Sing, Sing, Sing

Annika and Kayja joined a little singing group in January.  It's taught by my friend, Sarah P., who wanted a small group for her daughter and a few other girls that was just to teach a love for singing.  The video and pictures didn't turn out well, but their recital really was cute.  Annika and Kayja have really enjoyed being a part of it all, and they have even improved their singing skills. 

Birthday Parties

Annika turned 9 this year.

She took cupcakes to school during lunch and shared them with all her classmates. 

Here she is with Kiki and Miki.

A few days later we had cake at home with the family.

Oreo turned 100 this year.

We had a party, complete with limited edition Birthday Cake Oreos, homemade ice cream, and candles.

Apparently the ice cream was too good to waste even a drop.

Recorder

I remember the day my little brother came home from school with the dreaded recorder.  I just knew that somehow I was going to ensure that my children would never, ever do the same.

My worst nightmare came true this week.  Annika is so proud of her recorder that she has been wearing it around her neck and tooting on it to her heart's content.  Unfortunately for her, my ears are not equally as content. 

I had to make some rules.  Immediately.  She may practice a nice song for 10 minutes and then she has to break it.  I mean put it away.  I know she was a little disappointed, but I just can't stand it. 

Do I get the Bad Parenting Award for this? 

Christmas Day

Christmas 2011 will forever be known as the year our kids were finally excited on Christmas morning... mostly thanks to Tamzin.  One tradition we have is on Christmas morning we gather in one of the girls' bedrooms and eat Pop Tarts and drink milk while we read the story of Jesus' birth.  Then we have a family prayer before we go downstairs to open presents.

Annika has been asking Santa for a new Pogo Stick.  She has been practicing on Kayja's since last April and has gotten quite good.  Azie spotted it first, and yelled to Annika that she had seen it.  Annika has been improving her Pogo every day since Christmas.  I think her record is 116 without stopping, which, according to her, would have been higher if she had been wearing shoes.

Azie LOVES to help cook in the kitchen, so Santa brought her a tabletop kitchen of her own.  Now she and Tamzin make all kinds of yummy foods to serve to us.

Kayja got a Pet Shop treehouse with a Pet Shop that wiggles its tail.  She thought it was quite silly, and I agree that a little plastic toy wiggling is pretty funny.

Darion had yarn on her list, and was so excited that Azie and Kayja bought her some pretty, fluffy yarn that she started crocheting a scarf as soon as she was done opening presents.  Santa brought her a seat cover and matching steering wheel cover.  Now she just needs to get her license...

The four older girls all got games, personalized notebooks, pencils, erasers, comfy pillows, and clothes.  They also got a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Tamzin had to wait til morning because someone (I won't mention my own name) forgot until she was tucked in, fast asleep.

The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly Tamzin.  She came down the stairs and saw none other than her beloved Cookie Monster sitting on the couch.  The only reason I didn't get it on video was because she ran faster than any Olympian sprinter has ever dreamed.  She also opened a little baby doll in a cradle from Darion with shouts of, "Yeah!!!"  She opened a fuzzy dog and ran away from it.  (She's afraid of fuzz and bugs.)  She thought the next present was fuzz, too, so she ran away before she even opened it.  Luckily, it was an Elmo shirt.  Then she was so excited that she thought every present after that was Elmo.  I wish I could relive this Christmas with Tamzin over and over.

Cameron got Swedish Fish from Santa.  He must have been a good boy this year to deserve such a treat.  He also got an extra large shower head, as he has been complaining about tiny shower heads since the day he was born.

My favorite gift this year was a new camera.  I have had the same camera for about five years now, and it just has been wearing out.  I apparently complained about it enough, that Cameron wanted to silence me once and for all... or at least for another five years.

Since we had Christmas Eve dinner with Cameron's parents and grandma in S.G.U., we had plenty of leftovers to enjoy Chrismas Day, without all the cooking.  Ham, sweet potatoes, veggies, and cider... yum!

Little Pranksters

On April Fool's Eve I did some research to find the perfect April Fools joke to play on my kids. Find it, I did. Execute it, I did not. A woman wrote that when she was a kid her mom went into the rooms of the kids, scooped them up out of their beds, and placed them in someone else's bed. The woman marveled at the fact that her mom succeeded without waking a single child.

I knew I had no hope of pulling this one off, so I asked Cameron to brainstorm with me. He came up with toilet papering their bedrooms. I know, it's the old standby, but we had never done it before, and I have fond memories of toilet papering people's houses. We snuck into their bedrooms and strung two rolls in each room. It was just like the good ole days.

The next morning we woke to little squeals and then the pitter-patter of little feet in the dining room as Annika and Kayja were busy readying their April Fool's prank. We went downstairs and discovered they had set the whole table for breakfast, substituting utensils for an array of kitchen implements. They had also stolen the toilet paper idea and toilet papered our table. They thought they were so clever.

Who Knew?

People often ask me if Annika and Kayja are friends. I think they generally are good buddies, but this note I found really surprised me. It reads:

To: Kayja thank you for playing with me it is alout of fun. Kayja I think you are a good sister cause you play with me and laugh with me. It was funny when we were in the car. Why did you put your head down. Love Annika

Annika's Baptism

Annika got baptized last Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa by the Beach made the trek from California. Grandma and Grandpa by the Hill came from St. George. Colby, Marcela, Cohen, and Marcela's mom came from Grand Junction. Our neighbors, the Mercados, were there. Annika's primary teacher, Sister Morrill, her church classmate, Dillya, and her mom, and Bishop Storey were there as well.

There's something about seeing my child hit a major milestone in her life that makes me feel a little older.

My Kids' Blogs

I'm having so much fun with this blogging thing that I thought I'd get my kids started. Annika, Kayja, and Azie started theirs tonight. (Darion is not home, but we'll get her started soon.)

Annika's site is http://www.spazzpot.blogspot.com/

Kayja's site is http://www.quirky-kakie.blogspot.com/

Azie's site is http://www.square-azie.blogspot.com/

They came up with their own names, wrote their own entries, and picked their own backgrounds and pictures. This should be interesting.

What Would You Do For Some Frosted Flakes?

Annika has this problem. Her permanent teeth like to come in before her baby teeth fall out. She has this other problem. She has the most stubby teeth I've ever seen. This makes it difficult to get a good grip on a loose tooth to pull it out.

Cameron bought some Frosted Flakes on Saturday, and we hid them from the kids... until last night. We ate lunch at 3:00 and decided cereal would be a good snack before bed. We broke out the Frosted Flakes and the kids saw.

Annika asked for some.

I said, "No."

She asked again.

I said, "No."

Darion asked, "Did we buy Frosted Flakes?"

I said, "No. 'We' did not buy anything. Dad buys everything in this house, and if you would like to use anything you must ask him for permission."

In her sweetest, most polite voice Annika asked, "Can I please have some Frosted Flakes, Dad?"

"No."

"What?!"

"I'll let you have some if you'll let me pull out your tooth."

She really wanted some Frosted Flakes.

Is this an orthodontist's dream come true or what?! It looks worse in person. The photograph is missing the depth. In addition to being somewhat sideways, her front right tooth is about a quarter inch farther forward than the two teeth next to it.

Some day I will have bragging rights that I paid for a Ferrari. Unfortunately, I will not be the proud owner of said Ferrari, only the proud owner of a child with straight teeth.