What type of candy are you??

We had a funny conversation at the dinner table the other night. We were trying to decide what type of candy best described each of us. Here is the consensus in order that we decided them:

• Emma: M&Ms, easy because she has the m's in her name. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be plain or peanut though, but we settled on plain since she didn't want to be referred to as nutty. [Note: when she grows up she's going to make an M&M that has bubble gum in it. I won't tell her that then she might be said to be full of air.]
• Daddy: PayDay (his suggestion, not ours)
• Kayla: Hershey's Kisses because she loves giving and receiving kisses.
• Mommy: Smarties (I said I only wish that applied more often.)
• Abri: Mr Goodbar because she's done so well in school this year. {She didn't believe this was an actual candy until she was looking thru some candy at the store and saw one and then she actually believed us.)
• Camilla: took quite a bit of debate. Originally we said Whatchamacalit because we were so undecided. I suggested Sour Patch Kid because she's a little sour and a lot sweet, but then we decided on SweetTart. You can tell we are in the terrible two stage with her.

Girls in front of San Antonio Temple in April

Here are some highlights on Emma, Abri and Kayla since I put some things on Camilla already for her birthday.

Emma is definitely the oldest child. She helps me all the time. I love when she helps get Camilla to bed, since she is a toddler whisperer after all, and  tells me often, "Thanks for all that you do." She loves doing what is right, gets excited about doing things as  family, and loves organizing things.

Abrianna is a great reader, both out loud and silently. I hear her pronouncing all sorts of words that would seem a lot older than first grade that she doesn't hesitate to sound out and usuallys gets right. She was a diligent student this year with all As and mostly 100s, even on report cards. She loves movies/TV and dreams of being an artist one day.

Kayla is a hopeless romantic already. She talks more about love and marriage than I've ever hear Emma or Abri talk about them combined. She loves looking pretty and often makes little poses.

Mormon Message

A recent photo of Abrianna I took at the Alamo in April.

Abrianna LOVES movies or TV. If we take a vote on what our family activity for the night will be, hers is always for one of those. (By contrast, Emma will choose a game, and Kayla will choose to play the Wii. Makes voting interesting.) Last Sunday, Todd was watching some Mormon Messages on his laptop when we got home from church. Abri heard the sounds so she went in to see what he was watching. She immediatley sat down and attentively watched several with him, then remarked--"I like Mormon Messages. They're like conference, only shorter." I love Mormon Messages too--such touching and poignant videos to remind us of the simple things. I put a link below of just one example of a Mormon message that touched me tonight.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&id=2012-01-008-rescued-by-christ#2012-01-008-rescued-by-christ 

Bless You Daddy

In January, we hit a milestone in our family. We had our first trip to the emergency room, thanks to our dear fourth child. It turns out that if your 2 year old runs in the tiled entry way of the church and loses her footing, she can hit the corner of the tiled floor runner and split her forehead open. Six stitches, three hours from arrival to departure, and one episode of Dora on the Child Entertainer's Iphone, left us with an appreciation that we haven't had to do it before now, but grateful that we went to a Children's hospital for treatment.

The sweetest part of it all, though, was our little girl, sitting weakly but surprisingly alert in her car seat as we made the frantic 20 minute drive to the hospital. Sometime during that anxious ride, Todd sneezed and she looked at him, her bandage seeped with blood across her forehead, not even crying with pain, to reply, "Bless You Daddy." It brought tears to my eyes.

Happy Birthday Camilla! 3 years old

It's been a busy year for this little girl. On the list:
Talking lots and lots
Driving her mom a little crazy
Running her grandmother ragged
Seeing just how many ways she can look cute to get what she wants, ha ha.
We sure do love having her in our family, though.
Here are some things about her that always make me laugh, in random order:

• She loves blackberries--can't get enough of them.
• She hates naps.
• She can get up before any of the other girls and go to bed later than them--showing no signs of stopping.
• She won't eat donuts or cake--only lick every bit of frosting off that she can and leave the rest.
• She loves books. She will just sit and look at them on her own and doesn't have to have them read to her, though she will often ask.
• She loves Phantom of the Opera music.
• When she loves a song, she just can't sit still. She gets up and starts moving her arms in the air and striking semi-ballet poses and positioning her head "just so" as she "feels" the music. This includes, but is not limited to, during sacrament meeting at church--in the aisle no less, local musical theater presentations, or the movie theater aisle. Below: Cami dancing to the music at Sea World.

• She always has to say good-bye to me in the mornings now before I go to work. If I leave and she wakes up when the door closes (it rarely doesn't wake her up) she gets up and runs out the front door literally crying, WAIT!! WAIT!! I want to say goodbye!
• She loves the "Rock Song" for her choice of bedtime song. The words of the lyrics: "The wise man built his house upon the rock, [repeat], and the rains came tumbling down, [repeat], and the floods came up, the rains came down and the floods came up, [repeat] and the house on the rock stood still."
• She loves to say/do things to make you laugh. It's not unusual for her to say, "Hi Grandma Mommy" and wait for me to say I'm not. . . and then laugh and laugh.
• She remembers where she puts things hours and hours later. I've asked her where things are, and she'll go directly to it without searching. It's not 100% but at least 90% of the time, and it surprises me.
• She really loves baths, not washing her hair so much, but she loves the play time.

Lessons from a Road Trip

• Audio books are amazing. Who needs a TV/DVD player in the car after all? Four Junie B Jones Books, and Mr. Popper's Penguins [the classic story] made 8 hours go by pretty fast.
• Emma learned that she loves drawing comic strips. She wrote "The Fly," "Tree," and "Lunch Ladie." [though she admits that it doesn't actually have to do with a lunch lady after all, just lunch].

• We left for the mall but arrived at the zoo. [Avoid Memorial City Mall on Memorial Day. BAD IDEA. As if you can actually say that you are celebrating the holiday better by hanging out there.] You can barely make out Camilla as she heads into the castle. . .and this still doesn't do justice to the number of kids there.

• My girls LOVE Phantom of the Opera, or as Camilla says, An-toe Oh-pa, that made for another time killer of 2 hours.  Camilla was the most frequent requestor of the soundtrack-especially once I realized what she was asking for.

Dreading the Teenage Years

So, my 4 year old is boy crazy. There, I've said it. I'm no longer in denial. And to my friend Melissa whose son Logan is the object of her adoration, well, lets just hope she never becomes a stalker. The girl talks of Logan so frequently. I heard thru the grapevine that they held hands sometimes at preschool. Hmm. Last I heard the preschool didn't have a rule about hand holding. Note to self: consult with the other moms. Sample conversations of the past 6 months:

Kayla: I'm going to marry Logan.
Todd: Why is that?
Kayla: My heart tells me.
Me: What if it doesn't happen?
Kayla: It won't.

***
Emma: Kayla, you get to go to kindergarten in a few months.
Kayla: Me?
Me: some of your other preschool friends will too, but Logan won't be there.
Kayla [with an exasperated tone]: Yes he will, but not Ally [his little sister in preschool too].
Me: Well, he will be in kindergarten but he won't be at your school. He'll be in another school.
Kayla [looking troubled now]: He will? But he goes to our church!
Me: I know, but it works differently with the schools.
Kayla: Oh. But can I still see him at church? [Her excitement for kindergarten visibly dimished.]
***
Upon hearing that we would not be attending our church that Sunday:
Kayla: I want to to go to our church.

Me: Why is that?
Kayla: Because
Me: Really?
Kayla: And it's not because of Logan [I hardly believe that one.]
***
Twirling in her dress while getting ready for church:
Kayla: I look pretty. Logan will think I look pretty too.
Me: Honey, boys don't notice that sort of thing right now.
Kayla: They don't???

***
Random Comments:
- Whenever I hear a pretty song I think about Logan.
- When asked if she had kissed Logan at preschool [after finding out about the hand holding]: No, there are other people there. [Not reassuring-she loves trying to sneak a kiss on my lips instead of cheek when I go to kiss her goodnight. She loves kisses, so you can understand better why we would even ask the question.]

Dreading. Seriously dreading. Really, I'm dreading the tween years.