Claire Notes

I found this note stuck to the back of a book on the shelf the other day - not sure when Claire wrote it, but I thought it was worth scanning in. Dear Santa - how is your wife? Love it!

This is a song Claire wrote recently - I haven't heard her tune yet, but I told her she can learn to read and write music so we can remember the melody of her songs in addition to her words. She is such a sweet girl. Last line - "I can't go without my family."

Random Pics

Penelope's hair is getting REALLY long

Basketball trophies at Chuck E. Cheese - a kid paradise

Sibling Love

Children's Museum.. With Three Kids... By Myself

So at the last minute, our friends couldn't come with us to the Discovery Museum but since my kids were set on it, I would have risked nuclear meltdown mode if we hadn't gone. I packed extra clothes, snacks and hoped for the best.

All three kids wanted to do different things at the same time, and with three stories of fun exhibits and play areas I was in trouble. I lost each kid one time. It was awesome... We really need a sarcasm font...

Anyway, we stayed for about two hours and that was plenty of time to check out the main areas and then get soaking wet in the water zone.

Just look at these faces - they had a great time! And it was just about worth the moments of terror when I couldn't find Penelope, who had wandered back to the veterinarian station, her favorite spot because it has stuffed animals to play with.

YW New Beginnings - A Diamond in the Rough

We had our New Beginnings program Sunday and our theme was "You are a Diamond in the Rough: Come Unto Christ and be Perfected in Him." I got to plan a lot of the program and it was fun to use the diamond theme. We could have spent a lot of money on all the cute things we found. Here are the invitations that were given to all the 11 year old girls turning 12 this year, along with the girls who are already in the Young Women's program.

This was our overall theme and we used this image on our program, had it printed as a large print and framed for the wall display, and gave the girls a framed version as well.

Our desserts were cupcakes with edible diamonds and chocolate cake balls to represent coal turning into diamonds - we talked about how it takes incredible amounts of pressure to turn carbon into a diamond. And our girls will face pressure throughout their lives, that's for sure. Our bishop talked about how diamonds are cut into 85 facets to reflect light and sparkle - our goal is to reflect the light of Christ. It was a great night with musical numbers and fabulous talks from our girls.

It was bitter sweet for me because I got to plan a lot of the program and work closely with the leaders and girls, but it was my last event with the young women. I was released from my calling with the youth last week and I was asked a few weeks ago to take on a different assignment - so I have been doing both jobs. We are all volunteers - so my pay was doubled :)

It's basically doing public relations for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Southern Nevada. The official calling is Assistant Director of Public Affairs - Media Relations. I am nervous and humbled to represent the Church in the media. If I mess up at a youth activity, we might not have treats or something. If I mess up with this calling, it might be in the newspaper... no pressure.

I will miss you ladies! See you at church and please keep babysitting my kids :) 

Claire Hair

Some fun recent hairdos for my Claire Bear - she is my live doll for experimenting with new hair styles

Crazy hair day for school - we did cupcake hair with real sprinkles that I hair sprayed the heck out of to get to stay.

I was late to a morning meeting because of several failed attempts at a different hair style for Claire. The meeting was with two ladies I know fairly well, so I told them I was late because of crazy hair day. One woman said, "Oh, but it looks cute!" She was referring to MY hair. I said no, it was for my daughter.... :) So, I guess the messy bun was a bit too crazy for work that day.

Miles Quotes

Miles took a drink from a regular cup, not one with a lid and a straw, and juice spilled all over his shirt. He said, "Oh, sorry... I forgot where my mouth was."

We were driving up to St. George and Matt always plays "I spy the temple" to see who can see it first. Miles said, "There's the temple! That's where you get married. And you kiss... that's the grossest part!" 

In addition to Miles' many nicknames, sometimes I just call him DudeMan. The other day he said, "I'm not a DudeMan!" I said, "Well then, what are you?" He thought for a bit and then said, "A man."

And here are the kind of pictures I find on my phone on a regular basis. :)

St. George Trip - President's Day

The rest of the world, outside of accounting, gets President's Day off. I guess April 15th is just a little too close for comfort to take work off for a national holiday. But, I am not an accountant. So I took the day off and we went on a day trip to St. George to visit Becky's family and my cousin Justin and his family.

We went to Chick Fil A, of course, and then on a hike through the desert that I can only describe as climbing boulders rather than walking. I guess I have a city definition of hiking :) We had fun though - Claire and Miles got a little nervous on the rocks, and so did I, but we all made it. I was glad Penelope stayed home to take a nap while Matt took a quiz online. She would have been tough to carry, though Justin and Alicia brought their two year old Lyla along. I got some cute pictures which was my main goal when I suggested a hike anyway.

Justin took all 13 of us in his ATV thingy and we drove out into the desert right near their house. It is pretty cool that they are so close to undeveloped land like that. We passed people having archery practice, playing fetch with their dogs, and other hikers out exploring. 

The kids had so much fun digging in the dirt in the backyard - if there had been grass back there they would have played 10 minutes instead of hours. Makes me want a backyard all the more. 

Miles got up and said, "Do I have any dirt on my jeans?" Um. Yes. 

I hope the novelty of seeing each other  doesn't wear off for these kiddos as we get together more often. Claire and McKinley are so similar that they end up butting heads a bit, but then again, I fought with my cousin Shelai over the silliest things (who had bigger feet!!) and we are still good friends today. And Penelope is just happy to be along for the ride (above). Her new "smile" is displayed below. Why do they start doing that fake photo smile?? 

My Girls

I spend more time getting these two ready than myself these days (wet  hair to church!), but I love seeing them in their Sunday best.
 

Last Basketball Game w/Surprise Fans

Claire looked up halfway through the game and pointed excitedly across the gym at Aunt Jen and Noah. We weren't expecting them, and it was a nice surprise for the last game of the season. With the kids in sports now, it's hard to watch anyone else's games sometimes but Noah wanted to come after his baseball game.

Claire's Valentine's Day Party

Claire's class goes all out for the holidays - Valentine's Day is no exception. Their amazing class mom sent me pictures of their party - she is very thoughtful to include me since she knows I would love to be there if I could.