See? it IS important!

Lacie-ism

I know my Lacie loves me. How do I know? Because today while playing blocks together she told me this:

"Mom, even if you go to jail, I'll go with you. I'll go with you to jail because I love you."

(not sure why she thinks I'd be ending up in the slammer...)

Hyrum doesn't like baths

Haha. I needed a laugh today. This worked.

on Bullies

by Andrea

"Did you know that bullies LIKE it when you're mad? Actually they love it. They want you to be mad. 'Cause they think it's fun. And they love it. I think they even love it more than they love cake."

Andrea

Recently (as in September 19th), our firstborn had a birthday - her 7th birthday!!

Ho-ly cow! How is it possible that this much time has flown by?!

Yet, if you were to look at her, you'd think the kid was about 9 or 10. She is tall, strong and beautiful. And she is mentally as mature (or more) as she is physically. I just had a parent-teacher conference with her 1st grade teacher yesterday. The teacher told me that she leaves Andrea in charge of running the math-time projector presentation when she has to leave the room. Uhh.... wow?

She is constantly coming up with creative ideas and projects, amazing us on a regular basis. For instance, her "UP" cards:

Of course, she had to make the accompanying tutorial:

in case you can't read it, it says:

How to make a UP balloon card

1. Get a small card and cut it in a shape of a house

2. color

3. punch out a hole at the top

4. stick 4 or less balloons in there

As luck would have it, it was Andrea's turn for her classroom spotlight the same week as her birthday. This is when the parents send in a few pics of their kid and the teacher arranges it as a display on the wall. It's such a fun thing for the kids and the timing of it made it extra special for her. On top of it all, one of the days that week was "Bring Dad to School Day." Mark spent half the day with Lacie, then the other half with Andrea. She was thrilled to be able to show him the display all about her, hanging in the classroom.

These are the pics I sent in:

ANDREA!

Loves tea parties.

Is a GREAT older sister.

Loves all things Kung-Fu!

Is a Spider-Monkey!

Self-taught Seamstress

Love her family:

Dad, Mom, 2 girls, 2 boys

***Here's something I didn't include --

it's a letter I found that she had written to Lacie, encouraging her on her recent potty-training success:

it says:

Dear Lacie,

YOU ARE ASOME!

Good job going potty.

Love Andrea

(plus an illustration labeled 'toilet')

What an amazing girl! We are so proud of her, and so so so happy to have her in our family! Yay for Andrea! We love you!

Seriously? Again?!

This is the song that never ends... yes it continues on my friends.

Okay, I was going to try to think up some clever little wording for the rest of the song, but it's late and I'm spent and really I just want to vent.

This morning Lacie woke me up and let me know that she had removed all the tangles from her hair. By herself. With scissors.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'll post pics tomorrow.)

Let's talk efficiency

I like to be efficient. I think it's cool. I'm actually a bit of a nerd about it. Groceries is a biggie - there IS a way you should bag them. Most people don't know/do it. And if the checker is going to bag for you, there is an order in how you put your groceries up on the counter that gives you the best chance of your checker bagging your groceries correctly, out of dumb luck on their part but major planning on yours. I especially love getting that little thrill that comes when I organize my shopping cart just-so at Sam's Club or Costco, and then the checker is baffled by how I got it all in. Going on a trip? Leave the packing to me - especially the trunk of the car. Organizing a closet? My specialty.

Apparently I did not pass this gene on to my kids.

I changed 8 poopy diapers today.

Eight.

From 2 kids.

And it wasn't even split evenly.

Did I mention that I like efficiency?