Tagged... Thanks, Mom!

Wasn't it thoughtful of my Mom to tag all her daughters with a new one? Yeah... we all think so. :)

I am - - - tired.
I want to be - - - a Corporate Lawyer (that isn't to say that I don't love being a mom- it would just be nice to know that I accomplished the feat of Law School)
I need - - - a big chunk of chocolate to munch on.
I wish - - - my kids would sleep past 7am on any given day.
I'm scared - - - of deep, dark water.
I will never forget - - - the fun teenage years I had growing up with my brothers and sisters... we were so blessed to have each other and had such a good time together! In case anyone is wondering, I have the BEST family ever... seriously- you should all be jealous.
What the world could do without - - - cockroaches- really, what IS their purpose?

OK- I tag all past roommates who read this- you know who you are.

Fourth of July Celebrations

So, I'm a little late in posting pictures for the 4th... It seems so long ago I can hardly remember what we did! Believe it or not, swimming lessons weren't canceled for us, so we spent the majority of the afternoon at the pool. It suited us all fine, because it was so stinkin' hot outside. We came home, had our own BBQ, then went to our friends, the West's, for some fireworks. Just as we were finishing up, it was time for the big fireworks downtown, so we drove over to watch. I think the girls had a great time. They were absolutely exhausted when we got home. Both Alexa and Callie said they needed to be carried to their room because they were too tired to walk. This is the kids throwing Pop-its. Gotta love those things.
Leah wasn't a fan of fireworks. I think they may have been too loud for her liking. Andrew and I had a fun time talking about the first 4th of Julys for all the girls. Alexa was a few months old, we were living in Provo. We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks from our neighbors, the Butterworth's, yard. She laid on a blanket and slept through all the noise. Our friends, the Brinkerhoff's, kept commenting on how good she was and were amazed by her. She was, of course one of the only babies around at the time in our circle of friends... none of us knew any different. :) Callie was only a couple weeks old on her first 4th. We watched fireworks from Aunt Carrie's Dad's house. Callie slept through the whole thing in her car seat. I remember being so relieved because I hadn't wanted to go anywhere that night. She was great. Last year Leah also slept in her car seat during the fireworks show, but from the car. We drove to the field by Summit and watched from there. It has become our new place to watch the fireworks from. Such a good view and so easy to get home!

I hate lighting off fireworks... it makes me nervous. Thanks to the West's for taking on the responsibility and letting us partake in the fun!

A Total Bust

So, I tried to take the girls to see a Kung Fu Panda last night. Tried is the key word. The air conditioning happened to be broken in the one theatre room where the movie was being shown. It had to have been at least 95 degrees in there. We had to leave early... Callie was sweating like a pig (or perhaps a large overweight panda). Anyway, she wanted to sit on my lap and have me blow on her neck and feet (I know- gross) so she could cool down. So, I was roasting from the body heat factor. I went to complain twice to the manager. The first time he played dumb and said, "Oh, is the air not on in there?" DUH!!! The second time I wasn't as nice and he gave us free passes to come back another time. Smart guy. Alexa didn't want to leave, but I insisted. If I had to listen to Callie any longer I would have gone crazy. One of the girls' friends who went with us was even complaining of a headache it was so hot in there. You just can't live without air conditioning in a place like this. How did they do it in Brigham Young's time?!
*Like my little picture below? From what we did see of the movie, it looked good... I would possibly recommend it if I had been able to concentrate on any of it. I'll give a full review once we see it again.

My Battle Wound

This is the nasty bruise I received while running through the forest at Girls Camp last week. It looks way worse in person, I assure you. Long story short: I was trying to get to one of the girls quickly, jumped over a log that was partially covered in tall grass, hit my leg on two knots that were sticking out but were hidden by the tall grass. I have no idea how it didn't bleed. I kept pushing on my jeans waiting for the blood to seep through. Instead I got a disgusting bruise that looks like someone took a swing at me with a baseball bat. Gross, huh? I figure it will be lingering on my leg for another three weeks....

I'm Ba-ack!

I spent last week at Girls Camp with my ward. It was a great week and now I am exhausted. We had 35 Young Women, 7 Young Women Leaders, 6 tents, 4 fun-filled days, 1 not-so-fun evening of torrential rain, and a massive clean-up of mud when we got home. We were one of only six wards in our Stake to stick it out through the downpour- five wards went home Friday night. I am very lucky to work with AMAZING women in Young Women's. They made the week more than enjoyable, despite all the hard work to pull it off. We also have some pretty amazing Young Women. They make it easy to work hard because they are worth it! Despite the one evening of rain, the weather was fantastic. It was cooler than St. George, but was hot enough to burn nearly everyone's noses and necks on the first day. We were grateful the camp added flushing toilets this year- a major upgrade from last time. Now, if we can convince them that hot showers are a must...
Andrew had the three girls while I was away. He was a trooper to stay with them so I could be gone. I am thankful he makes it possible for me to fulfill my calling and doesn't complain about it. He suffered through swimming lessons in 110 degree heat, fevers in the middle of the night, and potty-training. And despite it all, was in a good mood when I got home and told me it really wasn't that bad! He even had dinner planned for Saturday night, had the house clean, and let me take a nap in the afternoon. What a great Dad he is!
So, there will be more posts to come- I'm far, far behind (I haven't even posted our 4th of July pictures yet!). I'm just too tired to do it now.... Just wanted to let everyone know that I am alive.

Isn't she cute?

Here are some of the most recent pictures of Leah... just because she's so cute. She is endearing in every way except one: for some odd reason she has the highest pitched scream I have ever heard and she likes to use it frequently. My ears are going CRAZY. I can hardly stand the sound of it. I have come to the conclusion that we must just live in a loud house and she wants to be heard as well. I hope it will go away very soon before she starts breaking mirrors and china with her noises. You know she's tired if she is willing to lay down next to you and fall asleep. It doesn't happen very often, but I love it when it does.
Alexa left her half eaten apple on her stool one day last week. Leah went over and shook the stool till the apple fell down.
And then she feasted. She was fairly proud of herself. I was impressed with her ingenious plan.
Leah usually plays in my room while I shower and get ready in the morning. Well, either my shower was WAY too long or she was still tired a couple hours after getting up. She emptied the contents of the basket she always plays with and then fell asleep in it. So sweet.
This is her new favorite place: Callie's chair. Uh-oh.... not good. We have had several fights already; the chair had to be taken away today because Callie completely pushed Leah out of it. What will I do with those two? If I had known that Target was never going to make another chair EXACTLY like this one, I'd have bought five. I'm not kidding. Everyone wants to sit in this chair. It's not like the normal moon chairs that fall over and kids can't get in and out of. This one is perfect. Even Leah can crawl in and out of it without hurting herself. If only I had known how great it was three years ago...