yet. That's actually a perfect birthday morning -- lounging in my pj's with my fam. Happy birthday to me. :)

Randomness

It's my birthday tomorrow.  I'll be writing 3/26/72 all day. 

Had a fantabulous crepe last night at Jordan Commons.  Bananas, raspberries, cream cheese & nutella.  Oh baby.  I'm such a crepe fan.

Took all of my little chicas to get glitter toes.  Now we're definitely a sparkly bunch.

Words with Friends (online Scrabble game) is so fun.  I usually have about 10 games going at once.  

My Nook is one of the coolest things I own.  Somehow, I read even more with it in my hands.  The minute I'm done with one book, I'm instantly on to the next.

I've started charging my 2 oldest $2/day if their rooms aren't spotless before they go to school.  It's worked with Haley, Christian owes me $4 and we're only on day 3.

I'm a fan of Ice Cube gum.  Preferably in spearmint or bubblegum flavors.

My teenage nieces have introduced me to some great new bands.  Well, not personally introduced me but you know what I mean.  They both have great taste in music and living in LA gives them some cool opportunities to find new artists.

I love this so much

As I've mentioned many times, Mike's parents are on an LDS mission in Zimbabwe, Africa. Recently, they took a group of 25 members of the church to the temple for their first time. The bus ride took 20 hours and was a huge undertaking for mom and dad to arrange. The local LDS show, Mormon Times, heard about the story beforehand and asked mom & dad to take lots of pictures and video about their trip. This morning, the show aired their story. I knew all about the trip and have heard mom & dad talk about it but to watch it happen made me so emotional! It's a beautiful story. So enjoy....

http://www.mormontimes.com/tv/segment/20137/Saints-in-Zimbabwe

Catching a Leprechaun

Wouldn't it be cool to catch a real leprechaun? Haley sure tried her darndest last year, but those leprechauns are so tricky! They know how to avoid capture, no matter the allure of "gold" (or copper pennies, since Haley couldn't find any of the real stuff -- she was hoping it'd be close enough). The gold ribbon was a nice touch, I thought.

What leprechaun wouldn't want a fun house of their own?

Love the little green car and green army guys to play with. And bouncy balls, too.   Nice try, Haley.

This morning, we found that a leprechaun had turned our milk green.  Gasp!

Elle's preschool had a little more luck.  They saw leprechaun footprints on the wall and made leprechaun houses to try to catch one.  But all they could catch were the poor leprechaun's shoes and a hat.  I'm not sure why that silly leprechaun carries 8 pairs of shoes and hats around with him but luckily each child caught a pair.  Poor shoeless leprechaun.

 

Baby Kate

We have my 1 1/2 yr old niece, Kate, here this week while her family is on a cruise. My kids are thrilled. Thrilled. There's been lots of competition for her attention, who gets to hold her, who gets to play with her .... The poor child isn't sure about all of the attention, but she seems to be having fun and has even started calling me "Mom."

One of the first things we did was dress Kate up in Utah gear, taught her to say, "Go Utes!" and took pictures for her mom & dad. Her entire family (and most of her extended family - us being the exception) are major BYU fans. Her dad was Student Body President at the Y and will hardly even wear the color red. So I'm sure this picture gave him a heart attack.

We've taken her to a McDonald's playland ....

... spent lots of time in the car driving cousins around...

... painted her nails for the first time ever -- hope her mommy doesn't mind :) ....

.... taken baths ....

... and have just been hangin' out together.

See how religious she is?? So impressive.

Thank heavens for Elle -- she's been such a huge help during the day. I've definitely forgotten how much work a 1 yr old can be. Our trip to Walmart for groceries was cut as short as possible because of little fingers grabbing things and an insufficient seatbelt on the cart to keep her contained. Even though she looked cute while doing it....

Ahh well .... we'll finish the grocery shopping next week. :)

Band concert

As I sat cleaning in the girls' closet, I heard music and laughter coming from the toy room down the hall. Before long, the music made its way to me for a mini-concert.

And Christian tries to tell me that he doesn't want to take band in jr. high. Whatever.

Romeo & Juliet

Paige and Elle were both in Creative Arts Academy's production of the ballet Romeo & Juliet.  Tonight was their final performance, unfortunately, because they both absolutely loved being on stage.  The overall production was pretty amazing, I have to say.  The lead dancer who played Juliet was stunning, both as a dancer and just physically so.  Beautiful girl.  Lots of girls on pointe, which fascinated both Elle & Paige.  And receiving flowers was Elle's favorite part.  She kept showing her bouquet to everyone who stopped to talk to her.  I didn't realize how much she'd like them.

(More pictures to come....)

After the ballet was over, the kids were talking about the story and explaining to each other that no, Juliet wasn't dead the first time but yes, she really was dead the 2nd time.  The idea that both Romeo and Juliet were willing to kill themselves because of the other's death was - thankfully - a little alarming to them all.  When Paige finally asked, "Why would they do that, mom?  Seriously.  Why?"  I said, "I agree, Paigie.  That's crazy.  If I woke up and found Romeo was dead, I would be sad but then I'd say, 'It was nice knowing you, Romeo.'  And then I'd go off to college." 

She laughed but I'm hoping that she remembers the bigger picture here -- that she should never lose her head to a guy to that degree - ever, that she should only get married to someone that mommy & daddy approve of and that it shouldn't be until she's at least 26 or 27.  ;)

"The Purpose of the Task is to Strengthen the Relationship"

I read a post on a friend's blog that was profound.  She had come across the above quote and described all of the ways that it had changed her thinking, and had therefore changed her actions.  It moved me, because it's true.  And as I've thought more about it, my actions have changed, too. 

When Elle wanted me to read to her instead of read my own book, I pulled her onto my lap and cuddled with her while I read to her.  Because the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

When I picked Haley up from a school activity, I turned off my music and listened.  Because the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

When Paige wanted to show me her ump'teenth dance of the afternoon, I closed the laptop and cheered her on.  Because the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

When Christian asked for my input with his school project, I chose my words and advice with greater care.  Because the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

When the little girls asked for a made-up bedtime story, I put the laundry basket down and climbed into bed with them and wove a pretty lame tale, unfortunately -- but stilll.   Because the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.

Thanks, Carrie, for inspiring me (and for hopefully not minding that I pirated your thoughts on my blog). I hope I don't lose sight of this a-ha moment.

Elle'isms

Elle is kind of obsessed with missions & missionaries lately.  We talk about Grandma & Grandpa Mayfield being in Zimbabwe and we get to Skype with them frequently.  She especially likes to see pictures of them and the people they are serving on their blog.  And Spencer's recent mission call is heavily on her mind now, too.  It's funny how her 4 yr old mind processes all of it, though.  For example:

* Her prayers usually include the words, "Please bless grandma & grandpa on a mission in Africa, and nana & papa on a mission in heaven, and Blakes on a mission in California."  Anyone physically away from her is obviously on a mission. 

* Elle & I were downtown recently.  We left the house that morning before I'd  put on my makeup so I pulled into an elementary school parking lot for a few minutes and finished getting ready.   School hadn't quite started yet so lots of kids were milling around outside, and Elle was busy watching them.  After a couple of minutes, she asked, "Did we just drive to Africa?"

* The morning after Spence opened his mission call to Russia, Elle climbed in bed with us and very seriously said, "I'm so worried about Spencer.  He will be so cold in the North Pole!"  Most of her prayers since have included, "Please bless Spencer on his mission so he won't be cold."

Spencer

I have a total soft spot in my heart for the Blake fam, my sister Erin's family. We've lived just up the street from each other for 10 years and I adore them all. Spence just received his mission call this week and it's been an emotional ride for all of us. He's the 1st missionary of the Farley grandkids so we're all just a little excited for him.

Erin flew in for the big opening of his call. They came to my house to Skype with the rest of their family in California first, and then there was a big party later to tell family and friends.

(Thanks to my talented sister, Kelly, for the video...)

Michaela, Spencer's beautiful girlfriend.

Elle & cousin, Simon.

Baby Kate! Love her.

Wow, Spence ... I'm so excited for you and for what the next 2 years will hold. I am so impressed with you as a person and I know you will be such a strong influence for good on everyone around you. You will come home such a changed person and I can't wait to see it. We love you, Elder Blake! :)