Three.

Clara is now officially a big girl. Well, kind of. She still poops her pants and sucks on a binkie, but as far as numbers are concerned, she's a big girl. (I know I need to work with her on those things, but I'm having issues with her getting older. I'll get there, don't judge.)

We have spent the past week talking up her birthday and getting her excited for it. Maybe a little too much. She wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party. I was fine with that. What I didn't expect was she thought that Yo Gabba Gabba was actually going to be making an appearance at our house for her little family party. I spent all day Thursday trying to convince her that Foofa and DJ Lance were working and wouldn't be able to make it. Lucky for me she was distracted with her cake. She didn't even realize they weren't there.

I don't know who was more excited about the cake her - or me. I drank about a half-gallon of diet coke so I could stay awake to make this for her. For instructions, click here. I will honestly admit I became obsessed with Foofa. I had to get her eyes just right. Then after about 30 minutes of trying to paint the edge of the fondant I gave up and agreed to let Foofa have a black eye. If any one asks, it's Muno's fault. (this is probably the part in the post where all you parents with grown children are asking what kind of drugs I'm on. I often wonder that about the show's creators when I hear the names of some of these characters.)

I really wanted to take Clara for a some pictures on her birthday. I got her dressed, actually combed her hair and took her to a park for some pictures.

She wasn't into it. Seriously, this might be the best one I got.

After my mom stopped laughing at her and encouraging her, she bribed her with a big present. I was then able to snap this one. This is captures her personality, too. Do you see that smirk? She totally knew she was blowing this.

Then she fell in the street and it was all over.

After the park we drove over to U-Swirl for frozen yogurt with Grandma, then came back to the house for a family party. It was very low-key, but nice. Just the way I like it.

(can you tell I got 4 hours of sleep the night before?)

Happy Birthday, Clara!! We love you!

Catching up

Life has been busy. I have been spending countless hours on the computer editing Holiday pictures for families. I try to be up around 5 am so I can get 2 1/2 hours in before the kids wake up. By the time I am finished with editing, the last thing I want to do it blog. However, there is a light at the end. I am almost done.

Everyone is asleep this morning. I left my bedroom after Clara made her way under our covers to seek warmth. She is currently sleeping with both legs over the top of Steve's neck. I would go take a picture but I don't dare take a chance on waking her up.

Life has been great these past few weeks. November is awesome. The school district here has a habit of tacking on extra days-off to holidays, so the kids only go to school a few days a week when you factor in Nevada Day, Voting Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. I don't know what's going to happen when we have to go back full time next week.

We took a fantastic trip to California. We went to Disneyland and then drove down to Encinitas to stay at my Aunt Mary's beach house. It was awesome. The trip took place over Halloween so we found events going on around town and crashed them. We even crashed a Ward Halloween Party! We were looking for a "Halloween Activity" to do with the kids and decided plug in the LDS building in Encinitas on our GPS and drive by to see if they were having a Trunk-or-Treat. Sure enough, they were. We pulled into the parking lot and both Steve and I just looked at each other. We couldn't believe we were going to crash a party. We didn't really have a choice. There were 2 kids in the back seat grasping their costumes and pumpkins. We had to do it.

It turned out to be a lot of fun. The ward was very welcoming. While we were there I even ran into someone I knew in college. I went up to him to say hi and tell him we were crashing his ward party. Wouldn't you know it...he was crashing it too! His family was camping on the beach and decided to do the same thing we did. It was nice knowing we weren't the only ones!

Halloween night we went down to the little shops on the 101 and went trick or treating with the rest of the community. It was odd to be trick or treating to store fronts, but that's they way they do it there.

We spent the rest of our trip hanging out at the house, spending time at the beach and exploring San Diego. I could spend the next hour uploading pictures from our trip, but instead I am just going to post the vacation video.

My favorite things in the video:

-Thomas giggling on the tea-cups

-Steve's fancy Disneyland Hawaiian shirt, you need to watch the video just to see how snazzy it is.

-Clara's diva attitude - in pretty much the whole thing, not just one part.

-Clara screaming with terror when the waves crash on her feet

-Thomas dancing on the beach,

Kindergarten Picture

Guess who's getting retakes?

(You can only imagine the amount of joy this picture has given me today.)

Daily Vocabulary Lesson

Multifunctional
mul-ti-func-tion-al
— adj
1. having or able to perform many functions
The potty seat is multifunctional.

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Dare to Dream

I love to pick Thomas up from school. I always look forward to seeing him walk out of the classroom in his line and am always anxious to hear how his day went. Today I was standing at the gate waiting when his class came out wearing these hats. I figured they must be some kind of prize from the treasure box.

No. It seems like Hot Dog on a Stick is trying to recruit future employees. I found out that they are now making visits to elementary schools and teaching them how to make lemonade. It's so nice to know that if the dream of being a vet, race car driver, astronaut, doctor, chef, fireman, policeman or black guy that runs really fast doesn't work out, there's always a job at the mall to fall back on.

Ultimate Hand-Me-Down

A couple months after Clara was born my mom handed me this dress. She has kept it since I was three years old, hoping one day I would have a daughter who would wear it. I hung it in her closet and didn't think much about it.

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A couple of weeks ago we were getting ready for church. It was the typical Sunday. I was up early and wasting time, Steve was sleeping in. When it was time to get ready to go I realized I didn't have any cool weather (upper 60's - brrrr!) dresses for Clara that matched any tights that didn't have runs it them - a typical problem around here.

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I grabbed this dress thinking that it would do. It was clean and long enough to cover the run in her tights. I thought it may be a little big, but it fit perfectly!

After she put it on I pulled out my childhood scrapbook and showed her a picture of me wearing the same dress. I asked her who was in the picture and she insisted it was her. I tried to explain that is was me but she wouldn't go for it. I finally just agreed with her.

Maybe I will hold on to it for her daughter.

Nature Walk

On October 23, we took a little hike for our Family Time. I have lived in Las Vegas my entire life and I had NO IDEA that this place existed. I have been to Red Rock, but I didn't know about Calico Basin until I read an article about it in the neighborhood paper. It was a 1/2 mile boardwalk that surrounded a meadow. The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful and we had a great time.

Clara fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes before we arrived. Lucky for her one of us wasn't recovering from 2 broken elbows and was able to carry her.

Thomas was so excited to take off. It was the perfect hike for a nervous, over-reactive mother. There was nowhere for the kids to run off to. They had to stay on the boardwalk, therefore I knew where he was at all times.

Then she woke up.

and started to have issues with her pants.

Thomas even tried to help her out, but it was no use. She has been blessed with my log-like-no waist body. Too bad for her.

She was so excited to smell the flowers...until she actually did. She thought they "tmelled 'ike poop."

How cute is this??? I think I smell a canvas print.

A perfect end for a perfect day.

Pall Pesibal

Interpretation: Fall Festival

Last Friday was the School's Annual Fall Festival, or Pall Pesibal if you ask Clara. A fun time was had by all. I had fun asking Clara to say Fall Festival over and over again. One of these days she isn't going to talk with such and impediment and I am going to miss it.

Clara went as a Princess. I made this dress for her and wasn't too happy with how it turned out. I caught the buttress in the skirt while I was putting everything together. (How many women have said that in this century?) Every time I looked at the dress, all I could see was the messed up waist line. Because I was being such a ninny about the costume, I decided to scratch the whole idea and turn her into Pinkalicious. I spent 2 days driving around looking for pink fairy wings. When it came time for the festival she wanted nothing to do with Pinkalicious and wanted to be a princess. By this point, I was done and didn't care. She could be whatever she wanted. Lucky for me, she decided the princess needed wings and a magic wand so the hunt for the wings wasn't a complete loss. (It was at this point in the evening that I decided I need to stop being such a perfectionist.) I thought the costume looked great once it was on with her underskirt and accessories. I didn't have a pattern so I followed this tutorial.

Thomas went as Superman...again. I bought this costume for him when he was 3 and this is the 3rd Halloween he has worn it to the Festival. It's nice to see I'm getting my money's worth. He is going to be a Nascar Driver for the real Halloween.

All By Myself

When I was growing up my dad would sometimes take road trips by himself. It was usually because he had to pick one of us kids up from a camp or event. I remember one time he drove to Washington to see his Dad. He drove the entire way by himself. I couldn't understand what would possess a person to drive all that way alone. Wouldn't he terribly miss his wife and 3 kids? How could he possibly do a 3 day drive without his 3 kids in the car reminding him that they weren't there yet? He would reassure us that he was very capable to drive the distance and was looking forward to driving with the windows down and the music up. He insisted that taking a drive alone was a great thing.

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This morning I had a photo shoot up on Mt. Charleston. It's only a 30 minute drive, not far at all. But when you calculate the time using Mommy Time, 30 minutes is...well, forever. 30 minutes all to my self. 30 minutes to listen to music I wanted to listen to. 30 minutes that I didn't have to tell the kids to stop touching each other. 30 minutes to think and let my mind wonder. In other words, 30 minutes of pure bliss.

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On my way out the door I shoved some CD's into my camera case. I took a handful but knew I only needed one. I stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a raspberry hot chocolate and pumpkin muffin. I thought about the calories I didn't need. Then I remembered fat and calories didn't count when I was driving by myself.

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As I pulled onto the freeway I slid my CD into the player. I sang along to many songs I have not listened to in ages. As far as I'm concerned, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and I sounded fantastic together. I drank my Hot Chocolate and leisurely drove up the mountain.

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The photo shoot went great. The weather was incredible and the scenery was gorgeous. We finished up after about and hour and a half. Then I realized I got to do it all over again.

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I took my time coming down the mountain. It was one of the few times I didn't feel the need to rush home and be with the kids and Steve. I pulled the car over and looked at the colorful trees. I moved to the side quite a few times to allow others to pass. I had my windows down and was enjoying the raindrops sneaking in my window. The drive down was even better than the drive up.
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It took about an hour to drive home but this time I don't think I was alone. I felt as if I had a passenger in the car with me. He probably wanted to listen to my music choice because he was the one who taught me to love Simon and Garfunkel. Dad was with me for the ride, whispering in my ear...'see, told you so.'

Insert bugle music here.

I am going to blow my own horn for just a minute because I am pretty stinking proud of this. My super talented graphic design friend, Cathy, referred me to Scott Hammond. He is running for Assembly here in town and needed some shots for his campaign. I was a little apprehensive to take the job, but decided to take a chance and do it.

The pictures turned out great.

My work, enhanced by Cathy's fantastic graphics, is now on eleven MASSIVE A-frames all over town. It's been pretty awesome to drive around and see my work plastered on the side of the road.

In full disclosure, I almost rear-ended someone the other night because I was looking at it as I was driving. It's a good thing I have lightning fast reflexes (except when it comes to falling and breaking elbows).

Best money ever spent.

For the past 3 days I have been paying Thomas to wear his hair curly. It started Sunday afternoon when we were going to take some family pictures. I begged him to wear it curly for the pictures. He was against it. I offered him $2 and he agreed. Yesterday and Today I paid hm $.50/day. He is keeping a running tab and has reminded me many times today that I owe him $1 (I've already paid for Sunday).

I don't think this is the best parenting idea. However, It's been nice to run my fingers through those beautiful, copper curls.

To Clara:

Dear Clara Jane,

Thank you for insisting on wearing your 'pinpess dess' to Wal-Mart yesterday. Your outfit of choice made my day as well as many other shoppers. I wish I could be as uninhibited as you.

I love you.

Love,

Mommy

Photography - Chalk

Despite having fractured my second radial head in 3 weeks (more on that later) I had to post this picture of Thomas for the I heart faces photography blog chalk challenge.

Tender Mercies

Do you ever wonder why bad things happen when you are doing all the right things? I do. I had two conversations about this yesterday. One with my Mom and one with my Best Friend.

But it got me thinking...

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Yesterday I was driving a girl in my ward to her physical therapy appointment. As we were traveling on the freeway the car in front of me quickly changed lanes. As soon as it changed lanes I saw a huge rock in the road. I tried to swerve so I would miss it, but I didn't have enough time. I missed it with my front tire but my back tire ran right over it. As soon as we hit it there was a very loud THUD. I was hoping that my tire would somehow be unaffected, but sure enough it started to deflate. I moved over to the shoulder and just kept on driving. I wanted to try to get to the next exit that was 1/2 mile away.

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As I was slowly driving, my van started to lag and I knew that I wasn't going to make it. I was hoping to get off the freeway and make it to the Target parking lot. Instead of making it off the freeway, I was able to make it to the top of the off ramp. I got out of the van and saw my sad looking tire.

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The first thought I had was, 'this shouldn't happen, I should be blessed because I am doing service!' How stupid I am. I was blessed. Many times. Just because I was doing a good deed, it doesn't make me exempt from the bumps in the road.

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I've decided to count my blessings instead of being ticked off about my tire.

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1. I called my mom. Fortunately, we were pulled over right by her exit. She was able to make it to us before we were even able to unload all the kids and car seats. I had my two kids, and the girl I was driving had her 4-year-old. I was also lucky because this was a Thursday, my Mom's day to work at the temple. It happened about 2 hours before she had to leave.

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2. I called Steve as soon as I called for my Mom to come pick me up. He was at lunch and able to come fix the flat and get the van to my Mom's house.

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3. I had my stroller in the back of the van. This is not always the case. Usually I have my little umbrella stroller for quick trips, but for some reason I had my big stroller - the same one I have been thinking about taking to the consignment store because we never use it. It was big enough to load all my stuff in from the van, Clara, and a car seat.

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4. Out of all the off ramps I could have been stuck at, I was at a great location. It had a big enough shoulder that there wasn't a concern about traffic.

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5. We got close enough to the main street that we were able to walk to Target within 5 minutes. This is fast considering we had 3 car seats, a stroller, 3 little kids under the age of 5, one woman with a fractured elbow and another one who just had a total shoulder.

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6. My mom has an extra SUV that she let me use. We were able to load all three kids up with their car seats and still get my friend to her therapy appointment - ONLY 10 MINUTES LATE!!! I am that late when things are going my way!!!.

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7. After we dropped her at her appointment, My Mom treated the kids and I to Golden Spoon. Golden Spoon had a new flavor, Graham Cracker. It was delicious. My mom even bought me a quart to take home. She still takes care of me and tries to cheer me up even if I am 35.

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8. My wonderful husband called while we were sitting in the shop eating frozen yogurt. He wanted to make sure we were all okay. When I told him what we were doing he just laughed and made some comment about being traumatized and fixing it with sugar (but hey, it was non-fat). Then he said something about coming to my rescue on his white horse. I laughed. Then I started to think. I thought about how much I love him. I thought about how he is my Superman and does so much for me and our children.

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So, next time someone asks why bad things happen when you are doing good things, tell them to rethink the situation. I did, and I've come to the conclusion that blessings will surely be poured out upon you when you are doing service for others.

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Mosiah 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.