Say What?

Eden: I'm speaking Spanish. 'Blah bloo blee'.

Hope: Can I help?
Mom: Why don't you just let me do it cause I'm just about out of patience.
Hope. Okay. But, mom? How many more patience do you have?

Mom: Would you like me to help you put on your jammies or do you want to do it yourself?
Eden as she jumps around her room naked: By. My. SELF!
Mom goes to help Hope brush her teeth.
Eden continues running/hopping throughout the house naked.
Mom: It seems like you need some help with your jammies.
Eden's naked tushy hops down the hallway and mom continues helping Hope.
Eden: HOP. HOP. HOP.
Mom sits on Eden's bed as Eden twirls and hops around the room.
Mom: Would you like some help?
Eden: Yes. Cause I am OUT of control!

Hope: How do you scare a lobster?

Eden: Knock, Knock.
Hope: Who's there?
Eden: It's me, broccoli.

Say What?

Hope is spending some time with daddy at his work and says: I don't understand why you're here. It's boring here.

Same day - One of Ben's co-workers comes into his office and says to Hope: You make sure he's working hard okay?
After he leaves, Hope says to dad: Why does he care if you're working if he's not?

Our home teacher asks Eden: What were you for Halloween?
Eden: A witch.
Home teacher: Did you cast an evil spell on somebody?
Eden: No. I didn't have a wand.

Eden is playing with her McDonald's cash register toy.
Dad says: What is that? (referring to the cash register)
Eden says: Um....a chicken nugget thingy.

Eden: I liked that. I like smiling.
Mom: You're adorable.
Eden: That what I was gonna say.

Mom: Maybe you should try to go peepee.
Eden: Well if I go you have to pay.

Eden singing a song: Patta cake, patta cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake and don't pitch a fit! (It seems like she may have said this before, but I didn't want to go through all my posts to see.)

(2010)

Say What?

Hope sees a crown in the costume store: "Hey look! It's a King's hat! I bet Heavenly Father has one of these."

Noah: "It reminds me of China with all these falling leaves. Oh....I've never been to China."

Hope and Eden refer to Ben's "hair" as "tiny hairs" because he shaves his head. One night he put Eden's tiara on his head and Hope said, "You look like a princess with tiny hairs."

Eden looking at a picture of a friend she hasn't seen in a while: "Is she my assistant?"

Eden says to Hope after Hope tries to take something from her: "It's MY coronation....and I'm running unopposed." *That is a line from My Little Pony Equestria Girls.

Eden jabbers to dad something about garbage.
Dad says: "What?"
Eden jabbers garbage again.
Dad: "What?"
Eden says: "You heard me."

Mom to Eden: "Can we put your ponies on the floor while we eat dinner?"
Eden: "They will be sad."
Mom: "They don't care."
Eden: "Nobody cares about my ponies."

Hope's First Primary Talk

Unfortunately, I am blogging about this several months after the fact, so I can't recall many details, but here are the big parts.

Hope got to give her first primary talk! Apparently she offered to do it instead of being asked, which I think is very cool. She loves to do stuff like that and doesn't get too scared or embarrassed. Hopefully that courage will continue throughout her life. At first, I tried to get her to memorize her talk. After the first line she wasn't having it and I didn't want to turn it into something she was dreading, so I resolved to just whisper the whole thing in her ear. She did awesome. I am so proud of my sunshine Hope and her little testimony that seems to grow stronger and more beautiful every day. I am so grateful that my children know who they are, why they are here and that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them.

This is a copy of her talk.

"There are many ways that Heavenly Father can talk to you through the Holy Ghost. He can speak to you through the scriptures. One very important way that Heavenly Father talks to His children is through His living prophets. When the prophet speaks, he is telling us things that Heavenly Father wants us to know.

Our prophet today is Thomas S. Monson. Heavenly Father uses the prophet as his mouthpiece to deliver messages he wants us to hear. Each April and October the prophet and other general authorities speak to us in a special meeting called General Conference. They tell us things the Savior would if He were here. Their words are like scriptures and will teach us and help us choose the right. I am thankful I can listen to Heavenly Father's messages for me by listening to the prophet."

They Know

Saturday Ben threw his back out while doing yard work. The kids and I were all outside helping when Hope asked what was wrong with daddy. I looked over to see him on the ground unable to speak or move. I thought he had had a heart attack. We were all very scared. Ben is a strong man and to see him like that was disturbing and I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating for at least a second or two. The girls kept asking him questions and trying to get close to him, so I asked Noah to take them back to their rooms so I could try to help Ben.

After Ben was able to stand I went back to check on the kids. Noah had turned on his church music and moved Hope's little table into his room. They were all sitting around it making Ben get-well soon cards. Thinking about how cute and thoughtful my children are I went back to my room to listen in case Ben needed me while he was in the shower. Yes, even though he had just been in severe pain and barely able to move, he INSISTED on taking a shower the minute he could stand. I've learned over the last 48 hours that he is even more stubborn than I thought. Anyway, while I was waiting I overheard Eden tell her brother and sister that they should say a prayer. Then her tiny 3 year old voice prayed for her daddy.

 I smiled with pride and thought about how lucky they are to know where to look for peace and comfort. Noah had immediately played his church hymns for them to listen to and Eden needed no prompting to ask her Heavenly Father to help her earthly father.

Taking three kids to church by myself has not always been easy (although it is getting easier as Miss Chevious gets older), but I'm so glad that I stuck with it. So many - okay EVERY-  Sunday mornings  I dreaded wrestling with two of my three children in the congregation while trying to feel the spirit. I often wondered "why even go"? I knew they needed it though, and I am grateful for the strength I received to push through the dread and often time embarrassment of sacrament with Miss Chevious.

I am grateful that Ben and I have had family prayer every night for the last year and that we continue to do it. I am grateful that they have heard us ask Heavenly Father to bless family members who have been sick and have seen them get well and know that Heavenly Father heard their prayers. I am grateful that Hope and Noah have CDs of hymns that they listen to while falling asleep and that we sing primary songs every night before prayer. Once again, I have often wondered what good it is all doing. The singing and praying, trying unsuccessfully to get the younger children to be reverent during family prayer. "Why am I even doing this?" is something I've asked myself frequently.
Last Saturday I got my answer.

"American Day"

Hope was very excited about the 4th of July this year, only she called "American Day." For a few days before, any time we were driving she would always point out the flags and other decorations that people had in their yards and ask why we didn't have any. That is right. I do not have any 4th of July decorations. Her excitement for the holiday of which we had no plans and no decorations made me feel like one heck of a disappointment to my children. The night before the 4th Hope got so excited that as she lay in bed she told me all the things she had planned for the following day. She said she was going to make everyone a flag. True to her word, she woke up early and immediately wanted to draw.

She did make one for everyone. I guess all those afternoons "singing to the flag" in kindergarten paid off, cause that an awesome one. I am very impressed with her stars. I still can't draw a decent one.

Out of the blue, Ben decided that we should go up to the West Bountiful parade. I don't like parades. I don't think I ever have. Once in my early 20's I got pegged in the forehead by an overzealous candy thrower and that pretty much sealed the deal. I mean, that tootsie roll could've put my eye out! Anyway.
Hope insisted that she have an "American shirt" for the "American Day." So here she is looking festive in her American Day attire, and Eden in her pigtails that lasted only about an hour.

 Turns out that West Bountiful throws a decent parade with zero overzealous candy throwers. Actually, I do think there was one, but he missed me and narrowly missed Whitney who was standing behind me so I'm okay with that. :)

There were horses that had been painted like the flag and some that had stars painted on their rear (buttock?) that Hope said looked like a cutie mark, which is the little symbol on a My Little Pony. They got lots of taffy and a few of those dangerous tootsie rolls and then we went back to grandma Verla's house for lunch. We spent a few hours visiting with her and aunt Whitney and Hope gave me a preview of her teenage years with this...

 playing on aunt Whitney's phone.

That evening the girls finally got to do sparklers and Pop-Its. They were concerned about holding a stick that was on fire, but soon got the hang of it and we went through a few boxes of them.

 The people in our neighborhood put on some pretty amazing firework shows. There were fireworks on the streets in front of us and behind us. We couldn't decide which way to turn our heads. Being surrounded by fireworks is pretty cool (and a little scary given that it had been so dry prior to the 4th). After watching outside and being eaten by bugs we moved into the back bedroom to watch for a while more. It was nice sitting in the quiet dark with my little ladies and their daddy watching fireworks that were so close.
What I thought would be a disappointing American Day actually turned out quite wonderful. The only time I saw disappointment in my girls' faces was when they were told they had to go to bed. If Noah would've been here I dare say it would have been perfect a American Day.

"The Forest"

The kids and I have a new favorite place. The kids call it "the forest" or "the duck pond". It has both...AND a playground. It's like heaven on earth, kid-size.

This was our trip there last week.

This was right before Hope accidentally stepped in the stream.

This is immediately after.

She was disturbed at first, but Noah and I kept laughing and she eventually got over it. Thank goodness cause she could have thrown one heck of a fit.

Further up the Provo River Trail we found another park. Eden decided she was too tired to go on so Noah carried her for a minute. What a studly little man.

This week we went again, and Eden was being especially funny. She wanted to bring her back pack so that she and Noah could play "ghosts" (Luigi's Mansion) a game they've been playing around the house all week. I knew she had some toys in there, but I didn't really bother to check exactly what she had. She surprised me when I turned to see her grab juice from her back pack, chug it and put it back in, just like a professional backpacker. She came prepared, which is more than I can say for the rest of us.

Eden was very happy to be on this adventure. She kept grabbing leaves while jabbering about making a cake. Then she would pick up sticks and wave them around while singing her made-up songs. She kept up with big brother and sister but took one wrong turn and fell in some really thick mud by the stream. As it was happening, scenes of the Swamp of Sadness in The Never-Ending Story flashed through my head. Remember when Atreyu makes really dramatic facial expressions while he is trudging through the swamp?

Unfortunately, my attempt to document the moment didn't do it justice. I had thought about snapping a picture before picking her up out of the muck, but then a 22 year old version of her little voice interrupted that thought with a "MOM, how could you?" She was not happy about the mud and whined about having to go home and take a bath. After scraping most of the mud off she was good to go and eventually found a little spot to clean off her shoes in the water. But then of course she didn't want to wear them because she said, "there water in nem."

So from then on she went barefoot. Like this.

She didn't get to follow Hope and Noah in the wooded areas, she had to stay on the grass, but she didn't seem to mind.

 Her hair is getting longer and she is growing up so fast.

I took what I thought were some really good shots. I was so excited thinking about how cute they were going to turn out and was even considering framing a few. Then I got home and realized that most of the ones I was so excited about turned out incredibly blurry.

 

I think they were playing the hobbit. See below where Noah is thoughtfully touching his chin.

Hope said several times that she was sure she could climb this tree. She didn't get very far, but seemed satisfied with the distance she did make.



 

After exploring we unloaded Eden and Hope's bikes from the van and rode up the Provo River Trail for a little bit. 

Noah thought Eden was quite funny on her little tricycle cause her little legs would pedal so fast and she would hunker down like she was really flying. 

 

She must've been working hard cause she got thirsty and had to pull over to get into her well-packed bag.

 

I got such a kick out of watching her with that bag. Getting out her drink and then, zipping up her bag, just as though she had been hiking and adventuring for years. Finally she decided to drink and drive. She almost caused several accidents on the trail....seriously. You can't tell by the photo, but she is moving while she is chugging that apple juice. Dangerous stuff.

She also had a mini magnifying glass in her backpack that she pulled out and kept stopping to check out bugs on the pavement. Then she held it up to her eye like a monocle and looked all around her while she was driving....another hazard. Several more accidents avoided. Her first lessons in distracted driving. 

 

We decided to make this place a weekly outing. Next time I think we'll follow Eden's lead and bring some water bottles for everyone - and some water shoes for the Swamp of Sadness.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Before kindergarten started, Hope's teacher gave all the students an assessment test. Hope did not do very well. In fact, her score was very, very low. To be fair, I was sitting nearby when she was given the test and Hope knew more than she told her teacher, but still. You will remember that I admitted in a previous post that I had not prepared her very well academically. Something that I regretted and vowed to do differently with her little sister. Anyway, Hope soaked up everything. So much so that her end of the year score was 
283/289!!!!

 Hope & her teacher, Mrs. Holyoak.

And remember this picture taken on the first day of school?

 

Well, here is one from the last day.

Congratulations to Hope for graduating Kindergarten!

Eden's Joy School Graduation Party

Little Eden made some cute friends this year and LOVED school- except when I was teaching. I don't think she actually considered it school when I didn't drop her off somewhere. She was so excited each Wednesday morning (she called it her "school day")...until after preschool was over and then she was so disappointed that she didn't get to go somewhere for school.

This year she learned the days of the week, how to trace, how to glue lots of things, how to color with effort instead of just scribbling, and lots of social skills. All the girls learned this little saying, "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit." Which is actually something that Hope learned from one of her classmates early in the year and I applied during preschool when all the girls wanted the purple cup. I only have two purple cups. Lesson learned....buy the same color for all the girls. Which is why I brought them all a purple balloon for graduation.





For graduation we had a water party in Mrs. Sandi's backyard. The kids had a picnic and then played in water.



Eden & Lilah watering flowers.



Eden with Mrs. Sandi (Brooke's mom).



Eden with Carter (Lilia's little brother). Eden kept jumping and landing on her bum in the pool with would splash poor Carter in the face. Thank goodness he loved it.



Lilia, Brooke, Eden & Lilah



Singing ABC's & the Days of the Week song.



Getting her diploma that Mrs. Aubrie (Lilia's mom) made. They are super cute and I'm so glad she thought to do it.

 

Aubrie was also thoughtful enough to get a picture of the first and last day and give a copy to all the moms. Thanks Aubrie!!!

 First Day

Last Day

 

Brooke, Lilia, Lilah & Eden

Look how they've grown into little ladies!