Emma's Party 2010

Today was a great day. It started with Emma happily waking up and quickly getting ready for school. It really helped, too, that Abby lost a tooth the night before and quickly got up as well because she was excited to see what the Tooth Fairy brought.

While the girls were at school, I made Emma's birthday cake and then Josh and I frosted it. I was pretty happy with the turn out, even though it wasn't what I meant to happen.

Here's the story:

Emma said she wanted a picture of a sunset and mountains. She also wanted milk chocolate rocks on the cake. I planned in my mind what it was going to look like. But the cake had other ideas. When I pulled the cake out of the pan, it plopped out perfectly.... except for a corner. An entire corner stayed in the pan while the rest of it sat neatly on my wire racks. Ugh! There was no way to really hide it. So, I decided to do a 3-D cake. Josh crafted the mountains and then together we frosted it. How's that for thinking on my feet, eh?

After the girls got out of school we took Emma to Walmart to pick out her present. She needed a new bike and we'd all like to get out and do some biking around here. So, she got one.

Tara and Jabon stopped by for dinner and cake and ice cream. Emma got to choose her dinner. We had pigs in a blanket, scones, and small pasta shells with parmesan cheese. It was quite an eclectic meal. Afterward, Emma opened her present from Aunt Tara and Uncle Jabon. She loved it. In fact, all of the girls loved her gift.

Tara ingeniously picked up an Easter basket with a Precious Moments doll and journal in it. All three girls fought over it. As soon as the two older girls laid down the doll to look at something else, Millie snuck in and snaked the doll away for her own purposes. That happened probably four or five times. So funny.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. I took an idea from Cindy (hope you don't mind, Cindy) and decorated Emma's door for her birthday. There's no backing out now. I've got to keep that tradition. Matt's already told me what color of streamers and sign he wants for his birthday in June.

It was a good day. And now the countdown begins for Abby's birthday. (Only 39 days, in case you needed to know.)

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Monday is Emma's 9th birthday. I can't believe that she is NINE!!!!!

Emma is such a good person. Really. It's so wonderful to have her in our family.

I did a spotlight about Emma last year. Go ------> HERE to read that.

I love my little (big) girl. She makes me happy.

Happy birthday, Emma Rose!!

You Are LITERALLY Killing Me

Let me just begin this rant with this disclaimer:

I love Taylor Swift. I think she is an incredibly talented person. She sings beautifully, she writes her own music, she's beautiful, she accompanies herself on the guitar. All things I wish I could do. Which may be why one of her songs just bugs me. It may just be because I'm a jealous person that wishes I had half of her talents. Maybe it's because of my study and love of Shakespeare. Or because of my other literary studies on college. But the song "Love Story" has made a resurgence on the radio lately and it just makes me crazy.

In case you don't know, the song is about a girl who loves a boy and her father doesn't approve, so she compares them to Romeo and Juliet. Ever read that story? It's not a happy one. It's not a love story, it's a tragedy. I guess you can argue that in the song their story begins like Romeo and Juliet's but it has a very different ending.

Spoiler Alert:

Romeo and Juliet DIE!! They kill themselves. They are spoiled, selfish idiots that kill themselves because their spoiled, selfish parents can't get along. Okay, that may be a little harsh, but the song ends too happily to use Romeo and Juliet as such a central role.

In a not-so-central role is the reference to The Scarlet Letter. Hello? Ever read that one? The song says she's a scarlet letter. I think she means it as something that is taboo or forbidden. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, the scarlet letter is the red letter A that is found on a cloth on Hester Prynne's breast to mark her as an adulterer. I don't think I'd want to be referred to as a scarlet letter, even if I was trying to make some vague reference to a classical novel.

Now, please, don't get me wrong. I really do like Taylor Swift. But this song is proof that I'm a very literal person and things easily bug me.

I'm just saying.

Millified (A Verb)

I don't know if it's because I've had three other children or if it's just that Millie is so unique, but this little girl

has a big personality that is very obvious even at her young age. One that has been apparent since before she was born.

I've actually coined a new phrase. Millie's pacifier was missing one day and I happened to find it in an empty contact solution box. Josh asked me how in the world I found it in this random box. I told him that my clue was that the box had been crushed and misplaced, or "Millified."

Millie doesn't seek out mischief. She is too task-oriented to look for trouble. Millie sees things around her and knows when a job needs to be done.

For instance,

Food: should be eaten. It should be eaten from off her plate, off the floor, out of the garbage can, off Daddy's plate, out of Mommy's hand, off a sibling's plate sitting unattended at the kitchen table.

Drinks: should be out of water bottles. Or empty pop cans.

Walking: should be accomplished anywhere. And often. Through the hallways at church, around the zoo, through the aisles of Home Depot, across the dance floor at a cousin's wedding.

Dirty Looks: should be given to anyone at anytime for any reason.

Toys: should be given to the proper owner. Or Momma. Or just haphazardly placed throughout the house in rooms the toys would never ordinarily appear.

Remote Buttons: should be pushed. Mostly at random. And during a show everyone else is enjoying.

Microphones: should be sung into.

Garbage Cans: should be emptied. It doesn't matter whether it's the kitchen trash that is emptied one item at the time or the small garbage cans from the bedrooms that can be dumped all at once.

Clothes and Accessories: should be worn. Headbands, shoes, necklaces, sunglasses... it doesn't matter.

Wipes: should be pulled out of the wipes bag and sucked on. Don't judge me. I don't make up the rules.

Papers: should be wrinkled, ripped or read.

Finding these tasks completed means finding these things Millified. She doesn't mean to frustrate the living heck out of me. It's just her job.

It's A Small World After All

Tonight I took the kids to the Groom's/Rehearsal Dinner for Josh's cousin. His cousin Breanna is getting married tomorrow in the Mesa AZ Temple.

It was a great reunion, although Josh had to work. We saw Josh's mom, his aunts and uncles, some cousins. It was fun. Millie was introduced to everyone and several people recognized the girls from their pictures well enough to tell them apart in person. That may not seem like a big deal, but you'd be surprised how often the two of them are confused. I was impressed.

I was also reunited with my former Visiting Teaching companion from about nine years ago. Josh and I lived in Mesa not long after we were married and that's where I met Michelle. Like I said, we were partnered together to visit certain sisters in our ward. She had just had her third child and I was pregnant with Emma. I approached her and we visited for a minute or two. She said she remembered me, but I'm pretty sure she was just being polite. But it's funny to come across someone from the past.

Oh, and just an update on my nephew Brayden. Thanks for all of your prayers. My SIL reports that he's doing much better and eating well. He should be able to go home within the next few weeks. Hooray!!

Urine Good Company

Yesterday I got to talk to my brother JC for a while. He and I can speak for hours at a time. We have a special bond, one that began, and is often fueled, through theatre. JC told me about his plans for this summer, which include an audition for a nontraditional musical. It's dark and a bit freaky, but because it's a musical, the music counteracts that blackness a bit. I told him it sounded a bit like the musical Urinetown, which we watched at the Grand Street Theatre in Helena, MT. (If you're ever in Helena, you have to stop and see a show there.) He said the shows are along the same lines.

What? You haven't heard of Urinetown? You think it sounds a bit juvenile or even gross? To an extent, you're right. But it's HILARIOUS!

Urinetown is about a time when a drought has depleted most of the water supply. Private restrooms are banned by the government. People are only allowed to use public fee-based toilet systems. Anyone who contradicts the system is threatened to be sent to Urinetown (the secret is that Urinetown doesn't exist---the people are just being killed!). Of course, a hero finally emerges to save the people from constant fee-hikes by the overruling body, Urine Good Company. Urinetown fights against nearly every traditional expectation of musicals. Its social-political message can be used as a great argument either for or against a heavy-handed government involvement. It just depends on your angle.

It's a good one.

So, I've realized that I really need to get out and see some theatre. I miss it.

Thrift Store? Really?

Today Josh and I ran a few errands with the kids. The girls love to wear skirts and dresses. They were them all the time. To school, home, church, everywhere. The problem is that they have pretty nice dresses and skirts that aren't quite appropriate for playing in the dirt.

So, I figured I'd be brilliant and buy them about ten new play skirts at one of the local thrift stores. It would only cost me about $10, so it would be the perfect solution.

Yeah, right.

Been to the thrift store lately? I hadn't. Instead of rivalling garage sale prices, the thrift stores are rivalling department store prices. I was floored. For $10 we got two skirts. TWO! We also got them brand new dresses for $10/each. I know we spent twice as much at the department store, but we got full dresses, not skirts. Amazing.

Where are the good old days, huh?

Tax Evasion!

We've begun watching "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" in the evenings. It's a somewhat educational show that is family friendly and it comes on the same time Monday through Friday. I've figured out that there are some subjects that I can get right most of the time: spelling, literature, music, grammar. The subjects that often get me: sciences (any and all), math (the definitions, mostly), and history. I get some of the history questions right, but some baffle me and I have no idea what the answer is. Today I got one right.

There is a running joke in our family. When I was about a sophomore in high school, I was in the family room with my dad and probably some of my siblings. There was some history show on (as there often was when Dad was home) and it mentioned Al Capone. Dad looked up from his newspaper long enough to inform me that when Al Capone was finally arrested, it was not for his gangster activities. Al Capone was arrested for tax evasion. I slightly nodded, but didn't say anything. Dad mumbled to himself, "Ah, gee, Dad, that's interesting. Thanks for telling me that." Dad often mumbled stuff like this to himself, a habit I seemed to have picked up.

Anyway, a few weeks went by and the TV mentioned Al Capone again. Dad, thinking he was going to educate us, said, "Do you know how they finally caught Al Capone." I looked at him, at first thinking he was joking, but then realizing he didn't remember the situation from a few weeks earlier. I happily answered him with a confident, "Tax evasion!" Dad was so impressed that I knew the answer. He began praising me and asked me how in the world I knew that. I told him that I'd learned it from him a few weeks ago. He controlled his beaming as he said, "I'm glad you were listening." So now, anytime Al Capone is mentioned, someone will generally call out, "Tax evasion!"

So on today's episode of "Fifth Grader" when the question of "What was Al Capone arrested for?" I gleefully shouted, "Tax evasion!" Of course, I was alone in the room, so it was more of a pathetic moment, but I knew the answer!

Happy Tax Season, everyone. Hope you've filed yours.