Soccer, berry picking, soccer spaghetti, field trips, dentist visits, carnival, tooth fairy, and women's conference!

Okay, so we got Andrew home from his mission, all three girls back to school, and some of our fall soccer season.  Next up: 

Soccer Pictures (we skipped the packages and I took picture of the girls instead.  Way more fun!)

Raspberry picking (It's so much more exciting with a two year old and a baby!  Actually M. did an awesome picking berries and was absolutely delighted to discover real reindeer on the other side of this fence!)

More soccer.  Including eating spaghetti out of thermoses because that was the only way to avoid yet another night of Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready $5 pepperoni pizza.  Other parents were jealous of our real meal, naturally.

First grade field trip!  We went to the fire station, bank, library, and post office, followed by lunch at a park.  And then I slept for a week.  Phew!

Dental cleanings / check-ups for Lizzie and Sabrina.  Lizzie: 8 cavities, Sabrina: 7 cavities -- 6 of which require pulpotomies (root canal on a baby tooth).  (*breathing slowly into a paper bag*)

School Carnival!  The girls got their hair sprayed pink!!!  (I did it ahead of time at home.  Smart mama!).

I'm always impressed at the way these girls can scale a rock climbing wall.

 *side note -- while waiting in line an obnoxious older boy kept trying to sneak ahead in line.  Lizzie politely, but firmly, put him in his place.  Despite the fact that she didn't even come up to his shoulder!  It was excellently done on her part.

Lizzie lost a tooth and left this note to the tooth fairy:

 "Dear Tooth Fairy, Here is a tooth for you.  Please, before you leave, leave some evidence so I know you exist.  (P.S. Use pencil above).  Love, Elizabeth"
"This pencil is so very large for a little fairy like me!  Thank you for the tooth, Elizabeth.  Love, Your Tooth Fairy"
Apparently she believes again.

For the General Women's Conference, Mom and I went to watch with Michelle at her place.  It was very relaxing to sit together and listen to the words of such inspired leaders.  Little J was enthralled.  He sat for several minutes just staring at the speakers!

I believe this takes us through the end of September.  Life is good.

First Day of School 2012-2013

This summer seemed to just fly by.  In no time at all we went from spending days at the library and visiting with cousins to getting back on a decent sleep schedule and preparing for soccer.  I'm exceedingly grateful that all three girls still love school.  They were excited to go back and spend time with friends and learn new things (no, seriously!).  Sabrina filled out an "about me" paper at the open house.  It asked what her favorite thing is about school.  Her answer?  Homework.  I'm not even making this up.  She was sad that she doesn't get her first homework packet until tomorrow.  Of course, I remember hoarding times tests and grammar sheets to play school during the summer, so I guess it's just in her blood ;)

Sabrina and Lizzie still look more like twins than older / younger sister.  In fact, Sabrina's teacher assumed Lizzie was a friend tagging along since she looked the same age.  You also can't see it, but Sabrina's shirt has a silver butterfly on it.  I made them each a shirt with their own symbol on it.  Daisy for Kate, sunshine for Lizzie, and butterfly for Sabrina.  Three of the prettiest, happiest things I can think of.

Monday night the girls each got a chance to take a bubble bath in my huge tub, then I painted their fingernails and toenails.  As shown in the bottom right picture, above.

 Michael stayed home "late" so he could walk the girls to the bus stop.  Fortunately I'm not the only mamarazzi.  There were nearly a dozen mothers with various cameras and recording implements.  We were waiting on the wrong side of the street, so when the bus stopped the kids all ran across.  (Upper right corner, below).  Lizzie was on the bus before I got to the right side of the street to get a picture.

There's something about a bright yellow bus and "early" morning sunshine that chokes me up a little.  Probably to do with the fact that it keeps carting my children off!

Michael ended up working from home all day.  We went out to breakfast together (well, ran through a drive through since we were short on time).  I finished baking brownies, went visiting teaching, ran errands and did some shopping, ran back out because I'd forgotten the flowers, and got home just in time for us to go back to the bus stop to pick the girls up.  I have met the girls at the end of the first day of school every year with flowers.  It's a good thing I didnt' forget them this year.  They were expected!  I also cut out brownies with a heart shaped cookie cutter (also for VT because it was a birthday) and the girls got fancy after-school treats.

It is impossible to properly show (though if I slowed the shutter speed down a bit you might get a better idea) how very many words were coming out of the girls' mouths at such a great rate!  (Side note: that top left picture above makes me laugh.  Kate appears to be levitating off the bus!).  They all loved their classes, their teachers, their friends, and so on.  All in all, a very successful first day!

One more note: I was talking to Sabrina that evening about her first long day at school.  I was asking about lunch and how much she ate and where she sat..  She was relating to me how excited she was to see someone who was sitting alone.  I couldn't figure out who it was, though obviously she expected me to understand.  I finally understood.  Sabrina had walked into the cafeteria, looked for someone to sit with, and seen one of the aides for the special ed students sitting alone.  She said that [the aide] looked lonely so she asked if she could sit by her.  Then Sabrina went on about all the great friends who came to sit at the table too.  All special ed students with varying physical and/or mental disabilities.  She thought one boy might be blind because he poured his juice over his corn, then in retrospect mused that perhaps he just didn't realize that it wouldnt' taste very good.  It was absolutely delightful to hear her talking so comfortably and lovingly about these students, using their names and everything.  This is a part of Sabrina I have seen before (can you see why I represent her with a butterfly?) and hope she never loses.  She loves people no matter how they may be different from her.

I'm so glad my girls are happy with school!  We've made it through one full week now.  They're long since asleep, getting ready for another new week.  Bring on the homework!

More Summer

Go Fly a Kite.

We discovered that most evenings we get a pretty good breeze blowing down the canyon, which makes our side yard ideal for flying kites!  It was amazing.  The kites went right up and stayed up.

One day we came home and discovered we'd missed our friends!  They had taken a bike ride all the way past our house.  Fortunately we'd left out some sidewalk chalk, and we had a delightful note left for us on the driveway :)

Hang Loose

Skateboarding lessons with Uncle Dan are always popular.  Lizzie admitted to me, though, that when he was saying "Hang Loose" when they were sitting up high for the picture to be taken, she was confused and wondered why they'd want to do that.

Daddy's Birthday

Who could turn down a stick with a string and a plastic spoon stuck on them (I think it was supposed to be some sort of catapult?).  At least, who could turn them down when given with such great anticipation and a huge girlish grin?!  Kate used some of her own birthday money to buy a little chalk board and paint to decorate it.  It is in Michael's office so they can leave notes on it and it won't have to be erased every time, like on the work white board.  I made an iPad case using a text book (bought from the library sale), felt, and a zipper.  It's handy when you don't mind if your iPad looks like it isn't an iPad ;)

Kate's Birthday Activity

Last year we started a tradition in which the birthday girl gets to choose two friends and an activity.  Then the family takes the two friends along and we go do something fun together.  Much easier, less stress, and more fun than worrying about a big party.  Kate wanted to go to the Nickelcade.  

 The kids all had a great time!  Michael finally won the  "Monster Jackpot" on his favorite ball-drop game (637 tickets!).  Lizzie won the "huge prize" of 2,000 tickets on a game (bottom right, below).  We used some of the tickets to get fun prizes and saved the rest for another visit, saving up for something larger.

Then we went to Krispy Kreme and ate donuts and juice or milk and opened presents.  It was absolutely delightful!  And I didn't have to vacuum specially afterward ;)

This is what we look like in the car.  Yes, it's kinda crazy.

We had a Jarbh family gathering to say farewell to my brother, sister-in-law, and their son.  They've moved off to a good job in another state and we sure do miss them!  We took cake and cupcakes to the party, and learned that if you buy eggs in bulk, the paper holders are great to transport cupcakes in!

Sabrina "accidentally"(?) got some frosting on her arm on the drive there.  Poor girl "had to" lick it off.
Each of the kids got a special fancy chocolate box from friends in China.  These kids love all things Chinese!

A couple of weeks ago we had some cousins (and Aunt J) stop by to hang out for a while.  Their mama was having a baby!  Our house is closest to the hospital she was at and the kids were hoping they'd be handy to see their brand new baby sister.  After a few hours, though, they decided to go home to bed.

M got a bow and arrow set and Uncle Michael taught him how to shoot it.  It ended up being a fun night of archery.  Kate pulled out the bow and arrow she made out of sticks and they all had fun.

They were well chaperoned by a very curious Ginger.

Michael pulled out one of the kitty toys and easily tempted Ginger down.

 After some fun with the kitty wand she discovered a lonesome ant.  The ant provided quite a period of amusement for Ginger, and subsequently the rest of us.  (Yes, Sabrina knows how to make an entrance!)

Lizzie was ready to go home with her cousins!  Or actually I think she just had to say good bye about 20 times ;)  Yay for a healthy new niece, born later that night!

Elizabeth's Baptism

NOTE: I was going to break this up into a few posts, but I've had such a hard time finishing things on here that when I got some momentum I decided I'd better ride it out!  Yes, it is long.  But most of it is pictures of my little Sunshine, so it's not so bad :)

For her eighth birthday, Lizzie got a fancy white dress.  She asked specifically for a while dress to wear the day of her baptism.  Aunt Karla took pictures of Lizzie at the Museum of Art.

When we got home I wanted to try a couple of things I'd just remembered, so of course I took a few photos too.

Lizzie's hair has grown quickly in the last year.  The longest layers are nearly waist length now!  I wanted a hairdo that would keep her hair controlled and tidy during the baptism, and also not take long to dry or tidy up immediately following the baptism when people are waiting.  Thus: the Dutch braided halo.  This also happens to be the way my hair was done when I was baptized a few decades ago.  This worked perfectly in Lizzie's hair, and I love the white flowers pinned in.

I took these pictures just before we left the house on Saturday morning.  Lizzie is wearing the same baptism dress Kate wore two years ago, and the same one I wore once upon a time -- as well as countless cousins, aunts, and various relations and friends of relations.  

 Here is Lizzie just before the baptism program began:

...and Lizzie with Grandma Jensen, Grandpa and Grandma Southern, Aunt Jenny and Aunt Janice, and of course with Dad and Mom.  I thought this dress was long on Kate, but on Lizzie she was just tall enough to keep the hem from trailing on the floor.

Daddy carried Lizzie in from the car, since she was barefoot at that time and the ground was already getting hot.

I slipped my camera out of my purse in the dressing room and took the picture below just before helping Lizzie change immediately after being baptized.  SUCH a huge grin on her face!

While we were taking the pictures in the baptism dress at home, just before leaving that morning, we kept hearing a persistent cooing.  I looked up and saw a bird perched on the top of our house.  I did double check and yes, it's a Turtle Dove, also known as the Mourning Dove.  The dove's call was absolutely beautiful.  I've never seen or heard one here before or since, but it was very special that morning.

Previous baptisms have ended around lunch time and been followed by a luncheon.  Since Lizzie's baptism was scheduled for 9:00 AM it seemed silly to have a full luncheon at 10am.  So instead I made hundreds of mini-muffins and people brought various fresh fruits.  It was a lovely brunch! 

We had an incredible amount of family with us at Lizzie's baptism.  Only one family was unable to be there.  Ironically, they're also the only ones who couldn't be there when Michael and I were married!  (Yes, I'm sure they like us -- they had a baby the day after we were married, and had just been here a few weeks before the baptism, and needed to trek back across the country to be home).  

A member of our Primary presidency caught me on Sunday in the hallway and told me how amazed she was by our family.  First, that we had so many family members who came to celebrate Lizzie's choice to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and take part in the event.  Second, that all those children (there were several dozen) were there in Sunday best.  Little boys in white shirts, little girls in dresses.  Third, she was impressed by the reverence and the Spirit present during the baptism.  I absolutely agree: it was wonderful.

It was hotter outside than I'd counted on, and we were (perpetually!) short on chairs.  I never even remembered to gather up the ones we had inside the house!  Oh well, there were at least two whole feet of shade at the east edge of the backyard.

I had found several thrifted platters which I then compiled into two tiered platters filled with over half-dozen varieties of mini muffins.  The chocolate-chocolate chip muffins were the only ones that were completely gone by the end, but they all seemed to be well enjoyed.  Delicious!

Lizzie got her own fancy set of scriptures with her name on them from Mom and Dad.  She also got a memory book, which people were able to sign for her, a special temple block, scripture stickers, a book about the Holy Ghost, some lovely cards, and a whole lot of love.

Thank you to all of you who were there in person or in spirit.  Lizzie has been so excited about being baptized and being confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.

December Overload

Here we go again.  If my life was to flash before my eyes, I'm sure it would be in photo collages with snippets of text for each one.

First, a few single pictures:

A picture Kate drew after the girls watched The Princess Bride for probably the 4th time in a row.  They're quite fond of it.

This bit of packaging (I don't even remember what it was from) was really too small to fit a cat, but it didn't stop Ginger from trying frequently to make herself fit in it.  It really cant' have been comfy!

Kitties for Christmas!

This is at the nickelcade.  I thought it was an interesting commentary on daddies bringing up the next generation of ladies ;)

And now for photo overload:

I was really sick for a couple of days at the beginning of the month thanks to medication issues.  Sabrina made us a picnic this afternoon so I could eat something.

We treked out to the Shops at the Riverwoods to see the Christmas lights.  It was amazing!  Heaters on the sidewalks, lights everywhere, live music... and even Santa.

(In Santa's house during his break)

(Inside Blickenstaff's -- a crazy cool toy store)

 (Back to see Santa)

 (Then we discovered Provo Beach Resort!  We checked it all out then played a few arcade games.)

We did our best to get a picture of our nursery kids from this last year and I made them a photo card to stick in their scrapbooks too.  These kids are so fun!

One night the moon was just beautiful!  I wanted to try to get a good picture of it, but by the time I found my tripod it was still pretty, but not as spectacular.  Oh well.  It was fun to mess with the settings on my camera anyway.  Then I brought the setup inside to photograph the tree.  Sierra and Ginger were most curious about the tripod and kept attacking it.

This wooden box had sunflowers in it during the summer, then I swapped them out for poinsettias.  Then someone put the sunflowers back in the box too O.o  Then Sierra climbed in the check it out!

I finally got a couple of pictures of our fish.  See that tetra on the left?  Its body actually IS that crooked.  No idea why.  We've had him for quite a while and he seems healthy enough -- just wonky.  On the right you can see our new algae eater named Goldie II (the original Goldie was too happy and outgrew being friendly with the tetras so we took her back to the fish store and bought the smaller one.)  Bottom right is the black fin shark guy.  We named him Tim.  Sadly he only lasted a couple of hyperactive weeks.  Poor Tim.

On our way to Salt Lake to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert the clouds were blanketed most uniquely across these mountains.  I don't know if it really gets across in the pictures, but I tried.

Michael and I loved the concert!  This was the day before our 11th anniversary and it made a great date.  We planned to go to dinner before-hand, but due to construction and such there was no option but a severely understaffed McDonalds.  It took 30 minutes to get our food which we then had to bolt down as quickly as possible.  Bummer.  We made up for it later with good food the next day :)

I just like these moments with my girls.  Lizzie had fallen and lightly skinned her knee.  Kate was doing such a good job taking care of her I just stepped back and let them be.  Kate supported her all the way upstairs where she washed the knee and applied a drop of lavender oiil.

One Friday night the girls got to have a sleepover at Grandma's house.  In the morning they even made gingerbread cookies decorated with candy.  See?  Our whole family in gingerbread :)

During this Christmas vacation we went as a family on a unique sort of activity -- we hung out at the Nickelcade :)  It was great fun!  It was a fun variety from the usual activities.

Earlier this month (sorry, these get a bit out of order apparently) we stopped by DI (thrift store) mostly just for the heck of it.  We happened across a really nice looking bike for me and a great one for Kate for $22 all together!  Mine is really a couple of inches too small for me, but it works fine for now.  I've had fun bicycling with the girls around the neighborhood!  Oh, and do you like Lizzie's orange streak?  It's just one of those clip in hair things, not dye ;)

My family gathered together the Sunday before Christmas, as usual.  My brother and his family shared a family history project they'd put together for us from papers they'd been given by a relative.  It's a fabulous set of stories, artwork, and life work!  Then we sang a few Christmas carols (some with ukulele accompaniment) and ate lots of tasty goodies.

We made it to our drive-through trip to the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork.  The girls love the (very local) radio station that plays non-stop Christmas music for you to listen to while driving through.  As usual, a great way to get into the Christmas mood.

Since we missed Christmas Day at the Southern home they came by and visited us just afterward to give us our presents and share what they wanted us to remember this year.  The girls were delighted with new blankets and fun toys.  We got some more family preparedness things which will be of good use to us!

Last tidbits: I finally was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of months ago.  This is, in large part, why things kinda fell apart again.  Finding out the whys and hows for some of the ways my body freaks out has been useful.  Even better has been the fact that there are now medications available for this condition.  After getting over the initial side effects of the medications I've found that they take care of probably 80% of the pain and complications due to fibromyalgia.  Never before had I experienced such overwhelming pain.  I've had severe pain, I've had widespread pain.  But having both at once is utterly stupefying.  Now that it is managed the flares come in fits and starts and are not as unbearable.  I have also found some ways to manage the pain (heat, essential oils, rest, baths, lots of sleep, etc.) that have really helped.  So in the end: it's good news.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.  I think I managed to catch up the pictures and brief moments from our lives this year.  It has been a wonderful year.  Full of trials but overwhelmed with blessings and miracles.  Overall 2011 was a great one for us.  We look forward to continuing to grow together as a family through 2012.