Irresistable...

The pie? Well, yes, that was too! But when Claire starts making a good eating mess, how can we not pull out the camera to capture her cuteness?

A Very Big Birthday

Millie has been counting down the days until her 5th birthday and whenever she talks to anyone, she is sure to say, "guess how many days until my birthday!" The day before Millie's birthday, Grace told me that she was going to be so sad on Millie's birthday. She was worried that Millie would change or not be her friend when she was 5.

We planned a last-minute party for her friends and Millie insisted on having a jungle theme. This was kind of random (we would expect princess, ballerina, or something girly--not jungle). But Millie has informed me that she loves Tarzan because of his muscles (boy, we are in for it!), so I'm guessing this had something to do with it.


When Millie woke up, Gracie graciously began giving her all of Gracie's favorite things. She offered her butterfly blanket that she sleeps with every night, her favorite stuffed animal "kitty", her two favorite stones, and more. Then we got to work doing party preparations. Millie spent the entire day practicing and conquering the skill of blowing up a balloon. What a determined girl!



Our living room was turned into a jungle. We played many fun jungle games and did all the usual birthday stuff. Millie got some great gifts from her friends. She was so surprised at how many gifts she received and how many surprise visits she got at the door. She started to think it was just going to keep coming and coming. At one point, she said something like, "I'm going to go look out the window to see who is coming next to bring me a present!"

Match #3--Eric & Rachel

We set up Eric Willison {from our ward} with Rachel Barlow {family friend} last Spring. He had a battle with cancer while they were first dating, and miraculously overcame it. That was a huge miracle! And the fact that Rachel stuck around, even when things were scary, was another miracle. They were sealed in the temple April 30th. It was a very joyous occasion! They are so perfect for each other and will be such an amazing couple. We are so glad to be numbered among their friends.

They gave us a huge trophy for setting them up, completely unaware that we have received a matchmaking trophy from Kent & Sara. A little ironic!

"The Sun'll Come Out..."

We've been on a big "Annie" kick lately. We took the girls to see a high school play and then we had to watch parts of both movies.


I love that they know the music now and we can belt the songs together in the car. As we drove to the library yesterday during the non-stop downpour, Millie decided that we needed to change the words to "The Rain 'ill come out...tomorrow!" It was fun to pretend that we love the rain and clouds and gloominess. Singing about it almost convinced me.

Whenever I feel like complaining about the rain, I think of Sister Wilkerson, my mission companion from Elko, Nevada, who LOVED the rain. She often thanked the Lord for the rain, and I was always surprised because I wasn't so grateful. I guess when you live in a dessert, you are always grateful for the rain. And I guess since we live in what is also considered a dessert, we should be grateful for the rain. But it's hard when there is flooding and day after day of grey weather in May.

On a brighter side, I am SO glad we got our gardens and pots planted over Mother's Day weekend before all this rain.




And here's what we have been doing inside lately...


Millie got a hold of more dress up make-up. She put sparkly lip gloss all over her eyes, and eyeshadow on her lips



which gave us good reason to play dress-ups and play all over the pillows


{Claire felt extra special with two tutus on--the fluffier, the better!}
Gracie prefers no tutu at all



And we discovered a new way to build. We used skewers to make 2-dimensional houses for the petshops.
Gracie did a fun hair-do with 6 ponytails

And Millie came up with some good art projects

Childlike Honesty

The other day, Grace touched my arm lovingly, and then said, “Mom, your arm feels squishy like Claire’s.”

“Oh,” I thought, “I’m pretty sure I know what she is saying.”

But then to reinforce the idea, she asked, “Mommy, are you going to be a Grandma soon?” I quickly answered, “No...”

So she added one more comment. “Mommy, you have arms like a giant!”

If she wasn't so naive and perfectly innocent, maybe I could have been a little offended about that. But I just had to laugh.

We are really working on communication right now, and boy, she got the point across clearly!

I know Summer is just around the corner. I know I'll be wearing short-sleeved shirts. So, thanks, Gracie! Now I have more motivation this week to wake up early and exercise! I'll try to think about that when I lay in bed at 6:45, trying to decide if it's an exercise morning or not.



And just now as I was talking with Millie, she randomly asked me to open my mouth wide (I thought for sure she would mention my fillings).

Then she said, "Mommy, I know some of your teeth are going to fall out!"

"Yeah? Why is that?" I asked.

"Because some of them are moving and going to pop out."

I had to wonder, should I get braces again? Then I quickly decided, na! That was not fun!

Again, no harm intended by little ones. Just the truth. And somehow, I don't mind, because they love me despite my imperfections and flaws.