Emma is 8!

We have an 8-year-old! I can't believe how fast time goes. Emma is such a good girl. It was fun to celebrate her eighth birthday on Easter. We have been talking a lot about what the Savior has done for us to help her get ready for baptism, and it made Easter even more powerful. She got her first set of scriptures and has already marked some verses that are meaningful to her.
Here are 8 things we love about Emma:
1. Her helfulness. She is always willing to lend a hand to her parents and siblings.
2. Her cheerfulness. She always has something funny to say, or just a smile to give.
3. Her understanding. She seems to comprehend things on a level not characteristic for her age.
4. Her interests. She is interested in so many different things. It will be interesting to see what she settles on as her area of focus in the future.
5. Her smile. She can really brighten our day.
6. Her desire to learn about the gospel.
7. Her creativity. She is always coming up with new ways to do things, drawing, painting, writing stories, etc.
8. Her. That's all. We just love her. She's cute, she's fun, she's pretty, she's clever, she's emotional (yes, that can be a good thing), she's spiritual, she's understanding, etc. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.

Happy birthday, Emma! We love you.

Our digital camera is broken. We still have our film camera, but that means you have to wait until I get the pictures developed and scanned before you can see all the fun we had yesterday. But I'll make sure to get them as fast as I can.

I think I've lost it.

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law posted some of her favorite musicals on her blog. I also love musicals, and it got me thinking about some of the songs that I like the best. Music has always been a big part of my life, but the last few days I've noticed how my own life seems to be a musical. I have been making up songs and dances to everything. I keep telling myself to calm down and be more dignified and under control, but it just isn't working. Then, I noticed that if I make up songs to everything, it makes everything lighter and happier. For instance, when the poop fell out of Ryan's diaper, I just make up a song about it and clean it up. Not a big deal. When Emma wants to play outside instead of doing math, I make up a song and dance about it, which makes her laugh and cooperate rather than fight about it. However, the down side is, I really think I've lost it. I'm officially crazy.

Is there anyone like me?

When the Sudoku craze started a few years back I said to myself, "Hmmm. This could be a fun game. It will get me thinking in different ways and keep my mind sharp." Well, I've tried. I have never been able to solve a single puzzle. Mind you, I've only recently picked it up again because I got so annoyed with it. But, it never fails. I get going, think I've found a pattern, and then it all blows up in my face. Today I've done the same puzzle about 4 times. I keep thinking "I'll get it this time." Well, forget it. My mind does not work this way. Sudorku is not for me.

Announcement!

After a year-long break, I have decided to continue with my preschool. This is a shameless advertisement for students. If you have a 4-year-old, or know one, I'd like to teach them. I will also take 3-turning 4-year-olds. Pass the word. I do numbers, letters, shapes, letter sounds, science, literature, art, and lots of fun stuff. I haven't worked out a calendar yet, but I usually start the week of Labor Day and finish the week of Memorial Day. I limit the class size, so act fast to reserve your spot!

We have an answer!

I usually try to just post about things that make me laugh or are positive in other ways. For that reason it has been hard for me to think of something to post about in the last few weeks. I have been quite sick and it has been consuming me. It started with a sinus infection. I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. The swelling in my sinuses was making it hard for me to breathe through my mouth as well. I went to the doctor and got an antibiotic. I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, but not before I had taken enough to open the floodgates that were once clogged. Now I could feel congestion in my lungs and was coughing, sneezing, tired, achy, etc. I was pretty miserable. Then I got an intense sore throat and ear aches. I went back to the doctor, only to be told that it looked like I had a pretty bad cold. The strep test came back negative. I was annoyed. I just want to feel better. He said if I still had a sore throat in a week to come back and be tested for mono. I started to feel a little better through the week, but the sore throat came back for the weekend. I went to the doctor again today. It was a different doctor at the same office. She said that she didn't think it was mono, but more likely something like walking pneumonia. She gave me a new antibiotic. I should be back to normal pretty soon. For those of you that have seen me in the last 2-3 weeks, don't worry. My kids went through their illness a couple of weeks ago, and since then they have been fine. So I don't think I'm passing the germs anymore. And Josh hasn't been sick at all, and I kiss him the most.

Is it time?

When I was living with Megan and my cousin, Carrie, and our friend, Marianne at BYU, I learned about a springtime tradition of Carrie's. She would go outside on a nice day and shout "It's SPRRRRRING!" Carrie, being rather reserved, would only do this once, so it had to be at just the right time. She had to wait until she was positive that there would be no more snow storms. Every year about this time I have to wonder if it is time to shout "It's SPRRRRING!" Next week is supposed to be a lot cooler than this week, so it's probably not time yet. But I'm ready. I love spring.

Let's play a little game of Who's Who.

I always thought my children had very different looks. While there was definitely family resemblance, they each had their own looks. Sophie is the first of my children that I can look at and say, "She looks like. . ." Mostly it's just Emma, but I thought there was a little Ryan in her too. Last night we were looking at picture books and I asked Josh if he thought Sophie looked like Ryan. He looked at the picture and said, "Yeah, that looks like Ryan." I said, "That is Ryan." So I guess Sophie looks like Ryan. And Sophie looks like Emma. And Sophie looks like Sophie.