Mia's preschool graduation

Oh Mia. I love you. You wouldn't wear your hat today. You wouldn't stand and sing for any of the songs. You wouldn't even sing them. Though I'm sure you knew them all. In fact you didn't even smile for a picture. Not one. But you did crack a smile when Zaden almost sat on you during the Monster song. I absolutely adore you! You have no idea how fun it is to watch you. It was the same way at your dance recital earlier this month. And we've heard that you are why people go to those recitals ;)

You've learned so much this year! You loved Ms Bren and your class. The snacks were one of the highlights. So were your friends. Faith and Josh especially. I loved hearing about what you were learning and show and tell for each letter of the alphabet was one of my favorites with you because we'd always come up with something even for the really tricky letters! You loved bringing Marshall (Paw Patrols) for the letter M. We talked about bringing Naomi for the letter N but thought she might not like hiding in your backpack during the rest of class. And I loved doing puzzles with you before school after your sisters had gone for the day. You are so much fun! And you have the best imagination ever! My favorite thing lately (since the villain Ayer Layer and Mr Nobody) all your invisible real babies. I always have an invisible puppy hanging onto my shoulder. Or a bird or alligator. I think you even gave me a shark once! You are so sweet to share them with all of us and you take such great care of them. You're sweet to share gummy with Dad when you don't sleep through the night, but since he's real and since you earned him I sure like it when you get to keep him at night. You're amazing! I could go on and on. But I'll just say that I love how much you're learning and growing and I'm excited for your new adventures in preschool next year!

Crazy May

May is always a little bit crazy as of late. And this year it started a little bit early. The girls music recital was at the end of April. They'd worked really hard all year in Miss Chrissy's class and had a lot to show for it! This year they were turtle shells and yellow arrows. They moved on from the bells (which was the focus of last year's classes) to keyboards and have been practicing the piano at home. Lydia picked up part of the My Little Pony theme song by ear and taught it to Sophie and they both love making up their own songs! I got to go to class with them the first Monday of each month while Mia and Naenae went to Sister Sorensens. A win for all of us! And I loved it. So fun to be in the middle of it all and knowing where to focus with the girls at home. Looking forward to next year already!

Lydia and Soph were amazing!

The girls had so much fun at Felicity Dance this year! And it was especially wonderful dropping them off in our backyard neighbors' studio. Sophie literally climbed the fence for a few of her lessons. And they adore Miss Alana! The recital was so much fun.
Lydia. Grinning from ear to ear and clearly enjoying herself. Loved her shoulder pops!
Sophie. Totally into it. Dancing in circles and so flexible! Biggest smile ever! Such confidence!
Mia. Totally the star of the show! Didn't do a dang thing. Just stood there. No potty dance this time though! Festival of Trees was one for the books this year! But she was so dang cute!

Sophie is six!

Sophie is totally a princess. And we love it. As always there's been plenty of build up to her birthday. Plans for her cake which was a panda bear, incidentally. The original hope was that it have stalks of celery sticking out of it with gummy bears climbing up them to make it more authentic and give her guests another option besides cake if they so desired. This lady is thoughtful for sure! She was so excited to go shopping with Grandma and Grandpa Frazier and did a great job keeping their trip a secret. And since her birthday was on a Sunday and a Frazier Sunday this year, we celebrated her at Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst's the week before with the other March birthdays. Maddie, Felix, Soren and Elora. Can't believe there are so many!

Starting Monday the girls went off track. And we talked about doing something special each day. Not necessarily with Sophie in mind but something we could all have fun doing together. We biked and ran at the park on Monday. On Tuesday we did a Fitness Blender with Kelli. On Wednesday Sophie woke up early and we made waffles together until her sisters joined us. She also got dolled up for her dance pictures too. Thursday was a field trip to Dibble Farms where they harvest popcorn. Apparently it's the only place in Utah that grows it. I had no idea! And Friday we had another field trip to J&J nursery for Mia's preschool too.

Saturday Sophie got to go to a friend's birthday party in the morning and walked away with a gift from that friend for her! She's got the sweetest friends. And later that day while Jon made her cake she got to watch 101 Dalmatians with her sisters while eating popcorn. And then the Fun Uncles (Tophe and Nate) came over for dinner and we caravanned to Chili's for a fancy meal. She wanted pasta and she got pasta! And pineapple juice. And a salad. She told her friend's mom that she has her mom's taste buds lol. Oh I love her! Her uncles are awesome and we all had the best time shoveling in chips and salsa (Lydia was STARVING) before our orders arrived. Naomi sat in a high chair and ate her banana puffs like a champ trying desperately to reach anything near her at the table. Mia wanted to drink all the flavored lemonades and made a dent in the mac n' cheese and corn on the cob she ordered. Drawing on her menu before the food arrived was her favorite! She beat me handily at tic-tac-toe. If you saw her boards you'd know I didn't stand a chance! So. Many. O's (I was X's). And then we went home so that Soph could open a gift from Uncle Tophe. Frisbee golf. So cute and so perfect for Sophie and her sisters. We opened it and tested it out. Mia loved stacking the frisbees and we'll be enjoying playing that all summer long.

Today has been awesome. We made it through breakfast in time for Sophie to open her gifts before Stake Conference. She opened Lydia's homemade book "The Sophie book #2" (last year she made her "The Sophie book"- the originial) and a Beanie book Lydia got to go with it. The book was so cute! And filled with activity ideas that Lyds knows Sophie loves. It rhymed in places and I thought it was so sweet. She ran over to Lydia and hugged her so tight!

Then she opened Mia's gift, another beanie boo. She grinned again and hugged Mia fiercely. I love her! And loved how sweet she was with her sisters.

We finished opening presents. A card and little figurine from Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst (one my Grandma Blackhurst had in her home that I loved looking at as a little girl), some clothes and a Bad kitty book from us as well as a mermaid journal with a lock that has reversible sequins on it! She LOVED that the second she saw it.

She made it through Stake Conference and even saw her friend Sadie on the stand with her mom who was singing in the choir. It was a wonderful meeting. Jon thought he recognized a mission companion he hadn't seen in years. Turns out he was right! It was fun to meet him and put a name and face to a crazy story Jon had told me years ago. Apparently at David Martini's wedding reception the pin in David's boutonniere poked Jon deep and he was pretty woozy. He sat down and the next thing he knew someone was saying "cancel the ambulance, he's waking up" So crazy! Anyway, after church Soph decorated the outside of her panda cake with Jon and made sure to do a pattern alternating between two gummy bears and two caramel m&ms. Mia was right in the thick of it. She knows what she's about. And if there are treats involved you better believe that that little girl will be present! We didn't have celery (Sophie actually decided to cancel those plans weeks ago) but Jon knows his girls and is all about making dreams come true so he pulled out some lettuce, wrapped it up, and stuck it by the panda with some frosting and attached a gummy bear like Sophie had imagined. And it was perfect.

Jon pulled out his tools to see how much she's grown in the past year. A solid two and a half inches! And then we played hungry hungry hippos as requested by the birthday girl. Naomi was totally into it. From a distance. It was so fun to see her watching everyone play. Dad always seemed to get the yellow marble. And Mia got more and more of them as the game went on. Definitely time well spent.

At Grandma and Grandpa Frazier's Sophie helped me make the salad. Grandma just got called as the Ward Relief Society President and was at a meeting when we got there so we were helping Grandpa. Soph was so patient all through dinner and afterward too. Uncle Isaac and Aunt Amber texted and asked if they could stop by to visit with Sophie and deliver a card. It was so fun chatting with them. And then Grandpa, Uncle Lance and Lydia left to visit Grandma Duse and walk her dog. Lydia was thrilled! But that meant more waiting for Soph. Which she did. Like a champ. When we were all back together Sophie finally got to open her presents. And she grinned the entire time! A reversible sequin backpack, jewelry kit and jelly shoes from Grandma and Grandpa! A jewelry holder for her earrings and necklaces from Aunt Stacy and Uncle Lance with musical note earrings included! And a recorder and music book from Aunt Cathy and Uncle Caleb! So much pink! And all bringing smiles to that little princess. There's no question she's loved by all of her family. My sisters sent in Marco Polos with Birthday wishes for her. She loved them all!

We talked about the day she was born at lunch. And tonight while writing an Instagram post I found myself crying. She and I struggle sometimes. I don't know if that's why I was crying. Pretty sure she knows I love her. But looking at pictures from the weekend and thinking about her growing up just brought on the tears. Gmail pops up with these then and now photos and those certainly don't help. I just want to remember her just like she was today. Beaming. And loving. And little but so grown up at the same time. She's sweet and sassy and independent too. I know she'd like to be more so if only I'd let her. But for now we'll just take it one day at a time!

Halloween 2017

So Halloween was a little bit different last year. The night before our very packed and exciting day Mia came down with pink eye.   I was not optimistic that the day was going to be a happy one for all involved, but tried to change my attitude. We have a friend in the ward who is an ophthalmologist (Brother Bowman) and he called Mia in a prescription after Jon sent him a picture of her goopy eyes. We started the drops that night (knowing that once she was on them for a day she'd no longer be contagious) and were reassured that if she stayed quarantined during the day she'd be fine to go trick or treating in the evening.   

Jon got to go see Lydia perform at school with the rest of the first grade in their Halloween concert. She did a great job! And being the sweet and considerate girl that she is, she took off her witch hat so that she wouldn't be blocking any of her classmates. Love her!

Sophie had a great time at her class party. Her teacher said she didn't need any help so we stayed away and enjoyed hearing about it later. Couldn't have gone with Mis'a pink eye anyway! And then she got to come with me to Lydia's. Jon was able to stay home with Mia so I could do what I needed to at school. Being the room mother I got to plan it and we had plenty of support from the other parents. One of the moms volunteered to do face paint but couldn't stay the whole time so I got to fill in for her while she was away. And I tried out my skills on Sophie first. I definitely could use some practice but the kids loved it and the party in general was a smashing success! Two classes and forty some odd kids. I love being in the classroom again! So glad that everything came together.

And the actual trick or treating was the best. As always. Trips to the grandparents to start the evening. Late afternoon, actually. Nothing terrifying happened at either grandparents. Which was a bit of a shock and rather unusual after previous years encounters. And Uncle Tophe offered to watch the house. So nice that we could all go out together! Mia kept saying, "This is fun!" after trick or treating at each house. Until she didn't.  And then she let us  know that we could go home at any time. But seriously, getting candy from neighbors?! Is there anything better than that?!! Soph refusing gloves and running ahead leading the way. Always our fearless leader! Pretty sure her hands felt like ice when I finally got to see how she was doing. Lydia hesitating at every single home. "Do they have a dog???" So. Slow. Going.  The dog fear was real. But the girls really like the Waters dog Granger. Liked, I should say. We asked TJ about Granger and if she'd been put in a room for the night so she wouldn't run out when trick or treaters came. And that's when we found out that poor Granger had passed away. Hopefully we didn't make things too awkward! And Lydia survived the rest of the night. Always hesitating at each door until she knew she wasn't going to be surprised by a barking dog. Mia saying, "daddy! Swedish fish are not sour!" Soph's cat Midnight joined us for the evening and Soph insisted on going to the Greens after each house. She kept riding her broom from house to house. Hat's flying off every ten feet. Bowman's checking in on Mia to see how she was doing. I love our neighbors and neighborhood! Such a fun night!

 And just because I can't resist. Let's talk about our pumpkin carving for a minute. Sophie's sweet Primary teachers (Brother and Sister Hayes) gutted pumpkins for her and her entire Primary class. Soph told me how she wanted the face to look and I went to work. I know I'm not a pro. Jon is. And he's had so much fun letting the girls choose which Halloween picture they want transferred onto their pumpkins. And they always look so professional! But this year we had an extra unaccounted for pumpkin that was gifted to us and I went to work on it. 

Basically it's a reject. A total reject. Poor guy wants to be part of the cool kids. But as you can see he's separated from the others by Sophie's broom. He's not sitting in front of any of our girls. Can we just talk about this for a minute? It would seem that everything I put my hand to turns to dust. Or just sadness. Jess tried to make me feel better by saying he's the cute goofy pumpkin friend. So sweet. 

I'm going to tell myself that...  But let's be honest, Jon and I just about died laughing at my goofy pumpkin reject next to his professionally carved masterpieces. And he didn't even get out all his cool carving tools for these beauties!

Lydia and her tender heart

 In early September of last year when Hurricane Harvey hit Lydia came home telling us that her teacher, Mrs. Eskelsen, was a hurricane survivor. The school had told the students about what was happening in Houston and Lydia told me, nearly in tears, as we walked home about a woman walking in muddy water with her dog on her shoulders. She said that the homes and the cars were full of water. She described images she'd seen of muddy water and the streets being full of it and people losing their homes because things were so bad.

The school was collecting stuffed animals for the kids who had lost so much in addition to collecting money so that they could raise funds for a particular school in Houston. Lydia wanted to be a part of it so much. She ran right upstairs when we got home with a Ziplock back, determined to fill it up with the coins in her piggy bank. She said she'd promised her teacher and that it was her money and that these poor kids needed it so badly. She found two stuffed animals she wanted to donate. And she couldn't stop her tears while she talked about it and how she needed to donate to both the BYU and Utah bins so that it would be fair. The school was making the donations a competition by letting the kids choose which school to donate to including Utah State. And seeing as we cheer for both the Y and the U how could Lydia possibly choose?? So we sent her with some money (not her piggy bank collection) and she donated to both schools.

After the Houston fundraiser discussion in class Lydia went up to Mrs. Hilton and said, "I really like all my stuffed animals." So Mrs. Hilton told her, "it's okay sweetie, you don't have to give any of them away." And Lydia stood there for a minute and said, "no. I do. Those kids need them more than I do." So Mrs. Hilton told her she would love to take her home with her and Lydia said, "that's what Miss Shelley said last year!" I love this little girl and her tender/giving heart. And I'm glad her teachers love her too!

 On picture day she dressed up in a pretty flower dress with a white flower in her hair. I curled her hair and she was all set to go. When I picked her up from school both the secretary and one of her teachers told me that she had a scare with a bee. And she was pretty upset about it. So I asked her about it. And she said, "Mom! I can't ever wear this dress again! The bees totally thought I was a flower and landed on me!" It was definitely a little traumatizing for her. She didn't even want to put flowers in her hair after that. Not that I blame her. Bees are not my favorite either and if we can keep our distance from each other, so much the better!

Back to the fundraiser. Lydia ended up bringing in a stuffed animal each day the donations were being collected that first week. It made her so happy to think that some poor kid who had been through so much would get to have a little something to cheer him or her up. I hope she stays so positive and kind and generous always!

Mia. Cut. Her. Hair.

Oh I love this pic. Wish that it weren't blurry but she clearly wasn't cool with me taking her picture. On December 7th this little lady got he hands on a pair of scissors. I'd left my sewing kit out when I should have just taken it back upstairs to the craft closet where it belongs. Anyway, I didn't actually notice at first. I cleaned up the ribbon she'd played with and put back the pieces of my tape measure she'd chopped up, and apparently picked up pieces of her hair that didn't register with me in the moment.

When questioned about her hair and what happened, she claimed that Mr. Nobody did it. Because it sure as heck wasn't her. Sophie wasn't responsible and Lydia's alibi of being at school checked out. I laughed pretty hard about it and Jon pointed out that those pieces of hair I'd gathered up were clearly Mia's. If I'm being honest she actually did a really good job. It could have been so much worse. And once her bangs grew out a little longer they were really cute. I like that look on her. Not that I want her trimming her bangs on her own. Or ever again for that matter, but like I said. It could have been worse. So grateful she didn't take the scissors to her sisters hair or poke herself in the eye. Love her! Despite her need to handle sharp objects!

Labor Day

September 4th, Labor Day. Hiking up Baer Canyon. Adam's was super packed so we decided to venture somewhere else. And it was awesome! So beautiful and fun to get out. However, the point needed to be made that, "There are no bears here!!!!" Our cute, sensitive, easily frightened little ladies had some concerns. But overall I think everyone had a great time!