The Lone Star State 2012

July seems to have become our month to visit Texas!  Because of lots of other Summer happenings (specifically Daphne's show) we have had to wait until late July to visit.  

We loaded all three munchkins into the van, packed LOTS of food, blankets and dvds and drove for 19 hours straight to Texas.  That's a pretty impressive amount of time since it's actually a 21 hour drive and we went 1400 miles with 3 kids.  But when Matt gets going, it's hard to stop him.  He just wants to be done!  A lot of people ask us how we accomplish this, so here are our secrets:

1.Our biggest trick is leaving near bed time.  The kids are excited but exhausted, so they are awake the first hour or so and then sleep for a good 8 hours or so of the trip and Voila!  You got through 8 hours of the road trip without a single sibling argument.  Genius!  See-  they are all in their jammies!

2.  Matt is a night owl.  I used to tell people that Matt is a night owl and I am a morning person, so he would take the late hours and the wee hours and then I would take a shift driving from 5 am for a few hours to let him rest.  But... we discovered a couple of things that switched us over to Matt being the only driver:  

a. I'm really not a very good driver. 

b.  I am much better at handling the children's sibling issues and snack needs and entertainment options in a tiny space. 

c.  He prefers driving, and I prefer taking care of the kids.  Maybe that makes us like some super crazy antiquated  50's retro family, but we are happy this way, so who are you to judge?!  Ha!

Ok... what was I talking about? 

Oh, yeah-  tricks of the trade.  

3. Have a dvd player in your car and bring lots of fun, quiet activities.  I always buy them each a new coloring/activity/sticker book that they have never seen, so it keeps them occupied for a good chunk of time.     

4. Make the most of your stops.  We pack a lunch and stop for breakfast.  So... we drive all night and when they wake up we stop and eat breakfast and go to the bathroom.  I usually have them go before we eat and try to go after we eat.  Then we have a mini-olympics outside the McDonald's.  They run races, do Jumping Jacks, stretches, etc...  Then we jump in the van and try to drive as long as possible without stopping.  

5. The last 2 hours are the worst, so try to avoid arriving in Dallas right in the middle of Rush Hour, like we always seem to do.  Oh wait, it's always rush hour in Dallas, never mind- traffic is unavoidable there.  :)

6.  Matt takes a nap before we head out.  It is usually only a 2 hour nap or so (although I wish it were longer) but it's enough for him to take the edge off. 

7. And last but not least, Driving straight through is not for the faint of heart.  Only do it if you really want to and you think your kids can take it.  We always remind ourselves that the kids might not be able to make it, so we keep in mind the idea that we may need to find a Motel 6.

There.  Now I have answered all my FAQs about why the heck we do that.  And, looking back, it still seems pretty crazy, but we do it!

We celebrated Daphne's Birthday in Texas this year!  (Again!)  We had so much fun with cousins and GiGI and Grandpa Sisco!

Here is the fantastic cake hat my Mom made for her:

Isn't it cute?  She loved it!

Special thanks to my fabulous sister Shelli for once again hosting a birthday for one of my children!  

She got lots of cute gifts, like these darling headbands from Mema Martin (my grandmother):

And make up!

And Aunt Shelli gave her these fantastic costume headbands-  all the girls are trying them on to model:

Samantha, Jillian, Daphne and Tori-  These girls had so much fun playing together this week.  It was so great for them to see each other again!

I had to make time to hand out with The Force!  We four girls have been friends since 1994 or 5 or something crazy like that.  (How are we that old?!)  We sat and visited for hours and chatted and chatted while our children ran around Carole's house like crazy people.  (Thanks, Carole!)

You think I am exaggerating?   This is what our girls did to poor Charlotte's room while we were talking:

For the rest of the week, we pretty much just went out to Shelli's pool and swam :

and swam:

and swam:

....and swam!  

My kids are such little fish now!  Matt is such a great Dad-  he kept pushing them and pushing them to swim longer and better and harder.  By the end of the week they were doing fabulous dives and swimming under water the entire length of the pool (no breaths!)  I was so proud of them!

We also spent a lot of time playing and cuddling with cousins!  Tori and Jillian:

Just before we left, Mom and Shelli and I took a trip to get pedicures together-  it was a fun girls day!

We were all very sad when it was time to go home.  Once again, we began our journey at bedtime and the kids were worn out and emotional from having to leave their beloved GiGi and Fishers.  We all shared a prayer together and jumped into the van to hit the road!   We love y'all so very much and are so thankful for your support and love.  Bye, Texas!  See you next year!

It's Great to be Eight!

It’s Great to Be Eight! 

My precious Daffodil is Eight years old!  It’s so hard to believe it has been eight years since our little blueberry came shooting into our lives.  She is honestly the most amazing, determined, intelligent, insightful and wonderful girl.  I wish you all could know her personally.  What a joy to be her mother.  One of Daphne’s most notable strengths is her strong will, her ability to lead.  She is a natural leader and we see that every day.  Being a big sister comes naturally, especially the bossy parts.  But what has thrilled me beyond understanding is how this past year has brought such growth in her as a big sister.  She has learned not just to direct Victoria, but to teach her.  Not just to command her, but to persuade her.  She has learned to not just play, but to nurture, and perhaps thesweetest sigh tof all has been to see Daphne find joy in Tori’s accomplishments, to encourage and praise her sister and find genuine happiness in her successes.  What a sister you are, my sweet Daphne! We are so very, very happy you are part of our family.

We have begun a system of allowing our children to have a “Friend Party” every other year.   Many reasons for this decision:  Firstly, friend parties are expensive.  Secondly, My kids have too much stuff.  I realize that I could have a party and ask people to not bring gifts, but I feel like that would be even less fair and difficult to explain to my children.  Thirdly, I feel that we do a pretty great job of making our kids birthdays really special, and it just isn’t necessary.   At first this seemed like a great idea, and in most ways it still is.  It should have occurred to me, however,   that they are all three having their Friend Party on the same year.   Which mostly just makes every other year really expensive.  And yes, I realize that I am breaking the unspoken rule of mentioning the cost of your child’s birthday party.  I do realize that there is some surreal blog world where we are supposed to throw perfectly themed parties with perfect cake and clothes and perfectly behaved children and never mention the hundreds of dollars it costs.  I suppose on some level, we think, “Well, it’s her birthday, she shouldn’t worry about the cost.”  But, as many of you know, Matt and I are cheapskates.  We try to be the nicest and most generous cheapskates possible, but we are not big on unnecessary expense.  And birthday parties are full of a lot of that.  But, can I make my child feel special on his/her birthday without inviting sixteen 7 year olds over and have matching napkins and matching toenails and matching cake and matching forks?  Yes, yes I can.  And we feel that by allowing our children to understand that you can celebrate your birthday without splurging, maybe we are teaching them a valuable lesson.  Maybe we are teaching them that they are only important every other year, who knows?  We’ll see how long this system lasts!

So… wow, that was a really long segway into this discussion.  All that said, Daphne chose to have a special outing instead of a friend party.  We let her choose one friend to invite, and we all went to Cherry Hill for the day!  It was So. Much. Fun.  This coming from a  woman who hates water parks and frankly is terrified to put my head under the water.  Our children could not stop smiling.  Tori kept running around saying, “This is the best. Day. Ever!”  Daphne and her BFF Allison could not stop giggling and laughing.  They were having so much fun.   

But of course, this outing took place during the two days that I had a new phone that I hated, and when we exchanged it for another one I forgot that all my pictures from Cherry Hill were on the stupid phone.  

But-  We did celebrate Daphne's Birthday with Matt's family AND my family!  (Stay tuned for the pics with my family on my Texas post).  Here are a few pictures of her family birthday celebration: 

We love you, Daphne Faith!  We are so grateful for your vibrant spirit, your clever mind and your giving heart!  Happy Birthday!

The Empress Bride!

Last Summer, we discovered the most fantastic summer activity for our little Drama Queen:  Harmony Music Camp!  Daphne's BFF Allison told us about it, and last year they got to be Sea Monsters! 

After last year’s production of Pirates of the Carob Bean, Daphne was excited to start music camp again this  Summer.  We almost talked Isaac into participating as well, but he wasn’t interested in going without a friend.  I cannot speak highly enough of this Music Camp and the director!  I seen tremendous growth in Daphne’s confidence with performance and singing in general.   Recently, we were fumbling around the house together and were singing A Child’s Prayer.  After singing it through once, Daphne asked if she could sing it with me in Sacrament Meeting!!    Ummm… yes,please!  Singing with her was one of the sweetest experiences in my life as a Mom!  And I have to be honest, she is AWESOME!  Her pitch and tone are so honey sweet and I love, love, love to hear her sing.  When I took her to the audition for Music Camp this year, I listened to lots of other kids give it a try and have some issues with notes, pitch, volume, whatever.  My heart was thudding as I watched Daphne walk up to sing her little song for the director (in front of all the other 120 children, I might add).  And you know what?  She NAILED it!  And even better than that?  She looked at me with the biggest grin, like, “I did it!”My heart almost burst with pride.  There is something so magnificent at watching your child FEEL successful!  Not necessarily even being better than the others, but doing their very best and conquering their nerves.  Such a joy.  I didn’t know how great it would be.  I know her gifts are from God… but I’m sure proud to be her Mom!  Ridiculously enough, I’m crying as I type this.  (That may have something to do with the fact that I haven’t seen my children in 7 days.)  This year, the show was called, "The Empress Bride".  The director is rather clever; it's  a parody of The Princess Bride with a little bit of Star Wars thrown in.  All the elementary aged girls were cast in the Chorus as Cleopatra's Classy Slave Girls!And you know what?  She got a solo! 

 

Believe it or not, I did her hair and make-up myself. It's possible that we went a little overboard with the jewelry and make-up, but it was so fun!  I think she looks adorable!  Her hairstyle was perfect!  At least, that's how I felt the first night we did it.  It took about 45 minutes.  I braided the top layer in tiny braids "a la  Liz Taylor's Cleopatra", but of course, she didn't have crazy weird bangs.  Or black hair. Then I flat ironed the bottom layer to make the braids more prominent. For performance number two I was still rather smitten with my clever hairstyle.  Days three and four, I was starting to wonder who had the idea to do such an elaborate do anyway?

Look at that gorgeous stage smile!

Here she is getting ready to do her solo:

During part of the show they are supposed to hide underneath the stairs.  Daphne is supposed to be the last on in so that she can come out first for her part.  This girl was trying to go in last and Daphne was arguing with her and finally shoved her to get her to go in first! Ha!  Do you think she might be my daughter?

I love this one... the performances were late in the evening so as to avoid the hot sun.  Daph would get pretty tired by the end.  I'd look over occasionally and see her yawn or look droopy eyed.  If she saw us watching, she would flash her stage smile really big and turn it all on again!  Made me laugh every time.

Anyhoo, she was a doll!  We went every single night and screamed like giant fools and tried not to cry.  (well, I’m the only one who was in danger of crying)  I’m such a drama queen!  

Until next year, Music Camp!

Silly Putty Summer Fun!

It's HOT around here lately!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining-  Some Like It Hot and I am one of them.  But.... the kids aren't playing outside as much because of the 100+ temps.  (Their poor little Utah acclimated bodies can't take it)  Due to all the heat exhaustion, we are making fun indoors!  

So far this morning,: we made oatmeal, made jewelry, did makeovers and.... tried a new Silly Putty recipe!  

 I make Silly Putty at school all the time, but it is a pain in the neck and very tempermental... I end up throwing out a batch or two every time I make some.  Sigh.  So when I found this recipe, I had to give it a try!

 (For the record, Daphne is in a show where she plays an Egyptian and is wearing a lot of her get-up in these pics.  Just so you know I don't consider this normal attire for an almost 8 year-old!)

 This recipe was Super Easy to make and the kids were able to help!  (I never could have let them help make my other recipe... it's tricky)  

 Unfortunately, it's not as STRETCHY as my other recipe, but the kids don't mind!  They are still in the kitchen pretending to be making Sushi with it.  We even pulled Isaac's nose out of his Percy Jackson book to come play a bit.  (Yes-  I said Isaac!  I could just scream I'm so thrilled with how much he loves reading now!)

Hope you are having a fun Summer Day!

July Forty 2012

According to Victoria, yesterday was July 40.   "When are we going to July?" , she asked all week.  Finally, the day arrived!        I love the Fourth of July.  I think it might be my favorite holiday.  Partly because of the heat and partly because, well, let me tell you about our day and you'll see!

Breakfast!  We are in the midst of a bit of a struggle to help Isaac gain weight, so we thought we would make breakfast a big deal.  I wanted something Red, White and Blue and he needed something fattening. 

 So... homemade whipped cream with homemade strawberry sauce and blueberries!  I emphasize the homemade of these items because the pancakes are Bisquick.  (I can't do everything, I tell you!)  I kinda think my homemade wheat ones might have more calories, but who knows?

 After breakfast, it was a mad dash to get ready in time for the parade.  Thankfully, last year my friend Tiffany tipped me off to the idea of saving seats the day before. Matt and I weren't sure about it at first.  But after trying it last year and this year, I can tell you that everyone who has a seat right behind the yellow tape saved a spot the day before. There is no way to come the day of and get a good seat.  So, at midnight, I hauled our blanket and chairs out to find a spot.  All the shade was taken, but we found a nice grassy place anyway! 

 It was definitely good to go the night before because breakfast took so long that we barely arrived before the start time.  Matt dropped us off as close as possible and parked several blocks away. 

 The night before, we had cousins Abbie, Lydia and Savannah over and we painted our fingernails and toenails red, white and blue!  The girls loved it!

 I'll have to be more careful next time because I found blue nail polish on my carpet the next morning.  :(  But we sure looked cute!

 Waiting for the parade to reach our spot!

Here's my favorite part of the Independence Day Parade:  Whenever an American Flag goes by, we stand up and put our hands over our hearts.  It doesn't matter it is "THE" flag for the parade or if it is attached to the back of a motorcycle, that is what we do.  And you know what?  My eyes water thinking of this country.  Thinking of those who have given their lives so that we have the freedom to speak our minds, worship as we choose, go to a parade.  I saw floats representing multiple different churches and I love it.  I love that they can all ride in the parade with pride, with the freedom to share their beliefs and to worship as they please.  We live in the Promised Land.  

 The past week has been full of political drama, controversial Supreme Court Decisions and much frustration between Americans with opinions on how to best govern this free land.  But I'll share with you this quote:

"On other days of the year, we may be party men, indulging in controversies more or less important to the common good. We may have likes and dislikes, and we may maintain our political differences, often with warm and sometimes with angry feelings. But today we are Americans all; nothing but Americans.” - Daniel Webster, 1851"

 By the time the parade was over and we had walked the 25 million blocks to our van, we were all very hot and very sweaty!  We settled in and took a rest before we started our next adventure of the day.  I'm relatively new to Pinterest and have been pretty excited by a lot of the cool ideas I have seen.  One was a 4th of July Science experiment/punch!  Basically, you use three drinks, one red, one white and one blue and the drinks layer in order of sugar content.  Here's the link where I got the idea:  Patriotic Mocktail.  Well... turns out it wasn't as easy as it looked.  Here are a few of the failed attempts:

 After my first two failed attempts, I persuaded Matt to come help me, and... finally, on our FIFTH try...

 VOILA!  Success.  The red layer was a little small because the top two push it down.  So... here are the tips I have to offer if you try this:

 Once we mastered the technique, we packed up all our mountains of Fireworks (wish I had a pic) and tried it at Raegan's house with all the cousins.  Special thanks to Raegan for letting me soak her counter with blue gatorade in the name of fun and science!  

  So... here are the tips I have to offer if you try this:

Use more Hawaiian Punch than the others. 

Fill the cup all the way to the top with ice before you begin.

Pour in your Red Hawaiian Punch.

Now, I had to add blue food coloring to the gatorade to get it to stay blue and not create a purple.  Then we very slowly poured the gatorade onto an ice cube.  Make sure that you pour onto the ice cube and not onto the liquid or they will swirl together.  Then, very slowly pour the Diet 7 Up onto an ice cube and voila!

 I actually put a little too much blue food coloring in at Raegan's , so their is a dark purpley blue.  Plus, they wrote their names with blue marker, which is showing through.  Here's Corbin:

 Zach- A -Muffin:

 And Luke: 

 Raegan's little girl, Penny, has inherited the 4th of July shirt that Tori wore a few years ago.  Remember when I bought cute shirts for all three girls to wear and never got a picture of us together?  Well, I do.  It's hard to believe it was two whole years ago that my baby was 2!  (That was a rough day at the parade for us.)

Well, Penelope is the two year old now, and she was so excited!  She ran around saying, "Us Match!!"   Too cute.  And sweet little Miss Savannah wanted to be in the picture too!  I'm impressed we got all of us smiling.

 I actually got Matt to wait for two seconds before starting his fireworks extravaganza to take a picture with me.  I keep trying to get one where you can't tell how deformed my eye is, and I kinda did:

 Don't ask me where my lips are, though.  I have no idea!  :(   

Tori and Abbie getting ready for the fireworks to begin!

 Ummmm, oh, yeah.  So, fire works are kind of a big deal in our family.  Like, the 4th of July is Matt's favorite holiday.  And he spends at least two hours taking apart all the hundreds of fire works he purchased in order to rig them up to be more explosive.  Yeah, like that kind of big deal.  Raegan's husband, David, is quite the Fireworks lover as well.  In fact, he is one of eight brothers and one of their family traditions is to make ginger bread houses every year at Christmas and then they get together on New Year's Eve to blow them up!  Pretty awesome.  Even Jude, the mature one, got in on the festivities this year.  He stopped to pick up a package of fireworks for Matt because clearly, we did not have enough.  

 The guys were awesome this year!  They were really sweet to let each of the kid decorate, excuse me, "outfit" a tank to explode later.  We have tank battles.  It's pretty awesome.

 Sparklers!!

 Tori got to have her first experience with Sparklers ( I think?) this year.  At first she was really tentative:

 Daffodil:

 But after they lit it, her cousins (and siblings)  started shouting, "Now run around!"

 So she started running...

 And spinning in circles until she got dizzy and bumped into the van, causing a spark to fall onto her arm and shock the heck out of her!  Poor baby!

 Once nightfall came, Matt and David started lighting up all the goods!  Here they are watching one of the aerial fire works brighten up the sky!

 Matt's Mom and Dad stopped by to watch the Amazing Fire Works show!  Look at those faces!

There is a lot of discussion about whether to go to a big City Fireworks show or whether to have you own show, with your own fire works at home.  Honestly, I am not a huge fan of fireworks.  At least I wasn't.  It's a little loud and kind of nerve-wracking to wonder if we are going to start a fire.  (We did start a teeny one right next to the fire hydrant.  I freaked out.)  But honestly, the reason I love fire works is because I love watching Matt love fireworks.  He is so happy.  No big city show can replace that kind of joy.  See for yourself:  

Did you see that smile?  Some people's husbands like snow mobiling, some like sports, whatever.  My husband likes to blow things up.  And we love to watch him!

Hope Y'all Had a Blessed Fourth!  God Bless the USA!!!