Sometimes It's Just a Long Day (and Other Tales)

Sometimes, when you are seven, the day is long and hard. Sometimes you get tired of playing with and being bossed around by your older sister. Sometimes you are worried about tomorrow because your teacher has warned you that she'll probably be cranky after the full moon tonight. Sometimes, your little brother gets into your things and your little sister keeps turning off the keyboard that you are trying to play with. Sometimes you just want to cry for a minute and snuggle on the couch with Mommy. Sometimes you are so exhausted by your day that you decide to skip volleyball practice, which you love. Sometimes you eat dinner, take a shower, read scriptures, say prayers, and kiss everyone goodnight.

Because, sometimes, the best cure for a long day is to just go the heck to bed.

Other Tales:

Julia's class went on a field trip to the symphony today and I got to chaperone. She marveled at the beautiful, clean bathroom in the Phoenix Convention Center with its fancy carpet and lighted mirrors, and announced, "If this place has soft toilet paper, too, I'm going to be in heaven."

Alexa was in a huff tonight after I asked her to put two nightgowns away that she had left on the floor. She folded her arms and turned away from me dramatically and said, "You keep making me do all these hard jobs! And all I ever, ever wanted in my life was to be a singer!" 

Spencer spent part of his evening alternating between brushing his hair with a light-up princess brush and trying to unscrew the girls' bunk bed screws with a tube of plastic lipstick. Clearly he has influences all around him. And, although he still refuses to say "Mama," he declared five times today, "I love Dada!" (Which really sounds more like "Da duh Dada!" but I get the message.)

Flat Tired

I know that my girls love each other, but there are definitely times when I question the depths of their sisterly devotion. Well, I don't really question Savanna's because she is Savanna and she loves and hugs the crud out of everyone. Julia, on the other hand, isn't often outwardly affectionate with others so I do wonder sometimes how she really feels towards her sisters.

Yesterday, in a sweet and unexpected showing of emotion on Julia's part, my fears were laid to rest for a time.

With our cooler temperatures, the girls have been riding their bikes to and from school. Yesterday after school, Julia went ahead of Savanna and got home before her, but was expecting her to show up at any moment. After spending a couple of minutes putting her things away, she started to get worried when Savanna still wasn't home. She came upstairs and told me that she was worried because Vanna wasn't home yet, and I ran down and got in the car to head to the school to see if I could find her. In a sad and anxious voice, Julia told me to call her and let her know as soon as I found Savanna because she was so worried about her.

I got to the corner of the main road (which is just around the corner from our house) and saw Savanna immediately. She was walking her bike with a flat tire towards me and crying openly. She told me that her bike was riding funny and when she got off to inspect it, she realized the tire was flat. By this time Julia had already ridden past her and had assumed that Savanna would catch up at any moment. Instead, the poor little chickie got stuck walking her bike all the way home by herself and J never looked back to check that she was coming.

Just as I was trying to comfort Savanna and figure out the logistics of getting her and her bike into the car for the 10 second ride back home, I heard a desperate cry coming from the front of our house: "Savanna! Savanna, where are you??" Julia was calling out with such genuine concern that it pricked my heart.

As we pulled into the garage, Julia came running to Savanna, apologizing, telling her that she didn't know that she had stopped, and how scared and sad she was when she didn't know what had happened to her. Savanna, as per usual, bore her no ill will and all was forgiven immediately. We made a new rule that the girls need to be sure they stay together for the whole ride home so that something like this doesn't happen again. We were all a little shaken up and feeling very grateful for our story's happy ending.

The other happy part, of course, is knowing that Julia does have it in her to be the caring and concerned older sister that I want her to be, though she doesn't always show it.

Now, if I could just get her to do it just a little more often...

Change in Seasons

I think fake winter might be here. I only say "fake" because, compared to other places where it actually snows and reaches freezing temperatures for days and weeks at a time, winter in Phoenix can hardly be considered real. I think our "Winter" might actually be what other people cheerfully call "Fall" or "Spring". Since those don't really exist in these parts, we pretty much go from summer to winter overnight. (And then we bounce back and forth between the two for a few weeks before the cold finally stays and we can actually put our shorts away and stop using the air conditioner.) Nope, no transition weather for us. Just hot one day and cold the next.

I donned shorts and flip flops when I rode my bike with the girls to school this morning. (Well, I donned the flip flops, but I still had the shorts on from last night. You know, because I wore my pajamas on the way to school today. And the girls still hugged and kissed me goodbye in front of other people. I better enjoy that while it lasts.) My toes and fingers were SO cold. I mean seriously, it had to have been less than 60 degrees. Also, I saw my breath on the way back home. My BREATH. You can bet I high-tailed it back home and put socks on. Anything under 70 degrees and I feel like an icicle, I'm telling you.

This is why I would never survive a real winter in a city where such a thing actually takes place.

I do like to visit the snow. And to get nice and cozy enjoying fires and soup and hot chocolate and beautiful, still, white landscapes. But I also like to come back home where I can run and ride my bike in the middle of December with nothing more than a sweat jacket on. And where I never have to scrape ice off my windshield. Or wear gloves. Or shovel snow. (You get the point.)

So, I'll just feel smug in my fake winter until summer hits once again and our shoes literally begin to stick to the melting asphalt while everyone else starts to live outside in their beautiful, glorious weather.

{Brrr! That's what I say!}

We've heard it before:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...A time to weep, and a time to laugh; 

a time to mourn, and a time to dance..."

It just so happens that I laugh and dance during the season when other folks are weeping and mourning. 

And, vice versa.

When Family Comes to Town (Part Deux)

Part Two of the Tracy's visit in October (and the best part by far) was our visit to the Phoenix Temple Open House. 

When a Mormon temple is first built, it is open to the public for a limited time, usually for a period of a few weeks. During that time, anyone who wishes can go on a tour of the temple; once the temple is dedicated, though, it is only open to members of the Church in good standing, so the opportunity to actually tour one of these beautiful buildings is both limited and rare. 

Wonderfully, the Open House for the Phoenix Temple coincided with a break that the Tracys had from school, so they made the long trek to Arizona from Utah so that they could be a part of it. It was such a wonderful experience to be able to tour this amazing and sacred building together with almost everyone from my family. (Nate and his girlfriend Annie came and did a tour on a different day.) 

We have been waiting years for this beautiful building to be complete and it was such a blessing to celebrate its opening with the people we hold most dear.

{J & Van at the temple site in November 2013 // Linc and Lex in October 2014}

{Nearly the whole family}

{the Terrific Tracys}

{Monsons minus Spencer}

{Fan & Zac}

{the grandkiddos}

Craig and I were also blessed with the opportunity to volunteer together at the open house on two different occasions. The first day we first worked at one of the wheelchair stations and later did tours with people confined to wheelchairs. It was toasty that day, but still a wonderful experience. Yesterday, the last day of the open house, we went again, and we served as door holders and greeters for the people coming out of the church building and onto the temple grounds. We welcomed and smiled at hundreds of strangers for three hours straight until our cheeks hurt. (We also smiled and winked at each other during our short breaks from holding the doors, I'm not gonna lie.)

Smiling that much must have done me some good because I am still in a happy mood today. I hope to never forget what a singular and lovely experience this has been.

P.S. to Cyndie:

Come back!

Happy Hoarderween, Etc.

Halloween week is crazy for everyone, right??

Two volleyball practices plus a game, baby-sitting for a friend, the Fall Festival at GCU, pumpkin carving, Trunk or Treat, MPE Vocabulary Parade, and a couple of volunteer shifts at the Phoenix Temple Open House and our house is starting to look like an episode of "Hoarders" this week. We certainly seem to be home long enough to make a mess, but not quite long enough to clean it up. 

Yikes. Talk about a scary Halloween.

Oh, and speaking of scary (and also very, very adorable), check out the kiddo costumes this year. (Make-up courtesy of Craig, the artistic genius of the family. He totally wins, right?)

Savanna: Scary Skeleton

(Thank you, Target for your affordable skeleton pajamas. 

Halloween costume + cute pjs to wear after = one happy customer.)

Spencer: The Mane Attraction

He was not crazy about wearing the mane. 

He sure loves cotton candy, though.

Julia: Cleopatra

She came up with this pose all by herself. 

(I think she really is an Egyptian queen at heart; that 

explains her reluctance to clean up her own messes...)

Alexa: (The Cutest ) Peacock (Ever)

I know, I know, blue-feathered peacocks are boys.

But, so are orphans, and look at what happened to Annie.

Fun at the the Fall Fest

Running off some of their candy-fueled energy

Scaling Skeleton

Climbing Queen...

(young and sweet, only 9 and a half...)

'Lopes Up with Grandma Linda

Two Tired Parents, just about ready for the long journey home

On a side note, we are thinking we might need a new system for carving pumpkins. Something that doesn't involve Craig trying to help three kids carve their pumpkins on a school night right before bedtime. Maybe then we will actually have time to finish everyone's.

And by "we," I mean Craig, of course. My contribution was pulling the seeds out of the pumpkin guts so that I could roast and then happily consume them all. (Carving = Craving; what can I say?)

Happy Halloween, everyone...hope yours was smashing!