Muffins For Moms with J

The second graders at our school put on a program for dads earlier in the school year and one for moms near Mothers' Day.  After the little singing program, we get to go to their classroom for muffins and play some math games together.

Jossy was super nervous for the program but refused to tell me why.  I figured she probably had a speaking part, and I guessed right.  She wanted to surprise me though so she kept it a secret.  The kids all wrote notes to their moms, and a few were chosen to share their note during the program.  She said, "Mom, remember the times that we went out and had donuts or cupcakes? I love spending time with you."  It always amazes me that she has the guts to stand in front of a big group for anything because she was such a shy toddler she refused to even walk two lawns away from our backyard to play with Matty unless someone would walk over with her.

I totally had to hold back the ugly cry as they sang some of their songs.  I know how fast they grow, and just listening to these sweet little voices who currently think their moms are nothing but awesome just gets me right in the heart.  I thought it was just my hormones messing with me, but Jossy told me after how many moms were crying.  I had good company apparently.

Lacey's Garden Time

For Lacey's preschool, we went on a field trip one week to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival.  I let her control the camera most of the time so she could take whatever pictures she wanted.  I thought I'd print her pictures out and put them in a little photo album for her or something.  Yeah, that's probably never going to happen.  She took a zillion.  But here's a few of hers and mine together.

Paper Clips and Planes

Matty worked super hard on his science fair project this year (which was testing the best location for a paper clip on an airplane.)  The work started at the beginning of the school year and was finally due in January.  But even once everything was over, he couldn't let go of the display board he made.  So it sat in his room for months before I was finally able to convince him to dispose of it.  He wanted a picture with it first, and his sisters can't stand being left out. 

Child's Best Friend

Cedar turned 1 in April.  We'd been waiting for the occasion, hoping for some miracle change in her.  Didn't really happen.  She's only slightly mellowed over the last year and is still SUPER crazy, uncontrollably hyper when visitors come over.  

BUT . . .

. . . sometimes I catch moments like this, where she's actually being a chill dog, laying next to Alice while she's watching TV.  We don't see this behavior very often, so I cherish it.

Lacey Turns 5!

 I thought it would be fun after making a cake with Matty to let my kids help make their own birthday cakes. 

I was wrong.  

Lacey was the last kid who got to "help" with hers.  It takes forever and rarely do we have that kind of time to spend on one cake that gets eaten in 5 minutes time.  

Oh what to say about this girl!  Honestly, she's driving me NUTS right now!  4 and 5 were the worst ages with Jossy and I thought it was just her personality, surely the other girls couldn't possibly be as hard as she was.  Again, I was wrong.  Lacey is pretty darn stubborn herself, throws tantrums like a gold medalist, and often drives her siblings crazy.  We're all just breathing to get through this stage, and I frequently remind  myself, "If Jossy can get over it and turn sweet, surely the real Lacey will come back to us, too!"

But to not be entirely negative, there are a million things to love about her!  She's the sweetest girl to our neighbors and friends, always offering her help weeding or doing anything for them.  She loves to have friends to play with.  She likes to "babysit" Alice for me if I take a nap and can be really helpful around the house when she wants to be.  She changes her clothes at least 3 times a day right now because she loves everything in her drawer too much to only pick one outfit for the day.  Lacey has her own sense of fashion and nothing I say will ever change her mind about what she wants to wear.  She is so friendly to new people, as opposed to her more shy sisters, and quickly makes friends.  She constantly gives hugs and kisses, especially to my baby belly right now.  She can't wait to have baby brother join us and even cried one day when I went to the temple and told Grandma who was babysitting, "I just miss baby brother so much!"   She can read a few words but I think once she really picks it up in Kindergarten this year, she's going to take off.

The Caboose

I posted this picture on Facebook as our announcement back in Spring.  

This is most definitely the caboose to our family! 

Extras for Studio C!

Matty and I got to be extras for one of his favorite shows, a BYU sketch comedy called Studio C.  He was SUPER excited!  We had a fun afternoon together and enjoyed seeing the process of filming.  Lots of takes and down time were involved.  The sketch doesn't air til this Fall.  We took this picture afterwards with a couple cast members and Matty got Matt's autograph which made his entire year.

(Can I confess something silly?  I posted this picture on FB right after we took it, but not before I totally Photoshopped my tummy to be flat!  At this point I was definitely showing a little belly with baby #5 but no one really noticed but me.  Being a little self-conscious thinking people would just think I was gaining weight, I took out any question!  Ha ha!!)    

Eleven!

I started this blog when this boy was two.  Just TWO!!  In April he turned the ripe old age of eleven. 

 It blows my mind how fast he's growing up.  Just 7 more years in the house.  :(  

Matty made all the paper figures for his cake.   I wasn't talented enough with fondant to do what he could with paper.

Matty loves to create.  Legos, stop-motion videos, origami, k'nex, comic strips, you name it.  He especially loves to draw, and his preferred medium is pencil or colored pencil.  He's very smart and does well in school, but not without a little (or a lot of) pestering from me to do his homework.  He's kind to others and concerned about their feelings.  He gives his sisters piggy-back rides and lets them play with his stuff more than my big brother ever did.  He especially dotes on Alice.  He adores her and thinks she's the cutest.  He's super excited to have a brother in a few months.  Even though they'll be 11.5 years apart, I can't wait to see their relationship grow over the years.  Matty is respectful of adults and in general does a really good job obeying and trying to do what's right.  I appreciate having him as the oldest so much! 

Date with Flowers

Dan and I went to lunch one Saturday for a date and decided to go visit the Tulip Festival afterwards sans kids.  Really, it's just a chance to play around with my camera without worrying about whether or not my children are trying to climb in a fountain.

Unfortunately, we had less than an hour there before it started raining pretty good.  Here are just a few favorites.

If the Box Fits . . .

. . . sleep in it.

Rounding out Easter

After the big news was spilled (see last post), we headed out to the city "candy dash," formally known as an "egg hunt."  No eggs this time.  Just . . . candy . . . everywhere.

Lacey didn't want her picture with the bunny and bawled.

10 minutes later she changed her mind and we got to stand in line . . . again.

My girls love wearing matching dresses . . . for exactly 1 Sunday. Then never again do all 3 choose to match on the same day.

(My white balance was off in these pictures.  Forgive the error.)

The Easter Bunny and a Secret

They expected to find their Easter baskets.  

Little did they know the secrets they would learn from this basement . . .

 I had been plotting for weeks, trying to think of a way to tell the kids we were expecting.  When we told them with Alice, it was cursive writing on a cake that said "Mom's having a baby!"  But no one read cursive and even when we read it to them they didn't understand who "Mom" was so it took forever for them to get it.  I wanted to be more direct this time.  I decided to tell them while taking their pictures with their Easter baskets.  All eyes on me.  They aren't distracted.  Cameras are rolling.

So I said things like, "Say Cheese!  Say Happy Easter!"

Then I moved to "Say Mom's having a baby!  Say Mom's pregnant!  Say for real!"

No change in expressions.

They just kept smiling thinking I was joking.  

Then I pulled out the ultrasound photo to prove it.

At this point I was accused of using an old photo to trick them.

I told Matty to check out the date on the picture.

Things were starting to click a little.

Matty said, "It looks like a frog."  I said, "Well then we're having a frog! Whatever!  That's a baby in my tummy!"

His first response once he realized the truth was of course, "I hope it's a boy."

While the girls said, "Can we eat our candy now???"

Dippin' n' Dyin'

My kids ask for this activity all year long.  It's a highly anticipated event in this house!