Little Insomniac

3:38 AM

Cozy blankets

Snuggles and warm milk

Usually work like magic

But not this morning

She pats and pinches

Tugs and pulls

Kneads and squeezes

Kisses then bites

Blowing bubbles on my arm

Mama, dada,  uh-oh and hi

She reviews

Her vocabulary

Varying the pitch 

Volume and rhythm

Child's pose

Happy baby

And downward dog

She practices yoga

While nursing

We rock together 

But she sings

Rolls around

Even sliding down

To crawl and walk

At 5:02 she relaxes

Burying her head

Almost closing her eyes

While I sit wondering . . .

Why did I buy monkey pajamas?

Pink Polka Dot Cupcakes

For some reason I have had a hard time blogging about Lavender's birthday celebration.  I think it is hard for me to admit that my baby is really a year old!  We had a fun party for her.  It was just what I wanted:  special birthday outfit for her, a theme to pull it all together, cute decorations, time with family, fun for her, memorable for all of us.

Evan filled up the balloons with helium 

and led Carolyn and I in making the tissue papers flowers

I made a giant cupcake and Evan made the paper wrapper

Marianne frosted the regular size cupcakes

Grandpa and Carolyn gave Lavender this cute monkey that makes a kissing noise.

Lavender loved looking up at the decorations and kept saying, "Ohhhh!"

She looked adorable in her birthday cupcake outfit, but refused to keep the hat on for more than a second.

This was the first time she really got into opening presents.

I used play silks instead of tissue paper in the gift bags.

She was excited about the ladybug maracas

and she loved the birthday cards,

but her favorite gift was the toothpaste and toothbrush.

In fact, all the little girls wanted the toothbrush.

Leighton had a fun time partying

and Brianne got in on the action too.

Finally it was time for cake and ice cream!

Lavender loved her cake,

but she hated the polka dot sprinkles 

once we picked them off her side of the cake she was ready for a taste.

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She thoroughly enjoyed her cake and ice cream!

Birthday girl with her Daddy!

Happy Birthday Lavender Jane!

Birthday Girl!

It is hard for me to say this out loud, but my baby girl turned one today. She has been an absolute joy and we have savored every moment of her first year.  I am sad that her babyhood is drawing to a close, but we are excited for the craziness of having a toddler girl!  Thanks to Marianne for taking some pictures of our sweetheart.

Happy Birthday Janey Girl!

Three Things Today

#1  I tried adding organic dandelion greens to my morning smoothie.  The flavor was too strong for me, even when I kept reminding myself how healthy it was.  I gave the leftovers to Lavender and she loved it!

#2  Marianne and Evan were able to spend time in the temple this morning.  I am grateful they were able to go and serve in such a beautiful and peaceful place.  

Photo from 2010 on Ryan and Molly's special day at the temple!

  While Marianne and Evan were gone, I asked Cammi to come and play with Lavender so I could get some laundry and cleaning done.  Lavender was thrilled to have a playmate and Cammi was a great little babysitter.

#3 We received both an email and a letter in the mail from Elder Aaron! Yeah!! Inside the envelope was a very thick pass along card.  Actually it was a few cards taped together.

I had to get out my scissors to cut them apart.  This is what I found inside:

It was his clever way of packaging his memory cards to send to us.  We will upload the photos to our computer and then send them back to him.  I am not so clever and will use a small padded envelope when I return them!  Here is my favorite photo from the memory cards:

Three happy things today!  I sure love my kiddos.  Even when they're all grown up!

Marianne's Big Week

The first week of February was an exciting one for Marianne!

On Monday, February 4th she graduated from TJYC.  What is TJYC?  Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification is an incredible scholar project.  It is 3 semesters full of demanding reading, focused writing and hours of discussion.  Each student works with a personal writing coach on a weekly basis. TJYC scholars study the lives of great men and women throughout history.  They read biographies and study original documents.  They give powerful speeches that teach and inspire others.  They complete an in depth research project on a subject that they feel will help change the world. Each semester the scholars have written exams and an oral exam before an audience and a board of examiners.  The scholars study world views, principles of government and landmark Supreme Court cases. They apply all they have learned to current events and even write a personal manifesto   Finally, they research and write a law brief and participate in a mock trial before a panel of attorneys who serve as judges.  This project requires 20-30 hours of study each week and the scholars who complete it are transformed!

Marianne has done all of this and it has given her a great foundation not only for college, but for the rest of her life!  Here she is with her graduating class of eight students (one of the boys is not pictured).  The class started out with fifteen students.  Two moved and five others dropped out during the course of three semesters.  It really is that challenging!

Marianne enjoyed having some of her best friends (including her cousin Emma) in the class.  Here she is with her lifelong friend Natalie.

Marianne was fortunate to have her Aunt Lacy as her writing coach.  She also had two wonderful mentors for her class.  A huge thank you to Becky and DaNell for everything!

On Tuesday, Marianne took her driving exam.  It was rather stressful for her because the day before her driving instructor cut her final lesson short and our car was in the shop for repairs.  But everything came together and Marianne passed her test and got her driver's license!

On Sunday,Marianne played a flute duet in Sacrament Meeting at our church.  They gave a lovely perfomance of "All Creatures of our God and King."  What a beautiful way to end a spectacular week!

 

Happy Birthday John!

John's birthday had been on my mind for awhile. It was a milestone birthday. One of the "big" ones, and he wasn't too excited about it.  I wanted him to have a fun celebration that would be something he could remember. Especially after last year when I could barely waddle out the door to dinner!

When we were at the Safari Park a couple of weeks ago, Molly pointed out the zipline to us. She suggested it would be a fun thing to do, but I wasn't sure. It was really high!

I kept looking for birthday ideas, but after much googling and youtubing, I came back around to the zipline idea. The kids were excited about it and we decided to make it a surprise. John is nearly impossible to shop for, so it was a relief to tell him that I wasn't buying him a present this year. Instead, we would spend his birthday budget to create a family memory. He liked the idea and I told him to be ready for an adventure on the morning of his birthday. After breakfast in bed, we dropped Lavender off at the Baker's and headed out.
 

When we got to the Safari Park, he was probably a little disappointed, but he figured we were doing something special since we left the little ones behind.  He still didn't know what was going on until we finally got to the check in spot.

That was where we signed our life away and stepped on the giant scale to check our weight. Then John got his special birthday button and was informed that he could take a free ride on the carousel.
So far his adventure wasn't quite as exciting as he may have imagined.

Fortunately, things got better once we put on our harnesses . . .

. . . and got our trolleys. We decided to to film our adventure and Evan volunteered to wear the helmet-cam!

Then took a short practice run to learn what to do during the flight and the landing.  John was a fast learner and we were cleared for takeoff!

It wasn't until we got to the platform that we realized how high up we were going to be!

It was pretty breezy up there, but we were all smiles.  Marianne was the most experienced zipliner (having gone in Big Bear and Ecuador) so she went first.

Molly was close behind.  She was a little nervous, so our instructor helpfully told her to keep any screams "on the inside".  He warned that yelling could upset the rhinos and cause them to "crash."

The ride was exhilarating!  It lasted about a minute and a half and we reached speeds of nearly 60 mph.  What an awesome experience to soar above the animals with the breeze in our faces!  It may have been John's birthday, but I declared myself the winner when I passed him and Evan just before our landing.  We all agreed it was the perfect birthday adventure!

Before we left the park, we stopped by the Bonsai garden.  During his mission to Japan, John grew to love these beautiful miniature trees.  We saw trees that were less than 10 years old and others that were hundreds of years old.  Volunteers were busy trimming and pruning.  We learned that when the root growth is restricted, the leaf size is reduced.  However, the fruit does not miniaturize, so we saw a tiny apple tree with full size apples!

John said his birthday was complete when we got home and Lavender took her first steps!  What a great present for her daddy.

She was pretty proud of herself and within 24 hours was walking halfway across the room!

Happy, Happy Birthday to my sweet husband!  I am grateful we have spent the past 25 years together!

Happy Valentine's Day!