the big kids

the gruesome twosome have a new nomenclature in our home: 

THE BIG KIDS

scarlett and reagan are now THE BIG KIDS, whereas before they were just the kids playing around and fighting and making messes, now it's the BIG KIDS doing those things. i'm glad they have each other, because now more than ever they need to fend for themselves for food and entertainment. their latest game is called "moving". it's as bad as it sounds. they take a bunch of junk from scarlett's room down the hall and load it into random boxes and wrap it in blankets and push it to reagan's room. and then they leave it scattered and half unpacked all over the place for the next 2 months like a real move. it's quite realistic.

the only part of the game they haven't gotten to yet is the BONUS ROUND. the part of moving where you stay up until the wee hours of the morning packing boxes and wondering why you have a bunch of junk that you hardly use or haven't even seen since the last time you moved. then you start the swearing in your head. at least you hope the swearing is only in your head. the next morning after 3 hours of sleep you don't shower and you don't reapply deodorant(because you packed that last night in a box with a bunch of christmas ornaments, of course)and spend the day sweating and cleaning and loading a moving van and using muscles only meant to be used while competing in the olympics and wearing a singlet. 

the BIG KIDS definitely haven't gotten to that part of the "moving" game. 

so, today after a few chaotic games of moving we spent 3 hours cleaning up 2 bedrooms. one bedroom which isn't even used for sleeping because a certain little girl prefers to sleep in her brother's room. 

this was the end result.

i had to take a picture to prove it really happened for posterity.

(it's amazing the splatters you can find on walls, even when food and drink aren't allowed out of the kitchen.)

and the stink eye from both of the BIG KIDS when i wanted to document how cute it is that they choose to share the bunk beds in reagan's room.

no horses for 5 year olds

i've softened in my old age and for scarlett's 5th birthday, i actually tried to buy her things she would want and not things i wanted her to have. it was hard, but we are both growing up fast. 

first on the list was anything with disney princesses on it. i'm not a disney princess fan, but then they don't sell Gone With The Wind pajamas. otherwise we would all wear them, and then take a family picture.

secondly, she had been begging for this "hair styler set". since she loves when i do her hair. not really.

thirdly, now i can go to target without her asking to check on the current stock of the hello kitty alarm clocks. 

she also wanted a wedding cake for her birthday, but this is as good as it gets these days. i will try again. notice the requisite car on the cake. that's her thing lately. cars on cakes.

then she wanted a big party with horses. when i told her that horses weren't a possibility she told me to just buy some. she's a problem solver. we went for the pool party instead. i don't believe in children really having input on financial decisions anyway.

this year thomas ordered the cake so there were no "bad" words on scarlett's cake. i say if it's in a quote, then it's not that bad.

i'm sure that no one wanted any food i was serving since i was sweating worse than 2 rabbits wrestling  in a wool sock in august. it was a delightful 102 at 5pm. 

 even though there were no horses(i did smell like a horse, if that was any consolation), the party seemed to be a hit.

my little baby and my big baby. they both drool a lot when they see me. 

the human toothpick:

scarlett defending her candle blowing out privileges from reagan. i wanted her to use more elbow like i would have done but she only has 1 brother to work with. i became proficient at elbow throwing at a much earlier age due to my experiences with 3 brothers harassing me. 

pinatas seem to be our thing for birthdays. 

scarlett is a very gracious gift receiver. i love to watch her open presents. she's like my sister heather in that regard. she could be opening a pillowcase and act like it was gold bullion. simple pleasures. 

scarlett is my dream come true. i love having her as my daughter. her sense of humor is legendary, her eyelashes are incomparable in length and fullness, her stream of excuses for not helping clean up are always original and clever, her vocabulary is always extensive and surprising. listening to her sound out words when she reads make me want to learn to read all over again. my favorite thing to wake up to is her slurping all the water out of my water cup next to my bed. it's the best way to greet 5am. 

a name and a blessing

on sunday, thomas was able to name and bless athena blythe in church. both my mother and thomas' mother were able to come out for the event.

could the big kids be any less photogenic? really. it looks like they were asked whether they would rather have nails shoved up their noses or take some family pictures and they VERY reluctantly chose family pictures. they take after their father in that regard.

the blessing was so lovely. she was blessed with so many wonderful things and i felt so strongly that the words of the blessing were really for her. i tried to write down as much as possible and i felt very strongly impressed by the Spirit when thomas blessed her with the ability to be fearless in standing for righteousness. it reminded me of how much i need to be dedicated to the gospel so that i can teach her to be fearless about righteousness. 

 i think the one of the most incredible and humbling aspects of parenthood is knowing that i have a Heavenly Father who wants me to pray to Him for guidance. He loves me and has blessed me with a wonderful family and He wants to guide me in loving and raising my children. the best parenting advice i ever got was to pray for forgiveness each night. each day i make mistakes(and yell. a lot.) but Our Father wants me to keep trying. 

how can i not want to try harder each day when i look at that perfect face? (athena blythe, not me.)