Ivy, the Beehive.

How can it be possible that my little Ives is 12 years old! She was born, I remember her turning three, and then bam! She's 12 years old, and going to Young Womens. She is still a bit of a shorty, taking after her ol' mom in that way, but she otherwise she is growing up fast.

She absolutely loves being with the older kids at church. She never really was one who liked primary, especially singing time. When I told her that soon she would never have to go back, she positively beamed with happiness. Now, she looks forward to Wednesday night activities, when formerly I had to make her go to Activity Days. We've been talking about girls camp this summer, and Ivy is super stoked to go. I'm super stoked that I get to go with her!

For her birthday, we invited the girls her age at church, as well as the Beehive class that she was joining, to her My Little Pony birthday party. I think she was more engaged at this party, than any other she has had. We had to pull her back in a few times, but overall, she did great.

I'm very impressed with how the other girls are taking the time to include her. Many times I have seen them stop to talk to her, and ask her questions about what she is doing. She loves the attention, and I love the efforts that are being made. It warms my heart to see her want to be included,  rather than being content to just be on her own.

She still wanders away, and she will always love her alone time, but more and more as she gets older I see her having a desire to be apart of the group. That is something I have always worried about. I've never wanted to feel left out. I don't want that for any of my children. It hurts, and it's a tough growing experience. I've watched for many years now, as she has been excluded from parties and other gatherings. It has always bothered me, and hurt me deeply to see that happen. I realize that in most cases it hasn't been intentional, but it still bothered me nonetheless.

The one thing that has given me comfort in a way, was that she never has never known what was going on. She has never felt left out. It is very hard for me to write this, and acknowledge what has happened in the past. I have hope for the future that things will be different for her. I hope she will find good friends who like her for who she is, with all her funny quirky ways, and who will benefit and grow from a friendship with this very special young lady.

Here are a few photos from Ivy's birthday party, and the photo booth we set up. For some reason they really wanted to pose with our little dog. Silly girls!

A Day in the Life (Confessions of a SAHM)

"Hey honey,  what did you do today?" I get this question most days. The question that runs through my mind is "Do I tell him the truth, does he really want to know?"

 I know what he's been doing. Trying to teach some 150+ underprivileged  Freshman the ins and outs of grammar and sentence structure, and begging them to please read the book that they chose to read for this term.

What did I do? Nothing nearly as great and lofty as that. I'd like to say I had a magical mommy day, enjoying each and every shining moment with our preschooler. Giving her my time and attention, and helping her grow into an amazing intelligent young lady. All while keeping a beautiful home, and serving others along the way.

The truth is something more like this . . .

First things first.
I drove the kids to school in my pj's, again. But, I didn't hit any kids with my car this time, so yea! Then I had the daily shower debate with myself. Do I really need one? I had one yesterday, and I didn't really do anything to get dirty. I finally decided my second day hair looks better than my first day hair did, so no shower. I just get dressed and since I have to leave the house today I'll use extra deodorant, and put on makeup!

On to the housework.
Make my bed, yes I do make my bed. It's one of my few "things". I can't sleep in an unmade bed. Now let's see, the rest of the house is actually still pretty clean from yesterday, and our three year old didn't wet her bed, so housework done! Waste 20 minutes on the computer checking all the "very important" things that happened in the world while I was sleeping.

The three year old.
Wrestle her into seasonly appropriate clothes, it is 34 degrees outside after all, and while that pink heart sundress was her favorite in August, it's not really going to work for today. Dry her broken hearted tears, and try to distract her with something shiny. Look! Dress up clothes, lets play with those till its time to leave.

The extra child.
She arrives at 8 ready to play for the day. Oh good, another distraction for the three year old, maybe we won't have a hair melt down today too!

Potty break.
I go in the bathroom to take care of mommy business, only to find that a certain monthly friend has come to call. Oh good, I'm not pregnant this month either! (sigh of relief, and tiny victory!)
But wait! It seems that my sweet precious oldest baby, now 14 years old, has used all but one tampon, and failed, once again, to inform me of that development.

To the store we go.
Explain to the three year old for the hundredth time that we HAVE to wear a coat when we go outside. Force her into it, and then strap her into to the carseat. Making sure all 27 tiny toys she had to bring with her, a placed safely in her lap. Check that the extra child is secure and happy, good. Run to the store for just one quick box of tampons before we have to be at Sporties for Shorties. Quickly buy tampons, plus $30 of other random groceries I suddenly remember we needed. Drive to the local community center and arrive just in time for the class.

Lunch.
Make a mad dash to the house for something to take to the weekly potluck lunch with the other mommies. Scrounge up something super fast, cream cheese, raspberry chipotle sauce and tortilla chips,  done! Arrive at the potluck, eat way too much while kids load up in chips, brownies, and root beer. Have a great time chatting with the other mom's and stay way too long. Leave just in time to get in the ridiculous pick up lane at the elementary school, and wait 30 minutes for school to let out.

Back at home.
It's now 3:15. Husband will be home in 45 minutes. Quickly clean up the breakfast dishes and run the dishwasher. Wipe down the counters, and suddenly remember to check the weekly menu. What was I supposed to make for dinner tonight? Oh good, breakfast night. Nothing that was supposed to be cooking in the crockpot all day. Woo Whoo!

4:00
Husband walks in the door. "Hey honey, the house looks great! You must have been busy, what did you do today?"

Ummm . . .

Post-Christmas Crafting Craze

After Christmas ended, so did the good weather out here in Texas. It was a little rough for us desert rats. Cold, wet, dark and gloomy. Jason, once again, convinced me to take down the Christmas decor before the first of the year, and our house was looking so dreary to me. Not to mention, I was going stir crazy. 

What was a girl to do?

I busted out Pinterest, started a new board and began pinning valentines decorations like a mad woman! With my inspiration in hand I began scavenging the house for supplies. 

I found a large scrap of burlap that's just been screaming to be used. I made two of the "love" banners from the above picture . One for me, one for a friend. Then I found the metal "you make my heart smile" sign in my craft bin. I bought it over a year ago for $1 and never put it to use. I framed it with an extra bit of burlap and added the hearts to the bottom. Love it!

I remembered we had an old canvas the kids had scribbled on in the closet. I pulled that out, a couple coats of paint, some glitter, and bam! Valentine art. 

Next I raided my scrap paper box, and spent one whole movie cutting out different size hearts, which I sewed together into a garland. 

I remembered I have some old valentines fabric that was given to me, but I never found a use for. With a little help from Emilie, I now have two cute pillows!

I also made some fun little stuffed hearts from some red and pink scrap fabric I had. 

I did spend a whopping four dollars at the dollar store for glass candle sticks and styrofoam cones. I spray painted the candle sticks white, and with my trusty glue gun and some fuzzy yarn I whipped up these fuzzy trees. 

Lastly, I found some little canvases in my art supplies. I drew a few straight lines in pink sharpie and painted rows of hearts on them. Added some yarn and the little puffy hearts, now I'm in love! 

I'm a little early for valentines day, but I love it nonetheless! 

I'd been wanting to take Carmella to downtown Ft. Worth 

to see Santa for a couple of weeks now, ever since the ward

Christmas party that Santa failed to 

show up for. I decided to wait

till all the kids got out of school so Adelaide and Ivy could

go too. I'm so glad I did. The girls had a fun time with Santa

and Ivy was surprised to find out that Santa knows a 

thing or two about My Little Ponies. He even knew who her

favorite pony, Derpy is. He made each of the

girls feel special as they talked about what they 

wanted for Christmas. He was a really great Santa!

Of course after talking with Santa we had to stay to play,

and take a few pictures around Sundance Square.

Merry Christmas,
From the Poyfairs