Birthday/Baptism Interview #2

In August I auditioned for the musical Annie at a local community theater. I have never been in a play before and this is something I have always wanted to try. I got a part (actually several different small parts) and it has turned out to be ultra time consuming - but I am absolutely loving every second of it. Between my church responsibilities, Girl Scouts, PTO (i am the VP this year and I plan the Fall carnival which is coming up in two weeks), the kids activities, being a mom, and now the play (which feels like a part time job), I have hardly had time to breathe much less blog. So now nearly two months later I am posting Christine's birthday interview. I intended for the baptism interview to be a separate post but being that I have 35 minutes to get this done while I watch the girls paint their pumpkins for a contest at school I better do them both in one post or I may never get to it at all!!!!

Christine turned 8 on September 1st and her baptism was September 28th.

Mom: Do you feel older?
Christine: Yeah.
Mom: In what way? What makes you feel older?
Christine: Umm, its just that it is a bigger number and I am in a higher grade.
Mom: So how was your birthday?
Christine: Good.
M: What did you have for your birthday dinner?
C: Popcorn chicken, mashed potatoes, pop
M: Favorite color?
C: Brown
M: Favorite animal?
C: Horse.
M: Favorite tv show?
C: Umm let me think Merlin.
M: What do you like about it?
C: I like it because Merlin always saves someone. He uses magic.
M: What do you want to be when you grow up?
C: A vet.
M: Why?
C: I like animals and I bet they make at least a hundred dollars in a week.
M: Tell me about your baptism.
C: It was fun. The water was warm. I liked it because I was pure and clean and I have been trying not to make sins. And Grandma and Jenny and Noel (Jenny's friend) got to come.
M: Do you think you will remember this birthday forever?
C: Yes, because it was a special birthday.

Birthday Interview #1 (Aubrey turns 13!)

Mom: Aubrey you're a teenager!!!! [sing-song voice]

Aubrey: [awkward laugh] Why are you saying it like that?

Mom: Soooo do you feel any different now that you're a teenager.

Aubrey: ah...sure....um.........I don't know.

Mom: What was the best part about your birthday?

Aubrey: Going to the 12 years old and up church dance. Free peaches and stealing a doughnut [This was at a cross country race on her birthday....not sure on the details, not sure I want to know]. It was a good doughnut.

Mom: What's your favorite book?

Aubrey: Hunger Games, and Harry Potter

Mom: Any specific one of either series?

Aubrey: The first book in the Hunger Game series and with Harry Potter I just liked them all.

Mom: Favorite color?

Aubrey: My favorite color is black [monotone]

Mom: What??? [puzzled/concerned look]

Aubrey: Just kidding. I don't really have a favorite color.

Mom: Do you have a crush on any boys?

Aubrey: Um.....yeah and if the next question's who then I am not answering that.

Mom: Fine. [disappointed] What's your favorite food?

Aubrey: I like Mexican food.

Mom: What do you like to do?

Aubrey: Run. Hang out with friends. Read. Text. Make sure I don't look like a hobo when I go to public places. [This comment was made because I suggested fix hair as a favorite activity].

Mom: Anything else you would like to tell us about yourself?

Aubrey: Mom snores at night. [I edited her elaboration of my snoring]

Mom: Thanks for that Aubrey. Happy birthday.

I'm Back!

I really had every intention of blogging this summer but somehow I seem to disappear from June to September. In May I went to Texas for five days all by myself (which was a blast) but I think trying to prepare for my trip along with the approaching end of the school year activities really did me in. Blogging got left behind and then forgotten about as May turned into June and summer-time fun set in. I will now make my infamous "things that happened while I didn't blog" list with the all too familiar promise, to go back later and write and post pictures (etc.), that I don't always keep, but none-the-less here is my list:

June:
Talia had safety camp. When I picked her up after the first day she told me her favorite part of the day was "attacking the boys." Upon further prodding I found that this meant jumping on and tickling the teenage boys that were the helpers. Good grief!

I was really sick and stayed in bed for a week. NOT FUN!

Joined the pool and spent a great deal of the rest of the summer lazily hanging out in the sun.

GIRLS CAMP! Aubrey had her first year of church girls camp and I got to go and spend a couple of days with her. (This truly deserves it's own post.)

Running and biking on the towpath.

High Adventure Scout Camp.

JULY:
More swimming. And other outings: mall, movies, library, park, parties typical summer stuff

Cross country camp.

More family running and biking on the towpath.

Broken toes and lost toenails.

Our whirlwind north-western states tour. 16 days, 14 states, 6,041 miles, 114 hours and 9 minutes of driving, 3 national parks, 1 national monument, 1 family reunion, and millions of crazy adventures. I promise this will be elaborated on in an upcoming post.

August:
Cross country practice and races.

Back to school shopping........ and more shopping.

Birthdays (AUBREY BECOMES A TEENAGER) and anniversaries.

Musical auditions. Shakespeare tutoring. Open house. Back to school!

Talia's first day of kindergarten.


Other thoughts:
I love to blog and I hate to fall behind because not only do I enjoy sharing the everyday events of our lives with our friends and family scattered around the US of A but I love having all of these memories preserved as part of our family journaling. The more time that passes between posts the guiltier I feel and the harder it is to begin to write again because I always think, where to I start?

About a month ago the visiting speaker at church talked about a phenomenon known as "Mormon Mommy bloggers." My ears perked up a bit and the guilt swelled as I listened knowing that I hadn't blogged for some time but also at the message he was sharing. He read from an article written by a non-Mormon blogger. She claims to be an addicted Mormon-mommy-blog stalker. She finds our attitudes about our daily happenings fascinating. We love being homemakers. We love being mothers. We love to laugh about the crazy things our children do. We love to be frugal. We love to share our testimonies. And we love share our lives and examples with others. While the author of this article has no interest in converting to our faith she - and it turns out thousands of other women as well - are smitten with our Mormon-mothering culture. I know there are several mystery hits on my blog (thanks to google trackers) but I don't know if they are Mormon-mommy-blog stalkers or not. But hearing this made me think a little bit about what I share on here and I realized that I am not particularly open about sharing the love I feel for my Savior. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He is my Savior. And while I have never expressed this so pointedly here, I do hope that any reader of my blog can see from my attitudes about life that I do believe in Him and try to emulate Him and to live His gospel.

Talia the Teenager

Today while I was frantically trying to finish some centerpieces for a celebration at the high school that I somehow got suckered into helping out with, Talia asked if she could pretend the bathtub was a swimming pool. I said sure. What could go wrong? [yes I do realize we are talking about Talia]. I heard the tub filling with water. I heard her change into her swim suit. She left the bathroom door open and I could hear her playing and singing in the water and I was grateful her energy was contained to the bathroom.

After 10 minutes I decided to check on her. There she was in a two piece swim suit (I don't let my girls where swim suits that show their bellies but this was one someone gave to us and I had placed it in the Goodwill bag but Talia had found it and was loving her belly showing). And she was SHAVING her arms and legs!!!! She had cut her leg but instead of a band aid she put a butterfly bandage on which of course did not stop the blood so now there is blood mixed with water dripping down her leg. I should also mention that I don't know how she even reached the razors to begin with and I don't want to think about how she scaled the shower wall to reach them.

I asked her why she was shaving. Her response was tearful, "because it is no fair that Aubrey and you get to shave all the hair off of yourself and I can't. And you and Dad always tell me that I am so hairy!"

I was stunned. "I have never told you that you are hairy!" Which is true I wasn't sure why she thought that.

"Yes you always say you like my fuzzy back!" More (fake) tears. Oh yeah that is true. She has the cutest little fuzzy back and when I scratch her back at night I always tell her that I love her fuzzy back. (It is just a little fuzzy on her low back and the hair is pale so its cute).

"Ok, Talia you can't shave all the hair off your body. You're 5. You don't need to. That is something girls do when they get older."

"Well that's no fair that I don't get to be a teenager and Aubrey does." Pout face. And she is using Aubrey's razor.

I have to say I am both glad and grateful that Talia will not be a teenager for 7 1/2 more years. But this was so funny to me! None of my other girls ever did this. I got her out of the tub, out of the bikini, and gave her a proper band aid (and a big hug).

The Tortoise and the Hare

Sunday after church I was cruising along a country road at about 50 miles an hour- approximately the speed limit - in a light rain on my way to take Taylor to deliver a gift to her friend. Out of no where a white-cotton-tailed bunny comes hopping out in front of us. Now ordinarily I would just lift my foot off the gas and gently tap the brakes and hope for the best (I never slam the brakes, this is my attempt to avoid becoming one of those people that brakes for a small animal and ends up in a ditch and throws all the passengers from the car and the only animal I managed to hit so far was a skunk, who would have been fine if he hadn't decided to stop in the middle of the road - so far my system seems to be working) but something about killing a bunny on Easter seemed morally wrong and possibly scarring to children. So I hit the brakes a little harder than usual and Taylor let out an audible sigh of relief as the oblivious bunny took its cute little cotton tail and hopped off the road and out into the neighboring meadow (really it was somebody's yard).

Yesterday I realized I had made the right choice to brake for the bunny when I saw a rather large turtle along the side of the road on my way to pick up the girls from school. From where he was sitting and the pace he was setting I figured he would still be there after I picked the girls up from school, 30 minutes later. Taylor's favorite animal is a turtle and this is the first time we have seen one this year. (I do not understand why we have "wild turtles" in Ohio, rather odd if you ask me.) I told the girls all about it and everyone was so excited to see it so before dropping off the carpool kids I went out of my way to drive over to see it. As we approached the area I could see someone had stopped in the middle of the road and was moving Mr. Turtle out of the lane we were in. I am thinking perfect, we will get a great view of it now. I directed everyone to the spot where the Good Samaritan had placed the turtle on the side of the road.

All six of the girls in the car stuck their noses against the window to get a good view. And they did, they got a great view..... only this time the turtle had been decapitated and there was blood everywhere. Horrified by the scene I tried in vain to redirect their attention but they would not be pulled away from the window. Suddenly the van was filled with screeching and tears and blame. Apparently, to them, I was to blame for the fate of the turtle. I dropped off the somber carpool kids and listened to my girls cry the whole way home.

Hooked on Online Dating

My sister decided last week that the dating pool in her area has been completely tapped out and she just needs to broaden her horizons so she bit the bullet and signed up on an LDS singles site. Then she immediately regretted it. A couple of day after she took the plunge she called me and said, "I just can't do this. Will you be my site manager?" I jumped at the chance.

I set up my own singles-spy-profile under the screen name Looking-for-a-brother-in-law. I have spent too many hours to admit on this website searching through literally hundreds of eligible young men aged 29-37, that always attend church, are temple endowed, hold college or graduate degrees, never been married, no children, and a minimum of 5'10" (and then I dropped the height requirement - but she prefers tall), with an athletic build, that basically live anywhere in the U.S. - and just so no one thinks I am being too picky I have also done less specific searches as well to include divorced and widowed men with children, but since my sister has never been married I did try and focus my search on the single-never-been-married men. I read through her messages and screen who is veiwing her. I narrow down the choices - weed out the absolutely-no-never-this-guy-cannot-be-related-to-me choices as well as the this-guy-doesn't-stand-a chance choices and then I call her. She sits at her computer in Texas, I on my computer in Ohio, and we look up the different men I have selected and she sends them messages.

I did find one guy I am very optimistic about (basically of all the guys I have seen he is my top pick) but nothing has happened .........yet, but it has only been a week. My kids are totally into this too. They keep asking me if I have found them a new uncle yet. I am determined to help her find the right man!!!! Who knew matchmaking would be so much work???? So if anyone out there has any good prospects that fit the specifications PLEASE let me know! (if you need the details about my sister I can get them to you :) ) She is a super great catch!

Tangled, Texting, and Tampons

Today was the first day of our Spring Break so I decided to take the girls to the cheap theater to watch Tangled in 3D with a few of their friends. Going along with the "cheap" theme I took an enormous bag of M&M's and filled sandwich bags for each child and put them in my purse along with the brown paper bags for popcorn (I explain this later). Talia saw the M&M bags sitting on the counter and grabbed one. I told her she couldn't have it because it is for the movie theater.

Talia: But I am just going to put it in my Princess lunchbox to take it with us.

Mom: Oh, well it really needs to go in my purse.

Talia: Why?

Mom: Well.... [I am not sure how to explain] Well, we kind of have to hide it to take it in.

Talia: You mean be sneaky?

Mom: Right. I have to be a little sneaky so the movie workers don't see the candy.

Talia: You know, Mom, Jesus is still watching.

Well I took the M&ms anyway but I did buy the popcorn! I gave each girl a brown paper bag and divided up the popcorn then got the refill which then spilled all over the floor. Tangled was so fun in 3D! We loved it!

On the drive home the girls are all hyper and noisy! The rain is pouring down! The traffic is nuts! And I am singing show tunes rather loudly to embarrass my kids - which worked splendidly - because Chris took the mini van through a car wash a couple of weeks ago and the antenna busted off so we have no music. Needless to say the drive home was a little crazy soooo I missed my exit (but lets face it I would have missed it anyway, I am useless without my GPS but for some reason Chris took that to work with him today). I really needed to get to the store to buy tampons but with the 30 minute detour I took I now didn't have time. I decided to have Aubrey text Chris and ask him to pick some up. I handed Aubrey my phone so that he would know the tampons are for me and not her and I say: Aubrey text dad and ask him to stop at the store and buy tampons for me. I kind of peak over her shoulder and it looks like she texted the word Dad. So I tell her not to say Dad because I want him to think I sent the text. She assures me she didn't but I ask her to show me the text before she sends it anyway.

Aubrey: But I already sent it.

Mom: Let me see the phone. [I proceed to check the sent texts. And there it is.] Aubrey this says to Dad.

Aubrey: i know you asked me to text Dad. [Now I just laugh because it hits me.]

Mom: Aubrey 'Dad' in my contacts is not your dad, its my dad! You just sent this to grandpa not Chris!

Now we both laugh and so does her friend. Not two minutes later my dad texts me back: I think this was a message meant for someone else. I am in an airport....but if you really need tampons I can ship some to you. I think he got a good laugh out of it too.

Happy Birthday Taylor!!

Today Taylor hits a big milestone...she's 10!!!! Double digits. It gets old after 20 years but the first time you hit it it's pretty cool.

Mom: Taylor what was the best part of your birthday?

Taylor: Getting my bow and arrow.

Mom: Should we call you Katniss now?

Taylor: Uh..no. {She recently read Hunger Games, but apparently doesn't think my joke is funny}

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Taylor: A designer. {I guess we named her well, a tailor named Taylor. She sketches outfits all the time and for Christmas she got a sewing machine. She has made a few little things purses, doll clothes, and this last weekend she made a blue velvet bow tie for Chris - it is sweet, yes really. But I digress, back to the interview.}

Mom: What is your favorite food?

Taylor: Cheese pizza from Pizza Hut. {Hmmm... for her birthday dinner she requested chicken sandwiches from Wendy's. As a disclaimer I happen to be a rather decent cook - at least I think I am - but I am gaining a complex because for special dinners everyone seems to request takeout.}

Mom: Any cute boys at school?

Taylor: What? Is this part of the interview?

Mom: Yes.

Aubrey: Just tell her no Taylor.

Taylor: Yes. There is one but I am not telling you who it is.

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do?

Taylor: Play four square at school.

Taylor has really blossomed this past year. She is finally going to piano lessons and practicing without grumbling about it. She started a hip-hop dance class this last Fall and is really getting her groove on. Her artistic flair is growing everyday! There are always sketches and drawings scattered around the house on every possible surface - walls, doors, book covers, tables etc. Her little sisters follow her around and eagerly seek her attention, which she readily gives them. She helps them expand their imagination, teaches them how to build better forts, shows them new dance moves, tells them stories some from books and some that she writes, and she is always willing to sing them a song with her beautiful voice. Taylor is alot of fun and I love having her as a daughter. Happy Birthday Taylor!!

Homemade with Lots of Love

February seemed to fly by in a whirlwind of candy hearts, flowers, and lots of crafting. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to: class parties, homemade waffle cones, fancy decorated desserts, my homemade gift for Chris, special Valentine's Day dinner with homemade heart shaped individual pizzas, handcrafted topiaries that I made with a friend, and Valentine's boxes that consumed more of our life than necessary - but were so much fun to make that the girls didn't want to stop decorating them. On Valentine's Day I took Talia with me to decorate Chris's car with hearts and balloons and kisses. My vision had been grander but it was so cold and windy and wet that we had to limit our decorating to the inside of his car, which didn't make for a cool picture so I didn't take one.

Hope everyone felt as loved as I did!!!

A New Career Path?

Today I took Talia the store and we stopped to play with the hula hoops (yes in the aisle and yes there were other people in the store). I spun the hula hoop around on my wrist and Talia's eyes got really big - clearly impressed and astonished by my skills. "Mom," she said, "you should join the circus!" I have been wondering what to do with my life when I grow up, perhaps hula hooping in the circus is the way to go. However, the mere fact that I was hula hooping in the store probably means that I haven't quite grown up yet and there's still time for me to decide what I will be.......

Someone Call the Doctor, We've Got the Fever...Beiber-Fever!!!

The two days before the party were snow days and we were stuck at home. So the night before the party I was out in the yucky weather scrambling to throw the party details together. With little time to pull it all together I just had to simplify, which meant no fancy cake....but I don't think the girls noticed or cared. We centered the party around some of the fun facts we could find about Justin Bieber.

Favorite colors: blue and purple

Favorite candy: Sour Patch Kids and Twix

Favorite drink: orange juice

Favorite food: spaghetti (we went with pizza... close enough)

We saw a picture of him sporting the one-glove-with-cut-off-fingers look so we got a purple glove for each of the girls and cut off the fingers. We be-dazzled microphones. Played freeze dance to Justin Bieber songs. Ate pizza with orange juice. Decorated with blue and purple. And sent everyone home with Sour Patch Kids and Twix in their goody bags along with Justin Bieber cds. The girls sang with their microphones and danced their hearts out. Probably the simplest party I have ever done and it was a big hit!

39 Years!!!!

Today Chris turned 39! Instead of interviewing him (because he was busy on the phone to his brother) I decided to ask each of the girls for one word to describe their dad.

Talia: (who struggled to answer in one word finally settled on one) Funny

Christine: Silly

Taylor: Weird

Aubrey: Swawesomolito (a combination of sweet, awesome, and coolio...I think)

Yup that pretty much sums it up! He is definitely fun to have around.

Check out this awesome subway art...isn't it soooo cute. Check out this blog http://craftily-ever-after.blogspot.com/ for more great craft ideas.

Burrrr!

Taylor and I spent the weekend at Klondike Camp for Girl Scouts. Our troop stayed Friday and Saturday night but she and I came home late Saturday night. We had a blast! Our cabin was filled with 32 10 year old girls and 5 troop leaders. One leader broke her ankle early Friday morning and we scrambled to find a replacement leader so the 5 leaders varied but there were 5 of us at any given time. The girls each took turns cooking for the group to earn their Cooking Badge, I brought my guitar and we jammed to some Taylor Swift tunes mixed with some classic folk songs to earn the Music Badge, we played in the snow and earned the Frosty Fun Badge, and of course there was free time to just be 10. I think I spent most of my afternoon Saturday hiking back and forth between our cabin and the main lodge for one reason or another (a girl forgot gloves, someone needed to use the bathroom, something got left behind....) the walk one way is a quarter mile. I probably hiked at least 3 miles going back and forth. No that isn't a huge distance but we did dip into negative temperatures and the highs were in the single digits so it was a bitterly cold walk. Our cabin was heated but the toilets were outside (and completely foul). It was so fun but I was glad to come home and take a long hot shower!!!!!

I only took a couple of pictures before the camera battery died and I forgot the charger. I will try to post the pictures soon!!!!

Talia Turns Five

Last week in primary Talia's teacher was telling a story to the class about someone lost in a cave. This person had to feel the sides of the cave to find the way out. Apparently Talia interrupted the story to tell the teacher "you're creeping me out."

Someone asked Talia if she would be attending kindergarten in the fall, now that she is five. Talia said yes. The next question was "do you think they're ready for you?"

The last five years have definitely been more entertaining and adventurous because of our high energy, free thinking, very spirited young lady. I have never cleaned up so many messes or answered so many unusual questions as I have over the last five years. Everyday is something new.

I decided to interview her for her birthday:

Mom: What is your favorite food? What do you want for your birthday dinner?

Talia: Corn on a stick and chicken on the wing.

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Talia: Pink and blue and red and purple and all the colors of the rainbow.

Mom: That's alot of colors.

Talia: Yeah, I don't want any of the colors to feel bad if they're not my favorite.

Mom: What is your favorite song?

Talia: Baby, Baby by Justin Beiber and High School Musical

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Talia: I want to marry Justin Beiber and be a teenager.

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do?

Talia: Coloring and playing Wii with Dad and spending time with you... sometimes. And that's really all.

I should have videoed this interview. She was wearing my high heels and I had to keep calling her back into the room for the next question. "Couldn't we really just do this later?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.

Another year older and just as spunky as ever! That's my Talia. She is Daddy's honey and Mommy's little sunshine.

Cheers! Here's to a Happy New Year!

Chris bought some pop for the kids for dinner one night last week to celebrate the new year. The girls were so excited they started chanting. "I say seven, you say up. Seven!" "Up!" "Seven!" "Up!" The older girls lead the cheers. Then Talia took a turn, she always gets it backwards. "I say seven, you say up. UP!" "Seven!" "UP!" "Seven!" Well after a few rounds of Talia's cheer it ends up sounding right.

Then Christine took a shot at it "You say ahhh, I say beer. Ahhhh!" "Beer!" Ahhh!" "Beer.... wait why are we saying beer? And why are you saying ahhhh?" Christine turned the root beer bottle around to show them. "Because that is what it says on here a-w that spells ahhh and then it says beer right here." Chris started to laugh and the older girls giggled.

"Christine," Chris explained, "it is A&W Root Beer, not Aw Beer." I guess she isn't familiar with the meaning of an ampersand......not sure why she thought we would have served beer.