My Mother's Day Bling

Mother's Day was wonderful this year.  Saturday night Jeremy and I went out on a date and hired the best babysitter our kids have had in ages.  I woke up Sunday morning to our kids bearing gifts.  I got 3 duct tape bracelets (from Jake, Abby and Hannah), a beaded bracelet (from Abby),  a sunflower magnet (from Annie), and a coupon book (from Jake - with an expiration date of May 16, 2012).  Our babysitter showed them how to make the duct tape bracelets and then helped them wrap them up.  It was awesome wearing 4 bracelets to church on Sunday with all my kids sporting their own matching ones.
Now, by the time I got around to photographing all of us together with our bracelets, there were 2 girls in the family who had lost theirs.  Bunches of tears later, I decided to just take a picture of my own wrist.
My day ended with a family effort to massage my aching muscles from shoveling 5 tons of dirt on Saturday.


(Don't worry, on Mother's Day, I evened them out on both wrists, but I couldn't take a picture of both wrists while holding the camera.)

Finger Nails

Today while doing Hannah's mani/pedi we had a funny little conversation.  I had to laugh and then write it down because this is the stuff I will forget in 2 hours and it will be lost forever.

Me:  Hannah you need to quit biting your nails
Hannah:  Megan bites her nails (Hannah's new friend)
Me:  Well don't bite them just because Megan bites them.
Hannah:  I don't.  I bite them because I'm hungry.

Allergies

Annie:  Mom I think I'm allergic to red

Me:  Red?  Why do you think that?

Annie:  When I brushed my teeth my spit was red

Me:  (looking around, seeing the punch on the table) Did you drink that red punch before you brushed your teeth?

Annie:  Yes

Me:  I don't think you're allergic to red, you're gonna be just fine.

(This is Annie after our little makeover this morning)

*On another allergy note:  Hannah also has allergies.  She's diagnosed herself as being allergic to work.  It must be pretty severe because she stays as far away from it as she can.

Claire's Blessing

Sunday, May 6, 2012 our little Claire was blessed by Jeremy at our Sacrament Meeting.  Claire had a lot of support and was simply beautiful in her gorgeous dress her Grandma Platt made her.  Jeremy gave her a wonderful blessing (we held our breath until he said her name, not Annie's - then I could relax listen to the sweet words).

Claire was blessed: to remember she was born at this time for a special reason,   to seek out that which is right, to gain as much knowledge as she can, to marry in the temple, to look to the example of her brother and sisters, to follow the example and listen to her parents and other relatives.


It was a beautiful day and fun-filled back at our house afterwards, as we enjoyed our family and friends who came to celebrate Claire's special day.

I'm grateful to Jeremy who honors his priesthood and takes his responsibility seriously.

 Our family after the blessing

 Claire with her proud parents.  Notice Jeremy in his suit.  I can count the times he has EVER worn a suit to church on one finger and that day was Sunday

Grandpa and Grandma Platt holding Claire.  Cyndi made her dress and quilt and, as always, did a super job.  What a treat to have that keepsake forever.

  Grandma Goodman holding Claire.  I forgot to get one of both my parents holding her, so it's just Grandma.

 Chet and Claire, only 3 months apart, but about 10 pounds different

Our Angel

What kids really mean...

I'm by no means a great parent, I've got quite a ways to go before I'm winning mother of the year awards (next year I might nominate myself), but I have learned a thing or two from my kids.  Some of this stuff has taken me a while to figure out such as...
1.  When my girls tell me to watch a new dance move, what they really mean is "watch my move the whole time and if you even blink, I'm doing the whole 5 minute routine over again."  I've learned to keep my eyes on the dance until it's over.
2.  The S word is stupid - such as, "Mom, Jake said the S word"
3.  The F word is fart. Thank goodness it's not the real bomb!
4.  When my kids say they brushed their teeth awesome, then that means they need to go rebrush them because they are still an orangeish hue.
5.  When Abby says she cleaned her room, it just means she rearranged all the junk on her floor.
6.  When Hannah says she wants to hold Claire, then that means we only give her to Hannah when she's already crying because that's undoubtedly what is going to happen anyway.  Bless her heart, she tries, but somehow she can't figure out how to hold her still, and Claire doesn't like it one little bit.
7.  When Annie says she's ready to go, then that means we'll arrive at our destination with Annie sans shoes. I've learned that one the hard way not once, but twice this week. I need to go deposit some flip flops in the car.
8.  When my kids say how cute Claire is, they're right!

So here's to me learning and getting one step closer to my MOY award.

Clay Bay

Unbeknownst to Kate Ricedorff, she's given our little Claire Bear a new nickname - ClayBay. I called her Claire Bear when she was at our house and she looked at me and said, "Clay Bay?" That's Claire Bear without the R's. It was cute and she's been ClayBay ever since. I loved all of these pictures and just needed to post them all.

Happy Easter

What a great Easter we enjoyed this year. Last weekend we went down to Mesa for the semi-annual beans and bread tradition between conference sessions. But we added Easter on to the fun because of Mom's surgery the next week. As always it was a real treat getting to hang out with family, listen to the words of our church leaders, eat yummy food and laugh like you only can with family. The kids hunted for eggs and, as become tradition, the little 4 year olds raced.

Then this weekend (the Real Easter weekend), Drew, Cyndi and Koe and Jarred's family came up to have Easter with us. Koe spoiled my girls, the kids played hard and slept little. We went to Watson Lake and hiked a bit, colored eggs, hunted the eggs, ate a ton and visited til we were exhausted.

Sunday morning, I'm happy to announce the Easter Bunny found our house. The kids were up bright and early. Church is at 8:00 am and the kids were not about to miss out on any Easter fun. They got themselves dressed and fed and only then could they look in their baskets. I know I'm mean, but, really, they got themselves ready super fast - genius. As always the Easter bunny brought tons of candy and swimsuits for the girls. Jake announced that he hates getting a swimming suit so he got goggles.

Then it was off to church where the talks and lessons were great and just what I needed. Then it was home to enjoy our afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Platt, nap, eat candy and all things fun on Easter.

It was a wonderful weekend and I'm glad we could share it with family.

Now, I have posted tons of pictures, but they are in opposite chronological order from how I took them. I'm feeling too lazy to re arrange them, so just for today, our brains will be challenged a bit.

Claire in her Easter dress - beauty!

The 5 kids before church

The kids checking out their baskets

Coloring eggs with Oliver and Simon. I was disappointed in their lack of creativity in their coloring. I expect a better effort next year!

The cousins at Watson Lake

Our family at Watson Lake

The 4 year old race. Keelie won hands down (Joe's been training with her for this big run) And according to Hannah, Annie won because Keelie started early. Ya gotta love the competitiveness.

The cousins after the hunt, including Kelli's kids. My kids' candy was devoured within about an hour of the hunt.

So there it is. Happy Easter. I love my Savior and his sacrifice for me, the Atonement and the chance I get to be resurrected and hopefully someday return to live with my Heavenly Father.