The Difference Between Girls & Boys

So, a couple of weeks ago, I got a flat iron and started straightening my hair. Since that time, I've been to several of Chad's and Aaron's practices/scrimmages and no one has ever said anything about it. Today, however, when I went to pick up Bethany from soccer practice, the girls and Coach Julie swarmed around me saying, "Oh, you changed your hair!", "I love it!" "It looks different somehow!" I laughed so hard, and when I came home I decided to do an experiment. Chad's friend Adam was over so I asked him if he noticed anything about me that was different from a couple of weeks ago. He looked at me really hard for a long time and finally said, "I'm just not getting anything." Ha! I guess it's the same reason that every time the girls get a goal they have a group hug, but when the boys get a good hit or make an awesome play, they just high five each other or just ignore it completely.

Bethany's Baptism

Bethany and her good friend Victoria were baptized on the same day. That made it extra special!
Bethany and Dad get ready for the big event!
The whole crew!
Princess Bethany in her baptism dress. We love you sweetheart!

It's Come to This!

Bethany can no longer take Miranda's shenanigans. I tried to tell her that this would never do, especially now that she's reached the age of accountability, but she says she's not baptized until tomorrow, so it's all good.

Southern Utah

Handy Man

Okay, this is a boring post, but I have to tell you guys that I have the best handyman. He charges $50 an hour and he is wonderful. He is the first person that has ever correctly fixed our roof. He also rearranges my swingset, puts up trampolines, fixes drywall, switches swamp coolers - he does it all. If anyone here wants his number, just let me know. P.S. - I'll post pictures of our trip tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Bethany!

Our Bethany is turning 8 years old on Thursday. Oh how we love having this girl in our family. Before Bethany was born, I thought I would never have a girl. When I got my ultrasound and the technician told me that she was 75% sure that she would be a girl, I shouted with joy and then went home and spent hours and hours crocheting her blessing gown. Good thing the tech was right! Bethany has always been a spunk. From the very beginning, she's known what she wants. And since she's been able to talk, she has told all of us what we should do because Bethy always knows best.:) Bethany is a great (if somewhat bossy) friend, a great (if somewhat bossy)sister and a great (if somewhat bossy) Amber helper. She loves Polly Pockets, reading Junie B. Jones, doing cartwheels, twirling on the monkey bars, jumping on the trampoline, visiting her cousins, swimming, fixing mom's hair (mom loves that too!), going on walks with her family, and helping her mom bake and decorate cakes. She is a major drama queen, but we love it. Our lives would be boring without her. We love you Beth! P.S. - Check out Bethany's slidehow to the side.

Dad's Hands

It's the eve of the one year anniversary of my dad's death and I've been thinking a lot lately about the things that I miss about him. There are many, of course. I miss his great sense of humor. I miss being able to call him at work and ask his advice or tell him a funny story. I miss his presence at our family get togethers and at my children's activities. I even miss him flirting with my friends. When I think about it though, one of the things I miss most about my dad is the look and feel of his hands. My dad had the most interesting hands. He had long fingers and they were used regularly throughout his life. My dad was an excellent pianist. His favorite calling was as the primary pianist. He loved the primary kids and he wasn't particularly big on priesthood lessons. He also used his fingers to strum the guitar. He taught himself as a young man and we always loved to hear him play "Country Roads, Take me Home". My dad was constantly on his computer. He was either working, emailing his friends, or writing poetry. His fingers would fly over the keyboard. He could type over 100 words per minute. When my dad was a boy, he cut his fingers badly in a woodshop class. After that, he had a couple of really unique looking fingernails on one of his hands. I used to love to stare at them and run my fingers over cracks and ridges in them. Another thing I remember about my dad's hands is that he always wore the most interesting rings. He grew up in a tiny town in Southern Utah, just outside of the reservation. He loved this town and always dreamed of one day going back to live there. In fact, it is where he is buried now. Whenever we went to visit, we would stop at The Thin Bear. This was and still is a shop owned by my grandparent's and now my uncle's next door neighbors where they sell Native American jewelry. My dad could always find the most interesting pieces and he had quite a turquoise collection. My favorite of his rings was one that had a white stone with an engraving of an eagle on it. I've never seen anything quite like it. When my dad died, the first thing I wanted to do was hold his hand. It somehow made me feel close to him. Even now, when I think of him, that is what I think about - holding his hand. It's funny the things that stay in your mind. I love you dad.

Child Survey Part 2

Okay, here are Chad's & Aaron's answers. They were feeling a little snarky today.

Aaron
1. What is something your mom always says to you? Get a job.

2. What makes your mom happy? When the girls go to Grandma's. (That's what makes mom happy?)

3. What makes you mom sad? When the girls disobey.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? She doesn't. She has no sense of humor.

5. What was your mom like as a child? She smelled like dirt.

6. How old is your mom? 48

7. How tall is your mom? about 2 ft

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Dora

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? She goes to bars and parties.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? having the stinkiest toes

11. What is your mom really good at? making cookies

12. What is your mom not very good at? umpiring

13. What does your mom do for her job? She doesn't work.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Cheesecake

15. What makes your proud of your mom? She is a good team mom.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? the Ugly Duckling

17. What do you and your mom do together? eat dinner

18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have blue eyes

19. How are you and your mom different? She's a mom and I'm a boy.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Cuz she says so.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? the baseball fields

Chad
1. What is something your mom always says to you? Clean your room.

2. What is something that makes your mom happy? When I get a good hit.

3. What makes your mom sad? When people quit little league to play club ball.

4. What does your mom do that makes you laugh? Try to hit a ball.

5. What was your mom like as a child? clumsy (how did he know?)

6. How old is your mom? 38

7. How tall is your mom? I don't know 5'10, 5'11, 6'1?

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to watch on TV? Grey's Anatomy or Friday Night Lights

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? sudoku puzzles

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? stalking people

11. What is your mom really good at? stalking people

12. What is your mom not very good at? sports

13. What does your mom do for her job? She takes care of the coolest kids ever except bethany

14. What is your mom's favorite food? chocolate

15. What makes your proud of your mom? She is a good team mom.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Mickey Mouse

17. What do you and your mom do together? She watches me play baseball....a lot.

18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like baseball.

19. How are you and your mom different? She's obsessed with my life and I'm not.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Usually people who hate you aren't obsessed with your life.

21. What is your mom's favorite place to go? Blanding

Child Survey Part 1

I gave my kids this survey that I've seen on Kellie's blog and on Rachel's facebook page. Here are the answers for Miranda & Bethany. I might try to get Chad's & Aarons' answers later if I can get them to do anything besides roll their eyes.

Miranda
1. What is something your mom always says to you? Can you clean up your room, please? It's clean up day.

2. What makes Mom happy? Helping her cook.

3. What make Mom sad? If you don't do something she says.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? I don't know, if she said a funny word.

5. What was your mom like as a child? She liked cheese pizza.

6. How old is your mom? 27 (Score!)

7. How tall is your mom? 20 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Friday Night Lights

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go to the store.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? singing

11. What is your mom really good at? writing

12. What is your mom not very good at? Getting to things on time.

13. What does your mom do for her job? clean up

14. What is your mom's favorite food? cheesecake

15. What makes you proud of your mom? She lets us eat healthy food.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? a good witch

17. What do you and your mom do together? make dinner

18. How are you and your mom the same? We like each other.

19. How are you and your mom different? I have short hair. She has long hair.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? She hugs me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Smith's


Bethany
1. What is something your mom always says to you? I love you.

2. What makes Mom happy? When I clean my room without being asked.

3. What make Mom sad? When the boys get in trouble. (because she never does :))

4. How does your mom make you laugh? singing

5. What was your mom like as a child? I don't know - cute?

6. How old if your mom? 37

7. How tall is your mom? 5 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Friday Night Lights

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? feed Amber

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? singing

11. What is your mom really good at? cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at? getting places on time (shoot! That's 2 for 2!)

13. What does your mom do for her job? Stays home with Amber and cleans up after her when she gets into trouble.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? I'm pretty sure it's cheesecake and that stuff Daddy had for his birthday. (chicken chimichangas)

15. What makes you proud of your mom? that she's kind

16. If your mom were as cartoon character, who would she be? Susan (who?) or Belle

17. What do you and your mom do together? watch movies

18. How are you and your mom the same? We're both silly.

19. How are you and your mom different? Sometimes mom tricks me and I don't.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? She says that every night.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Flying Star (I'm not sure how she got that, but I would rather go there than Smiths:))

Gently Used Gum!

So, here is our second Amber story of the week. If any of you have ever seen the inside of either Smith vehicle, you will probably know that it is difficult for us to keep our children from turning them into trashcans on wheels. I didn't know how bad things had gotten until today. Sam wasn't feeling well so he decided to take Amber and leave church early. He took her in the Tercel, which is not her usual vehicle. On the way home, Sam noticed that she was chewing something. He asked her what she had in her mouth and she pulled out a piece of gum that he had not given her. He took the gum from her mouth, pondering where she could have found it. A few minutes later, he realized she had another piece in her mouth. Again, he took it out. Again he wondered where she had gotten it. A minute later, she had yet another piece of gum in her mouth. So, Sam turned around to find out where her supply was coming from. It turns out Bethany and Miranda have been dumping their chewed gum wads into the side pockets of the Tercel's back seat and Amber, being not very particular about where she obtains her chewing materials, had been helping herself to the stash. Gross! Needless to say, as soon as the girls got home, they were on car cleaning duty. It's going to be a miracle if Amber survives her toddler years.

Poor Baby!

Look at my poor Amber. She fell off the kitchen chair last night and banged her eye on the corner of one of the other chairs. We put ice on it for 1/2 an hour and it still looks just awful. Now I'm wondering if I should have taken her to the doctor. Any advice? The worst part is that she has a speech appointment this morning and once they see this, Social Services will be calling for sure.

Battle of the Basketball Cakes!

Here are pictures of Chad's two basketball party cakes. Which do you like better? They were both a lot of fun, but the D-Backs one was a lot more work because Amber was being a horror today while I was decorating it. She told her speech therapist this morning, "Top it Leshy. Mine Marbles!" I think she might get booted from the program - not because of what she said to Leslie, but because she could actually say a five word sentence to her. She also recently said, "Top it, Ahma (grandma). Bye! Bye!" and, "I hate mamma!" Why did we want her to talk again?

Stake Conference!

So, Stake Conference was basically a success today. The speakers were great, the kids stayed in the cultural hall (mostly), no one called anyone an idiot (except in the car, on the way). Unfortunately, there was one small incident following the closing prayer. Sam & I started putting chairs away when all of a sudden, we heard a loud, sustained squawk coming from the podium microphone. We looked up to see whose terribly ill behaved child had made such a ruckus, only to discover that it was our own sweet Miranda. We hustled to the front of the chapel to ask her what had possessed her to cause such a scene. She turned to us with a look of pure innocence and told us that Bethany had made her do it (Is that kind of like the devil making you do it?). Chuck Brown had his own thoughts on the matter however. He claimed that since Miranda has not yet reached the age of accountability, the whole incident had to have been the will of the Lord for our stake to quickly exit the church and retreat to our homes. Amen!