ballerina

Lauren had her ballet recital last night -- a variation on Peter Pan titled, "Peter's Shadow." She loves wearing a pretty costume, having her hair done, getting a little blush on her cheeks, dancing on stage with a big smile on her face, getting flowers and congratulations, 

and sharing it all with her bestie, Olivia. 

Brava, Lauren! 

happy father's day

I think Kim had a great day! It included homemade cards, a SodaStream, the U.S. Open, a dish of 7-layer dip, and burgers on the grill. But if you ask him, I'm sure he'll say his favorite part was this: 

If you guessed that this was Lauren's idea, you are correct. She came to me a few days ago and said, 

"I know what we should make Dad for Father's Day!" 

"Yes?"

"A FUZZY CELL PHONE CASE." 

I must have given her a quizzical look, because she immediately launched into a how-to: "We could get some pompoms, the NEON kind, and glue them all over the case." I laughed, but I knew she was onto something. On an errand to the craft store I spotted the pompoms and brought them home to three very happy girls who quickly went to work. The results exceeded their expectations, though this photo suggests the prototype might need a little work.

Lauren is not dissuaded. Thanks in large part to the confidence and entrepreneurial spirit her father has instilled in her, she's announced a plan to trouble shoot and mass-produce her fuzzy phone cases in a new Etsy shop! The large crowd of people who gathered around Kim and laughed hysterically in the church lobby will be pleased to know that they, too, can have a fuzzy phone case of their own, 

unless . . . 

before, during & after

only lauren

Lauren caught me sneaking into the house with the Easter loot. She recognized the bag I was carrying as being from our local toy store and asked, "Mom, what are you carrying?"
"Oh," I told her, "Sometimes I like to buy things for you and keep them as surprises." She thought for a moment then asked,
"Are those for . . . Easter?"
"Why would I buy things for Easter?" She gave me a knowing smile.
"Are you buying extra toys to leave out for the Easter bunny so he can make it look like he gave them to us?" I smiled back. She laughed as she scurried away and shouted, "I knew it!"

classic

Lauren's blanket was in the wash and, sadly, she lost her stuffed animals after several warnings that it was time to be quiet and go to sleep. When I checked on the girls before going to bed 

I found her like this:

                                                        Yes, those are crocheted slippers. 

audrey marie moore

Today on the walk home from school Audrey took off ahead of us, as she sometimes does. But instead of stopping at the intersection nearest our house as usual, she ran dangerously across two streets. I called to her, "Audrey! Stop right there!" Lauren set out to catch her, but after a few strides stopped and turned back to me, "Mom?" she asked seriously, "Is this a time to use Audrey's full name?"

mrs. cake

There's a calico cat who likes to roam our yard. We think maybe she belongs to our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Cake, so we started calling it "Mrs. Cake's Cat," but now it's just "Mrs. Cake" for short.

Well, this morning the girls saw Mrs. Cake in the backyard and she wasn't strolling, lounging or napping. She was stalking. The girls enjoyed watching her on the prowl, right up until the moment she sprung into the ivy that covers what seems to be a maze of tiny trails and tunnels. Ella and Lauren came running upstairs. "MOM!" Lauren yelled breathlessly, "Do cats eat chickmunks?" She froze awaiting my response.
"Probably."
"WHAT?" She was frantic.
"Maybe, Lauren. Why? What is this about?"
Ella explained, "We just saw Mrs. Cake jump into the place where we think the chipmunks live."
"Mom." Lauren was serious. "Do you think she ate a chickmunk?"
"I don't know, Lauren. Sometimes cats just like to chase things. Please try not to worry about it." She sighed and followed my instructions to get ready for school.

This afternoon I picked up the girls from Taylor on my way home from running errands. As Lauren and Ella climbed into the back seat I called to them, "How was your day, girls?"
"Lauren is worried," Ella explained. "She's still thinking about Mrs. Cake."
"What?" I looked at Lauren in my rear view. "Lauren, honey. Really?" She had puppy dog eyes and her mouth was pouty. I could barely hear her reply.
"Yes."
"Did you tell Olivia about it?" Ella wanted to know.
"No!" Lauren yelled, then added quietly, "It would make her devastated if she knew that cats eat chickmunks."
"Honey," I said, "I have no idea if Mrs. Cake really would eat a chipmunk, but one thing I do know, and we've been over this a few times now. . . . It's CHIPmunk, with a P, like chocolate CHIP. Remember?"
"Yeah," Ella said, "As in, CHIPmunks are like chocolate chips for cats!"

It was a strange thing to hear Ella's belly laugh at the exact same time as the "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" that came out of Lauren in her horror. But I have to admit, Ella wasn't the only one who found it funny. Bless Lauren's heart.

wish you were here

Lauren was a little weepy today about Kim being out of town. When I went into the girls' room to check on them I found her like this . . . 

She'd gone into our armoire, picked out one of Kim's golf shirts, put it on, stuffed it with her blankie and, apparently, found a way to feel much better. 

Sweet dreams, Snuggle Bug. 

two hoop circus

Ella and Lauren did a hula hoop show tonight. The cash register was set up at the top of the stairs. I chose my seating -- floor or sofa -- and was given the appropriate Memory tile, along with a ticket with a number and letter, and a tape name tag.

I took my seat and the announcer (Ella) informed the audience (me): "Welcome to the Hula Hoop Show! Please turn off all of your automatic devices." She glared at me, then shifted her eyes to my phone.
"Let's pretend I did."
"Okay . . . Also, babies must be on your lap at all times, for their safety." I pulled Kate onto the sofa. "And, please, do not try any of these tricks at home. We're trained experts."

Ella performed the right-handed lasso twirl, followed by the left-handed lasso twirl, then the double-handed variety and several quick switches from hand to hand. Very impressive. While she performed she gave step-by-step instructions, which were actually very good, and occasionally added, "FEAST your EYES upon ME!" It was awesome.

When she finished her routine she announced, "And NOW, Lauren is preparing her A-MA-ZING stunt!" She leaned toward me and whispered, "Don't worry, it's not dangerous." Lauren fearlessly took the stage and performed her daring feat -- hula hooping bareback.

It was all so classic. I love these girls and their shows. I wonder how long they'll go on, and hope I'll use every one of my season tickets.

needs vs. wants

As part of Lauren's economics unit in "soshle stodeys," she was asked to make a list of needs and wants. This is what she came up with:

sine of the times

Lauren was asked by her first grade teacher to draw and explain her favorite part of Spring Break. One thing outranked a visit from cousins, the Air & Space Museum, Pierre DuPont's Longwood Gardens, and Independence Hall, birthplace of the Constitution.

It reads: "Wen I went to Pilidelpea and saw a fuzzy butts sine." She also drew an accurate depiction of the very tall and unusual sign (for a dog day care) that we saw along the highway on our way to Philadelphia.

She's so funny, that girl. Her teacher seems to think so, too.

sugar plum fairies

Lauren had her Winter Recital tonight. She did a great job and, most importantly, had lots of fun. When we came home she looked at me and said, "I kind of want to do that again."

KO

Lauren tripped and fell into the wall. Lots of blood a few minutes later, she looked like this.

After the tears subsided, she smiled at me and said, "Now I've lost TWO teeth. Three more and I'll be tied with Olivia Ames."

very punny

Today at breakfast we had the conversation again. Ella asked, "Mom, is there any chance we could get a gerbil?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because gerbils stink." Lauren offered a solution.

"We can keep it outside!"

"In the heat and the cold?" I asked.

"We can give him an ice cube in the summer!" Lauren chimed.

"And in the winter," Ella smiled, "We can give him gerbil tea!"

thanksgiving

Lauren colored a Thanksgiving turkey at school, and on each of the feathers she wrote something she's grateful for. She wrote:

I am thankful for my family becus they help me, and I am thankful for Ms. Reed.

I am thankful for my sister because she stands up for me when I git hrte and becus she is helpful in the citchin.

I am thankful for my warm coz house becus it ceps me warm when it is cold.

I am thankful for my grama becus she alwas helps me and she make cookes with us.

love note

Lauren really and truly loves her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bellin. She still runs to hug her every time she sees her and, it turns out, still writes her love notes. I found this in her notebook:

1 Grad is cool But it wod de Betr if you wru Hear ms. Bellen. I hope that you aur having so much fun evin withawt me.

seminary blessings

Kim started teaching early morning seminary recently, as the scripture mastery teacher who teaches on Fridays. He loves it, which is great. But what has me excited are the "seminary blessings" our stake high councilman and our ward's former seminary teachers keep telling us about. The blessings are different for everyone, they've explained, and they're very real.

I wasn't so sure this morning when Kim accidentally woke up the girls while getting ready to leave and I found them awake with their bedroom light on at 6 a.m. I told them they could either go back to bed, read, or play quietly until 7, when I would be getting up.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up later to see Audrey at my bedside, completely dressed for preschool with her hair done. Curious, I walked downstairs to find Ella and Lauren both dressed and ready for school, and apparently working together to put things away in the kitchen. "We did our assigned reading for school. And then we had breakfast," Ella told me. "And scripture study. And I packed the lunches."

I told them how amazing they were, how much I appreciated them, and how happy they'd made me, and then I hugged and kissed them until I was certain they'd had enough. "It was fun, actually," Ella beamed. "We're just practicing for when the baby comes."

Seminary blessings, indeed.

book deal

Today I offered the girls an opportunity to make some extra money. If they organized all of the children's books (which had been crammed into our bookshelves in every possible direction) I would pay them $2 each. Lauren was thrilled. "I'll do it!" she shouted and went right to work. Ella was more reluctant, but joined in as we emptied and organized the shelves.

As we worked, Lauren kept commenting, saying things like, "I'm making so much money right now!" and, "Wow, I'm going to have so much money." Finally, Ella said,

"Lauren, $2 isn't that much money."

"But Ella," Lauren reminded her, "Mom said $2 each. And there are a lot of books."

I clarified my offer and, bless her heart, she had a good, hard laugh at herself.

stocks

We found these in "London" during our super fun day at Busch Gardens. Perfection.

she nailed it

For her birthday, Lauren requested a real manicure. When we arrived at the nail salon she couldn't decide between the pink or the purple. I mean, it was such a huge decision! And she loved them both. So, I asked the technician if she could polish one nail in each color to help her choose. The woman just smiled at me and in broken English said, "It her bir-day, ri?"

"Yes," I told her.

She winked at me, painted two nails in alternating colors and then just kept going. I'm not sure I've ever seen Lauren with a bigger smile on her face. As she finished the second coat she asked Lauren, "You wan spawkas?"

Alternating pink and purple polish with SPARKLES? It was like a dream come true. A very, very happy birthday dream.

Happy birthday, Lauren!