Poser

Iris = poser

First pose of the day:

Climbed from TP onto D's drawer in order to rearrange his toiletries.

I swear I just don't know how to keep this girl's feet on the ground. Pediatric leg weights? Super glue? Ball and chain.

Pose #2:

David walked into the entryway to find this:

Like her outfit? I made it myself.

Yesterday Iris appeared in front of me. I stared at her and scratched my chin as I thought, "there's something different about this baby, what is it?....clothing." Can't keep clothes on her. Enjoy it while you can child!

David bought me a bike for our anniversary. Bike-riding feels wholesome. The same feeling as when putting on an apron, smelling baking bread, tasting homemade applesauce. And now I’m loving summer, we have hit our stride: solitary run, pack a breakfast for the kids and bike to the canal or park, possibly some yard work, dip in the pool, lunch, quiet time, mommy homework...

A summer epiphany:  I used to sit the kids in front of a movie during quiet time if I needed to get something done, but the kids were always grumpy and restless afterward. In the past 1.5 weeks they have watched very few movies. Instead I send them upstairs to play during quiet time. Even on the longer-than-long road trip, they were happier without the tube. Result: The kids are best friends and rarely ask to play with other kids (even though they do—love the playdates!). Also, if they bicker, they are sent to a room to “learn how to play nicely with each other.” It works.
I have concluded that one of a mother’s greatest joys is seeing her children enjoy each other.
Love my kids!

first summer day

Yesterday was what I consider to be the first day of true summer, meaning no vacation, no camp, no traveling. Just me and the kids at home. I ran. We pulled weeds, biked to the canal where ducks were traumatized, then swimming, cleaning, reading, math and writing homework, movie, nap, lunch with daddy, sewing sock puppets, fort making, cleaning again, painting, browsing family pictures and reminiscing, interspersed with spontaneous dance parties….and I’m wondering whether I will survive another month of summer break. As a wise woman once told me, “they grow up so fast, but some days not fast enough.”

A highlight: Elijah did a full airborne flip into the pool. I put the fear of death into him and he did it no more.

A comment: There’s nothing like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons that makes me want to put my fist through the wall. “Easy” should be replaced by “Sadistic.” Claire might be slightly easier than Elijah, but that’s not saying much. He got about a dozen sadistic lessons (the last one ended in tears from both parties) and then we went to Bob Books which was much better for him. We are on sadistic lesson #11 with the girl. No crying yet, but I feel it coming (from me mostly).

Love my kids! Despite the craziness, there are so many sweet moments. The hugs, snuggles, laughs, the imaginations gone wild. They might turn out alright after-all. With faith. Lots of it.

back in town

This is what Arizona does to you.

A hot, dry sucker punch.

He's gotten 2 bloody noses so far today.
And yes, yes, it's time to update the blog with the vacation pics, but it's about ten-millionth on my to-do list, out of 10 million and 1. Plucking the beard always earns last place on the list as I'm sure most of you have witnessed.

Wrestling Lions

Is there a difference between tall tales and lies? In my mind, one requires punishment and the other is just so darn entertaining, it requires encouragement. Yesterday, after summer camp a group of boys came up to me and asked,
“Does your son really wrestle lions?”
Later I asked E about it and he said, “Oh yeah, last night. I kept it a secret from you.”
And then, “If you would have given me a real sword I would have cut off its head and hung it in my room, no actually just the eyeballs.”
The tale became taller over a period of hours, including additional lions, burial techniques, and future strategies of toilet flushing. It lasted so long in part because Claire was fascinated and she kept up a steady stream of questions. I pointed out a steady stream of inconsitencies and E would either explain his way out of them or say, "Oh, that was just a broma."

Well, tomorrow we are off.
ROAD TRIP!
If I’m alive after more than 3362 miles of driving with bickering children, I might upload some pictures.
Love, just think Love.

Visitors

Some of our best friends from Mexico came to visit us. We went to the temple where Paty's parents had been sealed 40 years before. They are from Argentina and it was the closest temple.  Then we ate at a revolving restaraunt downtown.

In-N-Out

 Bahama Bucks

Normal behavior: Sarah and Elijah rough-housing and Iris picking her nose. First she shoves food up there and then the digging is more fruitful.

Visiting a lake.

Slide rock.

Rock climbing.

Elijah was fickle about his decision to jump but David was ready to go.

Slide rock is a natural water slide.

After looking through my pictures I realized it should be illegal for me to expose so much skin.

We spent the night in Sedona.

This church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

It was so good to see them. We clicked right back into where we were in Mexico with Claire prefering Paty as her mother and Diego as her boyfriend. Before they came Claire said she wanted to marry Daddy.

Sorry, no.

Elijah. Sorry, no.

Iris. Sorry, no.

Ok, Diego.

And she tried to hold his hand the whole time they were here. That girl is dangerous!

Dancing Queen

Second (from the camera) on first row.

Claire getting ready for her dance recital. She loved all the make-up. I told her I was morally opposed. Apparently she didn't understand b/c she wanted to make sure it was freshly applied at all times.

She turned out to be quite a diva.

The first thing she asked when I picked her up was whether Daddy saw her.

This is what happens...

This is what happens when a little girl stops taking naps because she learns how to climb out of the crib and can no longer be forced into slumbery submission.

Yesterday she walked in on me at 5am as I was getting dressed to go running.
Scared me to death.
Might as well put her in a bed.
So long crib.