The Zoo and the Recital

On Monday we went to the Topeka Zoo becuase it is free on my zoo membership that expires this week. I figured it was time to go check it out. Our friends the Tilley's went too.

Mary Emma checking out the tiger.

It was a beautiful day with everything in bloom, however, my allergies were so bad one eye almost swelled shut.
Although I was miserable, the kids still had a good time, and that's what counts.

Wednesday was the rehearsal for the recital, as well as overpriced pictures. This is Camilla and Hyrum's dance dynamos class. (Notice Camilla's sleeves, I used old knee highs and sewed them in.)

Thursday evening was the performance. In this picture Camilla is the tallest girl, next to the boy on the right, and Hyrum is on the far left.

Chimney sweeps with face paint.

Both kids did really well. Camilla seems to have real dancing talent in that she hardly missed a step. She told me later " I love being on the stage!" I guess she takes after her old mom. I was also impressed with how well Hyrum knew the dances. He hasn't liked dance that much, and so I was surprised by how happy he was on stage, and how much he seemed to enjoy the performance. By the end of the recital (their 3rd number was the very last one) Hyrum was getting a little bored and started making up his own dance; I was laughing out loud by the end. So, the recital is over, and both kids seemed to have a good time, and Mary Emma even had some booty wagging going on in the aisle. I cancelled them for the rest of the summer, but by next fall, who knows?

Super Heroes and Chimney Sweeps

The other day Hyrum told me he wants to be a superhero when he grows up and not a missionary. So I told him that missionaries have more power than any superhero could hope to have because they have the priesthood of God. "But," he said, "can missionaries fly?" "Well," I responded, "I flew all the way from Utah to Puerto Rico when I was a missionary." "No mom, not in a plane, I mean really fly." Oh well he had me there.

Camilla and Hyrum's dance recital is this week and one of their numbers is "Chim Chim Cheree." I had fabulous intentions of making Camilla a plaid dress and Hyrum a matching vest, but with Jacob gone, ideas like that never materialize. So, everyone else in the class is wearing cut offs, and a tie around the neck or something. Yesterday I got my sewing machine out for a few minutes and this is what I came up with. I think they look cute, and Hyrum gets to wear the hat my brother brought me from England after his mission.

Eight is Great!

It's been 8 fabulous years. Here's to us:

I Love You!

A Few New PIctures

A few weeks ago after finishing up Camilla's geology unit I took her and Hyrum and two of the Tilley girls up to the Atomic Cannon near post to look for fossils. The hill was once underwater and it's pretty easy to find fossilized shells. We had a good time, although the wind was about to blow us off the hill.

Mary Emma's a big girl now, well partly a big girl. A couple weeks ago I decided she wouldn't sleep in the crib anymore. She loves her bed and her freedom, and I love that I don't have to climb out of bed as much anymore because she just comes to me.

Camilla is now continuing her tradition of carting around younger siblings in the toy grocery cart.

Hyrum was able to make gingerbread men for his preschool this week.

However I'm not sure, but I think I saw one jump off the pan when I turned my head and run away.

The dress. About twenty years ago my sister bought this dress for her girl at the thrift store. Since then her other girl wore the dress and then she passed it on to my other sister. Her two girls then wore the dress and then she passed it on to me. Camilla wore the dress.

And now Mary wears the dress.

Watch out Aubrey, once she grows out of the dress it's coming full circle :).

Doing What I Love Best

Happy Mother's Day! Mine started at 12 am with a baby who still wasn't asleep, and a little boy coughing and crying in his bed with a fever of 100. I was really tired last night and I thought to myself, "great, here it goes." When I woke up this morning to find everyone well, I thought "maybe it won't be so bad." Then we couldn't find church clothes, and when they were finally found wadded up under the bed and filthy, I thought, "alright then, let's just get to church." When we got to church, late of course, because the same little boy who hadn't put his clothes in the hamper threw a fit about wearing his suit coat that was a little short to cover up his filthy white shirt, I thought, "at least we're here." And then while eating her piece of Sacrament bread Mary Emma threw up all over herself. I got Mary Emma cleaned up as best as possible, and then practically had to tackle the deacons in order to get the water, I sent Camilla up to sit with another family, grabbed Hyrum and Mary and set off for home before she could throw up again. I went back after church to pick up Camilla and she wasn't there. She had told the family she sat with that they needed to take her home with them. However, I didn't know that. Although I figured something like that had happened, and I felt calm and comforted by the spirit, still I was looking for her for half an hour before it finally got back to me that is what had happened. They decided to keep for the rest of the day to give me a break, and Mary Emma slept all day and so Hyrum and I spent a lot of time together.

It was a good day because I was doing what I love best. My dear husband who always feels so helpless over there in Iraq tries to instill in the children the idea that presents don't have to come from the store, but can be nice things that you do to help. My Mother's Day gifts didn't come from a store this year (although I did pick up my flower after church while hunting for my daughter). It's rare that I get to spend quality one on one time with Hyrum. He's the middle child and for the last two years I've been homeschooling one sister while trying to keep the other sister from destroying my house. What a gift to just spend some time with him where he didn't have to share my lap with anyone else. What a gift to have Camilla come home from a day of playing with friends, and give me a big hug and tell me how much she missed me. It's good to be missed. What a gift it was when Mary Emma was finally able to keep down a piece of toast and I was the one who got her first smile of the entire day. And now to go in their room and see three of the most important people in my life, safe in their beds, well taken care of, and loved, I think to myself, "It's been a good day because I have done what I love the best, and that is being your mother."

The Best Two Weeks (sorry it's two weeks late)

We sure had fun with Jacob home.

We went to the temple in Nebraska, and saw all of the lovely spring bulbs.

And we went to St Louis; stopping at this park in a little town on the way. We didn't know there was anywhere that still had a merry-go-round.

We visited the St Louis Zoo

and saw the beautiful flowers there too.

Then we took a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River.

We rode up the Arch and looked down on the city.

Then we hiked up to the mouth of a cave (the entrance is gated or we would have gone in).

That day Camilla, also finally learned how to swim.

Finally we came home and played in the backyard.

Camilla finally learned how to ride a bike,

and so did Hyrum.

On the day Jacob was supposed to leave, he missed his 7:30am flight (if you are not at the ariport 30 minutes early you don't fly, who knew) and they couldn't get him on a flight until 4:00pm. So, we went hiking again, except the kids rode their bikes, for 6 miles.

He returned safely to Iraq, and now we have the count down to him really coming home.