Dear Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad,

I am sorry about fighting with my siblings all the time while growing up. I'm sorry for all the excessive tattling. I'm sorry that we broke Mom's hour glass when it was timing us to clean our room. I'm sorry that we stole wood from the neighbor's yard to make a fort. I'm sorry that we rode our bikes on the trampoline and ripped a hole in it. I'm sorry that I ate all of the pomegranates off the tree before you had a chance to enjoy any. I'm sorry that I got mad and "ran away" and hid and ignored you all when I heard you calling my name. I'm sorry we would climb on the roof of the house. I'm sorry I played on the roof of the brand new van of the neighbor's. I'm sorry we would stuff so much stuff under our beds, in our closets, and anywhere else when we were supposed to be cleaning. I'm sorry that instead of cleaning we spent our time stuffing books down our pants so that the spanking wouldn't hurt as much. I'm sorry we thought that you wouldn't notice the books. I'm sorry that Vince and I rode our bikes to 7-11 with some friends and bought candy cigarettes and pretended to "smoke" them on the way home. (Whoops...didn't know about that one?) I'm sorry that I threw all those parties while you were out of town, that resulted in a broken fence, flooded hot tub, cars wedged sideways between the barn and other outbuilding, and a lot of other damage that you hopefully didn't notice until I had moved out. I'm sorry I would purposely ride my bike to Young Women's so that I could leave early before it got dark, and yet still come home well after dark. I'm sorry I would take an extra long time walking home from school, making extra stops on the way home. Especially on the days that I had piano lessons. I'm sorry I lied about spending the night at Annalee's house. I'm sorry that you saw Annalee's parents that night and figured it all out. I'm sorry I slid down the piles of rocks back by the creek and ripped a hole in my pants. I'm sorry I would always raid Mom's top drawer for candy. I'm sorry I would always raid Dad's jar for quarters so I could stop at 7-11 on my way home from school. I'm sorry I snuck out of the house and had you so worried/mad that you had me arrested. I'm sorry you never knew just how many times I snuck out. I'm sorry that I stole that pack of bubble gum when I was 4 years old, and left all the evidence on the bathroom floor. Now please, pretty please...TAKE BACK ALL OF THOSE PRAYERS that you made requesting that I get children just like me.

Hmm...

Can anyone explain this to me? No one in my household can...

Joy

I'm starting to see a trend...

Too Young?

Kylie told me yesterday that she wanted to start reading the Twilight series. I told her, "Okay, when you turn 12".

She then informed me that she had already started reading them and was currently on page 5.

Does anyone else think that a 7 year old is too young to read these books?

P.S. I'm pretty sure that the Twilight books will be the next things to be packed.

2

Brynlie turned 2 last month and at her check up was in the 50th percentile for height and much higher for her weight. Let's just say that maybe eating that last beater before her weigh in wasn't such a great idea.
Okay, so she isn't that chubby, but her weight more closely matches her 90th percentile head than her 50th percentile height.

On to more important milestones. Brynlie has learned how to make herself burp. If you catch her in a good mood she will show off for you, over and over again. She's good enough that if she knew her ABC's she could burp them for you. Makes a mother proud.

Math

One 2 year old +

One shopping cart +

One box of ice cream sandwiches +

One mommy on the phone =

Curls

Look, I can be girly too!

Here's to you Andrea!

Kylie was invited to a "Rock and Roll" birthday party last night. I'm pretty sure that we will be hearing about this party for months. I let her wear make up for the party and after it was applied she would sit and stare at herself in the mirror. She told me..."I just can't stop looking at myself because myself looks so pretty!" After the party she informed me "I don't want to go back to being Kylie tomorrow", and "Mom, it was heaven. HEAVEN!" She stayed up until almost 1:00 in the morning dancing to her new music CD from the party, and in true rocker fashion is still asleep at 11:00 this morning.

Maybe after we move we will let Kylie have a Rock and Roll party and totally pretend like it was our own idea...

Some children never learn

Remember this? Apparently, Brynlie didn't.

And the Award goes to...

I would like to nominate myself for the Mother of the Year Award.

Sadie kept complaining this summer that there were bees in our backyard. There are always bees in our backyard so I wasn't too concerned. I just kept telling her to go out and play. She would complain some more, I would ignore her some more. One evening after having another one of our bee conversations, I looked out at the patio to see Sadie, her friend, and Brynlie swarmed by bees. I finally decided that maybe I should listen to her complaint. I went outside and looked in all the usual places and this is what I found...

What a great mother I am! For my award, I will be accepting cookies between the hours of 6 and 9 pm.

Summer 2009

My self-imposed break from blogging and Facebook is over. It really shouldn't be yet, since I have so much to do, but the girl's lives have not stopped during the past few months, and there is much to tell. As many of you know, these past few months have been very challenging and a time of change for our family. The girls somehow missed the memo about slowing down this summer and letting Mom deal with life. Instead, they plowed ahead; learning, growing, changing, and trying their hardest to drive me crazy. The almost succeeded. Almost.

Brynlie decided during ONE WEEK that she was done with her crib, high chair, and car seat. Those items are all meant to give a mother some sanity and losing them all at once is difficult. Brynlie has known for some time how to climb out of her crib, but she loves her naps and night time so she wouldn't climb out until AFTER she was done sleeping. Then one night she realized that that was not typical behavior of an almost two year old so she did something about it. I can't complain too much because she stayed in her crib longer than either of her sisters. Then, at the same time, she figured how to climb up on the bar stools and she is now way too cool to sit in a high chair. Even though she can barely see her plate she still insists on eating there for every meal. Naturally, if she is too big for these items then why should a car seat be any different? Every time we get in the car she races for Sadie's booster seat and it is a huge fight to get her into her own car seat (sometimes pinching is involved). She has also decided that talking isn't such a bad thing. After refusing to talk for months she is now communicating with us quite well. Some of her favorites are "um..." (anytime I ask her a question) "k" (when she is getting in trouble and being asked to be good), "eeeewww" (while changing her diapers or if she catches anyone else in the bathroom), and "please" (in her mind that word is all powerful and nothing should ever be turned down if accompanied by a please). Brynlie has also decided that pull-ups are much more fun than diapers. I am hesitant to potty train her until after we move, so until then I guess she will just keep taking off her soiled pull-up and replacing with another one. And I will keep finding piles like these...

Sadie is growing like mad! She is trying her hardest to keep up with her big sister. Even though Kylie is my daredevil, she struggled with learning how to ride a bike, and didn't figure it out until the end of last summer. Sadie decided that it looked like fun and started riding hers without training wheels a few months ago. She looks so funny with her little legs pedalling just as fast as she can. She is so proud of herself, especially since none of her friends can ride theirs yet. Sadie has started wearing clothes that I bought for Kylie last year, and she is wearing shoes that I bought for Kylie this spring! They are about a size too big, but Sadie couldn't care less. Sadie has also decided to be more grown up about her food choices. She now loves milk, broccoli, and salad, things she wouldn't have touched a year ago. Kylie is such a good example to her of eating healthy and I'm glad she is picking up her habits. Sadie is also enjoying being the "big girl" in her bedroom that she now shares with Brynlie. She snuggles with her and takes such good care of her little sister. They are getting to be such good friends and partners in crime.

Kylie and Sadie both decided that they were done waiting for swimming lessons and would just learn on their own. This first became apparent when my mom and I took them swimming in California and they would jump AWAY from us and swim as fast as they could before we could get them. They loved not wearing their swimming vests and haven't put them on once all summer. At Kylie's birthday party I told Jared that I thought Kylie could swim well enough to jump off the diving board and swim to the side. She was really nervous of the board and the deep water at first, but after her first jump she was hooked. She now runs and jumps, twirls, and does flips off the board. The last time Jared took them swimming she even repeatedly jumped off the 10 foot board. Not to be outdone, Sadie has decided that she can swim too. And that girl is awesome at it! She too has started jumping off the 10 ft diving board and swimming to the side.

Kylie started 2nd grade in July and tells me that "the first graders are really weird...they are really small!" She walks to school with several very cute boys in our neighborhood. 10 years from now she will look back and realize just how lucky she was! After spending many countless hours on my ipod she was finally able to purchase her own using her birthday money. She is constantly walking around the house singing (her own lyrics), slightly off tune. You are never more aware of the lyrics to a song than when your young child starts singing "you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel". Since Brynlie's crib was no longer useful, I took it down and replaced it with a bed just for Kylie. For now, she has her own room and is loving it. It is her sanctuary, a place to get away from it all, and she takes full advantage of it. If I find something missing from the pantry, there is a good chance that it is in her cupboard in her room. Kylie is always on the go and can usually be found somewhere in the neighborhood riding her bike. Never one to turn down any chance at an adventure, Kylie went on the Skycoaster at Lagoon with her Daddy and aunt Sasha. She has no fear, I am afraid!

This summer we've also spent a lot of time with family; first, at Mickala's high school graduation, then three weeks later at her wedding to Will, followed two weeks later by Brooke's blessing, and then the next week at the Park family reunion up at Lava Hot Springs, and finally a couple of weeks later we went down to St. George to check out my parent's new slide... I mean house.

Their new house has a slide, but it took my girls a good hour before they realized that there was more to the house than just the slide.

It has been a crazy busy summer, and unfortunately, life isn't going to be slowing down anytime soon. But with three little girls like this, could I really expect anything less?

My Birthday

Even though Jared was not in town for my birthday I was determined to not cook. I knew that I would be able to use the "birthday" card that evening and get my kids to try to be civil at dinner. It worked. Sort of. I had to remind them several times, but I got a good 30 seconds of good kids before they would forget what day it was.

A couple of observations from our dinner:

When choosing a side dish neither of my two older girls picked fries. Fries aren't optional for their mom.

Sadie chose Mandarin oranges and Kylie picked a green salad, only because Broccoli with ranch wasn't a choice.

Normally Jared keeps our waiter busy with refills but this night the only one that needed a refill was Brynlie, and she needed it before the food even arrived. That girl loves her chocolate milk!

The hostess was super good. I mean really good. I mean, wow! She put us at the table closest to the bathroom. It was like she knew.

Both of my girls tried my thick steak fries and gave them back to, deeming them unsuitable to eat. I'm not totally convinced that they are my kids.

Brynlie having fun at dinner...

And Brynlie grossing herself out after looking at the treasure she blew out of her nose...



We also stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home. Who's 30th birthday would be complete without a trip to Wal-Mart?

I was disgusted when I realized how dirty Brynlie's shirt was. Kylie was disgusted when she saw me turn it inside out.

The guy running the checkout stand was chatting with the lady in front of him about the birthday cake she was purchasing for her daughter. His daughter's birthday is on the 15th and his is at the end of the month. I could have stepped in and announced that it was not only my birthday at that exact moment, but that I was also turning 30. I would have totally won, but I didn't want to show them both up.

The cashier then told the lady that he was going to Italy at the end of the month. I made a mental note that I should get a job at Wal-Mart. When he was ringing up my groceries he mentioned that I was buying a "lifetime" supply of macaroni and cheese. If 10 boxes of mac-n-cheese is really a lifetime supply for him I definitely need to get a job at Wal-Mart.

This is a result of the best $.50 spent all evening:

Happy Birthday Adrienne!

My parents and Adrienne's parents were good friends, both in the same ward, and both expecting their first babies at the same time. Adrienne was born on May 11th and I was born two days later, on the 13th. For the first five years of our lives we were best friends. Our moms, along with several other moms, rotated teaching our preschool class each week. We both went to the same dance class. I remember that our teacher Miss Tania would end the class by having us lay on our backs, with our hands flat on the floor next to our ears, and have us use our arms and legs to lift up our torso so that our back was arched and our stomach in the air. Anyone able to hold this position, and hold it correctly while waiting for her parents got a bright circle sticker on her tap shoes. Adrienne's shoes always had the most stickers. Always! I was so jealous of all those stickers and could never catch up. On my 5th birthday my family moved away from Vernal for a year. When we moved back we were no longer living close to Adrienne's family and I didn't see her much again until middle school, where we quickly struck up our friendship again. From that time forth we always called each other our "almost twin" since we were almost born on the same day. As a child Adrienne was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, but she never let it get her down. She was always happy and had a gift for making those around her happy. She and her mom were close, and Adrienne definitely got her sense of humor from her mom. We went to an awards dinner once in Jr. high and my mom and I sat with Adrienne and her mom Candy. I still have the letter that Candy sat and carefully wrote to me on the paper table cloth, complete with border. Adrienne's arthritis was a set back for her, but it didn't stop her from doing what she wanted to do. In high school she joined the drill team as their manager. I remember finding a picture of us, along with my brother and a couple of other friends, sitting on the stairs at my house. We were probably about 4 years old, and Adrienne was wearing a dress while sitting in an unladylike position. I brought the picture to school to show her, not realizing that the flash of underwear would be such an embarrassment to her. Her face went bright red and she tried to steal the picture. It still has the corner torn off from us fighting over it. But that was Adrienne...always very done up, and pretty with her hair and make up perfect. Nothing amiss, like her underwear showing! When we were in middle school my mom suggested that I give all of my friends Mormon Ad posters for Christmas. At $.50 each, this was perfect for my budget. I had previously asked Adrienne what she wanted for Christmas and the only she would tell me, over and over again, was "your eternal friendship". One of the Mormon Ads in the package showed two girls looking down a dirt road. It said..."Eternity is a long time so take along a friend." When I saw it, I just knew that it was the perfect gift for her. This "gift" has so much more meaning to me now because on August 9th, 2004 Adrienne died from heart problems, probably stemming from the arthritis that she had as a child. I will always remember Adrienne and the wonderful friend and example she was to me. I love you Adrienne and Happy Birthday up in Heaven!

Brook Marie Merrell

Brook was born at 2:59 on May 7th (she has a very cool birthday 5-7-9).

She weighed 8 lbs even and was 20 inches long.

So beautiful!