Sylvia

So, Sylvia, my poinsettia went in the garbage yesterday. To my surprise, Gracie cried. She had maybe 3 leaves left. I couldn't display her, nor save her any longer. Later that day I was upstairs when I heard the kitchen cupboard open and Gracie saying with all sincerity, "Hi Sylvia!" to my plant in the garbage. On her last leaf, Gracie was giving Sylvia some loving attention.

Note to self: *Maybe your kids DO listen to what you say.

Gracelina Magdelina

Grace and her friends dressed as angels. And Grace as a snow angel. She can play in the snow for hours. I so love this sweet girl. She is full of hugs and gratitude often. It catches people off guard.

Ryan-Kaylee-Chad

Kaylee loves my friend Chad. She calls him "Aunt Chad" and I encourage her to call him "Uncle Chad". He's known her from the beginning of her life. He is so kind, considerate and interested in her. When she speaks he listens to her intently and with such respect. No wonder she loves him so. Kaylee and I were glad to be able to see Chad a couple of times while she was here. I still can't believe that my dad strangled Chad in my front driveway and that my mom loves him and enjoys him so much now. I am so grateful that I met Chad at Denny's in Provo, while doing BYU homework. We've been friends ever since. Good times, good times.

Will's IKEA mishap

While Will was at IKEA on Saturday he pulled the food cart right over on top of him. Hit his head on the cement floor, cut the inside of his lip a couple of places and had a deep wound between his lip and nose. Aunt Molly was on hand and checked him out, she said he needed stitches but they'd probably create quite a scar. So I went the butterfly bandage route. It is actually totally closed and healing quite nicely. I like to believe my laser pointer "therapy" and lavender oil are the reasons, but who knows. One of his front teeth are pushed in a little bit, so his smile is a bit nerdy, but the tooth is in there firm now.

BELLYJEANS

Will is like a bloodhound, when it comes to sugar/candy. He can sniff it out and track it up a tree (or get a chair and climb into my high cupboards) to get his hands on it. Will LOVES jellybeans, and calls them "bellyjeans". It cracks me up when he says it, so I don't correct him. It is just too cute. So here are some bellyjeans to make you smile.

Teaching Moment

Tonite at dinner time, Will ripped one of my plants' leaves. I told him that it hurt the plant and that he needed to apologize to the plant.

Will says, "The plant can't talk, mom."

I say, "It doesn't talk out loud, but it has feelings and can feel what you feel about it. Right now this plant is afraid of you, because you ripped it's leaf in half and it will feel you apologize to it."

Will looks at me.

Will says, "It can't hug you mom, it doesn't have arms."

I said, "Sure it does." Then I took it's long vines and wrapped them around me like a hug.

Will smiles.....

I said, "This plant needs a name, Will, do you want to name it?"

Will says, "Ok, mom."

I ask Will, "Is it a girl or a boy plant?"

Will tells me, "It's a boy."

"What will you name it?"

"Poom Poom Pee", he says.

So now it is Poom Poom Pee. Of course, Gracie needed to be a part of all of this and she named one of our plants Aubrey and I named my dehydrated poinsettia-Sylvia.

I think Will knew I was being fun and silly and at the same time serious. Maybe he'll think again before he rips the leaves off of a plant.

Beautiful Kaylee

It was so great to have Kaylee come and stay for a week. Gracie and Will were thrilled to be with their big sister. Kaylee was so kind and gracious and helpful. This is her on my back deck in her new birthday coat. She is such a strong, Soulful and intense and passionate woman. I love her so.

Will's fun Christmas

Will loves his new bike. Kaylee helped him get around the house on it until mom had the bike taken outside. He loves his cousin Avery and they enjoyed playing with puzzles together at Aunt Kim's house. Spiderman is also a favorite so the pajamas and getting himself dressed in them was quite a treat. At last, but not least, Mr. Potatohead. Good times, good times!

Flower Fashion

We had a little flower making party one night and lo and behold, they've become a hit. Gracie will wear every single flower all at once, if she can. Looks like she got that from her big sis Kaylee. Ami loved her white flower and even I wore a white huge flower in my hair to church on Sunday. (Is 40 too old to be wearing flowers in your hair?) They are fun and festive, especially in the midst of this cold winter.

Kaylee's visit

Seems like this week has gone by sooooo fast. Kaylee got to do most of the things she wanted to do, but not all. We have yet to make it to Alpine to drive around. We are running out of time, Kaylee leaves tomorrow to go back to Colorado. Seeing Chad a couple of times was fun and he is so kind to Kaylee and loves her very much. Ami met Kaylee for the first time and thought Kaylee was super beautiful, smart and amazing. We've had some fun times and I will miss Kaylee dearly AND be glad to have my own bed all to myself. Grace and Will are going to miss her, too. We need to do this more often.