Pierced Ears! Look Mom, No Clips!

Well it's official - we now have a daughter with 2 more holes in her head. Yes, after a year plus of telling her she had to wait until she was 8, her very consistent parents caved and let her pierce her ears at the ripe old age of 6 1/2.  How and why you ask?  Well, I'd like to tell you we had this lofty and worthwhile purpose behind it being done early, but honestly it came down to the fact that we just got tired of hearing about it and being begged to have it done every 5 seconds.  Yes, she wore us down, sad but true.  For anyone who actually knows Hailey, this will not come as a surprise.  One thing we can say about her is that she is persistent if nothing else.  Actually, it was really hard coming up with excuses when really, there was no sure fire reason why we had chosen the age of 8, other than the fact that we wanted her to be old enough to be responsible and to take care of them herself.  And besides, once her cousin got hers done for her birthday in June, it was really only a matter of time. 

We did however, make sure we got something out of the deal.  We decided that we needed to combat some of the "not so desirable" behavioral issues we were experiencing at the time, so we used a sticker chart for her to earn her pierced ears.  She had to earn 60 stickers for 60 days in order to get them done.  She had to show us she was old enough to get her ears pierced by being old enough to act and behave appropriately.  And even though we had a bit of a rocky start, she figured it out very quickly and the 60 days passed a lot faster than I thought  they would.  

So on July 28th, we headed off to the mall to get them done.  Aunt Kylie met us there because Hailey wanted her to be the one to take her - she and her Aunt Kylie have this special earring bond.  It's hard to explain, but I think it all started back with a pair of earrings Kylie wore that Hailey fell in love with.  That led to Hailey buying Aunt Kylie fun, dangly earrings for her birthday (since her over-conservative mother would never wear any of those fun earrings).  And eventually to the plan of Aunt Kylie taking her to get her ears pierced.  The only reason I was there was to drive her and hand over my credit card to pay.  Honestly, I was lucky she let me come at all - there were times when I was informed that I wasn't going to be going with them.  That thought was probably my penance for having denied her getting her ears pierced for so long.

So here she is at the store, sitting in the chair, all ready for the piercing.  She was a little bit nervous, but in all, I was really proud of how brave she was.  I was worried she would back out at the last minute, but she never swayed from her goal.

The lady at the store asked me if I thought she was nervous and wouldn't want to do the second ear once the first was done.  I told her I wasn't sure, so she had me hold a wallet with butterflies on it for her to concentrate on and count while she did it.  Hailey was hilarious, her counting went something like this:  "One, two, three, four, ow, five, six, seven, ow - oh we're done?"  Yep, other than the two ow's, I never would have known anything had happened.  And boy oh boy was she excited.

She was so happy, she walked around with a perma-grin for hours.  She was so happy, I was almost sad that we didn't let her do it earlier - but don't tell her that!  :)

We had a bit of a drive back home, so I handed her my little mirror to see her ears in the car and she looked and looked and looked at her newly pierced ears all the way home.  I chuckled every time I looked in the rear view mirror and saw her staring at her ears.

One funny note that I have to make sure I include:  When we got home, she told her dad that piercing her ears was a lot easier than she thought it would be.  I had been telling her about the piercing gun and how it would push the earring through her ear (apparently they have changed the piercing method and now instead of a gun looking thing, it's a little boxy thing that squeezes together, a lot less intimidating).  So when her Dad asked her why it was easier than she thought, she explained that she thought they lined her up against a wall and used a rifle to shoot a hole in her ear.  We both about fell over laughing - how on earth she got that out of what I had explained I'll never know, but the imagination of a 6 year old is something you can never predict.  But I will say this, she was extremely brave and courageous going into it with that idea of how it was going to work.  She must have have wanted pierced ears pretty badly if she was willing to let them shoot a rifle at her.

So now that she has her ears pierced, she's now looking forward to the 6 week date when she can take these first ones out and switch them for ones of her choice.  She's already got some picked out to wear that first day.  All I can say is that her first choice are dangly feather earrings - some that Aunt Kylie bought her as a gift.  That ought to look quite interesting!

Best Husband Ever!

I thought I should let you all know that I have the best husband ever!  I was having a really rough day not too long ago.  It seemed like I couldn't accomplish anything whether home or work related and with grumpy, sick kids who couldn't seem to get along, it seemed like everyone was yelling at me.

My poor husband happened to come home for lunch that day and walked into the middle of the disaster.  As soon as he walked in the door, I burst into tears, more from the relief of having him there than anything else. I had been secretly hoping he would come home, but didn't want to actually ask him to do so.  But home he came and even having him there for a short time was a major relief.  He took charge of feeding the kids and let me have a few minutes to myself to collect my sanity and accomplish a thing or two.

As he went off to work, I felt so much better and relieved,  Even though he was only home a short time, things were actually manageable again.  But his coming home wasn't the only surprise I got, when he walked in the door later that evening, he had something else for me ...

A beautiful bouquet of roses!  Although he'd texted me a few times that afternoon and I assured him that things were much better, he still thought enough to stop by the store on the way home to pick me up some flowers.  It was such a wonderful surprise and made my evening go so much better!

I am so grateful for a wonderful, thoughtful husband who always knows exactly what I need and when I need it.  Whether it's coming home on a rough day or bringing me flowers, he always knows what to do for me.  I have the best husband ever!

Swimming Lessons - Part 2

After a very fun and exciting first set of swimming lessons, I decided to sign the kids up for another this summer.  They easily passed Level 1, so we moved them up to Level 2.  They had a great time and loved swimming time every day for two weeks.

Here they are with their group.

It was so fun to watch them getting instructions and following them.

They did a lot of swimming on their stomachs and backs in this level - here's Hailey just finishing a practice swim and Zach still swimming on his back.

And here is Hailey getting ready to swim on her back - love that she was looking at me when I took the picture!

I tried to take a few pictures of them as they were getting out one day - they were so excited, they just couldn't hold still, so the pictures are a litle blurry, but oh so cute!

They really love those goggles!  Thank goodness they have lasted through 2 swimming sessions - love the Dollar Store!

Tate and I had fun hanging out in the viewing area watching the kids - he loved climbing up and sitting in the chair all by himself - he's getting to be such a big boy!

I couldn't help but put this picture on here too - this is what he did when I said, smile and say cheese!  Too funny!

Yep, definitely another successful swimming session.  Zach passed with flying colors and will be moving to Level 3 next, Hailey needs to stay in Level 2 to work a bit more on swimming on her front and back, but she passed everything else.  We are really proud of both of them and how well they are doing at swimming!

Utah Blaze Game

Thanks to my sister and her family, we came into some free tickets for a Utah Blaze Game.  We have been dying to go for a very long time and free tickets were just what we needed to get us there!  After a quick (and very early) dinner and loading everyone into the car, we headed off.  We arrived, got our tickets, and were seated about 10 minutes before kick-off.

The kids were excited - here they are on the end of the row.

It was really loud, so Tate was a little nervous at first.  He spent most of his time on my lap, but did venture down to sit with his Dad a few times. Don't mind our crazy faces in this picture - Tate wasn't sure what was going on and I was trying to hold out the camera and not look like I was straining - not a very good job on my part (my cheeks were red because Tate was up and down a few times before this and it was very HOT in the arena).

Here are a few pictures of the game.

I have to laugh because all week leading up to Friday, Hailey was fighting me about going to the game.  She was just sure she wasn't going to have a very fun time.  But she ended up having the most fun.  She loved when they would play music and every time she would get up and dance (somewhat reminiscent of Zach's infamous sprinkler dancing at a recent Jazz Game).

Here she is showing off some of her moves:

She never did make it onto the big screen, but we had fun watching her dance, spin, and whatever trying to get on.  We had plans to leave a little early in order to get the kids to bed at a descent time, but when it came down to it, they all wanted to stay - even Tate who had calmed down and was really enjoying the game.

Ironically enough, we saw quite a few members of our ward there - it was fun to see so many people we knew.

Yes, we all had a great time!  The kids already are asking when we can go back again!

Summer Day Trips - Treehouse Museum

For one of our summer day trips, we went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.  We hadn't been there in a couple of years and they had added so many new and exciting things!  We had a wonderful time discovering all sorts of things.

Of course the beloved fire engine.  The boys love to dress up in the firefighter outfits and drive the fire engine.

Libby loved getting in the back with the kids and I couldn't help but take a picture of her peeking over the side at the boys up front.

Here she is in the front seat with Hailey and Branson, who also love driving the fire engine.

Another favorite spot is the rodeo area.  Hailey couldn't want to dress up in the red and pink clothes and climb on a horse.

Zach's favorite - the rough and tough bull.  He really wants to be a bull rider.

Tate was a bit nervous with all the life sized (or almost life sized) animals, kids, and commotion.  So he spent the first part of the time on Nana's lap - good thing Nana's a good sport and played farm with him.

Libby's love was the huge map of the state of Utah and the one upstairs of the United States.  She would run and jump and giggle, not sure what all the excitement was about, but it was fun to see her get so excited.

Here are Zach, Ash, and Branson in the teepee.  I think Zach is channeling his inner-Native American.

Tate did finally calm down enough to participate in playing.  The school house with the chalk boards to draw on was a big help - he loves to color.  And of course there were books to read and he loved that too!

Zach and Hailey love playing the teacher - probably because it meant they were in charge - they are both control freaks like their mom.

Here are Tate and I getting a quick picture ... and then he was off to something else.

We waited and waited and waited for a turn in the boat, but when it actually came down to his turn, Tate refused to even get it.  Silly boy!  But I did get him to stand there long enough to get a picture.

Libby fell in love with the little house and kitchen.  Tate thought it was so fun to have a sink where he could wash his own hands without Mommy or Daddy's help.

Zach kept coming around the corner with a different outfit or hat on to show us.  Here are a just a few a got a picture of.  Here he is as a wizard.

And here's one of the fun hats he found to show us.

Here are my two older monkeys climbing up the Adventure Tower.  

Meanwhile Tate was checking out the aquarium full of fish.

Tate and Libby just loved the little bridge.  Over and back they would go.  Sometimes racing, sometimes on their own.  I don't know what was so darn fun about it, but they had a blast!

Doesn't my little one look so grown up in this picture?  I can't believe he's already 2 - where does the time go?

And here's a quick picture of all the kids on the bridge.  Libby was a little reluctant to hold still, but who could blame her, there was so much to see and do - no time to pause for a picture!

One of our favorite rooms is the sound room.  Of course I think it should be called the "give Mom a headache room."  Mostly due to the amount of noise that can be generated in such a small space.  There were so many instruments in there, including xylophones, 

drums, 

and more xylophones!

At one point Tate and Libby found a wooden horse out in the parking lot that they could see from the window and that kept their attention for quite a while.

Here's Tate coloring a picture in the art room.

Tate played with the castle, knight, and horse sets while ...

the kids dresses up in their costumes to put on a play.  Supposedly Zach is a wizard, Ashton is a king, Branson is a prince, and Hailey is a witch.  

Tate loved sitting in the bigger boat - who would have thought he'd love that and be afraid of the smaller one?

This was a new area from when we had been there before - the storytime/hero area.  Hailey and Branson loved dressing up as pilots, policemen, firemen, and anything else available.

One of our last stops was the doctor area.  Tate was fascinated with the stethoscope.  He kept thinking he was supposed to push something on the end to make it work.

All of the kids thought Nana needed a check-up at some point, so they would all come out in their doctor clothes and give her a thorough check-up.  Luckily they all pronounced her as completely healthy!

Yes, we had a fun time at the Treehouse Museum.  In fact, there were even a few tears shed when we left because they had so much fun and didn't want to go.  We'll have to go back again soon in order to have some more fun!

Lehi City Children's Parade

Every year the city of Lehi has their "Lehi City Round-up" and included in the festivities for the week are 2 parades.  The first is the children's parade on that Friday night and the big parade Saturday morning.  We usually attend the Saturday parade, but this year we had workers coming to insulate our attic, so we decided to go to the children's parade on Friday night instead.  It was kind of a last minute decision, so it was crazy getting chairs up to reserve our space, getting home to eat really fast, and then getting back in time, but we did it!  

Here's the gang all ready to go.

Tate was so excited, although I think he had no idea what to be excited for.  All he knew is that someone mentioned candy and he was happy!

Hailey was so cute sitting there and waiting.

Zach was happy too - he decided to camp out on the curb to be in prime candy grabbing position.

Last year Tate had barely started walking and wasn't too much into the parade, but this year he was all excited about running out and grabbing candy that people threw to him.  He was so cute!  Every time he would come back and be so excited about a single piece of candy, it was darling!  I did get pictures of the other two, but they were so fast, all the ones I got were so blurry!  We have fast candy snatchers!

This was one of Tate's favorite entries in the parade - more than likely due to the live horses.

This was Zach's favorite - it was an entry from a local ward and features cowboys in a big bathtub.  He thought it was hilarious that it looked like they were all bathing!

Hailey's favorite of course was the entry after entry of cheerleaders.  I swear I have NEVER seen so many groups of cheerleaders in all my life, but Hailey was in heaven.

The best part of the evening though, was when one of the cheerleading advisors came off the float to give her a special cheerleading necklace.  She was so happy!  And although I'm sure they gave away plenty of them, we didn't see her do any others in our area, so Hailey was thrilled at how special that was!  She wore the necklace for a week straight because she loved it so much!

We really enjoyed the Children's Parade this year and due to the heat that is usually unbearable during the Main Saturday parade, we may just go to the Children's Parade every year from now on!