4th of July

With the 4th of July on a Sunday things got spread out and it almost didn’t seem like the holiday really happened.  The 4th we went to church, came home and had naps and then at the last minute decided to join Alec and Dixie, and Sarah at the parking lot of La Cantara to watch the fireworks from six flags.  I’m so glad we did.  We all had a blast.  I loved getting to talk with Dixie and Sarah.  Dell loved having time with his brother.  (Doug was a hero husband and stayed home with the little kids so Sarah just had the two big boys with her.)  And the kids loved waiting for the fireworks and the fireworks themselves.

Lizzy was tired and so wasn’t sure about the whole thing.  But the dog in the background kept her entertained.  She’d walk up and bark at it until it “talked back” then wander off, and then come back and do it all again.

The boys sat on to top of Alec and Dixie’s mini van.  Which was in itself super cool.  And with glowsticks….. awesome.  Then add in some fabulous fireworks and I think it was little boy heaven.  Not to mention the fact that the cool big cousins were so kind to the little kids.  Noble and Liam, you guys rock!

At the first “boom” from the fireworks display Lizzy burrowed into my chest but as the noise continued soon she and I were echoing each sound with a “boom” of our own.  Lizzy was pretty amazed by the colors that appeared in the sky.  She seemed to like the quieter, closer ones more than the big bangs in the sky.  Henry liked the big bangs.  Dell liked all of them, and I loved the ones that looked like golden popcorn shimmering in the sky.  Nice work six flags!  You put on a great show.  And we even made it out of the parking lot relatively quickly.

The continuing adventures of cinder-lizzy

Sure Mom, I’ll help with the dishes.  I’ve got a pair of shorts on my head so I don’t need to worry about my hair getting dirty.

Look what a good job I’m doing!

Hey look! I can brush my hair with this thing too.  (That’s when I leaped in and decided the dishes looked great and Cinder-Lizzy could find another chore to do.)

Drive thru?

Lizzy loves her little ladybug push/ride toy.  (Henry loves it too, but that’s a story for another post.)  Yesterday I found her in the pantry riding it and grabbing a snack.  She then scooted off snack in hand and I scooted off to grab the camera.  Here’s the reenactment.

Pulling up

Making her choice.  Applesauce eh?  Nice healthy choice Lizzy.

Riding off.  Just need to get me a spoon now.

I needed this

So yesterday was tough.  Lizzy was sick, Henry was actually really good, but I was stretched to the limit and the little things bothered me.  How I hate when I feel that way.  This morning I was checking my email and had a friend request from a young woman who I taught when she was a 12 years old.  (She's engaged now and about to graduate from college-- now I feel old.)  But on her facebook page she had this message.  It's from one of my most favorite talks ever.  The one I go to when mothering gets hard, because it does sometimes.  It made me cry, but helped me remember where my strength comes from.  So thanks Jessie, for putting this on facebook.  I needed it.  And in case any of you are having a rough mothering day too, here you go.

so proud of myself

Okay, now I sew a little—mostly straight line things like baby blankets and curtains—but I’ve never considered myself as someone crafty.  But the other day our Young Women’s presidency decided the girl’s needed something special if they completed our challenge of reading the Book of Mormon.  Now the president and second councilor are jewelry makers so we went that direction and you should see what we made.  (And I’m so proud of myself.  Due to Dell being on call our out with the missionaries a lot I cranked most of these out by myself while watching TV.  It feels good to have made something that really intimidated me in the past, but in actuality was pretty easy and loads of fun.  Anyone else need a courage necklace?  Dell’s on call again this week.)

Here they are.

We handed this one out to all the girls today.  They all get “courage.”  When they complete the Book of Mormon they’ll get the circle that says “strong.”  (Which fits in perfectly since Elder Bednar challenged our stake to read the Book of Mormon looking for “in the strength of the Lord.”)  The scripture on the card is from Joshua 1:9.  It’s the young women/young men theme for this year and one of my all time favorite scriptures.  “Be strong and of a good courage, be not not afraid neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

good helpers

The kids are pretty good at helping us with yard work and the other day we were trying to spread out a small load of dirt.  It was dumped on our driveway and we had to spread it about to the rest of the yard.  ( I use “we” lightly here, Dell’s the only one strong enough to carry the wheelbarrow full of dirt.  I spread the dirt once it’s dumped and Henry and Lizzy are responsible for picking out the large rocks.  Lizzy especially loves this.) 

Looking good Lizzy.

Go Henry go!

Pigtails

Look!  Lizzy finally had enough hair for some pigtails.