WANTED: Two Front Teeth

This One Is For Grandma

Still Catching up from Christmas, here is a clip from Madeleine's concert. She is standing at the foot of the blue bed, wearing a bright red skirt.

Beth has been working really hard with the jump rope Grandma Rosie sent for Christmas. She is already way better than she was in this video, and proud of it! She made up the little skipping rhyme in this one. (This post was her idea. She asked me to take a video and send it to Grandma)

I snuck up behind Mary with the camera while she was putting on a recital of her original composition . . .

The girls have started a tradition of putting on dresses and dancing every Sunday morning. In this performance, they are wearing the dresses we brought home from Hawaii. 

Light and Dark

We are encouraged by our church leaders to make an effort to strengthen our families by setting aside one night a week to stay home together and have a little gospel lesson, followed by a fun activity. Referred to as "Family Home Evening," or "Family Night," I enjoyed this tradition growing up and it's something that we try to make a priority of with our girls.

Last week a friend of mine recommended a great idea for Family Home Evening, and she was kind enough to let me copy it. Luke read us the verse in John where Jesus is described as the "light of the world,"(John 8:12). With the help of an object lesson, we talked about how having a light on helps us see what we are doing, so it's easier to accomplish what we want to do. Then we talked about how Jesus is like a light because His example helps us to see what we need to do so we can live with Him again. The girls participated well and paid good attention - something of a rarity! 

To go along with the light theme, our activity was to turn out the lights and dance around with glow sticks, while I took pictures with a slow shutter speed. I got a real kick out of watching the girls prancing around while we made "dark and light art." It was a fun night, made better because it started with the help of a friend. Thanks Wylie!

                                                                                 

                                      A light -saber battle between Madeleine and Beth

Writing their names (M B M)

 

Hair cuts

For months Beth has deliberated about getting a haircut. Initially she was intimidated by the whole process of going to the salon. Then she decided she wanted long hair so she could do more braids and curls and such. Last week, after a discussion with me about the possibility of bangs, she made her decision and was raring to go! After school we headed over to Fantastic Sam's for her little "make-over." 

Before 

Beth was proud of her long hair, but she was getting tired of combing out tangles and decided it was time for a change. 

During - she groaned and rolled her eyes in mock embarrassment while her mother took pictures. She discouraged me from speaking to her during her haircut as well. A haircut is much too grown-up for that kind of thing. 

After

Beth LOVES her haircut. At the salon she was grinning and giggling at herself in the mirror. When she got down from the chair the first thing she said was, "My dad will be so proud of me!" The puzzled stylist queried, "Does your dad really like bangs?", "No, I explained, "he really likes Beth!" 

When we got home Beth disappeared for the better part of a half an hour. When I finally went to look for her I found her in gazing in the mirror. She agreed to pose for a "photo shoot" and anxiously waited for her dad to come home. She fell apart when he called and said he would be late, and then she slept with a pillow over her head so that when he came in to kiss her while she slept, he wouldn't see her haircut! The next morning she made me hurriedly comb and curl her hair before Luke came upstairs and then she popped out and surprised him. Writing about it may make her sound a bit conceited, but in actuality she was very sweet and cute about the whole thing. 

Now for Mary. As a baby Mary developed an interesting habit of twisting her hair in knots to lull herself to sleep. When her hair was little more than an infant fuzz, we had to cut the knots out each morning, which perpetuated her baby baldness for months. As her hair miraculously managed to grow, we managed on occasion to untangle the knots and spare her hair it's daily trimming. However, just as her hair had nearly filled out to a legitimate head full, she took up the scissors by her own volition and whacked off her bangs back to the scalp. Throughout all of this, she didn't like having short hair and once quietly moaned as we sat in church, "I have a BOY head!" Trying to reconcile not tying knots or cutting her own hair with growing hair long enough to have a "girl head" was a heart-felt conflict for little Mary. Now, her hair is long enough that she can twist knots into it and "tie them out" by herself, most of the time. But, her hair is curly and she likes it "smooth" so the daily trimming has evolved to a daily battle where I try to persuade, cajole, and trick her into showing off her cute curls while she heartily insists that I slick it down as smooth and straight as possible. So, as we took Beth to the salon for her haircut, I offered Mary a trim. She confessed that she was scared of "the black thing." "The cape?" I asked, "That is just a great big apron that they put over you so that your clothes are covered up and the cut-off hair doesn't get on them and make you itch." "Ooooooh," she sighed, "I thought it was a cave with a black bear inside, and then I saw a Beth-head poking out of it!" No wonder she didn't want a hair cut! With fear of caves and bears resolved, she eagerly climbed up into the chair while I explained the knot situation to the stylist. . .

Before

Mary was prone to "crazy hair" in the mornings.

During

She was less concerned with the outcome and more concerned with equality as she proudly announced, "Now Beth AND me got to go in the chair!" Cutting some layers evened out the areas where knots had been extracted . . .

After

The stylist sprayed Mary's hair and used mousse to activate the curls. Mary scowled sullenly into the mirror and refused to speak to her. When we got home and the curls loosened up a bit, Mary relaxed too and let me take her picture. 

I never though taking kids for a hair cut could be so much fun! Between the two of them their reactions had me laughing all day. I'm sure there are bad hair days ahead and lots of drama to go with them, but for this mother of three girls, today was a great hair day!

Aloha!

This month Luke and I spent 9 wonderful days in Hawaii, thanks to Grandma Liz, the Galloways, and the Spanglers, who pulled kid duty for us. 

We had a fantastic time. We spent our first evening there watching the sun set while whales spouted and breached out in the ocean.

                       Throughout the trip, We had lots of golf time, spa time (well, I had lots of spa time), reading time, and pool time. We ate at several great restaurants (Mama's Fish House was our favorite), and spent too much money on presents for the girls (I'm the one guilty of that). 

One morning we did a scooter dive from the beach. Because we held on to scooters which propelled us, we could forgo a boat ride and just leave from beach, but still get far enough out to see cool things. My favorite things from that dive were some spotted damsel fish swimming around an antler coral, and hearing whale song. Just when I thought I was too cold and had to head in, we saw a red pipe fish, which is quite rare according to our guide. Another morning we rented a kayak and paddled around. Just when I decided to  head in, Luke spotted a big sea turtle that surfaced right by us.  A different day we decided to snorkel for a while and, just when I decided to start heading in, Luke spotted an octopus.  I'm afraid I will expect him to spot some grand finale in all our excursions, from now on, just when I'm ready to quit. 

If I had to pick my favorite day, I would say Sunday. We attended church with the congregation in Keihei. For lack of a better description, it was just really nice. The people there were so friendly and listening to them refreshed my perspective. After church we went for a walk in the Iao Valley, checking out the native garden display there and hiking around in the rainforest. Then we met up with our friends for a bit of scripture discussion, and concluded the day eating dinner on the balcony, watching the sun set. 

 If I had to pick my favorite moments they would be seeing a whale breach at sunset, and walking along the beach in the mornings while listening to performances of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on my Ipod- that may not sound like very invigorating music but it fit the scenery perfectly. My favorite activities were the ones I did with Luke, like snorkeling and golfing. I played lousy, but the course of beautiful and I loved it when a little mongoose ran right across our path.  

We slept in in the mornings, laid by the pool in the afternoons, and relaxed in the hot tub in the evenings.  I missed the girls, but I didn't worry about them. I was surprised by how much I missed their hug and kisses, but they gave me plenty of hugs to make up for it when we got home! 

Overall it was just great - great company, great food, great scenery, great weather, and reuniting with our girls was a great conclusion. I'm already looking forward to next year. . .