Singing in the Rain

With all of the rain we’ve been having lately, the kids have felt seriously cooped up inside our house. So yesterday morning they ventured outside, bright and early, in their PJs and rainboots! Our cracked driveway does a great job pooling the rainwater, which creates huge puddles for jumping. Davis and I came outside to take some photos, and he couldn’t stop laughing at his bro and sis. I guess there is something kid-of funny about jumping in puddles in your PJs. :) Here’s a short video of Macie and Reid splashing around, making Davis giggle.

The Score: Bad Guys-2 Good Guys-2

So, we are in a war with some crummy neighbors. I will spare you the messy details, but Monday night we scored a little victory that had me al Macie’l pumped up. We were winning the game against these punks. But then Wednesday afternoon we had a little incident that evened the score. It was pretty disheartening for me. So Danny and I went new-house-hunting Wednesday night. Not that we’re really serious about moving, as the house we like the most is completely, totally, not really an option. It is kind-of ridiculous looking right now, and it is definitely ridiculously priced, but it has the most amazing views of the valley ever. It really is a great location. If you promise not to make an offer on it (we’re not making an offer either), you can check out the weird house we dream about buyiing and changing at http://coolprovohome.blogspot.com. It is nice to imagine coming home to a peaceful, non-threatening environment. Having a home where our kids would be safe going out the front door without Mom or Dad right behind, well, it sounds pretty appealing right now. Oh well.

Take the punk kids out of our life, and things are great! We planted our annual flowers this week, and decided to try all new varieties this year. We’ll see how it turns out ... we’ve been pretty faithful to pansies and petunias in the past, so this is a real departure for us. :) Saturday we barbequed with our AWESOME neighbors, the Judkins. They are one of the reasons we don’t want to move. Sunday we enjoyed dinner with some of our favorite friends in the ward, the Magleby’s (as in THE Magleby’s restaurant), and they made the best salad EVER! Monday night we cheered on Elizabeth Baird at her “Red Puppies” soccer game, and enjoyed dinner and games with the Bairds. Reid even skinny dipped in their giant bathtub (Liz and Katelyn got a surprise anatomy lesson!).

And here’s the FHE update:

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

We didn’t do them this week. Check the earlier blogs for the basic list (Davis turned one, Macie's dance recital, Mother’s Day (new computer!), we planted flowers, etc.)

CONFERENCE MOMENTS:

Our past two FHEs we have had our conference talk lessons in the car! Last week we read Elder Wirthlin's "Concern for the One," and this week we read Elder Oaks's "Testimony." Here are our favorite quotes from each, respectively:

"I know each of you bears a concern for a loved one. Give encouragement, service, and support to them. Love them. Be kind to them. In some cases, they will return. In others, they will not. But in all cases, let us ever be worthy of the name we take upon ourselves, even that of Jesus Christ."

"Those who have a testimony of the restored gospel also have a duty to share it. ...Those who have the gift to know have an obvious duty to bear their witness so that those who have the gift to believe on their words might also have eternal life."

Prima Ballerina

Last Saturday we enjoyed Macie’s second-ever dance recital with Center Stage Dance Studio -- she was a superstar! Macie strutted her stuff front-and-center to a song called “Fuss” -- kinda fun for the little girls to act like prima donnas on stage (Macie has plenty of experience acting that way at home, so this dance came quite naturally for her.). After a morning of dress rehearsals and photographs, no naps, and 19 dances before Macie’s class, Davis and Reid were in meltdown mode when she actually performed. Here is her recital in all of it’s glory, (with a bonus soundtrack of crying kids in the background) and here are some pictures of the special event:

A professional photographer took some photos of the live performance which I thought were pretty cute, too. The general link is http://khoggie.blogspot.com/ . The specific link for Macie's class performance is at shutterfly: Macie's performance shots. Macie's class was in the matinee performance, #19 of 40!

Dad, you are so cute

Danny was sick most of last week (not this week, but last), and the kids and I did all we could to try and help him feel better. Macie was particularily concerned about Daddy, and thought that the more notes she wrote him, the better he would feel. They were all very sweet and thoughtful, but his favorite one was a simple note which read “Dad, you are so cute.” Of course, he was quite flattered that Macie recognized his cuteness. I found it amusing when, a few days later, I found an earthworm in the flowerbeds. “Oh, it is sooo cute!” Macie exclaimed! “So cute!” Hmmm. Maybe that note wasn’t as great of a compliment as we initially thought. Macie may not be the best judge of cuteness. But don’t worry, Danny. I think you are “so cute” too!

Happy Mother’s Day

Well, after I spent all day Saturday at the Utah Republican Convention, I think Danny really started to appreciate the job I do as a mother. He had a project to do (power-washing our deck, which looks fabulous now!), and he quickly realized how difficult it is to get anything done with three kids. How mothers with more do it, I have no clue!

Anyway, I got home to a beautifully washed deck, and a home that looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off inside! That evening Danny went Mother’s Day shopping and presented me with the coolest gift ever -- a new MacBook Pro, on which I am writing this blog. Although I feel almost guilty accepting such an amazing present (and part of me thinks I should forgo future birthday and christmas presents because of the extravagance of this present), the selfish part of me is loving it. I don’t know how to use a Mac, but I’m excited to learn. And this nifty computer looks like it has some really nice features. So, here’s a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful husband for the BEST MOTHER’S DAY EVER. And, I’ll THINK about forgoing my b-day or Christmas.

And, on a Mother’s Day note (even though I’m writing this a week after Mother’s Day), I think I have the best mothers and grandmothers in the world! That is my totally unbiased opinion, at least. I am so grateful for the fabulous job my mother did raising me (I mean, look at how great I turned out!), the great job Mom Gunnell did raising Danny (he turned out pretty great, too!), and the wonderful way my grandmothers have taken care of me and raised my parents as well. Thanks for being awesome, Moms!

He’s Number One!

Well, Davis's b-day ended up a success, after all of my worries. We got a little too busy to do our weekly update, but it really was a blog-worthy day! We read lots of books, played at Macie's preschool (she had her Mother's Day program in the morning, and she sang fabulously!), went to the Farm Country with Daddy, ate pancakes and bacon at IHOP, played catch with Reidy, opened some fun presents, and smashed a Lightning McQueen cake!

Here are the pictures from our happy day!

I'm cautiously petting my first cow.

Run away! Hungry cow! He's eating Daddy's pants!

My first pony ride. I'm still a little nervous, after that cow scare.

You expect me to eat this cake? I wanted a homemade baseball one.

I guess it's OK.

Finger paints!

Thanks for the new presents! I love them!

I am so happy to have sweet little Davis in our family! Here’s a short list of why Davis is our #1 favorite one year old!:

*His infectious giggles and grins

*His sharp hippo teeth (he’s like the baby in “A Series of Unfortunate Events... he could whittle wood with those teeth!)

*His super snuggling powers

*His bottom wiggle as he crawls around

*His towhead of hair which always sticks straight out in the back, no matter how many times I brush it

*His curiosity and adventurous nature (honestly, I don’t always LOVE this, as it makes for a lot of messes and need for close supervision, but sometimes I do...)

*His sweet babbles “dada” and “mama”

*His slobbery, open mouth kisses

Things are falling apart...

So, this was supposed to be Davis's birthday cake. It was going to be a baseball. It was supposed to be a VERY CUTE baseball. But, as you can see, it has fallen horribly, terribly, irreversibly apart. Poor Davis. I am going to have to buy him a fancy cake from the bakery. Poor me. I kind-of pride myself on making my kids amazing birthday cakes. I've never had a cake fall apart on me before. But, this cake officially qualifies as a baking disaster! Danny thinks that I was frosting it with too much force. From the look of the shattered cake, I would have to agree. And if you'd had the week that we've been having, you might have frosted a cake with a little too much force too. Not to vent too much online (I already did that three weeks ago), but we've had some real struggles lately with our neighbors. I'll spare you the dirty details (call us if you want the full scoop!), but the basic gist of it is that we have been threatened, screamed at, cursed at, yadda-yadda-yadda by some punk neighbors of ours. It's culminated in two visits with the police this week, and resulted in a lot of stress for us. I began to frost this cake 5 minutes after our latest episode with the police tonight. Soooo, I MIGHT have used just a little bit too much force. MAYBE. But poor Davis shouldn't have to suffer for the stupid problems some punk kids are causing. Nothing is working out as planned for his birthday. If he was a little more aware of his surroundings, and realized what a first birthday should be, he would be terribly disappointed.
I, myself, am already terribly disappointed. I do not love him any less than I love Macie and Reid. The sweet little fella makes me happier than I can say. His hippo teeth and dimpled grin and little waddle of a crawl are just too adorable! So, I wish that I could help his first birthday be a celebration worth remembering! We wanted to go to the farm (he loves animals) -- but it's supposed to rain. I wanted to make him a super cute cake -- well, you can see what happened with that. I've spent hours and hours searching for the "perfect present" -- and still I don't know what to get him. If you have any good ideas, let me know!!
Sooo, I'll tell you next week if Davis's big B-day turns out to be a flop or not. Before we started having our neighbor issues, this last week was actually pretty fun. Mike and Angela introduced us to Cabella's on Friday night, and the kids especially had a blast. Danny found all sorts of fun guy stuff he wanted to buy. Guns, ammo, tents, sports stuff, etc. Luckily, we left with very few actual purchases. :) If you haven't been, you should go. It's free, and they even give you aracade tokins to play some gun shooting games!
Saturday night we had an impromptu little party with some of our friends from the ward, and Danny grilled up some very delish steaks. They were so delish, in fact, that the our friends couldn't stop talking about them at Tuesday night's PEC meeting! Nothing like hot-tubbing and steaks after a day of hard work!
Then on Monday, Cinco de Mayo, we celebrated FHE with the Judkins (some of our very FAVORITE neighbors! Thank goodness we do have some GOOD neighbors too!). Yummy quesadillas, black bean salsa, Mexican chocolate cake, maracas, sombreros, and pinatas! We had a wild and crazy party (you know how wild and crazy we are, after all), after our conference lesson, of course. :)
Now, here's the weekly FHE scoop:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
DAVIS: Mom thought he was eating a stick in the garden. He was actually eating a worm. I'm not sure that this is a really good accomplishment, but some kids do eat worms on dares or bets. So, maybe it means that he is brave? or that he has exotic tastes?
REID: Said his BIG accomplishment was that he jumped on the trampoline. I'm gonna say his accomplishment is that I finally retired all of his 18 month size pants. Yes, that's right, 18 month size pants. But he's THREE YEARS OLD, you say. That's true. But his little bum is so small that he cannot keep his new 2T pants on without his belt notched up all the way!
MACIE: She read her hardest book yet. And she was asked to be a "guest dancer" for another studio's dance recital at the Covey Center for the Arts next month! When I ask her about her dance classes, she says "Mom, I danced my heart out!" Played her last spring soccer game!
MOM: This was a less productive week... I got my voice back just in time to sing for a fireside Sunday. I almost finished planting the garden with Danny and the kids. I had my back adjusted (after over a year of having a "bad back!") and so far it is working. And I mailed everyone their birthday presents LATE (boo! This is a reverse accomplishment. Sorry to my Mom, baby Cassidy, Mike, and my Dad. If it makes you feel any better, remember what I said about not knowing what to get Davis. Well, by the time I am done typing this blog it will be Davis's birthday, so I am late getting him his present too!)
DAD: Helped Mom plant the garden. Fixed the back door. Having a phenomenal start to his softball season -- leading his team in batting with an average of .769! We love to cheer him on!Go dad!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
We read Elder Ronald A. Rasband's talk (of the seventy), entitled "Special Experiences." The winning quote is, "Remember when you first knew that Joseph Smith was God’s prophet of the Restoration? Remember when you accepted Moroni’s challenge and knew that the Book of Mormon was indeed another testament of Jesus Christ? Remember when you received an answer to fervent prayer and realized that your Heavenly Father knows and loves you personally? As you contemplate such special experiences, don’t they give you a sense of gratitude and resolve to go forward with renewed faith and determination?"