Make Believe

Every once in a while when I feel like cleaning up a bigger than usual mess, I get out the big pink legos for the girls to scatter around the house. I keep them up in Hope's closet cause I don't want to deal with the mess every day, and because it is more exciting to play with something they don't see every day. There is a mommy tip for you, rotate which toys your kids play with so they don't get tired of all of them and you don't have such a huge disaster to clean up when your kids just won't pick up after themselves. I don't have many mommy tips people, so enjoy it. Relish it. You won't hear many from me.

Hope surprised me by making horses with the legos. She told me she had made a horsey and when I turned to look I was quite impressed that it indeed looked like a horse.

Later she built some llamas, which favored the horses but were still somehow noticeably llamas. I'm not creative with legos. Give me a pile of legos and I can build you a tower, that is about it. She must get her genius from Ben. Noah helps too sometimes, but I think he mostly makes guns out of them. I don't think I would be as happy to turn around and see her holding a lego gun though.

Noah is always making little crafty things. I saved a diaper box for him and he cut it up and taped it into a duelling...thingie. I don't remember what it's called, but still impressive.

He usually uses up most of the tape and leaves the cardboard inventions lying around the house which in turn gets ruined by pairs of little running feet.

Since we haven't really been out of the house for a week and half (not including the zoo) I have needed many distractions while I take my turn being sick. I was telling Ben that I really think that mommys should be exempt from illnesses that they treat their children for. Just doesn't seem fair, does it? Anyway, out came the cute little tea set from Uncle Mike & Mark! I love this tea set, so it doesn't get used much because I'm afraid it will break. The tea pot already died a couple of years ago in the toddling hands of Hopie and today a saucer met the same demise. Sad, but it has been put to good use in the last two days.

Look closely at her lips, she is making a pouring sound for the creamer. When she first started playing with it she couldn't keep from smiling. She loves this little tea set too. Soon after Noah joined in and they started playing something like Sherlock Holmes while having "tea."

A couple of monkeys and a cat also joined. Then they were off to solve some kind of mystery and little sister found an abandoned tea party.

Look at the smile on her face. It's so GREAT! It's like she can't believe she found such treasure. She even took her pacifier out to enjoy her air tea.

Father's Day - Cursed???

We are beginning to think that Father's Day in the Maxwell household is cursed. Last year I suddenly had to have my gallbladder removed and was in the hospital on Father's Day leaving Ben home alone with the kids for several days...no Father's Day celebration. This year I was determined to make up for it so I started preparing about a week in advance. Ben had been away on a business trip and I thought it would be great to decorate his office while he was gone so he'd get a nice Father's Day surprise the morning after his arrival. This was to be part one of my plan. I dragged all three kids to his office, which is no longer just down the road mind you, had the receptionist get someone to unlock his door for me and we went to town. Actually the kids just wreaked havoc while I put up a cute handmade banner and tied some balloons around his office. I forgot the camera so I didn't get a picture of it but here is what it looked like.

Super Dad

I copied this blogger's super crafty creativity and made my own banner for Ben. Only I hung mine on twine and in Ben's office surrounded by coordinating colored balloons.

He was pretty surprised and also a little embarassed. I knew he would be, but everyone already knows how awesome he is so I don't see what the big deal was. :)

Part 2 of my plan took place Saturday. Hope had her first dance recital as a part of Swan Lake, so I thought that was a pretty nifty thing to witness as a Father's Day treat. And he is so wrapped around her little finger so it was a great Father's Day activity to watch his little Hopie dance. Then he got these fun little questionnaires I had the kids fill out.

Click on the pictures to make the bigger and readable. I also used another blogger's questionnaire. I know...I have no ideas of my own anymore. What would I do without Pinterest?

 Just as a side note: Hope does know how to spell her name, but sometimes she likes to write Hopie, since that is her nickname.

He loved them and I felt like things were rolling for the following day. For part 3 we planned to go to Ben's favorite breakfast place in SugarHouse and then spend the day at the zoo and afterwards I would make one of his favorite meal, Chicken Marsala.

 I was so relieved I felt like I was doing a somewhat decent job of making up for last year's castrophe when 11 p.m. hit. Eden started crying. She hardly ever cries at night anymore, but when she does I can usually hold her for a minute and put her back down. I went in to her room and there was vomit all over her and her bed. Since Ben and I hadn't been to sleep yet, he helped me clean up the mess and I put her back to bed. We thought it was just something she ate, or just a fluke and we went to bed. The next morning Ben went into her room and immediately came back out and told me how bad it stunk in there. He was right. It was like she had taken a midnight dip in an outhouse...a frequently used outhouse...holy cow! It was bad. She had messed her pants like she had never done before. This was Eden's second load of laundry in less than 8 hours.

I was still determined though. I thought that for sure since she had messed her pants and thrown up that whatever it was was surely gone by now and we could go about our plans. So we got the kids dressed and oops! More vomit! And now Hope was vomitting and had diarrhea. We weren't going anywhere. Not only that but there had been so much vomit and diarrhea that Ben no longer had an appetite for his favorite dinner. Once again Father's Day was a bust.

So the family spent the week sick. Ben and I waited last to be sick but now we are better *fingers crossed*. Saturday we decided to have a re-do and went to breakfast and the zoo.

I love the way Eden is looking at Ben.

Ben, I hope you feel how much you are loved and appreciated, because you certainly are. And, if next year Father's Day gets ruined too I think it's safe to say it is definitly cursed. In which case I will just come up with my own holiday to celebrate your awesomeness. It will be called Ben's Day...or something a lot cooler. I love you.

Also...

"Maybe there is some sort of animal we could make a sacrifice to. Like a giant buffalo or some sort of monster like something like the body of a walrus with the head of a sea lion. Or something with the body of an egret with the head of a meerkat. Or just the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer with the body of a....porcupine." --Michael Scott The Office

"I'll do some research." -- Jim Halpert The Office

Say What?

Eden knocks on the bathroom door.
Noah: Who is it?
Eden: It's me...Piglet!

Hope: An old man on a motorcycle? That's crazy!
Noah: Hope, wanna know what's really crazy? Seeing an old man in a swim suit that goes up to his belly button!

Daddy had been gone for three days on business and shaved his mustache/goatee while he was away. Today he walked in the door and
Hope says: You don't look like my daddy with out your mustache.
This is especially funny because I always tell Ben that he looks like a different person when he shaves.

Hope: When will I be married?
Mom: Uhhh...*shocked*...not till you meet the right guy.
Hope: Well I will need Noah.
Mom: Noah is your brother, you can't marry him.
Hope: Why I can't marry him?
Mom: Cause he's your brother.

Hope: Can I have a llama for my birthday?
Mom: A llama?
Hope: Not a real one, just one from the bookstore.

Hope: Does Heavenly Father have a computer?
Dad: Why would he need a computer?
Hope: So he could watch videos of all of us.

Hope: I hope the normal Eden comes back. A stomach virus has been visiting the members of our family and Eden has been out of Miss Chevious commission.

Dad: Do you need to throw up again?
Hope: No. Heavenly Father made me so I'm not sick like Eden.

Swan Lake

Today was Hope's first dance recital, or as she calls it, her "big dance class". She has been excited all week to go back and do her dance again.

Here we are getting ready.

She wasn't nervous at all, until about 15 minutes before they were supposed to go on and it was only because there were so many people stuffed into a crowded little nook backstage. I was a class mom, so I stayed with her backstage while she did her part and was able to talk the jitters away.

When she actually got on stage she acted mesmerized by the audience and stood there for a minute just looking at all the people. I wasn't able to see her very clearly because there was quite a bit of chaos in the wings, but Ben and one of the other mom's told me it was pretty cute and funny. She is a brave girl! If that would've been me at 4 years old I probably would've freaked out and started crying or run off stage. She was very proud of herself and very pleased that daddy and I were so proud.

Hope was in the first act so we got to go sit in the audience with daddy for the rest of the show. While we were watching some of the swans dance she leaned over and whispered to me," When I get big will I be a swan?"

Here are a few pictures after the show.

Daddy is so thoughtful, he brought her flowers! I didn't even think about that. I am SO grateful that my girls have a man in their life to teach them and show them how they should be treated by other men -when they are old enough :}-.

I think she is doing her bunny hops here.

Trying to stuff her into her car seat with all the foof from her costume.

Here is the program and tickets.

Here is the page in the program that had her name under "Bunnies."

And here are her beautiful flowers resting in a vase.

Congratulations Hopie! We are so proud of you!

Horsey

Daddy is home from a business trip! Of course he brought surprises back for the kids. Hope got a purple horse which she freaked out about. Her favorite color is purple and one of her favorite things is horses, so daddy did a great job picking out her present. Soon after he gave it to her I saw her in the other room introducing her new horse to one of her older ones. It was pretty cute. I asked her what she was going to name it and she said, "Horsey." I thought we were passed that stage, but apparently not. The older horse in the picture is named Marbles, so at least they aren't all named Horsey.

Eden got a little kitty which she kissed and hugged and loved. I asked her what she was going to name her kitty and she said, "Ummm...Kitty!" Of course. :) Noah got some straw glasses thing that is pretty cool. I will have to get a picture of that when he comes home from his dad's. We're so happy you're home daddy! You were missed - GREATLY!

Say What?

Eden to daddy: Look at the mess you made.

Hope: Can we visit gma?
Mom: No. It costs lots of money.
Hope: We can get some from the mall.
Mom: The mall doesn't give you money.
Hope: Well we can get on a train and it can take us to the money store.

Hope loses a lone skittle she found in her carseat: GREAT! Now I'm going to be hungry for YEARS!



Hope: I had a dream you left me all alone and I had to talk to cowboys.

During sacrament Noah rubs a mosquito bite on the top of his hand, then extends his arm in front of him His hand is in a fist and he moves his it up and down like Spiderman. When nothing comes out of the bite he shrugs and goes back to drawing.


Hope: I don't want that anymore. It tastes like cowboys.

Dress Rehearsal

Today Hope had dress rehearsal for Swan Lake. She and her classmates are bunnies and looked rediculously adorable in their little costumes. We had to wait quite a while for Hope's costume because it was accidentally left at the dance studio but that gave me plenty of time to get lots of super cute pictures.

This is after she got her headpiece (fancy bunny ears).

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures of her looking at herself in the mirror. It was required that she wear her hair in a bun and wear make-up (because of stage lights I am sure) so that took a little coaxing to get her to cooperate, but once I started applying the make up she decided it was fun.

I just can't help myself, I am going to have to frame one of these. While we waited Hope found ways to entertian herself.

And finally it came!

Isnt' that the prettiest little bunny you've ever seen? Here she is rushing to take pictures with the other bunnies. There were professional photographers there to take class pictures and such. It was halarious to watch them trying to pose and keep the attention of five little girls. I am anxious to see if any of them actually turned out good.

Finally it was time to go out on stage! Here she is (right in the middle) waiting for her turn on stage. She did so great! She wasn't nervous at all and had a great big smile on her face the whole time. When they came back off stage she said smiling, "I'm so proud!!!" I glad she recognizes her accomplishments and gives herself the credit she deserves for them.

Saturday is the big show so stay tuned for more pictures.

Pinkalicious

I found a yummy sounding cupcake recipe on Pinterest that I made yesterday. It was lemonade cupcakes with raspberry frosting. A great memory from my childhood is my mom letting me lick the spoon or the beaters after she had made a cake so I let my kids give it a go too.

Miss Chevious was looking especially Pinkalicious eating her frosting covered beater and wearing her pink outfit.

The frosting was a little tart for me, but the kids loved it.

Looks a little like she is in a sugar trance.

Then the cupcakes had cooled enough to frost and the kids couldn't wait to try them.

Of course Eden and Hope only ate the frosting off the cupcakes. Hope brought hers back to the counter and told me she didn't want it. But that was too simple and clean for Miss Chevious.

She decided to crumble hers up on the floor and then lay on it to "hide" it.

She thought it was pretty funny that I was taking pictures. Perhaps me snapping a picture of all her messes is sending her the wrong message.



In The Backyard

In our backyard, that has been open to the public since our fence blew down last winter, we have a custom made playhouse with cute purple door/swing set by Ben, a trampoline with a worn-out net, six raised garden beds made by Ben with the wood from said fence, and a kiddie pool that is just a little over a foot deep. Of course there are other things, like two grills, a sand pit under the swings, old garden beds full of mulch-stuff, a basketball hoop, an old outdoor glass table, a rocking chair and an old sitting chair and lots of other stuff that I don't enjoy looking at. Most of all though, we have a few children who who share a lot of laughs, splashes and jumps together and those are things I LOVE to look at.

It took the girls a while to get used to it. They just walked around for quite a while. Finally they got all the way in and the real fun began.

They took turns riding on big brother and tried to make a whirl pool by "swimming" around the pool really fast.

Finally the girls were ready for a swing break.

The girls also love to help daddy water the garden. One day while mommy was watering she sprayed everyone (including daddy) really good.

Hope and Eden were taking turns with the watering can, but as you can see Eden really had it the most and wasn't really even watering the plants.

This is when Eden laid in the middle of lawn and started piling grass on her tummy.

And this is when cousin Caleb finally got the knack of pumping his legs while swinging!

I'm honored he did it in my backyard. :) This must be a special place.

MY Miss Chevious

For several days now I have wanted to write a post solely about my love and complete adoration for Eden. I feel like my true feelings for her and our real relationship may not be conveyed accurately since most of the posts that include her are tales of her..."destructive behaviors."

Finding words to describe my feelings for my children have always been difficult, but the past several months I find myself so speechless over Eden. After writing that last sentence I seriously sat here staring at the computer for about ten minutes trying to figure how to express my feelings for her through words and I still don't know how to say it. I will just start typing otherwise this post will be left undone waiting to be published forever. And what a shame it would be for my Miss Chevious not to be able to read this and know what a little love bug she is to her mommy. Of all three of my children she is the most cuddly, snuggly, always willing to give & receive hugs/kisses. I remember one day Hope had hurt her feelings somehow and I told Hope she needed to give her a hug. Eden was crying and I told her that Hope was going to give her a hug and immediately she stopped crying and a smile spread on her tear streaked cheeks. Sadly, Hope did not follow through with that hug, but she at least let Eden hug her, which she did and obviously she had forgiven her sister for whatever she had done that hurt her so. I love the way Eden caresses my arms as a way to soothe herself. It makes me feel needed and important to her. It shows me that she loves me and my imperfections are no matter to her...I am still her mommy and right now I am what she needs. She tells me often and out of the blue that she loves me. Actually, she says, "I whaas ew, mommy." She is so full of love that I think she may burst out into little sparkly Miss Chevious hearts one day.

She is a very intelligent child. If I remember correctly, she was about 14 months when she learned to sing her ABC's. She knew how to say all the letters and she knew the melody to the song and could sing it all by herself, and she would...over and over and over again. I received many compliments from people about this fact, but the fact is, that I don't remember teaching it to her. She picked it up from somewhere though and helped teach it to her big sister! Sometimes I look at her with wide-eyed amazement at how unbelievably smart she is. She has been participating with family prayer for several months now, but usually I have to help her along. Last night...last night was incredible. We asked her if she wanted to say the prayer and she nodded her head. She folded her arms and began with something resembling, "dear Heavenly Father." I couldn't understand most of what she said even though she was sitting right there in my lap about 2 inches from my face, but she needed no help at all. She thanked Heavenly Father for quite a few things. The things I could understand were, gma, Hopie, beach, fish (we had just been to the beach earlier that day and saw some fish). The prayer was pretty lengthy and at one point Hope leaned over and whispered, "in the name of..." but Eden whispered back, "No. I say the prayer," and continued saying her prayer of thanks. As I watched her pray I thought back to that experience I had while writing The Waiting Place post and my heart was so full that I could see and hear and feel her learning to communicate with her Father in Heaven. It is not often that I feel pride in my accomplishments as a mother (I tend to be very hard on myself), but last night I knew without a doubt that I was doing something right and was so thankful that I had followed through with her dad in teaching her and showing her how to pray. I know that praying is something that she will turn to often in her life for help and guidance and I'm grateful that she has learned so early to do it.

Eden is funny. She loves to make her brother and sister laugh and does things just to amuse them. One Friday afternoon while picking up Noah, I took the girls into his classroom a few minutes before the final bell rang. Eden ran up to Noah and he greeted her with open arms, the way he always does, and picked her up for a hug. He held her and said to his friends, "Hey, watch this." and then he told Eden to blow a raspberry. She did and all the kids laughed. Apparently, this was very funny because they told her to do it over and over again, laughing all the while. I could see pride on Noah's face (which I thought was funny because all she was doing was spitting in his direction), and Eden looked very pleased with all the attention she was getting.

Sometimes I look at what she is doing and wonder where in the world did she get that notion? For example, yesterday while we were grilling dinner she randomly went to the middle of the yard and laid down in the grass, started pulling grass and piling on her stomach. She told her dad she was sleeping.

When she put on Hope's cape she smiled and said, "SUPER Goofy!"

This child is a very bright light in my life. I joke a lot about her unruly-ness and the messes she makes, but it is nothing in comparison to the love she brings to our family. She is a beautiful piece of the puzzle that makes our family. Without her we simply would not be. I love you, MY Miss Chevious!!! 

Miss Chevious Moments Episode 4

I am going to keep this somewhat short and simple because I feel like the pictures speak for themselves.

Remember those cushion covers I washed not too long ago because of another Miss Chevious moment? Mmmhhmm. They became target practice. Since she seemed to hit her target I thought I would reward her with a cookie. Ha, Ha! Just kidding.

One evening lil Miss became very quiet and disappeared for a while. I went around the house calling her name because she wasn't in her usual spots. Suddenly I hear my bathroom door open and close. The same door that we ALWAYS keep closed specifically because of Miss Chevious and the tons of fun she can find in a bathroom. She comes strolling out of my room with dental floss draped all over her and the floor. She had emptied most of the contents.

Lesson learned. Miss Chevious can now open just about every door in the house. At least she smelled minty afterwards.

Noah and Eden were sitting quietly on the couch watching a movie. Noah decided he wanted to snack on some chips and left the bag with Miss Chevious while he went to play in another room. I am sure he would've left the bag if she had been there or not: typical 10 yr old boy behavior. I ask him where the bag is and he tells me where he left it. I groan a little and walk into the family room where I see this.

Noah decided the chips were still edible despite being messed with by Miss Chevious.

During dinner she steals Noah glass of water while he is away for a split second and leaves behind all kinds of yucky for him to find.

Noah is very particular about not wanting to drink after anyone...I wonder how he felt about this.

Then she got into dad's gym bag and found the deodorant. She took a big chunk out of it with her finger and put it in her hair.

A few days ago Miss Chevious and Hope were wrestling on my bed and even though Hope is twice her size she was losing. Eden would lay on top of her and say "tickle, tickle". Finally, she put her finger on Hope's nose and said, "Pick your nose! Pick your nose!" She is practicing her bullying on her big sister and I have to say, I think she'll be excellent very soon.