Ok, I can't let July end without a real post on my blog. I have been slacking. I keep up with everyone else's but not mine. :) Well, July has been a big blur and it was mainly fun.
I got my haircut (end of June actually) and cut bangs again. First time in 10 years! I immediately decided to grow them back out. :) I'm actually getting used to them now but I still think I'll grow them out. It's so nice to have a different style for a change though.
Miss M had her 3 year checkup with the Dr and was so well behaved that I was shocked! Her reward was a Happy Meal but she didn't want to open it until we picked up her sisters, so she could share. Again, shocked. :)
July 4th was a fun-filled day. It was SO HOT but we went to the free festivities in the park by the zoo (and even crashed some bounce houses until we realized you had to pay $5 to jump in them -- out you go girls!) and had a traditional 4th of July dinner at McDonald's. Ha ha. The girls were so hot and they enjoyed the freezing A/C of the restaurant. We went home and did our own fireworks on our back patio. Just sparklers, black cats, and snakes (which scared Miss M -- go figure!)and then piled the girls into the van in their jammies to go see the big fireworks that went off over the zoo. Everyone here in A-town just pulls off the highway and parks to watch them. Not the safest thing and B did NOT want to do it but once I convinced him it's just "the way they do things in A-town," he pulled off and we had a perfect view of the fireworks from our weedy, just-off-the-road parking spot. The girls oohed and ahhed (after my coaching) and seemed to enjoy the show. I had a Great Aunt Darlene who would always lead the family in oohing and ahhing when I was a kid. She passed away a few years ago but it gave me a thrill to pass on her tradition to my kiddos. :)
A few days later Princess N was jumping on my bed (much to my chagrin since they are not ALLOWED on my bed because they cannot refrain from JUMPING) and fell off and split the skin above her left eyebrow. I didn't realize at first. I just picked her up and cuddled her (I was in the room with my back turned, so I didn't see it happen but I got to her pretty quick!) and then blood started oozing out of her eyebrow. Poor thing. I panicked a bit. Well, only after the blood was all cleaned off and I saw the gaping hole on my child's face! Ok, it was probably miniscule but my children are very overprotected and this had never happened in our little family before! But after a quick check with my pediatrician, I realized I had done the right thing to just wash it and put on a butterfly bandage. So now she only has a small little line with I REALLY hope will keep healing and not scar (B seems to think scars are awesome but I do NOT agree!).
A few days after the “tragedy,” we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Dallas! Good times! B’s brother who lives in Vegas had not been home to visit in a year, so we made a special effort to go when he would be there and B’s sister from Mississippi came up then too, so it was a mini-reunion, missing only one brother whose wife just had their first baby, so we excused them from the reunion graciously. :) We had a really fun time hanging out with siblings and the cousins had a blast playing the whole time. Lil’ J stayed the night at her cousin’s house. First sleepover and she did great! It was a little nerve wracking for me though! The siblings and spouses got to take a child-free trip to the Museum of Art in Dallas and that was amazing. I don’t get to do things like that very often, so it was wonderful. Thank goodness for a grandma who likes taking care of 9 of her grandkids at the same time! :) We ate a lot of good food and were thoroughly spoiled and then headed home on Sunday, stopping at our old church in Fort Worth. It was so fun to see everyone. We weren’t there long enough to chat with everyone but just to see the new babies born and how all the girls’ friends were growing up. It amazes me how much everyone else changes. :)
So we got home that evening and 15 minutes later our bishop calls us and wants to meet with B. Long story short he is called as a High Councilman! He is only 33, so he was a bit surprised by the calling but he’s ok with it now. A lot of traveling and a lot of speaking in our 2500 square mile stake! He is FINALLY not in the Young Men’s organization and I think he’s already missing it! I am still the Primary Chorister and happy being that but now I’ll have at least 2 Sundays a month where I’ll probably be doing church with the kids all by myself. Blah. Oh well, I can do it!
B’s parents came out the next weekend to ordain him and see him receive his calling. It was so fun to see them again sooner than we thought! Then a few days later my mom visited and brought my two nephews and my niece with her. The kids all had so much fun playing together and I got to hang out with my oldest nephew, H. He is such a cool kid (almost 11 now!) and we’ve always had a special bond ever since he was born. If I ever have a son, I hope he’s just like him! I remember when he was little, I thought I would never be able to love my own kids more than I loved him! Well, I didn’t know a mother’s love then, but I still think he is awesome! While they were visiting, we went to the zoo and to a jump place with a ton of major jump houses with slides and things. I even got in there and jumped and slid and it was so fun! I mainly did it to make sure Miss M was fine on everything. Some of the other little kids there would ask me to slide down with them because with my weight added they went really fast! I should be offended but oh well. :)
Lil’ J has been doing swimming lessons and has improved so much this summer! She could always do the things they asked her to do but now she has the confidence too! She took her exam to skip kindergarten right before we went to Dallas. It was a 3 day testing window, 4 exams, 50 questions each. They said she could just take as much as she wanted and then come back the next day. Well, this kiddo LOVES tests (and anything having to do with school) and finished all 4 exams in the first 3 hours! The testing proctor said she was “sharp as a tack” and if she happened to miss too many questions to skip all of kindergarten, she would at least be in the Gifted & Talented program for sure. I was so proud of her. She just genuinely loves to learn and is so good at reading and memorizing things lately. I wish my mind worked as well! We will find out the results any day now. I will be registering her for school on the 14th of August, so I have to know by then which class to register her for! She starts piano lessons the next week. It should be a busy and exciting year for her no matter what!
Miss M is as stubborn and independent as always but her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and when I happen to misunderstand her, she sighs and repeats herself as if Mommy needs extra help understanding things sometimes. :) She is hilarious and will do anything for a laugh. As long as it’s HER idea. Typical 3 year old, eh? Her favorite thing lately is to get Princess N up in the morning or after a nap. If Lil’ J or I get to the bedroom door first, she has a meltdown. She likes to let her out and then as N emerges, she introduces her, “Heeeeeeeeeere’s Princess N!!!!” How nice it must be to be introduced as a princess wherever you go! :) She loves singing and I heard her singing a song she learned in nursery the other day. The song is “When we’re helping, we’re happy, and we sing as we go. And we like to help mother, for we all love her so. Tra la la la la la la. Tra la la la la la. Tra la la la la la la. Tra la la la la la.” Of course all I ever hear her sing is Tra la la la over and over but it is so cute!
Princess N had her first major boo-boo, as mentioned above, has learned a TON of new words, loves to speak in gibberish when she’s not speaking English (sounded like Chinese a few months ago and now I swear it sounds French), and has been experimenting with just sitting on the potty until yesterday when she actually figured it out! Accidentally, I’m sure. But Lil’ J and I were sitting in there with her and we were so excited and she looked so happy, like she’d really done something amazing! So there you have it, the most exciting moment in July! :) Just kidding!
I was asked to sing a solo as a part of an entirely musical sacrament meeting program for church and B accompanied me. I also lead the Primary kids in singing two songs. It was a busy day and I was pretty nervous but I am happy to say that I felt great about it afterwards and didn't screw up! :) I haven't sung a solo in a long time!
I woke up at 5 AM not being able to go back to sleep, so I hope this is coherent. It’s the only time I have to work on this uninterrupted!
