Wipeout!

What do you do when your little boy turns ten?

Let him plan his dream party!

The festivities included Wipeout on the Wii:

 An entertaining and yet still delicious Wipeout cake, made by an ambitious mother:

 Pizza, root beer, and ice cream to go along with the cake, and a water gun fight soon after:

 And the main attraction--"Wipeout" on the bounce house obstacle course:

No children were harmed in the making of this party.

Here are ten things about my new ten-year old:

1. He is a man of many hobbies.  He gets this from his dad.  Right now his main interest is magic, but it changes often.  He wants me to teach him to sew this summer.  I'm sure it won't take long to teach him all that I know!

2. He is getting pretty good at the piano.  He does ask how long he'll have to keep playing, and I tell him that he has to be able to play the hymns while he's on his mission, so however long it takes to do that.  He wakes up at 5:50 every morning so that he can practice before school.

3. He enjoys art, and can do some neat things when challenged.  He created his own folding Marauder's Map last month for fun.

4. He folds his church program into origami almost every Sunday.  He figured out how to make a pod racer from Star Wars.

5. He has Ben read to him every night.  They recently finished the Harry Potter series, and started Eragon.  He can usually convince Ben to read "just a little more--I'm not asleep yet!"

6. He enjoys playing almost any sport, though he hasn't loved being on teams.  He's done baseball a few years, and basketball this year, but he really wants to just have fun doing it, not competing.

7. He loved our cat Abe, and Abe loved him.  We had to put Abe to sleep for health issues in March, and it was a very, very sad time for this boy.  (It was not too sad for the rest of the family, since Abe was really a mean cat to everyone else...)  Going to sleep was the hardest part, since Abe usually slept with him.

8. He saved up his money and purchased a gerbil and its cage.  I don't think it turned out to be quite the kind of pet that he was expecting, but he still enjoys her, and her companion we bought as a new "family" pet after Abe.  (He named them Lucky and Dusty--from The Three Amigos.)

9.  He started wearing glasses in first grade, and got contacts in third.  He's been very responsible about them, and though his glasses were cute, I think seeing his whole face is cuter.  :)

10. He has always been pretty sweet with his sisters.  After his first school Valentine's Day party, he sat down and divided up all his treats with them.  Whenever he has something they prefer (usually a plate of a certain color, or something), he gives it right to them.  When Emma started school, he escorted her with his hand on her back into the building every day.  He would rather stay at home to play with them than go out to find other boys in the neighborhood to play with, and when his friends do come over, he usually lets his sisters tag along and be involved.  He is very helpful with Tessa.  If there are problems, it's usually just from him playing too rough, rather than from teasing.

He is a good boy.  I'm a blessed momma.

Testing, testing

I have not put a video of my own on this blog yet.  Here's a first attempt--this is Scott, singing in the all-district 4th grade choir.  He's the little guy on the second row with all the rhythm, a little left of center (the choir director's hand is kind of pointing to him).  Sorry so small and blurry.  Enjoy!

The great eight

My, my, how time does fly, right Emma? My petite ball of fire has gone and turned eight. She came to the world three weeks early, and has been charging forward ever since. She welcomed her birthday morning with donuts and chocolate milk and present-opening, which included her new scriptures and a (pink) case (with a bow!) for them. She wanted an Easter egg cake, so I made the shape, and after school I let her decorate it.

(PS--with two birthdays in eight days, I learned a secret--bake the cake in two layers, and freeze one. Then, only use one layer per birthday! That way, the cake gets eaten up in a day or two, instead of a week later when you're ready to bake the next one, which no one will want.)

The night of Emma's birthday was pretty fun, because it was our ward talent show. Emma and Gracie got to be in their very first dance recital as part of the program, and they both did GREAT! (Ben also performed on his banjo, and I displayed a painting I did this year.)

It is true that Emma and Gracie are now the same height. It doesn't seem to bother them at all.

We rushed home after the talent show and had some cake and ice cream before bed. It was a school night, after all. I cannot say what time she actually went to sleep after all of that, though!

Emma reminded us often this year that once we had told her that she could get her ears pierced when she turned eight. At the time, it seemed very far away. It wasn't. She and I had an afternoon together on the day after her birthday and, though I wasn't sure she (or I) had the courage to go through with it, we went to have her ears pierced. She handled it all very maturely, even when her eyes showed that she felt as nervous inside as I did.Here are eight things about my eight-year old:

1. Most of you all know this already, but she had open-heart surgery when she was fifteen months old. She had had several priesthood blessings in her life already, promising that she would fulfill her mission on the earth. I was never nervous about the surgery until the moment we gave her over to the nurses, and I thought that it was possible that her mission on the earth had been fulfilled already. She came through miraculously well, and has no health restrictions because of her heart.

2. As in infant, she was labeled "failure to thrive" because of her lack of weight gain. I think that that particular label was a hard one to hear as a mom, but I think it is the opposite way to describe her. If anyone is thriving, it is Emma.

3. She loves to love. She has more bear hugs stored up and ready to give away in her body than it can handle. If she's running your way, get ready, because a hug is coming.

4. Emma loves little tiny toys, and can play with them alone for hours.

5. She has worn glasses since she was three. She has never lost or broken a pair, and never takes them off at school, to the amazement of her teacher.

6. She was so excited to begin going to the Activity Days activities with the girls her age at church, but it does not even compare to how excited she is for her baptism, which will be in June.

7. She has a sense of style, and cannot be talked into clothes choices if she does not approve, no matter how cute I think they are.

8. She's learning to play the piano, but she is really just being patient until she is old enough to play the flute Grandma let us have. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the time we get to spend together practicing. Usually.

Happy GREAT EIGHTh birthday, my sweet girl!

And now she is six

We have entered birthday season around these parts--two in April, two in May, and one in July.

To begin, my sweet Gracie turned six! (I may have mentioned it before, but I love that Gracie's birthday comes first in our family order. She's the middle child, and it is one of the few things that she gets to do "first," and it absolutely thrills her.) To celebrate, we woke up to a breakfast of donuts and chocolate milk and opening gifts before school, and after, she decorated her cake. (She wanted a butterfly, which I made, but I finally loosened the reins a bit and let HER decorate it, and that made her day. It was very sprinkley.) Later, we took one of her friends with us for dinner at Chuck E. Cheeses. I know she had a great day, and it's so nice to have an occasion to make a day so special for her.

Here are six things about my six-year old:

1. She is so creative. She is a natural party planner, can draw anything she wants, with surprising detail, and makes up some really funny songs. She has spent many hours already with one of her birthday presents--a tub of "girl" Legos.

2. She was my most difficult 1-3 year old. She was determined to have things a certain way, and sometimes we didn't read her mind fast enough, and there were serious meltdowns.  But she had some lovely, lovely cheeks to help distract me from the difficulties.

3. She is my easiest kindergartener. We seemed to have figured some things out together, and she is, for the most part, really easy going, and a peacemaker. She likes to have certain color plates and cups, like all the other kids, but if someone wants what she has, she will give it to them, every time.

4. She has a blanket that she has loved since she was a baby. There is always a stuffed animal to accompany it, but the favorite one changes every year or so. These are wanted, though not needed, to go to sleep every night.

5. She does not enjoy thunderstorms, roller coasters, or fires in the fireplace. She does enjoy going to bed, reading, and getting new clothes.

6. She's my best helper with Tessa (besides picking her up--Tessa only lets Scott do that). She says she wants to be a Mommy when she grows up, along with being a "gymnastics girl," a cake decorator, an ice skater (which she has never done before), and an artist. She will probably do it all.

Enigmas

Scott "had the opportunity" to create a game last month as the culmination of the study he and some classmates have been doing on enigmas. The enigma he chose to focus on was the Loch Ness Monster, and the game he came up with was called "Finding Nessie."
He made up a bunch of "Fact or Opinion" cards from his research, and with a little parental guidance, created the gameboard.

(OK, I will admit that paper mache and painting are some of my favorite school activities, and I'm glad Scott let me and Ben help out a bit--but mostly in just explaining how to do things. He did almost all of the hands on work himself.)

With all this focus on enigmas, I got to thinking...I seem to be a bit of an enigma myself. I am the chief cameralady around here, and that means that if I am to be in a photo, I have to rely on some of the natives to take one. (Someday I may use the timer, but...that day is not today.)

So, I do want you all to know that I do really exist. I took a look at our picture archives, and counted exactly three photos of me that have been taken in 2011. I present them here to you now, and I have to warn you, some of them are a little scary.

This fuzzy shot is the most recent, I believe, taken by Caytie. I think the point of the picture was to get Tessa's piggie tails, but you never can be sure what Caytie is taking a picture of.

Ahh, the famous "view from below" shot. One of the least flattering ways to get one's picture taken, in my opinion. I'd say it makes me look tired, but I think I really was.

If you look carefully, you can find me huddled in this mass of my children after Emma's class musical. I will not take responsibility for what any of the children are doing or wearing. These kids have minds of their own.

I do think, however, that I am now convinced that I will be getting a haircut this week. Something in the dramatic change aisle, I believe. It is time.