A couple of funnies from July

I have seriously slacked off in keeping track of the kids' funny comments lately.  :( 
Here are a couple I wrote down one Saturday in July. 

Eden wasn't very happy about cleaning up the playroom and the bigger girls were hinting that she was acting like a baby because she wouldn't help.  She came crying to me, "I'm NOT a baby!" 

"Great!" I said.  "That means you can work!  :)" 

"No.  I'm a princess.  Princesses don't work."

....so we talked about how the really great princesses know how to work and are cheerful doing it. 

Something must have sunk in, because a little while later I heard Eden bringing Ryn into the area where she had been working.  "I cleaned it all up!" she crowed. 

Ryn's response made my heart smile.  "If you are really telling the truth I'm just going to HUG you!" 

Hair

We have lots of girls, so Kevin loves their curls and all the fun things we can do with their hair...like this star-do I saw someone with on the 4th of July
But Darren is a boy. And I've been begging to give him a trim for a while now.  Kevin, however, is in love with the curls (mostly in the back) and keeps putting it off. I laughed out loud, though, seeing my little Huckleberry Finn--all scraggly with flood-overalls on and playing the harmonica. Don't you think it's about time?

Pioneer Day

For FHE on Monday night, we talked about the miracle of the seagulls and how the Lord can bless us with exactly what we need, just like he blessed the pioneers. 

On Tuesday, since most of our actual day was spent cleaning up our house projects, for the evening we headed out to see the Seagull Monument

and the Great Salt Lake where the inspired birds make their nests.
 

Darren wanted to stay in the water forever and wasn't very happy to have to get back in the stroller.
And Eden, on the other hand, thought the smell was so terrible that she never left her stroller.  She just kept pleading, "Let's go hooooooome!" 
And so we did, thankful to have been a part of such a beautiful day and thankful for faithful pioneers who, through so much adversity, trusted the Lord and stayed true to Him until the end.

I love my life

Just a couple of glimpses into my day today that show so clearly why I absolutely love my life. One is Elle showing us how Ariel was folding her arms during family prayer. The other is all four of my angels climbing onto the futon with their own books to read while I cleaned up after breakfast. I didn't get a shot of Kevin cleaning out the garage or checking off my honey-do list in record time, but in so many different ways he showed me how much he loves me.
I can't even count how many times my heart melted today as I watched each of them learning and growing and teaching and loving each other.
I get so frustrated with myself when I lose my patience or over-react to the tiniest things. And being pregnant only makes my fuse shorter. :(. I love these people more than life itself. How can I waste even one moment that I have with them? A sad example happened one night a few weeks ago at bedtime. I cant even remember why I was annoyed. Most likely, someone wasn't moving quickly enough through the teeth-brushing/potty assembly line. Whatever the trigger, I didn't do a very good job at keeping my outward cool because Ryn looked at me and anxiously asked, "mom, is this the worst day of your life?".
So my Official Pioneer Day resolution: SHOW them how much I love my life. And how they ARE my life. In every reaction to the millions of little frustrations and changes to plans and messes to clean up and challenges, show them that THEY are more important than anything else. I'll have to return and report often to stay on track because I am human and pregnant, but I am committed, and thankfully, I am able "to begin again". So this story will end on "a note of hope, on a strong amen..".

4th of July

We started the day bright and early with a ward breakfast and program at the park.  I was cooking 4 of the 17 breakfast casseroles and so I was up and ready to be there before 8 (the fun run was at 7:30).  But not a creature was stirring chez nous.  I had to jump on everyone at 7:45 just to get the food there in time, and that was even leaving Kevin to get Darren up and dressed and come later.  Besides great food (they also had pumpkin, blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes and fruit on the menu), it was a wonderful program.  We had a flag raising and joined in for the Pledge of Allegiance, which always makes me cry, a great video with photographs of beautiful scenes from across the country, wagon rides (like hay rides but no hay), and an incredible speech by a young veteran who served in Afghanistan.  I've decided that the 4th of July, from now on, must start this way.  I want to be moved to tears as I think about how much I love this great country.  If every American was able to feel that, even just that one day each year, I wonder what it could change.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures of that great morning :(, but our 2nd half of the day was recorded by Michelle :).  We had a fantastic BBQ at their house, a mini fireworks show in their backyard, and lots of play time on the trampoline.  Since all of the Ellis and Linkous cousins have moved to other states, we are extra thankful for our Lehnardt family!   Our usual tradition is to attend the huge fireworks show at Sugarhouse park, but we tried out a new spot for the big night fireworks that was a little closer and not quite as crowded.  We loved every minute.