Daddy Daughter Date

Last weekend our ward threw an awesome Daddy Daughter Date at the park. I wasn't there because I am not a daddy-- nor do I have a daughter--sob, waaa! But Aaron was privileged to be invited by our adopted teenage daughters. The girls have an excellent daddy, but he recently had major back surgery and Aaron was there to run the relays and play the games with the girls. They had a gnarly time.

I sent Aaron with the camera and told him to take at least one good picture. But he never minds me. Gratefully, someone out there (Karissa, I love you!) had a camera and emailed pictures to the rest of us. From what I hear, Aaron and Keyonna were the three-legged-champions. I like the way they work it....

a typical day at the pool

while I am in the refreshing water having a relaxing time...
my three sons are reading the fine print.

Goodbye, sensational September.

clueless

After posting my journal entry from college last week, I thought you might enjoy another. I certainly did. This just proves how clueless I really was back in the day.... (October 19 '99 to be exact.)

Let me say that I am so glad he found a sweet, fun girl to marry. so.very.glad. Why did I not realize that feeling at home around him was actually LOVE? The fact that I called him by his (my) last name for the first year+ that I knew him makes me smile. When we got engaged, I finally started calling him Aaron and it was... weird.

Reading entries from long ago-- and even some from not so long ago-- just proves how important it is to keep a journal. My mother set such a great example for me as a child. Maybe I have said this before, but she was the queen of documenting our childhood. She has volumes of hand-written journal entries (if only blogging was in back in the day!) and most of her entries begin like this-- "dinner hasn't been started and the laundry has yet to be put away, but I must write down what ________ said this afternoon." Looking back, it doesn't really matter that the laundry was put away-- eventually it must have gotten done. Those journal entries are priceless.

Traditionally, on our birthdays, we would sit around as a family and my mom would read from her journal entries about the particular birthday child. Of course, the same stories were told every single year, but we all loved it and laughed even though we'd heard it many times before. My first birthday away from home, my mom copied a few stories from my childhood written in her journal and sent them to me at college. I cried on my bed as I read them to myself-- wishing I was at home celebrating with my family.


Lesson for Monday: document more. stress less. don't ever do your laundry. laugh at yourself when you read tidbits from years ago when you were a clueless college student and didn't see MR. RIGHT when he was staring you in the face. be very grateful that he married you anyway. oh, and send your college kids copies of your journal pages when they are homesick.

lessons learned on Sunday

lesson #1: Never allow your 3 year old to take a picture of your pregnancy progress. He will most likely cut off your head in the shot. But at least the belly (and the thermostat) was captured



lesson #2: Don't leave your permanent markers accessible to your kids... even if they are older and responsible. They just might decorate balloons for each member of the family while you're getting ready for church. Aaron was particularly thrilled about his balloon-- and even more thrilled about taking a picture with it.

• the "Harry Butt" balloon was going to be for Zack, but it was funnier for Daddy.
  

• Zack was in the bathtub when the older boys were decorating balloons. He was NOT happy about the results and would hold it ONLY after being promised 5 skittles. He popped his balloon 3 seconds after the picture was taken. I wonder if he would have rather had the Harry Butt.. ?
  

• In our house, Luke's name backwards is pronounced E-cool. I have yet to meet a cooler 6 year old.

• When I saw Ben's balloon, I teased him about loving video games MORE than his family (why else would he write it first?) Apparently, he wanted them listed in reverse-alphabetical order..

lesson #3: the yummiest Sunday evening dessert is most definitely fresh peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. Thank you, Jane!

(surprise) party!

After the RS General broadcast last night, I came home to a clean house, lots of balloons, chocolate cake and four scheming boys. It was so sweet of them to throw me a "real" party and invite a few friends over. Sadly, as soon as the guests arrived, we misplaced the camera. (it got lost in the cushions of the couch.) All we have for now is a few pictures of us fooling around. FYI- It's not easy trying to get five heads into one shot- especially with a round belly in the middle. I will patiently wait for the pictures of me blowing out the candles to be emailed... you know who you are!

I must also mention that both Ben and Luke lost teeth this past weekend. Luke's front teeth have been loose for months now.. One finally came out last week and Luke kept telling me that maybe on my birthday, he would let me pull the other one out. When Aaron and I were at dinner (on my actual birthday) the babysitter called to let me know that Ben's tooth had fallen out. I thought she had gotten our two boys mixed up because SURELY it was Luke's front tooth. Randomly, without any wiggling at all, one of Ben's tooth really did come out... That makes 8 lost teeth for Ben.

Then yesterday, Aaron took the boys on some "errands" before the broadcast while I had a nice quiet evening to myself. I knew they might be up to something... While jumping in a bounce house, Ben kicked Luke in the mouth and finally knocked his tooth out. We all thought that was so funny.. He didn't want it pulled, but didn't mind being kicked in the face! I guess we know what works next time. That's 5 lost teeth for Luke, including the one pulled by the dentist :(

ps. I LOATHE being the tooth fairy. Why is it so flippin' hard to remember?? My boys seriously have to sleep under their teeth for a week before they get paid for them. It sucks to see them wake up, get so excited about getting a few quarters- only to realize their old, yucky tooth is right where they put it the night before. Whoever came up with the lame tooth fairy tradition should be fired. As if parents don't have enough to do already....

pps. I accidentally left out my favorite family shot. This explains each of my boys' personalities so perfectly.

i love them.