Church-going!

Cuddle Me, Ky!

Four faces.

Another to add to the clan.  They all look the same, but different.

Christmas Nativity.

For some reason and at the request of a couple old-time ward members, I decided to suggest that we bring back the Christmas Nativity program put on by the Primary children at the Ward Christmas party this year.  It was a lot of work, but it turned out to be so great!  The kids were all so cute!

Here's our two little sheep and and angel girl.

Sleeping with a Reindeer.

When we lived in Odum Village back in the day, a friend of ours gave the toddler Roundabout a reindeer named Ralphie.  Ralphie is stuffed animal, standing about 2-3 feet high.  We've moved him along with us over the years to Baity Hill and now our house.  And every year, he's still a hit.  The kids look forward to pulling him out of the attic where he lives in a luggage box.  Roundabout asked if he could sleep in her room the first night that he came out.  I agreed, but didn't realize that he'd be sleeping in her bed with her and Snowball.  :)

sleeping with a reindeer almost bigger than herself

Hallo-ween!

Well...
where to start?  Minus the first two years of her life when Straight Arrow and I chose her costume for her, Roundabout has never deviated from her favorite costume.  Princess.  We're 5 years running now.  At least she's beautiful and knows how to play the part, oh so well!

Green Light is into Super Heroes.  He knows nothing about them other than some of their names.  He doesn't know what they do, how they act, or really what their super powers consist of...but still, he loves super heroes.  This year, I bought him a Superman costume, but with his birthday money he bought himself a Spiderman costume.  And as a birthday present, he received a Batman costume.  He's been mulling it over for a couple of weeks and finally decided to be Batman.  He was a very serious Batman.

Curvy Road didn't know the first thing about what Halloween was all about, but he did know that his brother and sister were constantly talking about their costumes.  At first, he wanted to be whichever whim his big brother was on for the day.  But then, a change happened.  One of his  favorite songs is from the Wiggles and it's about pirates.  And from then on, he's been wanting to be a pirate.  He's told everyone he meets about it.

Straight Arrow put together a few select costume pieces to be a 70's-ish Orthodontic patient.  He made himself some fake braces, wide rimmed glasses, and gave himself some hair back.  He was quite the sight.

As for me, I'm just going along with baby in belly.  I made this "skeleton" shirt and I love it!  7 weeks until baby Linlee!  For being 7 months pregnant, I feel like I'm still pretty small.  Don't comment on that if your opinion differs!  :)

Sparkle Plenty?

As you may know, we gave Roundabout the choice between homeschool and public school this year and she chose to try public school again.  Recently, her friend from school invited her to a birthday party at a location named Sparkle Plenty.  I looked it up online and found their website.  It looked harmless enough; fancy dresses, painted nails, make-up, and hair. 
And. so. we. went.

And my eyes were opened to a whole world I didn't realize was so prevalent at the grand age of 7.  The fancy dresses were terribly immodest showing as much skin as possible.  My Roundabout whispered in my ear, "Mom, there were no modest dresses to choose  from."  The painted nails were harmless, but nonetheless just added to the atmosphere.  Make-up was hideous and could most closely be compared to street-walker style.  And hair; whew.  It took three washings over the course of a week to get all of the hairspray and glitter out. 
I. was. mortified.

But it didn't end there.  Once they were dressed up to go out on the town (or Las Vegas), the "dancing" begun.  Each girl there knew the names of the latest pop artists, their albums, and the words to every single song.  The words, the messages; oh dear!  How can parents expose their children to such garbage?!  The messages of these songs was nothing but boyfriends, breakups, and everything that happened in between (the bed sheets).  My Roundabout hadn't a clue, didn't know these songs, and felt remarkably uncomfortably out on the dance floor.  The other girls sang their hearts out and somehow knew some very provocative dance moves.
I. couldn't. believe. my eyes.

Quitting time finally came and as we rode away, we discussed the atmosphere and the feelings that we both felt.  I came home, recapped the evening to Straight Arrow, and vowed to never again surround myself or my child with such filth.  And since then, I have contemplated the influence and example of all those school girls surrounding my child.  It's so disturbing to me.  And although I know that she knows the right way and the truth, why knowingly subject her to such influences at the age of 7?  Any thoughts?

 

Sand dollars.

While we were at the beach, Roundabout was on the constant search for a washed-up sand dollar.  They're so fragile and it's nearly impossible to find them wash up ashore.  She found a few sand dollar pieces, but before we left for home, she decided to spend a little of her allowance (this is huge since she NEVER spends it!) to buy a sand dollar and some sand dollar jewelry. 

Ready to be a big sister again?

With a few months left before little baby Tucker arrives, this little girl seems ready enough to be a big sister again.  Only this time, it will be to a sister, not a brother.  While my brother was in town, Miss Roundabout got her fair share of baby-holding time on my sweet and cute niece Liesl.  She couldn't get enough of it.  I'll have to say: she's a pro!

Did I mention we went to the beach?

We got to go to Holden Beach with my brother, Owen, and his family.  We had a blast!  Since it was the weekend before school started, the beach was empty and we had it all to ourselves.  The water was awesome and the kids loved jumping in the waves, playing with cousins they didn't know, and digging in the sand for seashells.  Bedtimes were tricky and sleeping arrangements uncomfortable, but we had fun staying up with Owen, Haylee, and my dad playing card games.  It was the first time we've been able to play games with adults in a very long time! 

A girl and her makeup.

Roundabout loves to have a friend over.  She's all girl and when she has another girl around to play with, the girly girl stuff just really starts coming out!

Recently, Grandma sent out a package to the kids full of fun goodies...toys, books, and best of all, a dress.  It's not just any dress though.  It's a handmade by Grandma dress, 20-ish years old.  Roundabout has the smaller size made for the smallest of the sisters, but she was outgrowing it and dying to have the next size up.  So, Grandma obliged her little granddaughter.  Now, when she has a friend over, they can twinner dress-up, twirl, and wear blue eye shadow and lip gloss until their little hearts are content.  :)

Thanks Grandma!

The princess cake.

Though we had a pool party, we had to go through a bajillion cake ideas before we came to this one.  It was actually a dramatic decision that shouldn't have been dramatic.  But lo, she is a girl who loves drama.  The idea scheme went something like this: pool cake, swimmer cake complete with goggles and swim cap, pool cake, beach cake, castle cake, sand castle cake, flower cake, butterfly cake, purse cake, flower cake, pool cake, NO CAKE.  I had had enough of the mind changing!  And so, she settled on a princess cake.  Whew.

The birthday party bust.

Do you have one childhood birthday party that you remember in particular?  Well, I'm pretty sure we just attained that birthday party for the newly-turned-seven-year-old.  And let me add, not in a good way.

For over a year, she's dreamed of having a splash party.  She LOVES to swim and just had to have her next party at the swimming pool.  She's planned on it and talked about it since before she even turned six.  So, come birthday planning time this year, I knew exactly what we had to do.  While she would have preferred just to swim at the pool, I convinced her to do the water park at the YMCA.  It would be fun, was safe for non-swimmers, and it was outdoors with tables, chairs, and umbrellas. 

She was turning 7 and got to invite 7 friends.  This is a big deal, folks!  We sent out the invites and she even chose to have her party two whole weeks after her birthday so that her cousin and best friend, Callan, could attend.  Included were Callan, Kallee, MaryBeth, James, Elle, Cassie, and Savannah (who wasn't able to come), and then of course her brothers and cousins.

Now, please note that we frequent the YMCA water park rather often, though I never realized we hadn't gone on a weekend, only a week day.  The party was planned for 5pm on Saturday, the 14th.  I arrived a minute or two early, grabbed some tables, and set out the pizza.  I went up to the lifeguard desk, explained that we had invited some friends for a birthday party, and asked if I could pay for them in advance to swim.  They LET me pay my fee and I went on my way.

Now, here's where it all goes down in history.  Kids arrive.  They want to swim, but I convince them to eat pizza before it gets cold.  They eat.  Then, they run to the pool and swim for about 10, maybe 15, minutes before the lifeguard blows his whistle signaling that the pool is now closed.  CLOSED at 5:30pm.  CLOSED at 5:30 instead of the 7pm that they close during weekdays. 

I was so bummed.  Felt like a total failure.  I cried.  I was embarrassed!  I was angry.  I felt so sad for my little Roundabout.  Her birthday party began and ended in a matter of minutes.  So, we opened presents and cut the cake that I worked long hours on making that morning.  And we were cleaned up and gone before an hour was even over. 

I came home and cried while she played on the slip n' slide with a friend and her brothers.  She was sad, but was so understanding about it.  I'm pretty sure this one will go down in history in both of our books.  As for me, I will check schedules ahead of time from now on.

the first day of Second Grade.

It's been drama around these parts over the past few weeks.  There have been many tears shed over the decision of whether to return to public school or go back to homeschool.  Prayers were said.  Priesthood blessings given.  Pros/cons lists made.  Decisions made.  And then unmade.  And made again.  Over and over.

But finally, she decided to give it a try.  She knew she'd "miss momma", but being with friends seemed worth the risk.  The morning arrived today and the girl who slept in curlers for the first day of school woke up even before her alarm.  Cream of Rice was requested for breakfast.  Hair done.  Bed made.  Teeth brushed.  And she was off.  She didn't even cry...though she almost did.  I got all mine out last night.

She makes for a super cute 2nd grader!  Her daddy walked her in and as she skipped happily along, her tummy sunk and she remembered "missing momma" but went on anyway.

 
I snuck in to eat lunch with her and found her full of grins and smiles, happily talking to her friends.

 As the bus dropped her off and she skipped down the hill, I asked her how the day went and her reply, "I didn't even think about you mom."  Nice.  Thanks.  A little while later, she quietly came to me and asked if it would be okay if she kept a family picture in her pencil box; didn't miss anyone, huh?  :)

Giving me a heart attack.

Aunt Tiffany really wanted to hike up to Timpanogos cave, but since we had some little ones along we decided to picnic along Bridal Veil falls instead.  Such a beautiful place in a beautiful canyon!  Bridal Veil falls was one of the places where the doctor and I had engagement pictures taken.  It's so gorgeous and being there made me nostalgic for Utah again.

We picnicked and then strolled along with the kids to the bottom of the falls.  The kids took off their shoes and were wading in the water when Grandpa came over and offered to take one child up the falls.  Of course, you can't just take one when there's five who really want to go!  Before I knew it, there I was watching two of my children climb up a mountain through these slippery rocks in freezing, flowing water.  It was exciting at first because I knew how excited they were to go up with Grandpa.  Straight Arrow joined them in his flip flops to help herd the children up the way.

Within a few minutes, the trail and bridge below the falls were lined with strangers watching intently at these crazy people climbing straight up the middle of the falls.  The tension mounted more and more as they climbed and slipped and climbed and slipped. 

After what seemed like forever of watching my two little ones in peril, I called Straight Arrow up on the mountain and begged for them to come back down!  The kids took a vote and every kid wanted to come down except Green Light.  Luckily, Aunt Tiffany ran up the mountain and helped bring the kids down one by one. 

Reunion with old friends.

Back in Baity Hill, we had some of the best friends of a lifetime.  We had so much fun with the Manwarings, we traded babysitting every week, and we set up arranged marriages for our two eldest children.  :)  They moved to Utah before we were finished with school, but we've managed to keep in touch.  And whenever we visit Utah, we have to spend a little time together.  So thankful for great friendships!

7 years.

It's so cliche, but I can hardly believe I have a seven year old child.  I can vividly remember the events of the day leading up to the night that she was born.  It seems like just yesterday that a whirlwind of chaos ensued and an emergency cesarean was performed to save this child's life.  She was born into the world, perhaps unready to face it as she cried every waking moment for weeks.  Our lives changed that day, but each day we have with her, the blessings of having her just become more and more plentiful. 

She is truly a wonderful individual.  She strives within herself to be the very best that she can be.  She sees in black and white, with no gray in between.  Obedient to her parents, her teachers, her beliefs, and most importantly, her Father in Heaven.  A born leader, she is a shining example to all she comes in contact with.  She is a reader, a swimmer, and a gymnast.  She loves to ride her bike, but only while wearing a dress or skirt. 

Seen by two little boys as a sister, she is loving and nurturing.  She is their role model and they want to be just like her.  She plays their games and they play hers.  She helps feed them, dress them, potty them, and even parent them at times.  She holds their small hands as we cross the street and kisses them goodnight each and every night.  She reads them bedtime stories and helps them write love notes to their grateful parents.

As a daughter, she wants to do everything right.  Disciplining her is a fragile subject as it only takes a look to crush her little soul.  She is attached at the hip to her mother and separation is sometimes a traumatic event.  She loves to be cuddled in bed and still loves a good bedtime chapter to be read to her.  She is grateful for all that she is given and regularly thanks us for the service and gifts she receives. 

Each child comes to earth with their own personality and are so different, but I am so grateful for this one.  I make it my goal to tell her each and every day how lucky I am to be her mother, to be able to keep her forever.  Miss Roundabout, I love you and Happy Birthday sweetie!