New skill

Guess what Clara learned how to do?

We've graduated

From Masking

to Duct.

Ginormous Day

Today was our little guys first day of preschool. He was so excited! He goes in the afternoon, which is a great thing because he is not a morning person. Today he slept in until 10:30! When he woke up he was so ready to go!

He packed his green backpack and then I made him take the traditional go-stand-on-the-front-porch picture to mark the occasion.

On our way, we made a stop at his favorite store, Fresh and Easy, so he could pick some flowers out for his teacher. I let him chose what ones he thought she would like.

Doesn't he look so excited. He actually was excited about picking the flowers, just not having me take a picture of every move inside the neighborhood market. How embarrassing!

He thought about taking her this succulent because it was green, his favorite color. He then decided it wasn't pretty enough because it didn't have flowers on it.

He then thought about taking one of these Cati, but decided they were way too sharp.

He finally decided on a large potted flower, the biggest one there. Good choice. I thought the orange flowers looked appropriate for a preschool teacher.

He was then insistent that we picked out a card for her. I showed him the ones that were appropriate for the occasion, but he had his heart set on the happy birthday duck card. Oh well, I tried to guide him, but I felt it was more important that he pick it out.

He couldn't wait to get it into the envelope and didn't want to write anything on the inside, only the outside envelope.

We got to preschool about 10 minutes early so we waited in the car. He was bouncing everywhere - so excited!!!

Finally it was 12:29 - the time I said he could get out of the car. He jumped out and made the long walk I have been dreading. How did my baby become old enough to go to preschool??? Didn't I have him last month???

He presented them like a true gentleman.

Thomas and Mrs. M. We are so excited to have her as a teacher.

Clara cried and cried. She did not want her brother to go. Surprisingly, I was very well composed. I didn't cry, I think I was too excited for him.

Three hours later I went to pick him up. He was thrilled! He had a great time. The first thing he said to me was "Mom, I didn't have to go to time out!!!" He then said, "I had such a great time!"

Clara was so happy to have him back. She wouldn't let go of him when he climbed in the car.

He got into the car and showed me his project (which I am having a problem scanning) and then I started crying. I knew it would come. I was just so happy for him and a tad bit sad for me. My baby is growing up.

On our drive home I asked him about his day and he just kept talking and talking about everything the did. He asked me if I had heard a certain song and tried singing it. He was trying to remember all the words, but was having a hard time. I asked him about their cooking project and he told me that had made rice crispy treats. He said they were SOOOOO GOOOD. I asked if Mrs. M had used a secret ingredient and he replied, "yes, marshmallows!"

We then celebrated the day by going to get some frozen yogurt.

Worth getting up for

I laid in bed for about 15 minutes today wishing and hoping Clara would go back to sleep. She has a really bad habit of waking up about an hour before I would like her to. She will sit in her crib and make noises until I come in and rescue her. I finally gave in and made my way to her room. When I walked in she quickly stood up and said....

"I appy."

("I'm happy.")

When to worry...

Should I be worried that this little girl got up on a stage today, started dancing, and lifted up her shirt so everyone could see her "goods?" Something tells me I may want to keep her away from the strip.

Let's make a deal...

" Mom, can I have all your coins and I will buy you more when I get bigger?"

The Assistant

We are still around, still hot, and still counting down the days until fall. This last weekend Thomas, Clara and I abandoned Steve and the messy house and took off with Grandma Shirley to Southern California. My cousin asked if I would come and do a photo shoot with her 3 adorable boys. I gladly obliged because 1) It got me out of the heat for 48 hours and 2) it was a great opportunity to add to my portfolio and get some more practice. Clara was my assistant and made sure nobody walked off with my camera bag.

All about Clara Jane

Clara's word list:

mommy, daddy, puppy, pew-we, that stinks, cookie, here you go, thank you, please, uncle Tim, Harley, Crystal, grandma, more, drink, kitty, were'd it go, baby

She has a word for Thomas, but it's not very understandable.

When we say "I love you" she answers back with "I do."

Along with her words, she is a pro at animal sounds.

She loves to dance, do somersaults, and play in the backyard

These are her favorite shoes. (mine too) I took her to the shoe store because her feet decided to grow really fast. I had 2 pairs for her to pick from. She chose these ones and I was quite happy.

She may be a handful, but she is fun. It's hard to believe she is coming up on 20 months! She will be 2 before we know it!

Because I need to write this down.

Today we had swim day. Thomas has been looking forward to this day for about a month now. It was at the home of a family in our ward. By calling their pool a pool, you are insulting it. It is huge. It has multiple waterfalls, 3 slides and a couple very high waterfalls you can jump off. It's pretty impressive to put it mildly.

Thomas mastered jumping off the cliffs (at least 10-15 feet high) last time we went and has been so excited to do it again. Today he wanted me to join him. How do you tell a 4-year-old that you are kind of scared, not only of jumping, but jumping in front of a backyard full of ladies from the RS? I climbed up to the top of the cliff and tried to stall. Thomas pulled me down to his level and started rubbing my shoulders while singing me a song he made up on the spot about not being afraid to jump. It was so sweet. How could I back out? He then took my hand, lead me to the edge, looked up at me and said, "It's okay, Mom. I'll hold your hand the whole way."

And with that I plugged my nose and took the plunge.

Perception

"Mom, I had a dream last night that I was in the circus. I didn't do anything, but there were lot of clowns."

(I don't know about you, but that sounds like a nightmare to me!)

Must see tv.

If you are not watching Sesame Street, you are missing out. I love their music videos. I truly think that the producers of the show do these just for us moms who are at home with our kids. These are a few of my favorites...

I wish I had this one when I was teaching geometry to my old students.

This one has been one of my favorites for a while.

Is that really my job?

Thomas is growing up. A tad too fast if you ask me. One of the problems we have is he thinks he is an adult. When he gets reprimanded for doing something, he always turns around and uses the same "sayings" on us as we use on him. I have been asked "Mom, why are you acting this way?" or "You know I don't like it when you talk to me like that." It takes everything in me to keep a straight face and not laugh. Today it couldn't be helped, I lost it and couldn't stop laughing.

Thomas was running across the family room and stubbed his toe on Clara's sippy cup that was laying on the floor. He hit his toe, then grabbed it while falling towards the couch. I quickly came to his aid and asked if he was all right, but instead of answering my my question he very sternly said...

"Mom, why is that cup on the floor? Don't you know you are the cleaner around here?"

I should have set him straight right then, but I couldn't get a hold of myself. I was laughing. Really hard and loud! Maybe next time I teach him how it really is. I'm sure I'll have the chance.

(Would you believe this picture was in my files - crazy how perfect it fit this post!)

At the tone, the time will be 3:36 am....

I can't sleep. I was doing just fine until....

This little girl started to whine. She was moaning, then whining, then crying. I finally dragged myself into her room to check on her and figured she just wanted a little cuddle. I happily obliged because she rarely wakes up at night, so I knew something must have scared her. I heard some talking outside, so I looked out her window and saw a cop car down the street blocking one of the intersections. After seeing that, I was wide awake. I had to watch and see if anything else happened.

Of course, nothing did.

About 30 minutes later, I climbed back in bed only to be reminded that I really need to slather myself in sunscreen when I do my kids. Yesterday we went swimming and I neglected myself. I have been in pain all day long. I know better! I'm Irsih for heaven's sake! I burn faster then bread under a broiler! I tried to rub some aloe gel on my back, but arms only reach so far. I tried to get comfortable, but it wasn't happening.

To top that off, Steve was snoring. Usually he is not a snore-er unless he is extremely tired, which I know he is. I didn't want to roll him over and wake him up, so I turned on the TV to try and block out the noise. I usually turn on QVC or something else for the mindless white noise, but unfortunately I stumbled on a movie that has great Michael Buble music and got sucked into it.

The movie ended at 3 am and I was still wide awake trying to get comfortable. I decided I would go take some tylenol to try and mask the sunburn pain. Lucky for me, when I got downstairs I found that Steve hadn't eaten all the left over chocolate cake from the Cheesecake Factory. I grabbed a fork, turned on the computer to play around and then dropped the cake on the floor.

I'm not going to tell you what I did next.

Drum roll please.....

I finally finished editing all the wedding pictures. Photography is an interesting art. I am a creative person, I love to make things and create things that pop into my mind in the middle of the night while I am trying to sleep. With everything else, you can change the end results. You can rip out a seam, paint over, cut out, or start over. That is so not the case with photography. It is what it is. I look at these and love them, then come back an hour later and get a pit in my stomach because I should have been standing 3 feet more to the left. These are just a few of the many, many, MANY that I took. I am sure that my favorites will be different from the bride and grooms favorites.

I still have a lot to learn, but I know I will eventually get there. I can't thank this cute couple enough for letting me use them as my lab rats.

I need this song on my ipod.

This video was made in the Antwerp, Belgium Central (Train) Station on the 23rd of March 2009.
. . . with no warning to the passengers passing through the station,
at 08:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing 'Do, Re, Mi' begins to play on the public address system.â€
As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances.
They created this amazing stunt with just two rehearsals!