Confessions of a Seven-year-old

At school, Bria kept a journal. Everyday, they wrote in it. Sometimes they were given a topic. Sometimes they could write about what they wanted. In the journal, there was room to draw a picture to go with the entry. It was fun reading and sharing Bria's journal with her. One of my favorite parts is her willingness to try hard words, even though she's just learning to read. Here are a few of my favorites:

"My idea of a perfect day would be: first, set up the dining room table. Next, make dinner. Finally, get my family to eat dinner" {If you know Bria...this is SO her personality, too. I swear she is going to grow up to be an event planner.}

"My Dad is a kowslr (counselor). My mom is a mom. My 1 brother is fun to play with. My 2 brother is 1."

"Once I won a prize for me it was a hug from my dad."

"My favorite day is Monday because it is a school day" {I wonder how long it'll be before that changes...}

"Every day I do my chores. My chores are clean my room, do the dishes, clean the whole house." {Ummm...no comment}

"If I had a magic carpet I would tell it to take me to Arizona. Why? Because I can ride the camels."

"I love snow because I can eat it." {Again...no comment}

 I'm so glad Bria's teacher had her do this assignment! She's getting so grown up! It's fun to learn about what she's thinking and doing. She's come such a long way this year with her reading and writing.

A Walk in Their Shoes

Bria and Max confiscated the camera for a few hours the other day. Here's what they captured.

From Bria:

Clean rooms. A rare moment captured on camera.

 Stone walkway:

Spring in Idaho. Coats and a wind torn trampoline.

Bird's nest in the grass. (It has taken all of Bria's self control to actually leave the eggs alone!)

Garden starts, the easy way.

Max and a large flat rock:

From Max:

Big Sister:

Mess in the family room. Well, I guess that explains the clean bedrooms.

Tiny Bear. Next weeks lesson: keeping the cord out of the picture.

Perhaps a future goal?

Colorful Guitar:

Preschool Graduation

On the same day that we went to the zoo, Max also had a preschool graduation. Well, sort of. It was an end of the year preschool party at the park. One of the awesome moms made cute little graduation certificates for the kids and we had a little ceremony.

We had a lot of first this day. Max learned how to cross the monkey bars by himself.

This was also Logan's first trip to the park (at least first trip where he's old enough to play)

Logan was glued to the baby slide. It was up the stairs and down the slide almost the whole time.

Most of the preschool kids. And, please don't ask me what Max is doing to his arm...

Max graduating!

Our future Kindergartener!

Field Trip to the Zoo

All year, I wanted to help in Bria's class, but it never seemed to work out right. So, when her teacher said they were taking any parent volunteers for the end of the year field trip, I was so going to be there!

Her class went to the zoo. Our zoo is really nothing spectacular, but kids and animals always seem to be a perfect combination, no matter what age. I got to be in charge of a little group of kids (really, more than half were mine). It was actually a really nice day breaking the string of colder-than-average days that we've had so many of!

Here are a few of the highlights:

This was Logan's first trip to the zoo and he was completely fascinated by all the animals.

In all of the times I've visited any zoo, I've never seen a peacock fanning it's feathers (or whatever the term is)!

Thirsty, anyone?

I have no idea what Bria is standing in front of.

Max was supposed to be standing in front of a black bear, but as soon as we whipped out the camera, the bear hi-tailed it into hiding. I guess he was camera shy.

Our little blue group.

First Grade Program

{I always feel so behind on blogging. I'm sensing a pattern here. It's been so busy around here. If anyone knows how to miraculously accomplish everything in life, send your knowledge my way!}

Bria's 1st grade program was not last week, but the week before. All of the kids worked SO hard! Bria has been coming home practicing her songs for months. The music teacher taught them some real doozies. I was pretty amazed that all the kids knew the words so well!

The program actually started out on a little sour note. Well, for Bria anyway. When I got to the gym, it was really, really crowded. I tried to get Bria's attention, but at the time she was busy talking. So, I sat down and set up our video camera and waited for the program to start. But, Bria didn't know I was there. The kids started singing and Bria started crying. She was so brave and tried her hardest to hide it. At one point, she yawned as big as she could so it would look like she was just sleepy. She did such a good job of hiding her tears that it took me a couple of songs to even realize that she thought I didn't make it! Only in looking back at the video footage did I realize just how upset she was. Well, thankfully, I did realize and made my way to the front so I could take some up close pictures (and get her attention so she knew I was there!)

Here's a clip during that time. Watch how she watches the door and then later finally realizes that her mom really did come! (she's in the back row wearing red)



And one more clip. The most amazing song they learned! I can honestly say that my daughter know how to spell "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from memory and I had to look it up!

After the program, Bria presented me with this beautiful giant rose they made in class. It was a lovely program! (Not the greatest picture. Blame it on the wind. And the sun. But definitely the wind.)

One Tough Boy

Our poor Logan has had one tough week!

Trauma #1:
It all started on Sunday when he lost his pacifier. I wondered if he was old enough to give it up, but apparently not. When our other two stopped using their pacifier, they just gave it up willingly. Logan didn't decide to give it up....he lost it. And we looked and looked and looked. We even bribed Bria and Max with prizes if either could find it. But, it was not destined to be. When we put Logan to bed, he miraculously went to sleep immediately. Until about midnight. Then, he woke up and was so upset about his lost little friend, he cried and cried. Sobbed is probably more like it. And this went on until about 4:30 in the morning when he finally cried himself to sleep. As soon as the sun was up and the grocery store opened, I went and bought him another....poor kid. (And if you're wondering, yes, we did finally find the lost pacifier. As well as another. Now he has several back-ups, I guess.)

Trauma #2:
Logan has had a small cyst by his ear for quite a while (like 5 or 6 months). I took him to the Dr last month and he was so discouraging about doing anything to remove the cyst. It was bruised and gross looking, but the Dr insisted that cysts normally just go away on their own and it would be best not to do anything. We did decide to try a bout of antibiotics hoping that it would kill the infection faster. Nothing happened, and I swear it was only getting worse. So, I took Logan back to see the Dr again yesterday. Again, the Dr was so discouraging about draining the cyst. He repeatedly said it was my choice, but was more than trying to push me to just leave it alone. His next non-invasive method was to inject the cyst with steroids and hope that it would shrink. I really wanted it drained, but he was painting a picture of this crying screaming child wailing in agony. At one point, he even suggested out-patient surgery to get it removed so they could put Logan completely out. Anyway....long story short, after so much pressure I decided that maybe we should do the steroid shot and see if that worked first. I've been convinced that the cyst was painful to Logan and I really wanted to get it taken care of - something was better than nothing.

So, the Dr had me lay down on the table and hug Logan close to me. I had to hold his head and arms down firmly so he wouldn't move at all. He started to put the shot in and the cyst started to drain instantly. Logan didn't even budge on bit! I couldn't believe he was being so good after getting poked with a needle! Neither could the Dr. Since Logan was being so good, he decided to try to put a little bit of pressure on the cyst and see if it would drain a little more. Our little Logan was such a trooper - he just laid there and let the Dr do whatever he needed to do. He was being so well behaved that the Dr was able to not only drain the cyst, but completely remove it!  The Dr kept saying that he has not only never seen a 1 1/2 year old behave so well, but most adults can't handle the pain!  Our poor Logan....his cyst looked like a little kidney bean, but was actually as big as a large grape! I am absolutely sure it was causing Logan pain, and the Dr was too after seeing how large it was! I'm so, so thankful that we were able to get it removed!

What started out as a terrible week for Logan has gotten so much better. Even with the sore from getting his cyst removed, he is a completely different kid! He is back to being happy and playful! He even left the bandage on his ear all day yesterday.

A Visit, a Snowstorm and a Funeral

I hate that it oftentimes takes a funeral to see family. It's always such a bittersweet time.

Last week, my mom came up to visit. We were so excited to see her! It's been over a year since we've been together (and ironically the last time she was able to come up was also for a funeral). It was a really short visit. Only about a day and a half. She came up to go to her aunt's funeral. She has lots of aunts, but this one was particularly special. We grew up knowing her as another grandma (and grandpa). My mom lived with them during high school and was part of the family.

The funeral was amazing. She requested that each of her children speak (plus my mom, so eight in total). It was a perfect tribute to her life. I left the funeral of course very sad, but also very inspired. I don't know....maybe because it was her children speaking....but it was amazing to see the impact she had on her children and family. Nearly every one said that everything she did in her life was to love her family and bring them closer to the gospel. I hope that when I die, I will have made the same impact on my children and family.


Well, funeral aside, we were all so excited to see our grandma come and visit. She lives in Albuquerque where they have been frequenting 80 degree weather. I on the other hand, often complain of how cold it is. Mother nature decided to substantiate all my grumbling by blanketing us with snow.

I hope that will be the last snow storm of the season. For crying out loud...it's May already!!