Belle, My Princess (February 2009)

Belle has such a bright and sunny personality. She is truly a joy. Here are some recent Belle moments I want to remember as her mother, because these moments are dear to my heart, and have blessed my life: 1. When she and I took mini pizzas to Books's class and she followed me all the way there and back so quietly, and then when she saw Books, she offered to let him hold "Ella" her Cinderella doll. 2. When she pretends she is talking on the phone. She does it so well, today I had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't really talking to someone on one of our phones, especially when she said "335-4398, uh huh..." 3. When she says, "Mommy I need you". 4. When someone comes in the door and she runs to give them a big hug and say, "I missed you". 5. When she sings her ABC's. 6. When she got 3 shots and her blood drawn in one day and never cried, unless I put her down. 7. When she runs to see me when I pick her up from Nursery. 8. When she calls herself "Princess (Belle) or "Jujubee". 9. When she calls Sleeping Beauty "Shake Yr Butie". 10. When I holler "Dinner is ready" and she comes running and tells everybody "Dinnert!" 11. When she sat perfectly quiet and still in a shopping cart (which I know she doesn't like) so she could get a lollipop. 12. When she helps me tuck in her "Brudders". 13. When we went to see Belle from Beauty and the Beast at Disney and she didn't want to see Ariel, so she ran past her to Belle, and Belle laughed and said, "Who's your princess?" and she promptly turned around and pointed to me. 14. When she prays she often says, "will you help me?" 15. When she wakes up in the morning, she is so excited to see everyone. 16. When you give her something and she says, "Thank you so much!" 17. When she sings "The Cuppycake Song" or "You're My Berry Best Friend". 18. When she jumps while singing "Sunbeam". 19. When she says, "Mommy, I need some lovin's" and then crawls up on my lap.

Grandpa

Reasons Why We Love Grandpa:

1. He let us style his hair.
2. He introduced us to peanut butter and maple syrup, our favorite sandwich.
3. He could wrestle with the best of them!
4. He grew a beautiful garden.
5. He loved to travel,and brought us toys and goodies from his trips.
6. He wore really cool plaid shirts, like ours.
7. He loved bright colors.
8. He took lots of pictures.
9. He taught us to be respectful.
10. He always had time to listen to what we had to say.

Missing you Grandpa! You will be in our hearts forever.

California Adventure Day

Belle

Sitting down to wait for the brudders to ride the Grizzly River Rapids ride.

Buzz, Books, and Bob after a yummy sour dough sandwich lunch.

Buzz playing hide and seek. He's hiding in the picture.

The kids were so excited they put Mickey on the Ferris Wheel!

Bob's Birthday

Friday was Bob's 8th birthday. We made rainbow cupcakes with double-decker frosting and fondant dinosaurs. The kids enjoyed helping make the dinosaurs. The fondant is kind of like Play-doh, only edible. We bought ours at a cake supply this time, but I'm going to try making it soon. Here are what the cupcakes looked like:

Fun to make, but if I had it to do over again I'd put the dinosaurs on after we got them to school because it was a warm day so the frosting started to melt and they started to slip. The kids didn't care, but it was kind of embarrassing to bring them to school that way. They still looked okay and got eaten. It made Bob happy because he loves sweets and was happy to have helped make them, and I think he enjoys showing off his younger siblings, too. The rainbow cupcake mix came out really great. You divide the batter into six parts and color each part a color of the rainbow, and then drop into the cups by spoonfuls.

Before we brought the cupcakes to school, we filled the familyroom with balloons and a few punching balls to surprise Bob when he got home. Later on we gave him his birthday present, a Nintendo DS with a Lego Indiana Jones game (which he has been begging for for a while now...) It really is amazing. If you blow on the screen, Indiana Jones blows out torches and blows up rafts. They are excited to get more games and I'm thinking it's time to reinforce video game time limits.

For dinner we went to Red Robin, where we saw Books's wonderful 2nd grade teacher, and had a nice dinner. We were pretty tired after that, and decided to save the birthday cake for the next morning so we could all crash when we got home! Really busy day, but I think one Bob will remember as being fun and a special one for him.

Rainbows and Silver Lining

Several years ago, our family decided to take a vacation to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park (with a stop off in Canonville, Utah just for fun). We wanted to have a rugged and bonding experience, so we rented a motorhome and drove the trip. I think it was one of the best weeks we've had together. I don't think any of us will forget passing around cheese and crackers and summer sausage in the car, picnicking in an open field in the middle of nowhere with our baseball equipment handy, or especially, the rate at which our hearts were pumping as two year-old Buzz went racing down a trail on the other side of the wooden fence at the top of the Grand Canyon (I think just remembering it raises my blood pressure!...) 

Those are some fantastic (and frightening!) memories. But mostly, I remember long talks in that motorhome as we drove. The weather was so beautiful, with a clear blue sky and scattered showers. When we arrived at Bryce Canyon, we were awed and inspired by the beauty of its creation. It was surreal. The pottery coral colors glowed against the cornflower blue sky, as did the still wet blacktop road and glossy greenery surrounding the viewpoint washed clean from the recent rainfall. But the most breathtaking vision was the rainbow beginning at one of the peaks in the rocks and disappearing into the sky. It reminded us of the rainbow given so long ago, as a promise to the good-hearted Noah, and of the promises we had made to each other, and to our Father in Heaven. 

As we drove along that stretch of road we encountered occasional clouds, some light and fluffy, some dark and grey. The white ones hung in the sky, fluffy cotton balls inviting us to rest our weary heads upon them, but playfully staying high in the sky out of our reach. Then there were the dark ones. When they moved across they dominated everything, grabbing the light with a sort of natural osmosis and laying like a wet blanket over our once happy sky. Our mood fell and smiles melted. But as we gazed out the windows wishing for the light to return, we noticed something. Each dark cloud was illuminated from behind by a streak of light, even brighter than anything we had seen before. The silver lining. We reflected upon the silver linings in our own lives, and how when our dark clouds come and threaten to smother our happiness, that silver lining is ever-present, and ready to shine through the darkness, and it does when we allow ourselves to see it there behind the clouds. 

Today is a cloudy day. I am smiling because as I picked up my children at various times, two of them pointed upwards, and gazing up at the sky, proclaimed that our sky is full of silver lining, and that makes our sky particularly beautiful today.

Disney Dayz

Buzz with Tigger and Pooh. They were so much fun!

We are a Disney family. We love to go there in the rain, day or night, any day of the week, and never get tired of it. We especially love to go in the rain because the lines are short (5-20 minutes usually) and well, we just like water. Disneyland really is a happy place for us. We took Books to Disneyland for his 11th birthday on Tuesday and then we had a day off of school on Monday, so we took the opportunity to get another Disneyfix. It was really pouring in the morning, but we loved it~! The kids were able to ride Big Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Peter Pan in 20 minutes, and Pinocchio, Snow White, Dumbo, Star Tours and Splash Mountain were all 5 minutes. We fast passed Indy, and Small World and Space Mountain were each 10 minutes. We walked right onto Winnie the Pooh and Pirates of the Carribean. Small World was fun because they added dolls that represent Disney characters. The lady who works in the Winnie the Pooh candy store said there are 32 of them, and we were able to find 24. We also discovered they have some really delicious candy in their candy shops. We tried a Valentine candy apple (yum!) and the Goofy Cotton Candy is the most delicious cotton candy ever! We are looking forward to going back one day next month.

Buzz, Belle, and Bob with Lightening McQueen on Books's Birthday

Books's Birthday

Tomorrow is Books's birthday. I can't believe my baby will be 11! He is growing so fast and I am so proud of the young man he is becoming. He is strong and happy and a good big brother. He hasn't asked for a gift, except that he wants to go to Disneyland with his brothers and sister, so we will be making a visit to Mickey's House tomorrow. One thing about Books that makes me proud of him is his respect for others. Books always treats others with respect, uses respectful titles, and is a great defender. Happy Birthday, Books! You know who you are, and I am so proud of you! Love, Mom