my movie star--Jordyn

Jordyn was in her first musical, Sleeping Beauty. Practice was every Monday from 4:30-6 for about 7 weeks. She was one of Maleficent's goons. She had speaking, singing, and dancing parts. Most of the kids were older. She had a great time and wants to do more. It was great; the day of the performance the adult directors let the kids do all the work. No adult was cueing them to go on stage or say their part. In turn, the kids lead and helped each other.

I was so proud of her. She did a great job, had a great attitude, and I love how much it built her confidence. She's very brave for performing in front of strangers. It was awesome to watch her.

 We all went to her performance to support her.

 Love this girl so much!

 Here's our movie star, all dressed up; one for the golden globes, the other as a disguise from the paparazzi.

I'm a Runner?

Yes, I am. It's taken me a long time to admit it, and quite frankly, I just came to terms with that on Sunday. Since people have seen me running with my friends and know I've run in a few races, people have made comments about me being a "runner." Every time, I would make some snide remark about not being a "real" runner or being a slow runner, etc. When I went visiting teaching, the college girl I visit, said something about me being a runner and mentioned that it's my hobby. That was what I needed to hear I guess to convince myself that it is a hobby and that I am a runner. Subconsciously I suppose I thought I had to run a certain # of marathons, or have a certain time per mile to be considered a "real" runner. When the girl mentioned "hobby," it put things into perspective for me. I like to run, I like to run with friends, I like how it energizes me.  I am a runner no matter how slow or fast I run. I'm not sure why I, and I'm sure other people, feel that you have to be "perfect" to identify yourself as a "runner" or "singer" or "crafty person," etc. I hope I can more easily own things I like to do that make me feel good. I'm grateful that I finally realized that I don't have to be hard core or perfect at something to proudly say I am a ..... Wish I would've had this epiphany sooner. This could have been holding me back at hobbies I do enjoy but have no training, like singing, dancing, and general performing.

when plans go wrong

 On Labor day weekend we were going to stay in a time share for a few nights, thanks to Grandma Nita's husband, Paul. It's about 45 minutes outside of Payson. We had stopped in Payson to get some groceries, because these time shares have kitchens. We got to the time share place on Saturday evening, around dinner time. We checked in and it took a few confusing minutes for them, and us to realize we had booked the time share for the wrong weekend. I could see Jeff's excitement plummet and his stress rise before my eyes. There was no need for me to stress or be upset because I knew Jeff was internally dealing with it. It was therefore easy for me to be the calm one. I played with the kids outside as he scrambled around trying to find a nearby hotel or cabin to rent. He had no luck since it was a busy 3 day weekend. We ended up going back to Payson that night at the only hotel, I mean motel we could find....Knights Inn--a step up from hostel. Let's just say I took a shower with my flip flops on and when I walked around the room. The kids could care less and didn't know the difference though. Our plans changed. The next day we decided to hike Tonto's bridge and then go home a day earlier.

 It was a gorgeous day and we soaked in the cooler weather.

 Enjoying a bench and lollipop.

 Macie stayed in the back pack the whole time and she seemed very relaxed the whole time.

 Inside the natural bridge was cool and breezy and lots of spaces to crawl in and climb on.

 After hiking to the bridge and back we walked around the state park. Macie, of course, was climbing and walking all over the place.

 Inside the walls of the bridge. It wasn't the staycation we thought we were gonna have, but it was still fun and memorable.

macie poo

 Macie is a very busy 1 year old. She's into toothbrushes, phones, the toilet plunger, coloring on walls,  going through my wallet and cleaners under the kitchen sink....you know all the things you don't want a one year old to play with. She's up the stairs, down the stairs, climbing on chairs, stools and sinks, and pantry shelves. She's a handful to say the least, but we still love her.

 She still very much wants to be close to Jeff or I, mostly Jeff when he's home.

 She takes 2 1/2 hour naps and  sleeps from about 8pm-7:30am. She's pretty willful, playful, likes to sing and play and dance.

 We love her soft skin, smile, rolls, fingers, nose, curly hair, toes, and clean bottom.

She's particular to certain books: "hand, hand, fingers thumb," "Little Blue Truck," "Pingo," and a few First word books.

 I love this side profile picture. Her pursed lips drinking from the straw, nose and hair. So cute sometimes I just stare and watch.

anniversary present

Jeff and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary August 10th. We exchanged letters and I surprised Jeff with an adventurous date: skydiving, because doesn't every husband want that as a fun surprise?! Jeff was shocked and didn't believe me at first. Then I think his first comment was something like, "shouldn't we wait to do something like this when our youngest is 18?" He makes a good point but people do this everyday that I wasn't too worried; but he did make me second guess myself. We got there and the plane wouldn't start so we had to reschedule. That didn't help my doubt either. The second time we went, it had been raining and there were a lot of clouds out. We went; watched a video, got into our gear, climbed into a one seater plane (only for the pilot) held together with duct tape and our instructors strapped to our back. It was about a 30 minute plane ride to climb up 10,000 feet. Sometimes I was very nervous, sometimes I was surprisingly calm. I was more worried about dying in a plane crash than the parachute not getting out. It was time to open the airplane door and work our way out. It was loud and super windy; I could barely move my leg around on the ledge. My tandem instructor guy rocked back and forth and we did and forward roll out. We had a 40 second free fall and reached about 155 MPH. It was crazy! I kept thinking, "I can't believe I'm falling through the sky and clouds." The instructor let out the chute, there was a big jolt slowing down so abruptly, and then it got quiet and we were floating down. The guy turned around so I could see Jeff. We did some turns and I enjoyed the view and we landed perfectly. I watched Jeff land and his first words were, "That was awesome!" and "We survived." It was a lot of fun and Jeff and I will definitely always remember this adventure. We have a video they gave us. When I watched it, I got a little nervous all over again.

Harry Potter

 This summer Sydney was having a hard time wanting to read and picking a book she would like. I told her we could read Harry Potter together and then we would have a fun movie night after we finished the book. I had never read any of the books so it was fun to read together and before we knew it both of us were excited about the story. As promised I made a special movie night after we finished. I started off by giving them an invitation via Hedwig, the owl, during a campout Jeff had taken the 3 older ones too.

 I made a special dinner decked out in Harry Potter decor. I borrowed costumes they could each wear.

 Here's Hedwig.

 

As you can tell, treats were plentiful while we watched the movie.

 Before we started they each were selected to be part of one of the 4 groups. I put the magical witch had on their heads and it talked to them and told them which group they were destined to be part of. (I actually had the baby monitor in the hat and Jeff was upstairs talking through the monitor) They totally bought it.

 Magical potions they drank. When I poured the water in the cup it turned a different color. Green=wealth, Red=good luck, Yellow=happines, etc.

It was a super fun night. The book was great and so was the movie. Jordyn and Levi got into the movie too and a little with the book.

random-ness

 Some family time at Bahama Buck's. The kids and I don't go there nearly as often as before, mostly because they get in the way BIG TIME.

 Our daily pool time. Levi has gotten so good at swimming this summer.

 Macie is usually in Jeff's arm or within arms distance whenever he is home. He gets lots of cuddle time with her. Lucky duck.

 At a free dance class we're starting to go to on Monday mornings. She warmed up after awhile, walking around with the various props.

 Levi was so excited when he found out he won all this stuff at the dentist office because he guess the right number of skittles in that jar. He kept saying, "I'm a good guesser, mom."

 Sydney wrote this for one of her homework assignments. I'm happy to know she is loved!

 Oh, yeah....let me just climb between the walls and hold myself with just my arms. Such a strong climber.

 And here's another monkey in the family. I was holding her, standing next to this pole, when she leaned over and grabbed it. I could tell she was holding all her weight, so I let go and there she was holding herself up.

 Here's a fun picture of me. Half of my face is numb, thus the awkward smile. I had to get a root canal. It was fine, painless, and just glad the hassle of it is done. Now, I should probably stop blogging and starting flossing to avoid anymore root canals :)

 This adorable girl went to a skate party today. It's fun to see her happy with friends and having a good time. Sometimes I feel I'm hard on my kids, with Jordyn, I get on her case to focus and pay attention, then I see this face and tell myself to see her how God sees her, especially during those difficult moments. I love Jordyn so much!