Dear Mom and Dad,

These are a couple of things that I have in my house that remind me of you:

These encyclopedias that I inherited from you a couple years ago. I have memories of asking you questions Dad, and if you didn't know the answer (or if the answer got us thinking of more questions), then we would get out the encyclopedias. They also remind me of you because you are kind of like an encyclopedia yourself - you know all sorts of things about all sorts of things. :) It makes you a very interesting person to talk to - and you are a great conversationalist!

We have lilacs just like these in our backyard and they smell delicious! I have some in a vase on our dining room table and it makes our home smell like heaven! They remind me of you Mom because I know how much you love lilacs and flowers in general. I always liked to go flower shopping with you so we could make centerpieces for your tables. It made me feel good that you trusted me and thought I was a good enough florist to make these arrangements for your home.

I love you!
Camile

Spring Break ... a few weeks ago

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous as I anticipated the break this year. I made lists of things to do and mentally prepared myself for crazy fighting and hearing things like "I'm bored!", "She's copying me!", "You never let me do anything!", and other dramatic exclamations. (Maybe this is totally weird, but sometimes my own kids make me nervous.) Basically, I was just praying we would all survive spring break. And guess what? We had a great spring break. Maybe it's because I had these low expectations, or maybe it's because I made a list of things to do, but it was good. And now I'm not so nervous for summertime! Here are some pictures from the week:

Aubree was helping me make a treat

Carly took this picture of me reading a collection of Robert Munsch stories. (btw, I really am not a fan of his writing - it's mostly nonsense without a moral... usually.)

Carly looked up online how to play kick the can. I totally remember having night games in our neighborhood or being at my Grandma and Grandpa Henderson's house and playing that game!

Below are some pictures at Wilcox Park by the Magnolia tree (taken by a friend)

Ellie - 7

Aubree - 4

Carly - "8 - and I'll be 9 in four months" (that's how she answers whenever anyone asks her age)
I LOVE this picture! It's a perfect photo-description of Carly - climbing a tree and reading a book.

Miss Carly the Writer

I found Carly writing these notes (happy-grams) to each of her classmates the other day.

She has also been reading her scriptures each night before bed. I can really tell that she is trying to do what's right - it's not easy, but she is definitely always trying to be better.

Carly is so good at creative writing. Here's an example of what I found on our whiteboard one day:

                              Ellie
This is Ellie. With all her heart, she loves to do art.
This is Ellie. Her skin is peach, she lives near the beach.
This is Ellie. Her hair is blond, she likes to visit the pond.
This is Ellie. Her eyes are blue, nothing new.
This is Ellie. She thinks school is cool.
This is Ellie. She is cute, unlike an ugly root.
This is Ellie. She always reads. She likes to play with beads.
This is Ellie. She has lots of friends, Ellie never ends.
This was Ellie.

by Carly Parson

Edible Aubree

So basically, I just want to eat Aubree for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She says I can't though, because she's full of blood and guts and sticks and rocks and everything gross.

But just look at these cheeks!

Aubree is very proud of this belt. She likes to put it on by herself - unfortunately this takes about 5 minutes. (Again, how can you help but put a zerbert right on that belly of hers?!)

 Aubree and one of her best friends. Luckily her family will be in our new branch.

 Aubree was looking through the Children's Song Book the other day when she called out to me, "Mommy! It's Georgy Porgy!" She's pointing to a picture of a boy trying to make a girl feel better. I guess it looks like he tried to kiss her and make her cry. (It's really "Help Me Dear Father")

The Good Samaritan

Ellie is such a sweetheart. Today she came home from school and shared this little incident with me:

One of her classmates, William, had brought a bunch of Pokemon cards to school and was playing with them outside. Ellie was talking to another friend when she looked over and saw that William's cards were suddenly all over the ground. She watched as several kids walked past him, then she went over and helped him pick up all of his cards.

I told her she reminds me of the Good Samaritan.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where [the man] was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him” (Luke 10:33).

Something so small, but it just shows the type of girl Ellie is.

Ellie and her first missing tooth (Winter 2012/13)

Such a sweetie face!

Easter

After church on Sunday I thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures of us all dressed up with hair somewhat done. Well, I was the ONLY one who thought that was a good idea. All I ask is for one measly picture and these people act like I'm asking them to cut off their right arm! I had a mini-melt down and then gave myself a little (2 hour) time out .... on Easter Sunday .... I know, totally pathetic! You win some and you lose some I guess. But really, sometimes I just wish I was perfect, ya' know?

Nice pictures, huh? (Thanks Aubree, for at least trying)

Other than this incident, our Easter weekend was really good. We talked about Jesus Christ and cousin Blake. We found a really fun park near our home on Saturday and also had an Easter egg hunt. And of course we dyed eggs on Sunday. Hopefully these good parts are the parts that stick out in our memories.

St. Patty's Day Party

I am not much of a party planner/thrower and I wish I was, but it kind of gives me anxiety. Carly, on the other hand is a party planner. Birthdays, tea parties, St. Patrick's Day, etc....  

So, she's been planning and begging me for a St. Patrick's Day party since the end of February and today was the big day. Planning a party for kids is a good way to ease me into hosting for adults (if I ever get to that point). Also, I want our home to be a place where the girls' friends always feel welcome and I want our girls to feel comfortable inviting friends over. 

I wish I would have gotten a picture of all 5 of these school girls getting off the bus at our house - you could just feel the excitement! 

 The dining room was all decked out for the occasion. We had some brownies that a leprechaun had smudged green mint icing on. The leprechaun also snuck into our freezer somehow and made our ice cubes rainbow colors!

Here they are playing Don't Eat Pete (St. Patrick's Day style). I really wanted to figure out how to make this into a printable (to share with my three devoted followers) :) but I can not figure it out!! I think if you just right click on the image you can copy it onto a word document... I think. Give it a try, you'll like this game and so will your kids.

At the end of the party we hid these pots filled with yummy treasures for them to find.

I'm really glad Carly was so persistent about doing this party - fun was had by all! I love getting to know their friends and seeing them have such a wonderful time together.