Be Still My Heart

It's just about now each year that I get a little bitter that Brother Brigham didn't call some of my pioneer ancestors to settle in sunny Southern Utah.  Nope.  My stalwarts were instead farming the bitter north, a land which I love, but mostly in the summer.  I do not happen to love this time of year.  You may have heard me mention this a time or two.  So, you'll understand why I squealed with delight when I noticed these little beauties making an early appearance.

"In every winter's heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn." -Kahlil Gibran

Sunday Comics

Sunday afternoons and evenings call for a bit of creativity to beat the boredom at our place - especially this time of year.  So when Daddy whipped out the Ipad last night, the kids were all over it.  It began innocently enough, just a few angels and devils...

 

 

 

But then, Dad started getting silly...

 
Cole erupted when he saw this.  Did not think it was a bit funny.

Mom might be a teensy bit neglectful of life when she is reading, but really it's a talent since she would never be able to read if she didn't block everyone out. 

Then the kids wanted in on the silly....

 

This is a bird cage and if you'll look closely, they all have green pig snouts, ala Angry Birds...image design by Cole.

 

Annie enjoys writing her name or initials on everything - E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G these days, hence the giant A.  Not sure what the scribbles meant.

 

And then Ben wanted in on the fun.  But then Daddy would only let him use his finger on the screen and not the markers he industriously procured from the art cupboard, and that's when the fun was over.  Big party pooper, Dad.

Phew!

This little monkey has earned himself a new nickname around these parts - "the destroying angel."  He really is the sweetest, most charming child ever, but he is a hurricane.  He can climb anything, as evidenced below, and spends the day creating new ways of destruction.  It's exhausting! 

 One of his favorite tricks is to climb up and get the car keys and set the alarm off, which gave his dad quite a fright the first time he was home when this occurred since he just so happened to be working in the garage at that moment.

 

He floods our house on a daily basis, but sometimes I just let him because he likes playing in the sink so much that it entertains him long enough for me to clean up a few of his other messes.

 

 For a while, I couldn't decide if he was busier than the other two or if it was just that it's harder to keep up with three kids than it is to keep up with one.  We have since firmly decided that he is indeed a bigger monkey and a bigger mess-maker than the other two combined.  

Please keep this in mind if things around these parts look a little less put together next time you stop by...

Ready to go

Can you handle another post about Annie?  We are taking a trip the end of next month.  We told the kids about it at Christmastime and I guess now that Valentine's is over, Annie needs something to look forward to, because here is what currently resides beside her bed:

A basket full of summer clothes ready to go.  She wanted them in her suitcase, but I told her she couldn't pack yet.  It's hard for me to stop her, however, when I remember that my parents never told me about trips until the day or two before we left because I would always pack as soon as I knew about a trip and then they would have to help me live out of a suitcase for a month or so.  What goes around comes around, I suppose.

But as I look at this picture, I think I might just as well let her pack them up.  It's not like she really needs any of these clothes in the next month. 

But then on the other hand she does really like those swimsuits.

Got Pink?

Annie had a bunch of friends over on Friday for her Valentine's Tea Party.  She had this party last year and has been asking when she could have the party since December 26th.   She had big plans for this party; plans that included a whole lot of pink.  Hopefully, it met her expectations.

 Pink cupcakes with, you guessed it, pink frosting and pink sprinkles

 Pink jello jigglers - the hit of the party.  They were gone in about 4.2 seconds

 Heart-shaped peanut butter and jam sandwiches

 Heart-shaped rice krispy treats with sprinkles

 The party crowd - all dressed up in their Valentine's best

 And somehow, Annie decided her "Valentine's best" was a sundress.

 After the food was daintily devoured, it was time for a few art projects.

 And they finished up the party with dress-ups and dancing all together on Annie's bed. 

Annie loves holidays and she loves parties, so it's pretty fun to indulge her and have this fun girly celebration each year.  She is already planning next year's party.

It's Okay

I volunteered to help at Cole's school breakfast the other day.  He said that was fine but to "not...well...you know..."

"Do anything embarrassing?" I clarified.

"Yeah.  Like call me sweetie or Coley or something."

But it's okay.  Because we made it all the way to the age of 7 before he realized I might embarrass him.  Plus, I tricked him by pretending I was wearing my bathrobe that morning (which I thought was a bit more appropriate than Floyd's idea that I should wear a swimsuit).  "GET THAT OFF!!!"  he yelled when he realized that I was driving to school in my bathrobe.  So I got a good laugh plus the 7 years of being non-embarrassing.  Oh, and one more plus...he did tell me I could wave at him if I wanted.  He's generous like that.

Annie's daddy bought her a little bead kit after her art show last week.  So the little sweetheart said thank you by making him the first necklace with it.  Now she makes certain he puts it on for special occasions.  Like family night bowling.

 

But it's okay.  Because I'm pretty sure everyone smiles when they see a 6'4" 33-year-old guy wearing a pastel-colored necklace.  And also, it's not like the folks working at the bowling alley were necessarily...um...aware of fashion rules.

And here's Ben.  In a pile of peanut butter.  Mom ran upstairs for twenty seconds - the fool.

 

But it's okay.  Because it went nicely with the honey he smeared on the tile the day before.  Plus you can see how happy he was about it. 

And hey family - remember when we took the blue truck down to Grandma and Grandpa on the reservation?  And how horrifically awful Jake's feet stunk on that trip?  And how for years afterwards a pile of red sand would fall out when you opened the door?  And how you can still find bits of that red sand in the truck today, twenty-three years later?

Well great news.  I get to relive that fun experience.

'Cept this time it's with flour.

Flour that will spill out of my pantry every time I open it for the next seven years.

 

Flour that will be found in this house until the millenium.  

But it's okay.  Because I didn't have ANYTHING else to be doing for the two hours I spent futilely cleaning it up today.

And it's okay because I had just scrubbed the floor twenty minutes before the flour not-so-mysteriously appeared while I was showering, so I was all practiced up to scrub it again.

And it's okay because maybe I will get to move before the millenium and someone else can wonder why flour spills out of the pantry every time it opens.

And it's okay because his feet don't stink.

These kids sure run me ragged some days... 
 

 But seriously, it's okay. 

Viva Van Gogh

 Time for the annual preschool art show (side note: it will be so weird not to have a child at preschool next year after 4 years straight of it).  Each year, their teacher chooses an artist for them to learn about and then the kids choose one of his/her paintings to duplicate.  This year's artist was Van Gogh (another side note: a few months ago Cole came home from 1st grade and asked if I knew that Van Gogh chopped off his ear and killed himself - yes I did know that, but I'm still wondering about his teacher's reasons for presenting such information to 1st graders).  Annie has loved working on her painting and wouldn't give us any hints about which one she chose. The art show is held at a gallery downtown.  My parents came with us and when we turned the corner to where her picture was hung, she started squealing when she saw it.  She was so excited to show us that she had done the wheat field since Grandpa Clair has wheat fields.  So, here it is: "Wheat Field with Cypresses" by Annie Griffiths.

  

She gave dad a big hug cause she was just so excited for the big night.

These kids do such a good job every year.  Annie wanted me to take a picture of everyone's painting.  I tricked her a bit and didn't get every single one, but here are a few of my favorites:

Great job, Annie!  It was so fun to have you show us your painting.