Our Family Project

This little girl (who is actually a big girl now) is still as precocious and entertaining as ever. As she was unloading the dishwasher today, she carried a cup in her mouth to put it away. When I told her the cup would need to be washed again because it was in her mouth, she made this face as though she was caught in a dastardly act. She definitely still keeps me on my toes. 

Just in case any of you wondered whether we love each other over here: Yes!  Yes, we do!

Today as I was sitting in the dining room helping children with their schoolwork, I heard this little voice say, "Mama, I'm going to make sandwiches for everyone." I walked into the kitchen to find my Maryanne standing on a stool, and using my HUGE cake decorating spreader to make herself a sandwich. The best was when she put the honey on the sandwich.  Check out that little smiley face she made on her bread!  It matches the smile on her face as she finished up her sandwich.  Man, she's growing up too quickly!

Tonight, Jon had just come downstairs from taking a shower after getting his hair cut.  He was sitting on the couch near me reading when this little four-year-old came downstairs with slightly damp hair.  I recalled that earlier she asked if she could take a bath and I told her that she would take a bath tomorrow.  It was apparent that she had decided to take matters into her own hands.  Here's what our conversation was like: Me: Looks like you decided to take a bath. M: Yep. Jon: Ah, that's where all my hot water went. M: No.  I had my own. Me: What Daddy means is that you used all the hot water so he didn't get any. M: Oh. (with a little smile on her face) Yep. Me: (to Jon) It's hard to be mad and that, right. Jon: (chuckles) M: (pointing at Jon) Yeah.  Try! Needless to say, we had a hard time being mad at all.  It was more like amused at her cute little personality.  So glad we have her around to tell us how things r...

Please excuse this very grainy, very ugly picture.  I decided that there are so many times when I am behind the camera, that I needed at least one picture of me with a child. Today I am grateful for my Miss Maryanne and her helpful attitude.  Sometimes she is not ready to be helpful, but for the most part, she does like to help.  At least, she likes to help me when I allow her to help me. On the particular day this photo was taken, the children were all being great cleaners.  We were working together going from room to room, and cleaning together.  Maryanne is always a little stubborn when it comes to cleaning, but she really wanted to help vacuum the school room.  So, I decided that was one chore she could do. She's such a cutey.  I'm so grateful that she wants to help me clean ... dishes and vacuuming are her specialties ... which I'm grateful for because those are the chores I really dislike!

I spent some time with my sister-in-law last Friday at a fabric store.  We were both there to look at the knits so we could make some clothing for our daughters for whom we have a hard time finding clothing.  The knits table was $2.99/yd!  I was shocked, but pleasantly surprised by this.  We found some great fabrics and because some of them weren't even a yard in length, I got them at a great price. After doing the shopping, I came home and on Sunday I got started sewing.  It was so lethargic to sew just for fun.  I didn't use a pattern for either M's shirt or her dress ... which pleased me immensely to know that I can figure things out on my own. The best part about sewing for Maryanne is how grateful she is for homemade clothing.  She is constantly telling me that either Nana or I made her something (even when we didn't).  She'll endure fittings and being measured, then twirl around and give me a great big hug when she gets to wear the finis...

My Maryanne sure knows how to melt my heart. While she has a lot of energy and is quite an intense little girl, she is also extremely sensitive and can express her feelings quite well. When she was just two-years-old, she would get mad about something, sit down and say, "I'm so angry!" I'm sure she didn't really know what that meant, but she understood to communicate how she was feeling.  Then, there was last week when she decided to cut her hair.  She was only able to reach the sides, so she had a long tail in the back.  While I was "fixing" it, she told me that she needed to cut her hair short so that it will grow down to her bottom.  I miss her long curly hair, but her short bob is equally as cute and really demonstrates her fiery nature.  I just wish she hadn't been so proactive about her hair cut.   A few weeks ago, all my older children were outside swimming in our little above ground pool while I was making Alfredo pasta for dinner. Mary...

I decided since I haven't posted about anything that we've done in the last few months, that I'd go back to Christmas time, at least for a little bit.  Eliza's and Kate's singing group, Shine Your Light Singers, sang at a church's Christmas Party in December.  Outside of the church, they had a small set up of a manger scene, with actors, and a small "petting zoo."  There were donkeys, and sheep, chicks, and bunnies. Poor, Adam stood by the pen for the bunnies waiting and waiting for his turn with a particular bunny.  Finally, when he was given the bunny, he was scratched and it startled him enough that the bunny needed to be put back down.  After that point, he waited and waited patiently for another turn, which he never got.  I was surprised by his persistence.  He stood there for easily 15 minutes waiting for another turn.  While, Andrew held a bunny for probably 8-10 minutes alone.  He sure got attached to that cute furry thing. Eli...

Our Christmas was so much fun.  In the past I've been ready well before Christmas, with present wrapped at the end of October.  Not so for this year.  I was shopping for presents the Saturday before Christmas.  And, after going out there in the masses ... I will not do that again next year!  Traditionally, our children have stocking stuffers and presents from us.  We don't do the Santa thing.  Just haven't ever wanted to.  Also traditionally, all of our children get similar items.  Most of the time it's because they all want what each other wants.  But, sometimes it's not the case.  This year, they all got lapdesks to use for school when we do our science or history in the living room.  (Of course, they each got their assigned color as well.) Traditionally, we all get toothbrushes in our stockings.  This year I got them all battery-powered toothbrushes.  I've never seen so many children get excited over a toothbru...

Last week we hit kind of a road block on Tuesday.  We were all being a little lazy, a little distracted, and a little unmotivated.  So, I packed everyone up and we went to the park!  Maryanne ran off and started playing, while everyone else was told that they needed to get their work finished before they could go play.  Somehow, it worked!  Eliza ran off to a pavilion to do her work in peace, and shortly after, Kate followed.  The boys and I stayed on our blanket and they each took their turn reading to me, then doing their math worksheets. When they were all finished, they ran over to the playground to play for a little bit.  Unfortunately, they didn't last very long.  It's still too hot here to go outside in the middle of the day (by this time, it was almost 12).  So, we packed everything up and headed out for the library ... a spot that has soon become a favorite for our family. In all, I felt that we didn't get much done, b...

Maryanne needed something to wear this week.  She has been having a hard time getting to the bathroom ... which leads to wearing three to four pairs of pants everyday.  On this particular day, she didn't have any "dry" or "clean" pants to wear.  After looking and looking for something ... yes, it was laundry day ... I decided to take on Dana's challenge .  I figured I could make her a skirt in a shorter amount of time than it would take to wash and dry her some pants. So, Maryanne sat on a chair in the sewing room in just her underwear for probably 30-40 minutes while I made her this skirt.  It took me longer than I thought because .... Da da duh! Shorts! I'd been holding onto an old t-shirt with the idea that I'd make Maryanne a cute dress out of it.  I decided after a while that I really didn't want to see Maryanne's underwear every time she put her knees up.  So, I cut into the t-shirt, used the hem of the shirt fo...

A few weeks ago, my Aunt Marilyn invited us to her house for a swim party to celebrate some of the birthdays in the family.  My children were ecstatic!  They can't get enough of the water. Maryanne must have known that I was not there to swim, but to take pictures.  She stood there and made faces for me.  Such a cutie! Eliza played and swam with Maryanne, while I couldn't get Andrew and Kate to stay away from the diving board.  They love it!  We haven't been able to do swim lessons this summer yet because we are galivanting all over the place during June, but come the middle of July we will be in swim lessons and my children cannot wait!  This was just a little splash to get their feet wet.

I know this is the second post of the day ... but my two little ones have been so funny ... and it's only 10 a.m. I'm sure today is going to shape up to be quite a hilarious day.  So, without further ado, here's what my little comedians have been saying today: MARYANNE I over heard her singing: " Nephites , we love you!  We love you, Nephites !" So, yeah.  I guess she really is listening while we read scriptures as a family ... even though she is usually running around and playing with toys. ADAM I asked him to try on part of Eliza's costume for her musical at school.  After I took it off he said: "That wasn't too bad.  I thought it would be a dress." It was a vest.  I clearly stated before he put it on that I needed him to try on her vest for me to make sure it wasn't too small (because the first one I made actually fit Maryanne, not Eliza). Note to self: Get a new dress/skirt model. Just thought I'd share my little chuc...

 Today we went outside to play for a while.  It probably wasn't the best time of day ... for us.  For all of our friends and family who are still in winter, it would have been the perfect time for you to go outside: right after lunch when the sun is high, and everything is nice and warm.  Here, in Arizona, it is not the worst  time of the day to go outside (especially not yet), but let's just say that even though it is only the beginning of April, it still isn't the best  time of day to outside. Regardless of how hot it quickly became, we had fun running around, throwing the ball at the cinderblock wall, spinning the tires on Andrew's bike as fast as we could, and just playing pretend.  After twenty minutes, we were definitely feeling the sun on our backs, warming us up just a little bit too much for comfort. Thank goodness popsicles are perfect in Arizona during the entire year!  There's nothing quite like a popsicle to cool you down on a ...