My baby is growing up

You can see more photos about this little monster here.

Not my current baby. My first baby.

Samuel reached two major milestones this week and I'm beginning to feel like Claire on the latest episode of Modern Family. Like I might just freak out after trying to contain the emotion. Well, actually, I'm not quite that dramatic.

Friday was his last day of Kindergarten, except for a single test this week. They had a little program with all 3 kindergarten classes. At first they danced a little square dance. The photos I took were very low quality so I won't share them. But just imagine Samuel dancing every movement with precision. Can you believe it? Mine and Tyler's child dancing knowing every dance move? That nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Then each kid (all 90 of them) stood in line and said a little something like, "I didn't know how to read before I was in Kindergarten, but now I do." That almost brought on tears as I thought about it. How much Samuel has progressed. He did not know how to read before kindergarten. He could not count to 100. He could spell his name but not very clearly. It's been so comforting to see how much he's learned. Though he's had some behavioral/social challenges, he's had a successful year. He will miss Mrs. Murray. He will miss his classmates. He will probably miss his little girlfriend. But I look forward to a fun filled summer with him and then a fresh start in the fall. He's scared of going to 1st grade because his buddies siblings have told him that it's hard but I am pretty sure he'll do just fine. Sigh, my first born is done with his first year of education. At least he held my hand after his T-ball game on Saturday while walking to the car. He initiated! That melted my heart!

The second milestone was losing his first tooth! He's had three loose teeth for a long while. About a year ago he bonked his knee and his front tooth became loose. He had another loose tooth on the bottom. But then yesterday he bit down into an apple and yelled, "Ow!" He had a third loose tooth.

So he jiggled it and tickled it with his tongue all day. It was just hanging by a thread. I told him we'd better get it out so he wouldn't swallow it in his sleep. Is that possible? I think I've heard of that happening. It scared him that he might so I reassured him it wouldn't. He wanted me to call a dentist to make sure. I told him the Dentists were closed but that I'd look it up on the internet.
But I was too scared to pull it out myself remembering how painful sometimes it was. So I let him sleep on it. The next morning it wasn't much looser but he wasn't eating breakfast and complained of it tickling and irritating him. So I got out the pliers and was ready for operation. And he was really brave too. The pliers didn't grip very well so Tyler suggested I just use a kleenex. That worked great! It came right out with no tears! And he was so gitty and proud!


After this great accomplishment I decided we needed a little something to put the tooth inside for the tooth fairy. I've seen these little pillows around the web and though it would be fun to make one. The way Samuel sleeps with pillows on all sides I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find the tooth.

So the tooth monster joined the family. The kids helped me whip it up before Samuel's T-ball game. Samuel was the head designer. He described what he wanted and we traced it out sewed it together. Fun times! And lucky for him the tooth fairy came in the night and left him $1.

I thought was a fair amount. He told me kids at school were getting $1. One of his cousins got $5 but I can't justify that much. Tyler thought $1 was too high. haha. But I told him I got like .25 to .50 cents when I was a kid and with inflation his should be increased to $1. How much did you get? Or how much do you give your kids?

Now, I expect the rest of his teeth will start following suit. And hopefully this summer will not be too painful, full of bickering and boredom. I have a lot planned and I am excited about it! I'll blog about it as soon as I make the final list of activities!

Mother's Day Brunch

It's okay if you think I look like a monkey. Because my family and I already know that truth. My mother looks beautiful, even in a handkerchief.

I love my mother and grandmothers. I love my mother-in-law too! It's so wonderful to be able to have such loving, supportive and helpful women in my life. I am proud to be their daughter. To show them my love I decided this year I would give them a special brunch. I wish my MIL and Tyler's grandma's could have been here too!

After I had seen this lovely brunch set-up on a favorite blog I realized that I could create a simplified version! My mom was already in town for the weekend to arrange flowers for my cousins wedding. It was perfectly timed. And I already live next door to my grandma, like across the driveway! Here is a photo from our adjoining yard. Sadly this lilac tree is no longer here. The roots weren't strong enough to handle my 6 year old monkey.

I quickly ran to Sunflower Market to buy some fresh fruit on Friday night. I asked my mom, who was quietly reading a novel, if she could watch my two oldest while I took the little one to the store. Sadly, though, I didn't think I'd be gone more than 40 minutes while the make-ahead manicotti was baking in the oven. My mom had no idea it was in there and in my haste I forgot to look at the time when I left so I didn't call her to check on it. Needless to say now we're stuck eating dried up crusty leftovers. Such is life.

So anyway, back to the brunch. I invited my mom and grandma over (sorry Aunt Claudia, I'm afraid we had while you were in Church. Jocelyn specifically asked for you!) along with Jocelyn. Cecily was sleeping.


I loved the citrus theme. It felt so summery. I gave up the idea of sleeping in and woke up and got to work. This day is a day I wished I had two ovens. I thought about using my grandma's but I didn't want to to spoil any my surprise!


The menu consisted of homemade quiche (and I made the shell this time!), orange rolls (Rhodes with zest and glaze added), poppy seed bread and citrus drop cookies.

We ate outside on my Grandma's patio. It was perfectly warm and we had a lovely and brief time chatting and eating. Two of my favorite things to do! And with some of my best friends!




All in all, my Mother's day was grand. After this brunch I managed to quickly (and not very motherly-like) get the children ready for Church. They were pretty well behaved. They both came home from Primary with two cute cards. The men served us ice cream too! That was fun and different. Then Tyler made dinner and cleaned up. He even mopped! You can hardly tell now but it was a much needed (and avoided) task by me! I've been reading a book called, I am a Mother and I am loving it. (Thanks Lori!) It's nice to hear a true perspective from a woman who, in some eyes, "had it all" with a very successful career in TV but gave it all up to be a mother. Honestly, some days are a struggle for me. I wonder why I chose this path. And some days I am NOT very good at it. But the few moments that my children give me hugs or write me love notes or say they don't want to go to an orphanage (gee, I wonder whey they would ever think of that??), makes up for the harder times. I think one day I will miss the crumbs underneath every kitchen chair, or the smudge marks on all the walls and surfaces. At least they are there. It means that none of us are perfect, and it's a good reminder that I have the blessing to be a mother.

April in review

Wow. April is over. What a busy month for us! Ready for a re-cap? Nothing dramatic or anything like that. Just very busy and eventful. Here's the journal log. Take a breath.....

Okay....Begin.

It started with General Conference. Wait no! It started with this! April fools! I drew mustache's on them in the night ;)


April 2nd & 3rd: Okay, back to Conference. What a fabulous time. I always feel renewed afterward. We stayed in P-town for the Saturday session and went to Mt P for Sunday. And I was so proud of my kiddos for sticking it through the morning sessions each day. We did not make them sit through the afternoon sessions....that would have been ineffective for everyone. But they were present which, at their age, I think is just right. During their viewing/listening sessions we played LDS bingo. It certainly had them listening!

Some of my favorite talks:
**Quentin L. Cook
** Dallin H. Oaks
**Lynn G. Robbins, He had me at "To be or not to be."

Sometime in the month of April our bunny rabbit, Otis, had quite the eventful time. First, he nearly got ran over by a car. Luckily, the driver stopped, pulled over and brought him home. It seems nearly impossible for a pet rabbit to be struck by a car, doesn't it? Well, the kids like to take him outside when they play. However, Jocelyn had forgotten that he can jump off slightly high spaces. So she left him on a play chair, came inside and forgot about him until the driver brought him home. Poor little bunny! He was so scared!! Luckily, his life was spared because he was in a photo shoot the next week! By one of my favorite photographers. If she posts some photos of him, I'll share them!

April 9th: Heidi's wedding.
Heidi married Dustin. Heidi is Tyler's sister. What a happy couple. I had the privilege of making their wedding video. I spent countless hours (you don't want to know how many hours it took us....Tyler helped in the end with the final edit/ technical stuff) looking at those two faces and I know that they are happy. (Steph, your copy will come in the mail once we have the wedding portion edited!) We had a great whirlwind weekend in Denver. Then the kids and I stayed for another week. Samuel was on spring break and Tyler had to head home to begin finals.

Jocelyn did not have the same fierce jealousy of the bride at this wedding like she did two years ago at Rose's wedding. But she did get a chance to hold the bouquet for a little bit.

Can you tell which is the cardboard cut-out? They had their sister Stephanie, who is currently serving a mission, in attendance. haha. She looked so real!

Heidi with the kids! Cecily's dress is from the Gap, Samuel's first suit was $10 on clearance at Macy's, and Jocelyn's dress is a women's skirt from Down East Outfitters that I turned into a dress! Luckily, our outfits were taken care of for Easter too!! Wahoo!

Tyler, his brother Troy and Samuel.

Troy took the rest of these photos for us. Thanks Troy!

April 15th: We drove back home to Utah and brought along my sister Jennie and her two boys Warren and Luke along for the ride. Actually, they came out for a bunch of other activities. Our car was full. 5 kids and 2 mom's. We were outnumbered....but we survived.

April 16th: My cousin David's wedding in SLC. Another lovely couple.

April 22nd: Carnival party for my niece Anna and nephew Warren in Mt Pleasant. You can see more photos and details here.


The best entertainment. A cardboard box. My nephew Owen sat in this box while we cleaned up forever! He just kept opening and closing the flap. Easily entertained.

Look at these pretty girls!

These two little guys are just months apart. Two of the three grand kids born in 2010 (Cecily is the 3rd at the beginning of the year). They sat here for a long time, just happily hanging out while set up.

Jennie making homemade corn dogs.

Some of the photo booth pictures. Cecily missed the mustache memo. Tyler wouldn't let me post the photo of our family because he's wearing a funny wig. He has to be "serious" now that he's on track for the professional world. haha.


April 23rd: Egg dying and hunting.

The oldest participants. Cecily was happy walking around shaking her filled eggs until she knocked them together and they cracked open she discovered they had candy inside!

Samuel and his loot. Each kid got 16 eggs (except Cecily, she got something like 6). Grant hid them all over the studio and it took them a good amount of time to find them!

Jennie and Warren.

I think it's hilarious that he wanted to sleep with his winnings.

Egg dying. We included Otis, see him? Jocelyn had a hard time eating that one.

Cecily's first time egg dying.

April 24: Easter Sunday.
We tried taking family photos the morning before Church, and actually succeeded. Well, just as I was going to gather our little families outfits (the same from Heidi's wedding) tragedy struck. I realized they were not in Mt Pleasant, but left on our bed in Provo!!! I was so mad!!! So much for coordinating! I ended up wearing one of my mom's dresses. Jocelyn wore the same dress she wore the day before. Cecily wore a dress that my mom had in her closet for another future granddaughter. Tyler brought his suit!! And Samuel.....well, the poor child. He had to wear jeans, with brown shoes and a long sleeved shirt and a sweater from my 16 year old brother's closet!! Oh my word!!! This will be one family picture that will not be on a Christmas card. In fact, we didn't even have a family photo taken because it was so painful to see our unfortunate twist of fate. Ah. But everyone else looked good and I love the one of my mom with her grandkids! And the weather was fun for photos too! And I can laugh about it now.



Love my sisters! (but not this picture...) Sadly, the two on the ends (Marci and Jennie) will both be living in Denver by August. Jennie already lives there but Alex and Marci and their children will be moving there soon. Fewer large family gatherings but one more reason to visit Colorado!


Easter dinner. Fabulous! My mom made her yummy funeral potatoes, in addition to ham and asparagus. Marci made these cute napkin bunnies for the kiddos.

Dessert--just simple sugar cookies. But these penny sized chicks are to die for. My mom used to buy us these mini chicks when we were little. But these are so small! And they come in the coolest colors now!

Then after Easter we went back to Provo. Tyler finished up some grading and Samuel some school. Then we turned back around and dropped them off in Green River, 2 1/2 hours away to meet his Dad en route to Lake Powell. Samuel and Tyler helped him paint the houseboat and were able to fit some fishing in. As I nearly drove off the side of the road from fatigue, I headed back to Mt Pleasant to stay with my parents while the boys played/worked at Lake P. I was able to get some work in, relaxed, attended my mom's 4th/5th/6th grade Shakespearean play, and ate waaaay too many mint, chocolate covered oreo's (better than thin mints!).

April 30th: St. George

Then we headed down to St George to visit Troy and Jana for the blessing of their newest addition, Trent. We also celebrated Tyler's birthday at Red Robin. mmmm, love that place! I won't go into details about his birthday because Tyler honestly does not like to celebrate them. So I try not to make a big deal because he doesn't care! Except the times that I want to celebrate his life. Ugh, big dilemma every year. And sort of ironic that I am in the birthday business.


Samuel made a new friend with Troy and Jana's nephew, Karter. Once they overcame their initial shyness they were best buds. Good times.


Notice how Samuel is absent from this photo. He was on a pancake protest. He claims he doesn't like them until he tries them (and they cannot have oatmeal or whole wheat in them...dang). Silly picky eater!


And this concludes our April!! Did you make it through? Tired just from reading? Yeah, me too. With General Conference, wedding, Easter and a blessing in there, I think we attended our homeward once the entire month. I am tired of traveling and party planning...for a while anyhow. It's good to be home :)

Do you Suffer?

Do any of you suffer like me?

Cecily's exceptionally unique bed head.

1--From bad hair days?
I am pretty lucky in that I have naturally curly hair. So basically that means I don't do it. Because I'm low maintenance like that. And I don't really know how to do my hair. Unluckily, for my daughters, they suffer too, or should I say, their hair does? I can barely do a french braid. So, to Tyler's chagrin, they look like homeless children.

2--Mice infestation.
It started late one night. When you finally settle into bed. Usually much later than your poor lonely husband. When the house is so quiet that you can hear every little rustle of every child's bed cover. Every car zooming up the road. Every mouse scuttering (that's not really a word) across the kitchen floor. Oh, wait. Eek! Or the very tiny chewing sounds. Ach! Yes, my friends, the evidence is just not in the little black terds that you find underneath the sink or in the pantry. They manifest themselves when you heave the 1 ton fridge out of it's corner and see it running for it's dear life. Tyler asked why I didn't just whack it with a broom. Are you kidding me ?!?! I was standing on my tippy-toes on a chair trying to avoid the tiny, furry thing. Yes, people, we have another family living with us.

3--Perfection syndrome.
I want to be perfect. What does this mean? Well, I want to have a clean home. I want to be slim. I want to have kind, well behaved children. I want to make well-balanced healthy meals every day. I want to be a loving spouse. I want to ready my scriptures every day. I want to make beautiful desserts and pass them out to friends. I want to blog, craft, sew, read, photograph and capture every moment. I want it all and more! But then I suffer trying to achieve it....all....at...once. That's the problem. I am not patient. I need to wait for each season and phase of life to teach me how to learn and grow and stretch. Yeah, I want to be perfect.

4--Killing plants.
See all these lovely flowers? It's the most we've ever had inside our home at once. Most of them I received from my birthday. The tulips are leftover from a law school spouse board (Law Partners) that I'm on. And the lovely little plants were gifts also. And somehow they've all died already. I didn't buy soil in time to plant them. I didn't know the best/most convenient place to find it. Bad excuse, I know. One day I'll have a green thumb, or maybe at least a gray one.


5--Too many hobbies.
I am interested in too many things. I never thought this would be possible. I always thought Tyler was the one with all the skills. Now, I feel, I've "caught up" with him. The problem with being interested in too many things at once is that something's gotta be put off or just plain suffer. And in my case, it's the housework and my children. Have you ever thought that "those creative types" always have a messy home or a life in disarray? Well, I used to...until it happened to me. I am one of those creative types, more than ever before. And my life....is also more "creative" than before. It's like a ping-pong match with myself.

"Create something, 1 point. Messy house, 1 point. Clean house, 1 point. Dang that skirt looks so fun to make, 1 point. Etc, etc. "

Something I'm trying to work on. One day I'll figure out the balance.

6--Blog Envy.
Do you ever feel like you're blog is not good enough? Not pretty enough? Your photographs not clear enough? Like everyone else has a seemingly perfect life? I do. Sometimes I really have to remind myself that a blog is deceiving. It's hard to know if someone has photoshopped an iron burn out of their carpet. Pushed all the clutter off their sewing table before photographing a re-purposed shirt. Or whose really behind the camera? They're not really wearing the pj's at noon still, are they? They can't be because they are perfect. Haha. Don't be fooled. I have. Oh, and by the way, those are not examples from my personal experience or anything, I mean, who does that?

7--Being poor.
There are a few good things about being poor. We qualify for government programs. We "get to" take out student loans. We can use the "We're poor college students" card. (haha). We get to move a lot which changes things up. We get to meet new people every time we move. And our kids adjust to change better. We have time to dream and plan for our future home :) But really, the main reason I've loved being poor, is that it's forced me to be creative. If I had money to spend, I would gladly do it, instead of creating it myself. But because I cannot I've had to think of inexpensive yet tasteful ways to beautify my home. I get to make and re-purpose clothing for my children. I get to develop talents I never knew I had. Seriously, this has been a huge blessing.


And how many of you suffer from having children that you want to eat because they are just too dang cute? Ya, I thought so :)

Birthday

So I turned 31 on Monday but really celebrated all weekend long which is the way I like to roll around here. Tyler isn't quite on board with that concept yet.

Friday started with the highlight of my whole celebration, my own birthday party. You can see more photos here on my other blog. But here are a few teasers and only a few of friends. I am so bugged at myself that I did not get a photo of each group of people from all the phases of my life. Family, Colorado peeps (though, they are all scattered everywhere but here), Murray ladies, Law partners, and a few scattered in from Wymount, Cherry lane and other times of life. Other than that, I have no regrets from the party. Well, okay, that isn't completely true. I also regret not being able to visit with each of my friends individually for longer. That's the challenge with having 30 guests. I could not have pulled it off successfully without the help of my family and friends who help with the last minute details. Everyone kept asking where Tyler and the kids were. I banned them from the house from 6-8 pm. He took them to Carl's Jr to eat and play at their indoor play center. Sweet! They were soooo tired when he brought them back.

Well, it was a girls only party but a few babies and one husband made an appearance. I forgave him though because he was taking his wife, my cousin, Micaela out on a date after!

Just two of my aunts that came. Sherri and Julie.

Some of my Law Partners. These gals are a riot.

Then the next morning Rose, Marci and my Mom and I went to IHOP for a free meal. Um.....I totally forgot that I had a B1G1 free breakfast at Mimi's Cafe and wished we would have eaten there instead. IHOP was pretty gross, even for being virtually free. Oh, well. It was fun to get out and visit while Tyler took the kids again.

Then that evening my mom was still in town so she stayed at home so Tyler and I could go on a real date. We went shopping to Victoria Secret for some non-nursing pieces. I love it when I get birthday gift cards from my favorite stores :) Then we saw The Adjustment Bureau. My choice. I love Matt Damon. Not only is he a great actor but he seems so down to earth. It was a pretty good flick. Then we went to Red Robin for my free birthday burger. I LOVE that place. Seriously, the best burgers around. And the best part of the evening. Tyler and I sitting at our little table until midnight!! They didn't even kick us out or give us dirty looks. We were there at the last of this guys section so we weren't losing them any money, I suppose. I felt like we were in a Parisian cafe again, just chatting it up for as long as we pleased. Bliss. Thanks Mom for watching them!

Then on Sunday we had a nice steak dinner and leftover cake and desserts. Too much, in fact. Like, I need to workout harder before my SIL's wedding in less than two weeks!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! My 30th year was fantastic and I look forward to another fabulous year!