I am not obsessed with hair.

Today I woke up and realized that this girl's hair is getting too long to just let it go wild. So, I know I couldn't do pig tails without it falling out everywhere. So this is what I came up with. She doesn't even look like herself. It's like the wild hair is a part of who she is. She just looks so grown up to me. I ran into a friend yesterday who thought she was four. Well she wears size four. Livvy does not like to smile for pictures. This one was luck.

Why?

I am getting a hair cut on Monday and have been trying to decide what to do. Should I go short like the cute A-line bob or just do a long cut? This has been a dilemma because I am the laziest hair person I know. I have always had naturally curly hair, so before the straightener, my hair never quite went right. I also have this bump in my hair that is very hard to get rid of. So with the lazy hair/weird curls combo I have to be careful. Also I love a pony tail. I basically wear a ponytail holder as a bracelet or ring at all times. You never know when you're going to need it. My mother and sister always tell me that I need to cut my hair to my chin. I have tried it a few times, but my husband loves long hair. He doesn't care what I do, just secretly hopes for long. I am one of those people who needs their hair. The other thing is if I cut it short do I have to do it every day and how long will it take? Right when I was leaning towards maybe short, I saw these pictures and remembered how long it takes a girl like me to recover from a bad hair cut. First the Pixie in first grade, how could they let me out. It took about 3 years to grow out.

  

Third Grade

Who knows what the 6th grade picture was. Was I trying to feather my hair. Maybe combing would help. At least I had that cool butterfly necklace.

Oh I remember I tried Dorothy Hamill, the Olympic ice skaters in 5th. It didn't work out. Then I finally pulled it together by 7th.  

Then I had to be Lady Diana. Why didn't anyone tell me or stop me. 

By my Senior year I had barely grown it enough to look like a country singer in my Senior Picture.

I have kept it long since until 2002 when I cut it to my chin, I can't go any shorter as you can see. I even have worse pictures that didn't make it on the blog. So, this jog down memory lane just scares me into keeping it long, I might change my mind by Monday.

I Lub You!

Yesterday Livvy came up to me and plopped down on my lap in one of her many princess dresses. I kissed her hand because how can you resist a kid who wants to be with you, she's picky. Then she said, " I Lub you!" I couldn't believe my ears. It's not that she can't talk, but she's not a big talker and to express an emotion was a stretch. Of course I said, " No, I love you." Then it became a game back and forth and ended with tickling. It was her first time and I just had to record it.

I Caught Myself Singing.

The other day I was just going through life like normal and caught myself singing. I didn't mean to it just happened. It's always a good sign. I even caught myself doing it in Walmart and in the halls of the church during enrichment. I love to sing, not necessarily perform. It does make me happy, but when I'm always singing here there and everywhere, I know my life is going well. It doesn't mean that everything around me is perfect, it means that I am feeling healthy, content and in tune. I didn't see it coming, but it's a wonderful place to be. I hope it stays a while. Does this happen to anyone else?

Sleeping Quirks

The other night I was cleaning the kitchen hoping Olivia was asleep and thought I better check on her. She wasn't in her bed, in her closet or under her bed. I had a little panic and started searching other people's beds that she might have sneaked into. There she was in the game closet fast asleep. Now this may seem strange, but it's not for Olivia. First of all the game closet is also the blanket closet, so it's nice and soft, and she loves to sleep in her own closet better than her bed. I think she likes how enclosed it feels like her crib, that we put away. Last night I was putting her to bed and said, "Where do you want to sleep and she said "Coset." We leave it open, but she packs it with blankets her pillow,books and toys. It's a joke how packed it can get. Besides Natalie and her tent, I've only had one other kid with sleeping quirks, I guess two. Anna on many occasions would fall asleep with books on her face. Katelyn has never required a lot of sleep, so her's is trying to get to sleep before 11:00pm.

 I wanted to include this picture of Natalie's new dress because I bought the fabric last spring when I was feeling inspired while shopping with Melinda. She has a way a making you think you can sew. Jeff's mom ended up sewing  it for me.

The Frogs and Snakes

I think every child at one time in their life has wanted a pet. Well, poor Kyle has wanted a snake for as long as I can remember. Last summer he actually caught one, named Steve and we had it for a while. It finally died and we have learned a few things about light and temperature, etc. So he is spending his precious money on supplies first. Then he will save for a Corn snake. They start out small, I promise Grammy.
A few years ago, Kyle and Jeff caught a Bull snake, I think, and it was big. Kyle kept it in a huge plastic rubbermade with the top cut for air. Well, it got out once and Kyle caught it. Then one day after church I saw it winding back and forth really fast accross the tile. It was so creepy I mean really creepy! Even Kyle said," I think we should let it go. " The rubbermade was right above his head when he slept, and I think even he got the heebie jeebies, which is hard for Kyle.
So, while we were out shopping for snake supplies Kyle spotted these little African Frogs. They only get the size of a siver dollar. So, Kristen and Natalie pooled their money and bought two. They are $3.00 each, and we bought food. Well, when we got to the check out stand, I didn't realize that their money was mostly in change. Luckily when we dumped out the 200 plus pennies, dimes, nickel and quarters on the counter no one was behind us. We counted as fast as we could and only got one funny comment from an onlooker. It made me feel like he thought it was my money saved up to buy food. It was funny. The other bonus is we have a 90 day refund period. You just bring the dead frog back and they will refund. I kept asking so you really have to bring the dead body back. And he said you don't have to touch it, just put it in something. So, OK that's the plan. We have never had a frog before. How many different kinds of pets have you had over the years? It's interesting to see.

Can you see the frogs?

First Talk

Yesterday Natalie gave her first talk. She decided to do it on Daniel and the Lion's Den. I went over the story with her several times, probably with too many details. Finally Sunday morning I had her tell it to me. It was pretty close, so we went with her version. I did go up and hold the picture and was ready to help if she froze. I have had talks back fire before and ended up giving the talk myself when a child refuses to speak because they might die. That's when I realized that when you thought you couldn't be embarrassed any more you could when you least expect it. Back to the talk. Natalie told it like this: "There's Daniel and he prayed to God three times a day. and the king made his own law and that he can't pray except to him. Bad guys saw him praying. So, they put him in the lion's den and the king was sad and Daniel kept praying and then God sent angels and then to close the mouth of the lions and the bad guys were put in the lion's den and the king told everybody that Daniel's God was the true God and I know that we should pray.

The best part was when she came home from church she said," Mom, M said, "That was a really good talk. Can I borrow it for when I give a talk. " Then the other kids. " Yeah can I borrow it, yeah me too. I want to do that for all my talks." So according to her they all wanted to borrow it. I'm still not quite sure why they liked it so much , but I could tell she was so pleased. Then to top it off her teacher told her she had a cute dress. Basically Natalie had a great time at church.

Smells Take Me Back

Today I was in Deseret Book waiting for them to engrave on Kristen's new scriptures and Natalie wanted to smell the Salt City Candles. So, to entertain, I opened the lids to avoid any accidents. The first candle was lilac, nothing, then we smelled watermelon and a flood of happy feelings came over me. I bought that candle when Kyle, Kate and Anna were 4 and under, when I lived on the west side. I picture a blue counter top and everyone around the kitchen table, or the girls doing dances on the blue carpet. I didn't even particularly love that candle, which is why we had it so long. 

Then Fruit Slices reminded me of the end of our stay on the west side when Kristen was a baby and the others were a little older

My absolute favorite Salt City Candle is Christmas Trimmings. For some reason some of my siblings feel the same way. It reminds us of getting out the ornaments to put on the tree. It's a mix of citrus, old tissue paper and old pine needles, or a new Christmas tree. I have no idea how they did it, but it takes me back.  Some other smells I love are plumeria, it reminds me of my semester at BYU Hawaii. Honeysuckle reminds me of running around in the back yard as a kid as well as the after rain smell. I have so many with this one. Drakar reminds me of dating Jeff. I could go on and on.

Baptism

Saturday our little Kristen was baptized. Now it doesn't really seem so strange because Kristen has always talked like a big kid. Her experience was a little different than the others because she got to have the missionary discussions. We were able to participate in the discussions with our neighbor. Our neighbor M didn't want the missionaries to only be talking to her, so Kristen was given them as well. Since Kristen has always wanted to receive the lessons, it worked out well. It was such a great experience to learn and make commitments to prepare her. M was baptized in the summer. Kristen has been looking forward to this moment for a long time. Another thing about Kristen is that she loves people deeply. So, it matters for her to have people be with her on her special day. It was a beautiful, wonderful day! Thank you for those who were able to come. Because only two people in our stake were getting baptized that day, we did half of the program. I gave the baptismal talk, about being a follower of Jesus. Kristen sang "The Family is of God," which is a new song the kids are learning in primary. It is her absolute favorite song, and even though it wasn't a baptismal song, she sang it from her heart and it turned out just right. I have given the baptismal talk 3 times now, so if anyone needs a talk on baptism I'm getting quite the collection. Kristen's dress was made by her Grammie Jones. She was baptized by Jeff. She wrote about her experience in her journal and had a really good feeling when she was baptized. Yesterday she received her certificate of baptism from Bishop Jones. He is listed on her certificate as her Bishop. That will be special for her someday. It has been a lovely last couple of days and I'm so thankful to have such a sweet daughter.