Clingy

See this little hand stuck to my pants? The other end is attached to a smallish 4 yr old. I took this at Holly's class party where no matter what I did, I couldn't DE-tach the hand from this spot. I went in to help and instead was hobbling around with my very whiny shadow.
This is new territory for me. The first 3 ran away from me and I was having to chase them down. In fact, I used to envy the moms with the sweet, shy little kid that wouldn't leave their side. 'Boy they've got it easy' I thought. Wow, I had no idea.
I have also witnessed her giving innocent shoppers the stink-eye many times. One lady even commented to me that I must do a great job teaching her not to talk to strangers because Sadie gave her "quite the look".

But today at Walmart Sadie told me that she smiled AND waved at one of the workers. She was safely behind the shopping cart but we may have some progress happening...please?

It Finally Came

The last day of school.

We partied.
We gave thank-you gifts to our teachers. And in Emma's case a very heart-felt note as well because she loved her teacher so much this year.

Holly and Eli both loved their teachers too. We feel so blessed to go to our school. There really are tons of amazing teachers.
Then we went out and jumped.
Then jumped again.
Then tried again but the kids felt we were starting to draw a crowd so we merrily made our way to the car :)

Happy summertime!

Our Good Doggie

We have really been enjoying Scout since we got him. There were a few times right at first Dana and I were saying to each other 'what were we thinking?'-like when he was marking his territory all over the house for example. But he's really part of the family now and we love him more each day.

Everyone knows who his favorite person is. We even can take him out front without his leash because if Emma whistles, he bolts over to her. I'm his second favorite I think. When she's gone he protects me instead. It's probably no coincidence that we are also the two people that feed him :)
The other day Holly got our dog training book out my mom gave us and started teaching him tricks. The kids give him pieces of cat food when they train him and they work great.

She wanted him to jump over this shirt. It was really cute to watch. Campbell and Sadie were excited to be the helpers.
It took a few tries but he started to catch on.

Emma taught him "shake" awhile back and he's really good at that one now. He also does "up" (gets up on his back feet) and "down" and lays down on his tummy.
He love our sweet Scoutie!

Food

With a title like that, where do I begin? What does that word mean to you? What feelings does it bring to your mind? Guilt, joy, dread? I've never been one of those emotionally attached eaters. (Except for those 4 times I was pregnant and hated it with every fiber of my being).
But lately that little word is full of intimidation for me.

Joshua 1:9 keeps popping in my mind this week.See folks, Eli and I are embarking upon a gluten/dairy-free diet in T minus 72 hours from now. This will go through the summer and probably indefinitely. It's in hopes of helping both of us out. Eli with attention issues, me with my RA. Anything natural is worth a try even though I will probably be living in the kitchen all summer. And possibly for the rest of my life.

But my question is- how do we do this in a world that offers giant size donuts, cupcakes and pizza around every corner?
Holly earned this from her primary teacher for memorizing the 4th Article of Faith. Which was so cute of him to do (and picture worthy) but I've just been noticing lately more than ever how we are completely surrounded by junk foods and that's been half of what's overwhelming me. It'll be really, really hard to resist for both of us. Yesterday Eli's class took a field trip to see "African Cats". They each got their own "snack pack" which was popcorn (I worked at a movie theater and know what's in that stuff), soda, and a "fruit" snack. Then when they returned to class it was someones birthday and they had oreo cookie ice cream sandwiches. Then he went to scouts after school where he got two long, skinny, colorful popsicles. I know not all of that has gluten or dairy but it's just crazy to take in that amount of sugar too.

Why must every activity involve junk food?

Admittedly, the donut was pretty fun though.
P.S. If you have a good GF/DF recipe send it to me pretty please :)

Happily there are alot of great resources out there as more and more people are trying this out.
Wish me luck! Or better yet, send a prayer my way :)

Enjoy the Day

Today is a glorious day in AZ. It should be documented that it is mid-May, the windows are open and cool breezes are blowing inside the house. The high is only 80F :) I am breathing deeply and storing it up for the long summer days. Because basically, it's here. School is all but out. We have 2 more days this week and 3 1/2 next week (and you can be sure there's really not much more work happening anyway). Swim/dive team pre-season started this week. Like in years past, I'm busy concocting plans to keep the stuck-inside, nothing-to-do grumpies away. They (the plans) never get us all the way through July, but I give it a go anyway.

Last night Dana was playing "the spanking game" with the kids. It's a reward for getting ready for bed quickly. They line up and take turns running past him fast enough that he can't spank them. They love it. I was watching them and the words came to my mind, "you will miss this someday". I felt the tug on the heartstrings like I do now thinking about it. I was reminded to love and enjoy them more and not just be the busy mom of 4 running around getting them places on time and making sure they're fed and taken care of.

I love these pictures of Dana dancing with the little girls. They're from like a year ago but better late than never!

I better go. It's one thing to not be dressed when you drop-off for playgroup in the morning, and kind of another to not be dressed when picking up.

Little Orphan Emma

Way back in January 5th and 6th graders at our elementary school started working on the play "Annie Jr." The performance in May seemed so far off. But as life always goes, it came and went faster than you can say "I love you Miss Hannagin". Emma was so excited to get to be a part of this and had such a great time! They performed 4 times- 2 during school for the kids and 2 nights for the parents. I saw 3 out of the 4 and it was so fun to watch the kids get better and better and more confident. Emma played the part of "Duffy" the orphan.

Here's some of the actors before the show.
Emma had a few lines and a few singing parts.

And a little dancing. "Hard Knock Life" was my favorite part.
Also a little fighting. Doesn't she look scary? Pepper better start running for the hills.
Daddy Warbucks, Annie, and Grace Farrell. Annie was adorable and they all did an awesome job.
Group picture after the last show.
Miranda and Sally and Eter came out for the show which was such a treat! And don't forget baby James. We loved seeing Sally's cute belly :) Miranda's an expert on kids' plays and she gave it 2 thumbs up.
And local family support as well :)
Eli and Holly also saw 3 out of the 4 shows and were mesmerized. I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing all the songs for around our house for months to come.
Emma felt so loved. Thanks everyone!
Great job Emmy! "I love ya- tomorrow" (and forever)!

Small Sweetness

When Emma got home from "Annie" practice today Eli told her he had a surprise on her bed. He had written her this note and put his little treasure next to it.

When I walked past her room they were hugging. I quickly put my hand over my heart to keep it from bursting. At their ages I don't see this as much as I once did and it was just a sweet moment to remember. It's nice to know they do still love each other underneath all the annoyances and bickering. And since I'm a sentimental sap here's my favorite picture of them when they were babies- (which btw was like 5 minutes ago)

I love my kids :)