Halloween 2013

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were the inspiration for the Harper family costumes this year...

Galadriel, Arwen, Frodo, Smaug the Dragon, and Gandalf

Baby Smaug (not quite as ferocious as the dragon in the movie, but super cute, and warm as she consented to wear something WITH sleeves! Hip hooray!).

Frodo, the Hobbit. Complete with creepy hairy feet. His bag has the one ring to rule them all on it (which incidentally I neglected to print in mirror image so it would show correctly once ironed on... then I am pretty sure I ironed it on upside down, but who's keeping track anyway?).

Galadriel, the lovely elf... her elf ears made it a little hard for her to hear, but helped her look oh, so authentic.  Her bag says (in Elvish and English) "The world is changed. I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air." and has a drawing of Galadriel's flower symbol.

**What were you for Halloween this year?

A Happy Little (very very long) Update

I have been reminded lately at how much I miss journaling… and although I’ve been out of the blog loop for some time now (nearly three-quarters of a year)... and while it is overwhelming to think about trying to catch up, I feel I must get back to recording some thoughts and happenings or it will all slip away.

Olivia is only a few days away from starting junior high. When she turned 12 in June her strongest desire was to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Ryan and I took her early in the morning and she loved it. She spoke of feeling the Spirit more strongly than ever.  Her testimony is deeply rooted and she shares it in Testimony Meeting almost every month. She is kind and loving and cares for every person around her. She is sensitive and aware of what is happening around her. She is a fabulous babysitter to Sophia and even some families in the neighborhood. Liv was told it would be a struggle to play the trumpet since she has braces; however, she is determined to follow in Ryan’s footsteps and she wants to be a part of the American Fork High Marching Band, so she works hard and is getting great sound out of that three-generation instrument. She attended YW camp for the first time this summer at Heber Valley Camp. She came home with a deeper appreciation for the gospel, her YW leaders, and her testimony. I missed her like crazy, but I am so glad she was able to go. Heber Valley Camp is indeed a holy place.

Coleman will turn 10 next month. He continues to love science, video games, Legos, Star Wars, and learning. He has a funny sense of humor and cracks clever jokes that cause me to think. He calls me on it when I give a laugh that isn’t quite what he was hoping for. He loves to sing and whistle… I often say that he is performing his own soundtrack to his life. Some days I don’t find it quite as charming as he does… but I was reminded in a conference talk that it is something joyous is to hear children sing. He has decided that he wants to attend MIT (which he thought stood for “Michigan Institution of Technology). He is fascinated with bugs and weather and how things work. He thinks deeply and theorizes about so many things. Love that boy.

Sophia cracks us up. She is determined and oh-so strong willed. She says and does the funniest things…

She LOVES to burp, and she’s a rock-star burper. Loud, long, and frequent they are. Cute for a three-year old… unless it’s while you are walking into church, in any public place, or in front of anyone outside the family. Too bad she has no qualms about letting them loose whenever and wherever. If we want that habit to stop we’ll probably have to stop busting a gut when she lets it rip.

She loves to pray. She does NOT love to vary the wording in her prayers. She loves to say, “Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for the day and the food. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” She DID go through a “bodies” phase where she asked Him to bless our bodies, but her prayer is pretty much standard. We are working on that one. For a short time she insisted on saying every prayer. Recently when she asks to pray and someone else gets asked to do it she rushes to that person and says, “Good job, Mom! I’m so proud of you!”

She decided several months ago that she didn’t like kisses anymore.  She wouldn’t give or receive kisses, unless it was a kiss on the top of the head in the pattern of Rapunzel from the Disney movie “Tangled” where she’d say, “I love you” and I’d say, “I love you more” and she’d say, “I love you MOST” and plant a kiss on the top of my head. She loved hugs and would remind us as we went to give hugs and kisses of her preferences, sometimes signaling with a hand to stop in our advances to kiss her. Last night she granted permission to give kisses again. Glory be.

She is very, very picky with the things she wears. She wore two pairs of boots until she could not get her feet in them anymore (never mind that it was 100 degrees outside). She does not love sandals. She does not love tennis shoes (save for the awesome light-up shoes from Grandma Terri that have velcro straps and allowed her to put them on herself... but she outgrew those months ago). She now has a ratty pair of slip on ballet flats with soles falling to pieces. Over the course of the last few months she has decided that she hates clothes with sleeves. Long sleeves, short sleeves, cap sleeves. She does NOT like sleeves. She doesn’t like things that “cover my shoulders or my armpits” and refuses to wear anything with sleeves. I know, I’m the parent, right? I shouldn’t let a three year old run the house and make the rules, but have you ever tried to put a shirt or dress with SLEEVES on a kid who does not want to wear it? It isn’t a pretty sight and has resulted in many tantrums. It’s been a hot summer, and she looks pretty cute in her tank tops and sundresses, so I’ve let it go for the most part… but last week it reached an all new level of ridiculousness when we were out of town (limited number of acceptable-to-her options, no possibility of washing dirty clothes to get said acceptable-to-her clothes back into the rotation) and I put on an almost sleeveless dress. She was busy having a fit, so in an attempt to preserve the peace I very stupidly suggested that we tuck in her sleeves so her shoulders weren’t covered. She LOVED that idea and it placated her, until it came untucked and she became unglued. We spent a good part of that day tucking. It was very humorous when she came up to me as I was getting ready for the day with a cami on over my underclothes… I was getting ready to put on another shirt or dress on top of it. She stroked my shoulders and said, “Oh, mommy, your shoulders aren’t covered, and it’s BEAUTIFUL!!!!” Pretty soon here we’ll have to start phasing out her sleeveless clothes so that she will allow her arms to be covered in the winter months. How do you think a puffy down coat will TUCK?

On August 14th we gathered with Tim and Laura and their family at Mikayla’s grave. It has been three years since she left us. Laura asked us all to share a memory or something we had learned from Mikkie. I was pretty teary-eyed as I said how I was trying to learn to be more prepared---always have bubble-gum and lipgloss in hand (Mikkie loved those!) but more importantly to always let the people that I love know how I feel about them. Mikkie left so quickly and I don’t ever want to regret not sharing my love. My tears were flowing freely, but sweet Sophia put her arms around my neck, squeezed tight, pulled my face to hers, and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll always be there for you.” I don’t know where she comes up with this stuff.

Sometimes, when she says or does something funny I ask her, “Where did you learn that?” For a long time her answer has been, “From Miss Piggy” and occasionally “and the frog.” She kills me.

My potty-training philosophy is to wait until my kids are so ready to do it that they take only a few days. I don’t have the patience to potty train for months on end.  The result is that they have all been well over three when we’ve attempted, but it hasn’t gone on forever and ever. Sophia was no different. While she was likely capable many months ago, I kept putting it off until I was sure she would be successful. With preschool just around the corner, we knew it had to happen this summer. Because of some long road trips, we had only one three week period that we would be home. She did really, really well for the most part. We chose “Hi-Chews” as our method of bribery… she’d get one each time she went. She got in the habit of going, wiping, washing hands, and saying, “I went to the bathroom and I had pee-pee and I want a grape!” She likes Hi-Chew flavors in this order: grape, strawberry, apple, mango. She picks grape until they are ALL gone. Then she eats all of the strawberry ones until they are ALL gone, then apple, and finally the ones left are mango. She only had a couple of accidents, but she was very clear in the fact that she did not want to poop on the potty. She in fact said to me on more than one occasion, “I will NEVER poop on the potty!” She would go into a corner (or under a table or behind the curtains or furniture) when it was time to do her business… she would tell us she needed her privacy… and she would quickly inform us that we needed to change her, but she was so resistant to even trying to go. After a couple of very unsuccessful attempts on my part (“We will buy you ANYTHING you want!” “We’ll have ice cream!” “I’ll buy you a PONY!”“Puh-lease!!!”) I finally decided to let it go, be happy with the fact that she was staying  dry during the day and would even wake up dry in the morning, and resign myself to the fact that she would be in pull-ups until college.  Tonight she decided all on her own that she wanted to poop on the potty. And she did. Like a boss. Without any forewarning. We are eating ice cream tonight! (So glad she opted for that reward instead of the pony ☺.)

We have decided that Sophia will go where she wants and how she wants in life. It is our job to make sure she is pointed in the right direction. And to help her think that that direction is HER idea. Oh, the challenge.

We are loving life and are busy, busy. While busyness is NOT a badge of honor, there are days that it feels like it should be. I feel tired, but oh, so happy. Most of the time.

As for catching up on the rest of 2013, we {mustache} you to be patient... it will come.

Reflections--Magic of a Moment

This year Olivia and Coleman entered the Reflections contest. The theme was "The Magic of  a Moment."

Olivia composed a song and won! She got a cool certificate and a trophy.

Coleman entered in the literature category. He also got a certificate.

Sophia didn't enter, but I am sure that at some point she will enter in one category (or more)...

We got notified a few weeks later that Olivia's entry went on to the next level and she will be compete at the district level... Way to go Liv!

This is the song that she composed:

Hey Ferb, I know what we're going to do today....

 Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween to all.... This year we decided to continue on with our love of Phineas and Ferb...

The Flynn-Fletcher Family... Sadly, Lawrence didn't make an appearance... and Ferb had to be on Coleman's bag since we couldn't convince any of our neighbors or friends to join our family for the night...

Liv made an excellent Candace... she doesn't often try to "bust her brother" and isn't in love with someone named Jeremy (lovely bag, no?) but she still pulled it off. She had a parade at school that Sophia and I got to go to. She had to explain to people who she was... but if they were fans of the show, they totally got it as soon as she said it. Sophia loved being there because all of the kids would point to her and say, "Hey, look! It's Perry!" She felt just a bit famous :).

Coleman loves, loves, loves this show. I love that the the characters are mostly nice to each other, tell the truth, and are quite intelligent. The plots are simple enough that Sophia likes it but witty enough that Ryan and I even sneak in an episode or two after the kiddos go to bed. People who know the show loved the costumes and recognized us immediately... those who didn't... well, they didn't. Some thought Coleman was a rooster! Sophia and I went to Coleman's class for his party.

Ryan made a great Doofenschmirtz... all evil and ugliness aside, he at least had the clothes down :). Sophia's debut as Perry the Platypus was great. We've been planning this for weeks... and a couple of weeks ago Soph decided she wanted to be a cat instead. We finally convinced her to put on her Perry costume by telling her she would be a kitty cat that looked like Perry the Platypus :). In the days leading up to Halloween we kept asking Sophia what she was going to say at the door... her response: "Me want candy!" I think she caught on to the whole idea of trick-or-treating... when they got home I asked her if they had gone to a few houses... she answered with, "No... a lot!" and then I asked if she got a few pieces of candy she said, "No, a lot, a lot, a lot!" She's been chowing down ever since.... She loved her Major Monogram bag and kept calling it "my Major Monogram bag."

Ryan rigged up speakers and played the "Doofenschmirtz Evil, Incorporated" jingle from his lab-coat.  We brainstormed about what "inator" he could carry around but never built one.... we should have made the Trick-or-Treat-inator to suck all of the good candies out of trick-or-treaters bags...

We all know that Linda and Heinz didn't end up together... but they did go on that one date... :)

It definitely wasn't my best year for creativity in the culinary area, but we had a few yummy Halloween treats... My headstone cakebites didn't work as well as I hoped (the white chocolate seized up, likely from the food coloring I added?) so we turned some of them into ghosts... We made some mummy pigs-in-a-blanket, spiderweb salsa with chips, and had some jack-o-lantern slush. The cake in the top right corner was made by someone at Ryan's work and I loved it... they just used strawberry pieces to make a pumpkin. I loved the Frankenstein rice krispy treats that two of my friends made for our pack meeting this month. We didn't have very many trick-or-treaters this year, which was strange because we had beautiful weather... 71 degrees! The ones that did come to our door got to take some Perry fruit snacks, Smarties, Nerds, or Dum-Dums. I am quite sure the significance of the candies was lost on everyone but me and Coleman (and Liv after we explained it to her) but that is okay :).

They got home with so much candy and spent a bit of time trading and paying the 'mom and dad tax.'

They taught Sophia how to say "Happy Halloween!"

Hope your Halloween was great too!

There's a Bear in the House

Coleman's ninth birthday meant rank advancement in Cub Scouts. He went from a very fun Wolf Den (where he worked hard and completed all of the requirements and earned several arrow points) to a great Bear Den where I know he will have just as much fun. His new den buddies gave him some bear paw stamps all over to show their warm welcome and he got to sport the awesome bear hat for almost all of Pack Meeting.

Nine!

This handsome boy turned nine in September!

He is such a fun kid to be around. He has a funny sense of humor, he loves, loves, loves reading and Legos. He loves to be with his friends and goof around and invent games. He is thoughtful and sensitive and kind. He loves playing games of all kinds... video games, board games, iPhone and iPad games, word games, logic games, riddles, math games, you name it, he loves games.  He also loves the Disney show "Phineas and Ferb" and the rest of us love it too.

I made some Perry the Platypus cupcakes for his soccer team and for our family gathering. We were so excited that some of our family members could come and celebrate with us! On Coleman's birthday Ryan made colorful pancakes (and carried on the Phineas and Ferb theme) and later in the week Coleman invited a few friends over for a late-night. I did my best to make Phineas' and Ferb's heads for the cake and we had to have another Perry to go along with them...

We are so grateful to have Coleman as a part of our family... he brings so much happiness to our family!

(Stay tuned for more Phineas and Ferb excitement in the coming months...)

Another School Year

The end of August brought the start of another school year.

 Olivia was excited to start 6th grade! It's hard to believe she is one of the "top dogs" now. She loves school and loves being involved with Service Club. She fought long and hard to convince us to try out the early track and so far it's been great (although I admit that many mornings I am still a little bleary eyed while we are getting ready for the day). Before school started she was a little nervous about her teacher assignment... we talked about giving him a fair chance and judging him on her own experience instead of what she heard others say. She came home the first day so excited and happy and didn't want to tell me how great her teacher was because she was afraid that the words "I told you so" would come out of my mouth.  Give me a little credit... but I did tell her :). A few more months of sixth grade and it's junior high for this little lady!

Coleman was so excited (and a little nervous) all summer long to start school. He changed schools this year to be a part of the A.L.L. (Accelerated Learning Lab) program at a neighboring school. He has loved his teacher and his classmates and it's been a great change for him! His teachers in previous years were great to work with him and give him opportunities to be challenged, but it has been wonderful to be a part of a program where the students are like-minded and motivated to learn and do as much as they possibly can. On his first-day picture he showed three fingers on one hand for third grade, and on the other did a sign-language "A" to represent A.L.L. (He thought that was pretty clever!)

Coleman and Olivia realized that they will never again be in the same school (except for maybe college) so they wanted a photo together before they went their separate ways. Sophia wanted in on the photo action too... we took the early photo just before Liv left (while Soph was still in her PJs) and another one by the bush when Coleman left. After things finally settled down I actually did something with her poor hair and had to photograph the cute little ponytail. It still isn't super long or thick, but we can get it gathered into one or two "little piggies." The bottom right photo is Sophia's go-to position once the kids are off... a "Fro-Yo-Yo" (frozen Go-Gurt) and an episode of "Lil Ty-Ty" (Little Einsteins). She loves that corner of the couch! I think she was pretty bored at first with just me to play with... and she often pulls my hand and asks me to play "tea-party stuff, now!" which is much more enjoyable than doing laundry or dishes or any other housework :). I love that I get to spend some focused time with her during the day while the older kids are gone.

The school year is already passing by quickly... and my summary of it so far is "Thank goodness for carpools so I don't have to drive to both schools twice each day!"

Nightside Project

If you have ever had occasion to listen to KSL in the evenings, you may have heard of a little show called "The Nightside Project." Although Coleman has only heard Alex and Ethan a handful of times, he loves them. He was so excited that they brought their show on the road to a Cafe in our town on July 12th. We made a family event of it... it didn't hurt at all that the specialty at the Cafe is dessert crepes. Yum!

The hosts were so kind to Coleman... they were impressed to have such a young fan and they even mentioned him on the air... you can listen to their blurb about Coleman here. (They said he listens every night, but he doesn't, lest you think we don't have more to fill our weekday evenings. The part about Coleman being brilliant, yeah, that was all true :). )

They had all kinds of KSL swag to choose from... and the hosts liked Coleman so much they told him and Olivia they could choose anything they wanted... so they didn't just pick one, they walked away with frisbees, fans, keychains, and anything else that looked remotely interesting. Fun times!

Day Camp

Coleman got to attend day camp with his Cub Scout Wolf den. It was a two-day camp that was held at a local park. I got to be a parent helper for a half-day and it was fun to watch Coleman interact with the other boys. They did all sorts of fun activities like parachute games, obstacle courses, build and launch bottle rockets, build catapults, shoot BB Guns, archery, Ultimate Frisbee, and even visit the trading post where nice moms (not me) let their boys purchase their very first pocket knife. Coleman came home with treasures like a rabbits foot, a beaded necklace, and a few keychains. He loves being a part of Scouts!

Dance Festival 2012

The end of school came before we knew it. The kids always enjoy the dance festival... and I am always glad when I find where they are in their group so I can watch. I am always more glad when Ryan gets to come so he can take good photos!

The fifth graders wore their Hope of America shirts and dressed up like islanders for their Beach Boys songs.

Olivia did a great job!

The second graders did the Monster Mash and Coleman wanted to be a vampire... he wore his teeth around for several days after the dance festival (yuck!). 

 Loved this last photo... it's a great monster pose!

We love our Superhero Teachers

Our school celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week by treating our teachers like superheroes...

We helped with the door decorations for the kids' teachers. We invited each of Ms. Knowles' students to write why she is a superhero.

Olivia's teacher has been teaching for 29 years and is retiring this year. She's been a great teacher for Liv and has supported her and helped her do good things.

Coleman's teacher has been great too, she has really worked hard to challenge him. Don't judge me for my drawing of Mrs. Incredible, nor for my inability to judge the size that her head needed to be to fit with said Mrs. Incredible. All of Coleman's classmates filled in a paper saying why Mrs. LeBaron is incredible.

We are grateful for good teachers!

Mother's Day

I was sufficiently spoiled rotten on Mother's Day! My cute family made me a yummy breakfast (Kneader's French Toast with a fruit smoothie) and showered me with gifts.

Ryan worked for hours to get our blog posts from 2008 ready to print! Hooray!  The kids prepared wonderful gifts at school and they were all good to me and each other all day long. 

Olivia helped Sophia make a lovely message out of blocks...

...and Sophia's nursery leaders captured her handprints for this sweet picture.                                         They also avoided getting paint on her dress, which I greatly appreciated :).

Coleman made an awesome card that was all about me... "My mom's name is Lisa. My mom likes to do crafts. My mom's favorite flower is a forget-me-not. My mom has taught me times tables. Mom's favorite food... girl scout cookies. My mom helps me do homework. I love my mom because she lets me do what I want. My favorite thing to do: Anything with my mom. My favorite memory: when my mom plays jokes." He also illustrated and wrote his very own book about me.

"What I know about my mother: My mother is very thoughtful. She is about 60 inches tall. She weighs about 90 pounds. She has green eyes. She has brown hair. The food she likes best is girl scout cookies. Her favorite color is green. My mom's favorite food is girl scout cookies but she doesn't like fish. The thing my mom likes to do for fun is go to disneyland. Mom helps our family by doing chores... to do list: laundry, dishes, put clothes away, bake dinner, sisters diaper. She spends most of her time having fun with the family. When my mom daydreams she thinks about Hawaii. If Mom could have one wish come true, she would wish for going to Hawaii. What I like most about my mom is she gives me presents."

Coleman knows me well!

Olivia wrote a letter nominating me to be "Mother of the Year" and gave me a lovely certificate. Her letter said:

"Dear committee members,

"Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a warlock. This warlock was a noble warlock. He loved a queen so very much that he cast a spell on her. This spell made her the Queen of Everything. My mom is the Queen of Everything. In this letter I will tell you why my mom will be the next Mother of the Year.

"My mom is the best because she is helpful. If I need help with my homework she will help me and work with me. If she sees that someone needs help, she will help them. I tried making a treat and needed some help. I asked my mom if she would help and of course, it was a yes!

"Another reason my mom will be nominated Mother of the Year is that she is truly, a very good cook. She has the Best Bites cookbook and is always trying new recipes. One of my favorites is called Cheeseburger Soup. My mom cooks everything perfectly. If you tasted her food, you would immediately fall in love with it.

"One last reason that my mother will be the next mother of the year is she is very loving. Recently my mom became the new Relief Society president. There was a tragedy the day after she got called. She has loved that family so much. Amazingly she got through the week. My mom loves me every day so much. I can tell, she sacrifices a lot for me. Only every once in awhile you can catch her being the Dragon Queen.

"As you can see, my mother would be the perfect mother of the year. She is helpful in all ways. If you tasted her food, you would know one of my other reasons, a very good cook. Finally, if you met her, you would know immediately she is loving, very loving. Now, any day now I should be getting a certificate that says "Mother of the Year" on it. I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

"Sincerely,

Olivia Harper"

After that letter, I would vote for myself for Mother of the Year (I think she might be a little biased... but right on with the dragon queen part :) ).

We spent the evening at my mom's house and Sophia LOVED playing with the snowball flowers.

She loved having Coleman shower the petals on her head....

...that smile is so cute!

These three kiddos are the reason that my job is the best job in the world!

Additionally, I am so grateful for my mom and Ryan's mom and our grandmas and all of the wonderful women in my life who help me to be a better person.