Chloe's Birthday

Chloe's 8th birthday was an emotional one for me.  A person told me, "Oh now she is not going to be your sweet, perfect child anymore."  Um... thank you?  I disagree.  Chloe turned 8. And she is still very much a sweet child.  Perfect? No. But I am pretty sure she wasn't perfect before she turned 8 either.  Close to it. But perfection is impossible.  Chloe, my party planner, event specialist extraordinaire, had a Monday birthday, and in Chloe fashion, refused to celebrate it on the weekend because birthdays just aren't the same if it is not actually your birthday.  And I totally concur.  I tried to make all her birthday plans come true, because for the most part, they were reasonable.  

She wanted to have a birthday party on her birthday.  We settled on an after school swimming party.  She invited a few friends to come over.  We had a treasure hunt, which elicited hurt feelings, frustration, and a few passive aggressive girl fights.  Then the girls went swimming and after they frosted cupcakes.  The cupcakes were a little sad, being that I had put my Dad in charge of getting them out of the oven, but when I came home, I found him trying to pick up the fallen cupcakes off the oven floor.  Oh well. Nothing a little frosting can't cover up!

 Fernanda and Adam gave her this cute dress.  At the end of the night, she showed herself to her room without even saying goodnight, and promptly crashed.  The sign of a good day.

 She wore the birthday girl ribbon to school and was particular about her hair and outfit, of course,

So after the party was over, we went out to eat at the Olive Garden, which is where she said she wanted to go.  Fernanda, Adam and Chelsey joined us, and my Dad for a little bit before he had to leave.  Dinner was fine until Chelsey started yelling like a banshee because I made a joke she didn't like.  Unfortunately Don was in Vegas so he couldn't be there.  He had a work conference.

Other birthday highlights: I brought pink sugar cookies to her class (her request) .
Her birthday gift from Don and I was an American Doll (a knock off, because those dolls are like a month of college tuition).  The doll has red hair and pink gloves.
Sugar our Elf came to visit to wish Chloe a Happy Birthday. She was waiting on the couch for Chloe when she came home from school.  Macie spilled the beans the moment she got in the car when I was picking Chloe up from school. The girls were beyond ecstatic.  Chloe left her a note that night that said she was welcome to eat a cupcake or a cookie.  She ate both, a fact that Chloe finds hilarious.  Chloe said she had made a wish that Sugar would come to visit, and she was over the moon that her wish came true.  I didn't know about that wish. Good thing Sugar was in tune.

The great thing about chloe is she tells me exactly what she wants to do for her parties.  It makes it very simple because I don't think I have to do some sort of Pinterest worthy party.  She even likes to put up all the decorations.  She made a list of things she needed to decorate: streamers and balloons.
I just try to follow her simple party requests and she is happy.  Hopefully this is always the case. I will have to put my foot down if her visions start to become too elaborate.  But crappy cupcakes and Frozen napkins? I can do that,

Summer

Well it finally got hot here.  Up until the past 2 weeks, it has actually been quite pleasant.  I was beginning to wonder if my memory had failed me, and perhaps summers in Phoenix were not as bad as I remembered.  That was silly!  Of course they are!  But the good news is, Mother Nature was kind this year, and we got through May and even a little of June without too much trouble.  I actually even enjoyed being outside.  See, and Don thinks I always complain about the weather, Not always.  Just when it deserves it. :)  Don told me he would pay me 5,000 dollars if I could go an entire year without complaining about the weather. I told him that was a lot of money. He said, "Ya, but you are not ever going to be able to do it."  Sadly, he is right.  I complain about the weather as easily as I insert the phrase "and I was like" into my common conversations.

We have been having a grand ole time.  A lot of swimming.  A lot of play dates.  A lot of afternoon naps after heavy playing:

 I thought this was funny.  The girls were using their towel like a costume.

 We have a membership to the children's museum which gets us out of the house and they can make all sorts of messes there, instead of just at our house.

 And then we go get Slickables ice cream sandwiches down the street.  It has become our summer tradition.  Macie gets the birthday cake ice cream cone every time.  Chloe is partial to the ice cream sandwiches.  And I beg them to let me have a taste, they reluctantly oblige.

 They found the dollar store makeup kit.  Some real high quality stuff.

 Macie was going for the Beetlejuice look.

 The girls at a swim meet. They felt a few drops of rain so they brought their dilapidated Disneyland umbrellas.

Father's Day

Don far out weighs me in making a person feel special.  We tried.  But came up short.  Of course, he was number 8 out of 10 kids and his birthday is on New Year's Day, so he is used to not being the center of attention and is very easy to please. The girls put up streamers and we made him a little video.  We gave him a breakfast burrito before he scurried off to bishopric duties at 7:30 am and then slaved over lunch, freezer section orange chicken.  We did make him his favorite cake, tres leches, and the girls did a great job helping, er I mean, eating the batter.  After he got home from church at 3 pm from all his new responsibilities, we basically lounged around the house the rest of the day.  I probably should do Father's Day Part 2 today, since I think we fell rather short on Father's Day Part 1. Don really, truly is all those cliche things people say a Father is on Father's Day.  There is no one like him. He is forever optimistic.  He never gives up.  He is forgiving.  He loves everyone and gives people the benefit of the doubt.  He puts me and the kids first and cares about making us happy.  His needs and wants are placed on the back burner as he works to makes the needs and wants of the kids and I, a reality.  And that is what makes him happy, making us happy.  He gets up early every day, and goes to work which makes it possible for me to stay home with the kids.  This is the greatest gift he gives me.  He is just good.  Down to the bone, good.  He is a better person than I am.  And I really mean that.  When the kids are grown, they will be able to look back at their Dad and say, wow. I was lucky.  Because Don, he's a one in a million type of guy,

 I took these pictures the day after Chloe's baptism. Mostly because we didn't get very many pictures of her actual baptism. But Don is missing in these.  And the quality is poor because there must have been finger prints all over my camera lens. No idea how that could have happened.

Also. In latest news.  A week ago Don was released from his calling as Elders Quorum President and put in the Bishopric.  I was released as Music chairman not long before and put in as Acitivity Day Girls.  How do I feel about this?  : /    I miss my calling.  And I probably miss Don's more.

Oscar the Great and Terrible

I thought Oscar was going to be a mellow child.  He showed early signs of being quiet, easy going.  Stationary.  I was wrong.  He is 11 months old. And he is insane.  I have noticed a change within the past few weeks.  The more mobile he gets, the more insane he gets.  He crawls at the speed of light.  He is just a few squats away from being able to walk.  He can't sit still. He loves dumping flour and oatmeal. He loves pulling hair out of the shower drain.  His favorite activity is taking dvds out of their cases, then diving over the armchair of our couch. Over. And Over. And over again.  And today I found him sitting in the toilet like a play pool.  And drinking water out of his hand.  I think I am getting my taste of what it is like to have a boy.

Last Day of School

 We have been in denial that 2nd grade was ending and that Chloe will get a new 3rd grade teacher. She has had Ms. Coxon for 2 years and she has loved her.  On the last day of school, I ran into Ms. Coxon and we both started crying because we are so sad about the transition. Ms. Coxon sent home a letter to Chloe that was the sweetest letter I have ever read from a teacher.  Chloe didn't even want me to read it because she felt like it was just for her, so I won't say what it said.  But it made me very proud of Chloe.  Chloe has a sweetness and a goodness about her that is so unique.  She is thoughtful, inquisitive and sincere.  She cares about people, she cares about doing things the right way, and she cares about making good choices.  And she is funny. And so smart. And so kind. The other day she told me I didn't need to get all dressed up and "fancy" to go to the pool. She said, "Mom, I always think you look perfect.  Even when you aren't wearing your makeup."  I mean...where did she come from?? I obviously love my Macie and Oscar just as much and they are amazing little individuals too!  I have odes to write for them too.  I don't mean to be creating any sibling rivalry here!  All of my children are perfect.  And I am allowed to say that because I am their Mother!  And they cost a lot of money.  I want to always know that they are my sun, moon, and stars.  Nothing in the world is as precious to me as they are.  Anyway.  We gave Ms. Coxon a bracelet as a thank you gift, it had a compass charm as a symbol for her job as a teacher and Chloe wrote her this note.

 "I will never forget you."

 (this is just a shot of chloe trying on a dress that I tried to convince her to get instead of the other one she chose. I settled for a picture)

I found Chloe had written this note on the white board in our office.  It said:
Dear Whiteboard, today is my last day of school. I am going to miss my teacher a lot. she is a great teacher. I have good news though. My Mom asked Miss Coxon if me and her could have a brunch at kneaders, Kneaders is Miss Coxon's favorite place to go eat. My wish came true. Now I will get to see miss coxon often. miss Coxon is a really nice teacher. When I didn't have lunch money she bought me a lunch so I woulnd't be sad.after school i went to swim practice. When I was done swimming I went to the mall so I could get Miss Coxon a present. We got her a charm bracelet. The charm was a compass. The compass meant guiding the way.

Field Trip

Summer is in full swing. We have had a lot of things going on the past few weeks.  Chloe's last day of school was 2 weeks ago.  A few days before that, 2nd grade went on a field trip to a dairy farm and I went along. It was leaps and bounds better than the 1st grade field trip to the desert botanical garden, also known as Hell during the month of May.  Luckily this May has been unbelievable pleasant.  I feel like I can get through the summer because it really hasn't even been very hot yet.  It was a beautiful day to visit the milk cows and to see where our milk comes from, and to successfully turn me into a vegetarian for a week after.  I am sad to say that Chloe did not choose to sit next to me on the bus, to or from the dairy farm. She sat with her friends instead.  I died a little inside. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun.  We took a tractor ride to see where the cows live.  And I learned an unfortunate piece of information about cows that I wish I could erase from my memory.  Probably every other person that has watched documentaries on food knows this, but I purposefully like to remain ignorant on these things, because I look food, A LOT, and I don't want to know about the cows or chickens that I eat.  Anyway,  Cows produce milk after having a baby, (duh! For some reason I just thought cows produced milk just for the fun of it. I probably shouldn't admit that).  Within 3 hours of birth the calf is taken away from their mother for forever.  FOREVER.  They do this because if they wait any longer it will be more traumatic for the cows (information that did not make me feel any better.) I was told the calves need to separated because they have poor immunity and being with the herd makes them susceptible to illness and death. The skeptic in me says that sounds a lot better than saying they take them away so they can get more milk out of the Mom cow. But I am not a farmer so I what do I know.  And I also really enjoy the fruits of those farmer's labors so again...what do I know.  All I know is that I feel sorry for cows.  I asked the tour guide if the cows were very motherly, hoping that she she would tell me, "no, cows are too stupid to care," instead she told me , "Oh yes! If their calf dies in birth, they will try to go steal another cow's baby as their own." Again, information that did not make me feel any better.  I prefer to believe my animal products are in actuality plants, and they never belonged to something with a face.  

 The kids all got to pick a flavor of milk, which of course they all thought was disgusting because they were flavors they had not tried before. I think Chloe played it safe and got a chocolate milk. They also had ice cream sundaes.  Chloe wore her "field trip outfit" from last year.

 I found it amusing pairing moms with their kids.  Kids dress exactly like their Moms. Go figure.  And then I looked and myself and laughed.  My daughter of course wore a dress to the farm. Because that's what we do.  And lace socks.

 See, I wasn't invited to sit by them.  : (