My Valentines...

One of my friends gave me the great idea of having Valentine's Day boxes. We had FHE at the first of the month where we decorated them and talked about who we love and how we show our love for them. It was a lot of fun and turned out to be really exciting. Xiana wasn't the only person in the house thrilled to see that her flag was up. It made every single day better and happier for me too. I could really get used to love notes every day. Plus, I found that each and every letter/card/note I wrote reminded me of how wonderful both Xiana and Brian are! About a week in Brian teased me that we had started too early as he was out of things to say. I disagreed and then found myself repeating everything from week one in week two. Oh well, a little repetitive complimenting can't hurt anyone. Xiana was so funny one day I had given Brian a card, and he had given me one, but neither of us had put her flag up. She woke from her nap elated yelling, "mommy, you have mail! Can you give me mail too?" So I got some suckers and put them in her box and put up the flag to which she squealed, " I have mail!!" Apparently she doesn't require the element of surprise.
Xiana got to go to 2 Valentine's parties and had to get 30 Valentines cards ready. She insisted that she wanted to write her own name. So she did.... 30 times. It was great practice for her. She is so talented and smart!!!
We made cookies for one party but worried there weren't enough so we bought some too. I didn't know if Xiana had a Valentine's outfit... then I realized 80% of her wardrobe is pink so....
She was a cute little Valentine!!!
The party was well attended and a great success. The kids got to make chocolate suckers in various heart shapes....
And decorate their very own bags for all their loot. Xiana goes through her bag daily (sometimes regifting the cards, others asking me to read them... again!)
Then she had preschool where they made Valentine's boxes and then came over to our house for a Mary Kay party. The girls were absolutely darling and so excited about their sugar highs.
This was coined her actual Valentine's Day dress. I'm glad it fit!
On Friday I bought two balloon bouquets and put little notes in each mailbox telling them where to go. It was fun! I tied Xiana's to a little monkey and Brian's to some candy.
Too cute this little Valentine.
I had to get a shot with the balloons and my ginormous emerging belly!
That night Brian took me to dinner and a movie and Xiana had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the hilarious movie.
The night before Valentine's Day I decorated the room a bit and left cards and candy for both. Brian came home from work with such thoughtful and eclectic gifts for both Xiana and myself. He gave us a wide range of things from dried fruits, to candies, to jerky, to stuffed animal, to candles. It was very sweet and showed how he knows us to be able to get the things that we love most.
I made seafood pan roast for the first time ever and it was DELECTABLE. Seriously, I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but it was by far the best thing I have ever made in my life. I got sparkling cider and heart champagne glasses. It was really fun. Dinner was delicious, but the best part was spending our first Valentine's Day as a family together. It was really memorable.
The amazing creation! After dinner Brian volunteered to do the dishes (probably my favorite gift... minus all the sweet cards and notes of course) and I took a shower. We finished off with a game of words with friends.
And some dessert. A sweet ending to a very sweet day! I love you Brian!

Mom

As many of you know, my mom recently had to have a hysterectomy. She had uterine cancer and so had to have everything removed. We waited anxiously to find that she would not require radiation or chemotherapy which was a great relief to all of us, not the least, my mother. My sister Cami came out for the first week of her recovery and then Larissa came out the second. I find myself feeling so fortunate that I have such a close and loving family. My dad had to have cataracts surgery the same week as my mom's surgery and it was so wonderful to feel able to take him without abandoning mom. Garrett and I are the only two who live here and I find it so loving that my sisters relieved us of the time needed to care for my mom and dad in those early weeks. We could have done it, but it would have been HARD! Additionally, they watched Xiana for me on the days that I worked which was an extra help. I don't know if anyone has ever given Xiana such undivided attention as Cami did. She did puzzles with her, played memory with her, and got down on the ground to Xiana's great delight. Xiana had such a wonderful time with her aunt and talks about her daily. Then, when Larissa came she brought her youngest, Danielle. Xiana had a great time playing big sister to this sweet baby, and I got a taste of what it's going to be like when we have a new baby. Every time I touched Danielle Xiana thought she needed to be on my lap right then. I think jealousy might be an understatement for this spoiled little girl. Still, I know it's no different than the adjustment that any toddler makes when welcoming a new baby into the family. My brother and sister-in-law would have been out in a heartbeat to help care for mom too. My parents are such amazing and wonderful people and it is truly touching to see how important they are to all of us. It isn't every set of parents that know with sincerity that if needed, all 5 of their children will be there in a heart beat. What a testament of their love and gifts to us. Though it was a scary and painful thing for my mom to go through, we are so grateful that the outcome was so great.
Xiana and I went with Larissa to visit her in-laws... another great and loving family! It was wonderful to see them all!!!

Jean girl

We've had something of an 80's preoccupation around here in dressing Xiana in jean almost every day. I had no idea she had so many jean dresses, skirts, and jackets. She is too cute for words. I just can't stand it sometimes!
She has also started showing us the "proper" way to play the piano which is just with your fingers... no banging on the keys for her!
Story time at the library is something we absolutely love! They are so fun and WELL attended. There are a million kids that go. Xiana jumps right into the circle of kids and plays plays plays!

Preschool

Take week two. These girls were just as adorable as last time and... again, their free time was spent in such an organized and structured way. I see them all emerging as leaders and diplomats! They had such fun and followed each other's enthusiasm and excitement.
And spear headed lots of games of ring around the roses.
And sometimes just played chase and fall.
We worked on recognizing the first letter in each of the girl's names then we made creations with corn starch noodles. These amazing little girls took it upon themselves to make letters out of the noodles. I kept overhearing them saying, here is a T for Taylor and the like. They made all kinds of letters just to confirm their intelligence.
Then they played with marshmellows and toothpicks and had cupcakes for Savana's birthday. It was such creative fun!

Play group

In January I was in charge of planning my ward's play group so I did what all who know me would expect from me... I married my old ward to my new ward and never had to pick which playgroup to attend. I am a friend sharer... I always have been. I have been quoted saying, "I can't wait till we die and all of the people I love will get to meet all of the other people I love." Perhaps it's a bit morbid, but I truly do feel that way. I love when people I care about get to meet others. I get excited when they hit it off. I hope that they can all see the value in each other as clearly as I can see it in them all. We had a lot of fun in January and Xiana, like her mama, got to see ALL her friends instead of just half. We had great turnouts from both wards and, I hope, established new friendships. You know... you never can have too many friends!

Xiana lost my notes

I haven't written a funny Xiana story in a long time. There is an explanation. First, I. am. busy. Second, Brian bought me an i-phone for Christmas so I gave Xiana my old phone. She loved it. She carried it around, took pictures with it, sent texts and emails, and charged it daily. Until... I went to Utah. The phone has not been seen since. The problem? All of my notes from the funny things I want to remember to document are in the phone. So... I will use the notes I have for now and then some day... if the phone every re-emerges I'll have a whole new set of clever anecdotes. Still:

• One day while at Walmart there was a man with swastikas on his shirt. The cashier was deeply offended and very loud about how un-cool she thought that was. As we were leaving Xiana asked me what was on his jacket. I told her he had "mean things" on there. A few days later I almost turned in front of a cop who had the right of way. I said, "phew, I'm so glad I didn't turn then because I could have gotten a ticket." Xiana said, "yeah, and he would take you to jail." I told her, "no, police take people to jail for doing really bad things like stealing or doing drugs or kidnapping." "yeah," she said, "or putting mean things on your jacket!"


• She has been particularly interested in my tattoos as of late. One day she asked me why I had tattoos since God didn't want us to put them on our bodies. I explained to her that I made a bad choice and that I disobeyed God but that I could repent for it because of our Savior. She thought about it for a moment then said, "I disobeyed God once too because I was at my friend's house and she gave me a coffee candy and I ate it cause I didn't know it was a coffee candy." It was really sweet. I then tried to explain to her the difference between a sin and a mistake or accident. She then justified my tattoos by insisting that I didn't put them there... someone else did :)


• One day at the store there was a large family. She confidently told me, "they sure have a lot of kids!"


• She was watching Winnie the Pooh and she exclaimed, "mommy, that bear is gonna be my husband because I love him sooo much!" "oh?" I asked,"so you will have little bear babies." "No," she replied, "we're going to have a mouse baby."


• One morning she told me, "mommy, my foot was hurting, but then my ankle farted and now it feels much better."


• While watching the movie Tangled Xiana got a little bit confused because there is a fake mommy that pretends to be nice even though she is cruel. She was concerned that Rapunzel was disobeying her mother. I explained to her that she wasn't her real mother, but that she was mean and her real mother was sad because she was trying to find her. At a part in the movie where the fake mom is being particularly sweet and sugary followed immediately by her true mean colors shining through, Xiana leaned over to me and said, "that mean mommy doesn't even know she's mean." Well said!


• One morning she limped out of her bedroom and (copying her dad) said, "I'm getting old. You know how I can tell I'm old? My feet feel old!"


• Xiana is obsessed with being a Sunbeam at church (the class for 3-year-olds). She talked about it for months before she got to go. She kept telling us that she was going to big girl school and she was oh so proud. For the last few weeks of nursery her leaders took her into primary to get a feel for it. Her first day there she answered 2 questions and got to put up ornaments on the activity tree. She went her official Sunbeam day and was beside herself with joy. She told us, "in big girl school today we learned about Jesus and Mary." She then proceeded to list off all the kids in her class and tell me that one of them was crying for her mommy. "But that's silly," she said, " cause we are in big girl school and big girls don't cry for their mommies." The following week we were in Las Vegas and I was a little bit apprehensive about sending her to primary in an unfamiliar ward with unfamiliar teachers, but... she insisted. About half way through I peeked my head in to see if she was doing all right and a teacher in the back assured me, "she's fine.... she's very..... outspoken. Don't worry, she'll tell you all about it." This was a great relief to me and quite hilarious as I am well acquainted with my outspoken child. When Brian picked her up from her class the teacher said that Xiana acted like every question was directed at her, like she was the only person in the class and the teacher was just teaching her. She is so sweet and I'm thrilled that she's so eager to learn in all environments. Last Sunday she told me her lesson was about when Jesus taught "the guys." "Oh," I said, "that's right, Jesus taught everyone and he especially loves children." "No! Not children mommy, the big guys." "Oh, the disciples!" I figured out. "Yeah," she said, "but you don't know about them because you weren't there!"
• For family home evening we read the Friend because of lack of preparation. There was a story about Jesus' resurrection and I asked Xiana what that meant. She said, "It means that you can't die again." Pretty good!
• While stopped at a light Xiana in the back seat said, "dude, come on!!!" I asked her who she was talking to and she said, "the guy that's in our way." I guess I need to watch my road rage. On another drive I was yelling for a guy to go and she said, "mom, he can't hear you." Then, a couple days ago she said, "that guys a jerk!" I explained to her that we don't say that and that I'm sorry I've said it before but we don't know anything about the people on the roads and it is unkind of us to use mean words. She responded, "okay, next time my daddy says it I will tell him we don't use that word." :)
• She must be ready for a new baby because she is quite familiar with the lingo. The other day I overheard her playing doctor giving her baby an "ultrasound."
• She has a Princess and the Frog poster and one day she told me, "that's silly that the poster doesn't show all the parts. I want it to show all the parts from the movie."
• At home one evening she told Brian and I: "today I made a mean choice and I'm not telling you." We went back and forth for quite a while, me insisting that she had to tell us, her insisting that she wasn't going to. Finally she indicated that she had not, in fact, made a mean choice. I asked her why she said that and she answered, "Because I thought it was funny."
• My dad has worn glasses for the last 50 years or so. He recently had cataracts surgery and no longer wears his glasses. One of the first times she saw him post op she insisted that he didn't look like himself anymore. Who? pray tell did he look like to her? Abraham Lincoln!!!!!
• She lovingly refers to her favorite toys as pocket "pollys"...

Cambridge

I went to visit my dearest friend Cambridge in Jan. Her husband passed away a few months previous to that and it was an overdue trip. I felt terrible that I couldn't be there for the funeral, but I'm really happy that I got to join her in Jan. She and I have been friends since we were teenagers and lived with one another more than once. I love her and her sweet daughter Morgan. It's interesting because I felt like I really could sympathize and understand how her life was... how she was coping.... how life continued... what kind of support network she had... and basically everything she was dealing with. I got there and I realized that I was very wrong. While I certainly could sympathize with my dear friend. I had little grasped the situation and the continuation of life as usual. My perception was a little off. I didn't consider the little things that dealing with such a magnanimous loss entails. I scarcely considered the cemetery, the headstone, the arrangements, the emptiness. I didn't think about what you do with the things your loved ones leave behind, the memories, the confusion, the heart ache (particularly of their 8-year-old child). Both she and her daughter are doing SO WELL. Truly, I am amazed at their ability and strength. I just didn't realize how much strength it takes to deal with a situation like that. But more than anything else, I found that I (and many others) have failed in the past to mourn with those who mourn. It's so easy for us to rejoice or celebrate new additions to families, new jobs, cars, etc. But for some reason, we fail to wrap our arms around our loved ones and shed tears with them, for them. We get so wrapped up in our own lives, problems, and pain, that we scarcely take the time to truly weep when someone we love needs our tears. I hope that I can be better in the future. I hope that when those around me face personal tragedy I don't try to sweep it under the rug with my cheerfulness or laugh the pain away. I hope that I can mourn with those who mourn, however they mourn, and serve those in need, whatever they need. I hope no-one has ever felt me brush aside their pain to make room for my optimism. In short, I hope that I can be Christlike and as He wept for Lazarus (even though He knew He was about to raise him from the dead) I too can weep for others' hurts big, small, or gigantic.

Las Vegas

We have a new nephew! My brother-and-sister-in-law recently had a new addition in their family and Brian and Xiana and I went to visit. Last year when we went Xiana and Tyson fought.... a lot. But this year they were good. Best of all, this year Paige (or as Xiana calls her "the girl baby") was big enough and girlie enough for she and Xiana to be attached at the hip. They played soooo nicely together and had such fun. Paige is surrounded by boys and Xiana only gets to see Ekco a couple times a month so they were overdue for some girl time! They played baby and kitchen and pretty much anything that Xiana instructed. It was really darling. Plus, it was a good opportunity for Xiana to be the big girl as she often plays with older kids. I think she genuinely enjoyed being more the boss girl. Brian read some books to the kids which he squeezed in to his busy hunting schedule.
Tyson and Xiana played kindly and danced and laughed with one another.
This little bundle of joy has a full head of hair and he is the BEST baby! I hope we get so lucky!
We went to the park where the kids played wild and free. This was especially enjoyable considering the winter weather we left behind.
It was 70 degrees in Vegas!
This was dinosaur park. I really miss the parks in Vegas. That is one thing that Reno doesn't really hold a candle to.
The girls shared a swing without complaint.
And slid together.... they didn't do much without their bffs.
And Xiana did some jumping. That evening Jenn and I took the girls and the baby to dinner while the boys hunted. We had SUCH a wonderful time. I think it was much needed girl time for the grown ups too! The kids were perfect little ladies and acted like they had been fine dining their whole little lives. The food was great and we followed it with a quick trip to the store and some wii games.
We had a wonderful time. Xiana just asked me yesterday, "when are we going to Jeff and Jenn's house again? I really liked it there... especailly the girl baby." I agree!
These little maniacs had a blast too.
Even though we don't get to see them that often, I'm grateful that the kids are establishing relationships and memories with their cousins and friends.
And their parents!

Preschool!

So... I am doing a co-op preschool with some other moms as I have afore mentioned. January was my month to be teacher and oh how Xiana loved to be the teacher's helper. Before the rest of the girls arrived she kept telling me, "and I will sit with you and be the teacher's helper, etc." It was awfully cute. We did string puzzles...
And then had free time. And I must say, I am mighty impressed with this group as free time (as in free un-structured do whatever you want play) consisted of them getting instruments and forming a band... pretty structured right? I swear I didn't coach them in the least!
And making animal sounds and walking like specific animals... again, no coaching!
We were working on colors this week so I made pudding and then we dyed it various colors to talk about what mixed with what makes what. Then... we used it as finger paint and it was delightful!
And tasty!
Then more free time... this go around they decided on ring around the roses and motor boat. I'm telling you people... these girls are natural born leaders! It was such fun to have them at my house. It's really exciting to see their little brains going. They are so smart and excited and eager to learn. Every time I would turn off the music and have them sit for a lesson portion they were attentive and quiet. They answered all the questions and especially loved doing fairy tale stories on felt boards. I feel so blessed that I am able to participate in this co-op despite the fact that I work outside the home. It is a rare pleasure that so many working moms don't get to enjoy. I'm thankful!

Birds

Can be awfully mean.... these geese tried to kill Xiana... truly! I had to put her out of beak's way in order to keep her safe. They acted like they hadn't been fed in a long long time. I have it on good authority that they had.
So, I placed her on the table (just for the record, they were not the least bit intimidated by me) and let her feed them a loaf of bread.
And it was cccccccold!!!!! Her little hands were frozen and it took roughly 3 minutes for these hogs to eat all the bread.
other birds are angry... they live on my iphone and Brian's ipod.... Xiana loves these birds most. I'm slightly concerned that I have a 3-year-old addict.