AHHH!

I try to sit with Libby while she is practicing the piano. Otherwise, she just fiddles around for a half hour and never actually practices the songs. So, this morning I was sitting with her and things were pretty typical. Between each song she lays back (while still sitting on the bench) and says she needs to stretch. This drives me nuts. Then mid-song she will stop and say her fingers are tired and maybe we should try this song a little later. Today she pulled a new stunt by saying she wanted to wait and play the piano with her cousin Savannah who is coming to visit today- ya, right that will happen. It is amazing the excuses she comes up with. Anyway, as the practicing continues I give her two warnings that I am going to leave the room and she will have to practice on her own if she doesn't lower her voice- because in between the back bends and the tired fingers she is yelling at me. She yelled at me one last time and I walked out of the room. A couple of minutes later she comes into the kitchen and this is our conversation- Libby in red and me in blue.... Moooomm, I want you to come sit with me. No Libby I gave you a warning and you still yelled. But Mooomm I didn't mean to yell. It just came out. Libby I'm not going to talk about it, you yelled at me and you can try again tomorrow. But Mom I didn't even do it it just got pushed out as a yell. I meant to say it calmly. Libby, only you can control your actions (as I'm trying not to laugh- exactly who or what pushed out the yell?).

Anyway, it's probably not that amusing to anyone else, but I had to type it out because I thought it was amazing. The arguments in this house are so not logical. Sometimes it's me that isn't logical. In fact, a lot of the time it is me that causes the arguments. Today, however, I can say with great pride that I did not lose my cool and I was being the adult and Libby was doing a great job being the child.

While I'm blogging, I wanted to record something our home teacher taught us. He was teaching us about prayer and he made a good analogy. He asked the girls if I would let them have candy for dinner if they asked very nicely and they expressed to me how much they really wanted to have candy for dinner. Of course the answer was no because I love them and want them to be healthy. Heavenly Father loves us too and sometimes we ask for things in our prayers that we really, really want, but He just can't give it to us. He wants what is best for us and that isn't necessarily what we want. I know I've heard this before, but it is a concept I forget. It was a good reminder.

One last thing....

So, I posted a lot today and it looks like we've been playing all summer. Ha! So not true. Just to prove that we've been working.... (don't let the smiles fool you)
Learning to swim (ok, we did have friends which made it a little bit fun)

Practicing the piano on a new/old piano. I am so thrilled to have this piano, but it is a chore for Libby to practice and an even bigger chore for me to argue with her while she is "practicing".

A sunflower in our garden. The garden is lots of work, but I have to admit that I enjoy it most of the time.

And of course there was the cherries. Never ending cherries. I made some fruit leather, dried some, froze some, took some to neighbors. It was a chore, but they tasted good. In the movie Return to Me, the grandfather says "I'm blessed with work". I love that line (and that movie). It's hard to admit because I would like a break every once in a while, but ultimately I too am blessed with work.

Wyoming

Look who's here!

This is a backwards summary of our excursion to Star Valley, WY. Kim and Dave (my aunt and uncle) were gracious enough to let us come and stay at their home. On the last day we were there we went to the lake. This is a shot of some serious canoe racing in a beautiful spot!

Our last day there was also Dave's b-day. We celebrated in style and gave him some goofy gifts. He was great. Had I got Incredible Hulk bubbles for my birthday gift, there is no telling what my reaction would have been.

In the words of my Dad, "This gives a whole new meaning to the term party animal".

Watching the trailer get sand blasted- possibly one of the most entertaining times of the whole outing!

We went all the way to Jackson Hole and this is the souvenir the girls ended up with. It's so expensive in Jackson! Jess and I are way too cheap for that. We ended up at Dollar Tree.

And this was THE most entertaining point of the weekend. My brothers cooking!

Whose child is that anyway? Is she an orphan?

Everyone loved having Grace with us.

Here you can see why we loved it so much!

Not quite the whole group, but a fun morning shot none the less. We had a great time! Thanks Kim and Dave!

More Summer Fun

We went with Daren to pick up the Snowie booths at Ogden Pioneer Days and we were lucky enough to get a "semi-private" showing of the budweiser horses. They were on their way to the Ogden Raptors stadium and so were we...

Libby was in charge of the camera most of the time, so this is the best group shot I have. The Haycocks, Evertsons, and Berry's were with us.

As I mentioned, Libby had the camera!

Twice now we have been lucky enough to run into our next door neighbors from Clinton. Kamber and Libby have a good time together. It's too bad we had to move!

I caught Noelle without a shoulder shrug. It took a few tries.

And on this note, we will end the post. Libby was reaching the point of exhaustion and she did not want her picture taken. She was mad at me because I wouldn't let her have any more junk food. She can get pretty nasty when she gets tired. I have to remind myself to ignore what she is saying because she frequently pulls a "you don't love me" routine and it makes me question myself.

The 4th

Since Daren is so busy on the 4th of July I decided I might as well be too. So, I had a hairbow booth at the Lewiston celebration. It was fun, but there was three other ladies there selling hairbows. I guess I've picked a popular hobby.

This is Noelles latest pose. If she knows you are taking a photo of her you can count on the shoulder shrug.

On the other hand, Libby is always coming up with a new, unique pose.

The girls and Grandma Chris. Mom helped me with bow sales and Shalise (and others) helped me with the girls. I'm thankful for family! Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead just before all the fun started at the Jacksons. So no pictures of that yet.

This is the Place

Jess, Mom, and I took the kids to This is the Place State Park. We had a good time. There are lots of fun things to see and do there.

Mostly March Arizona Trip

I love this song. It's John Schmidt playing. I wanted to share the song, but thought I would like to have some pictures to go along with it. The pictures don't really go with the music and there are some random pictures in the middle, but it is still kind of fun. Ty helped me put it together, but it is in no way a reflection of his abilities. Had he been in charge it would have been much cooler. Its really just a way to get you to listen to the song and to get us all excited to have Brig and Lisa here this week!

"Staycation"

We took the girls to Hogle Zoo and some other fun places in SLC and they LOVED it. You really don't have to go far to make little girls happy! Loving the carousel.

For those of you who have seen "17 again" this is Daren "peacocking"- not exactly the appropriate attire, but we couldn't resist with the actual peacock in the background.

Man, I have cute kids!

Too much time in the car!

My little challenge

Noelle had her tonsils and adenoids taken out last week. Holy smokes! What an ordeal. I was under the impression that a tonsilectomy was pretty "easy", but it wasn't for Noelle. When they brought her to me after the surgery she was crying and screaming. They handed her over and she proceeded to scream, kick, hit me, try to pull her IV out, etc for the next hour. I was in tears and was praying for help. About that time the nurse came in and said she had talked to the anesthesiologist and they were going to give her some Versed (since 4 doses of the pain med hadn't put a dent in her!). The versed worked (that is the medicine they use when someone gets a colonoscopy-it's good stuff), but only for 20 minutes. After that she was awake! Thankfully, she had calmed down and was now only sad and hurting.

Obviously I havent' been taking pictures of her during this, but the picture above says it all. I tried to get her to drink from the juice box and she squeezed it out at me. Juice everywhere! The syringe was full of the HOT PINK antibiotic I have to give her twice a day. She squirted that all over my bedroom carpet! Last but not least the pin. We use the pin to keep her jammies on her. We have to pin the zipper to the collar so she doesn't strip down and itch her skin at night. So last week she was mad at me for "pinning her up" and because she couldn't get the pin undone she just used brute force and broke the whole zipper. You can see the handle of the zipper still attached to the pin. What a girl! She is a fighter. On good days I can sort of laugh about it, but most the time I'm shaking my head and wondering what I am doing wrong.

It's only been a little over a week since the surgery, so I probably shouldn't be expecting great things yet. However, I am still discouraged by her sleep thus far, it's not improving at all. I was blessed to get a call from my uncle Jed (an MD and sleep specialist) before the surgery. He gave me hope about helping her with the sleep apnea, but it does sound like she suffers from night terrors too. He said kids grow out of night terrors around the time they hit puberty. Aahhh! I don't think I can wait that long.

I know I really don't have anything to complain about. So, take this all with a grain of salt. We are all healthy and very blessed. Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. I'm sure of that. I am tired and I do need to help Noelle get better before it really does damage to the whole family, but I will try to be patient until the answer presents itself.

On a more positive note, Noelle loves her cousin baby Grace! She was SO excited to see her when Lisa got to come for a short visit. Here she is helping read Grace a story. Ellie definitely loves babies.

And here she is sleeping like an angel. It's very deceptive, but I thought her hands were so cute (notice the pin).