The Other Side of Lacey Smiley Facey

This is Lacey having a fit:






First she gives me the "What are you going to do about it?" look.





Then she pouts.





Then she crumples in a heap.








Then she cries.





Just wanted get it on the record that , although rare, Lacey can throw a tantrum.

The Grinch's Car

Alex has the boys convinced that the Grinch is real (also Bigfoot, but I'm trying to fight that one). So one day when they were out in the desert they discovered an old car and Alex told them it was the Grinch's car. They have visited there several times. On a recent trip they went to see it and it was gone. I guess the Grinch drove it back to his house.

Let Them Be Little

A few weeks ago I took the kids to two different events without Alex. One was a family reunion and the other was a campaign pool party at a local city pool. The kids seemed to have a good time at both events, but I did not. I was busy making sure they didn't get lost or kill themselves. It was frustrating because I wanted to visit and relax, but there wasn't too much of that for me. So the day after the pool party, I was looking at my sister-in-law's blog (Hafen Zoo) and she had this song on her playlist. "Let them cry, them them giggle, let them sleep in the middle. Oh, but let them be little." Well, I was just bawling. I won't have to look after them every second for very much longer, and I'll probably be sad when I realize that they don't need me as much. This song is also appropriate because Alex loves it when the kids crawl in bed with us (me, not so much). But after hearing this song, I felt much better and less frustrated. That is the power of blogging!

Grandma Sharon

My mother-in-law Sharon recently retired from nursing after almost 25 years. She had this career while being a single mother of three and a grandma of eight. In all the time I have known her, I have never heard her say that she was too busy to help others, especially her family. She was the Relief Society president, then spent weekends tending to her ailing mother until she died, and can be seen currently as my interior decorator/babysitter/road rash bandager/house organizer. Sharon doesn't think she has many talents, but they don't have talent shows for multi-tasking, and cooking, and managing a household, and re-covering chairs, and painting, or else she would have a room full of trophies for those talents. If you know Sharon, you know the words to the song "Because You Loved Me" are spot on for her. (If this song is not playing, scroll down to the Playlist and select it.) We love you, Grandma Sharon. Thanks for everything you do!

Sunset at Sonic

One of our favorite places to go as a family is Sonic. Before a could of years ago, I could count on one hand the number of times I had been to Sonic. Now we go there twice a month, sometimes once a week. We can wait at the tables or stay in the car while our beskated server brings us our order. Usually the kids get ice cream and Alex and I get soft drinks; I particularly like diet cherry limeade with vanilla. Last time we went I splurged on a fried ice cream blast. It's big fun for the kids and relatively inexpensive. I don't mean to sound like an ad, but if you haven't been to your local Sonic lately, get in the car with your kids and go have some ice cream.

Lacey

Before Lacey was born, I wanted to name her Felicity which means great happiness. Knowing her disposition now, that would have been entirely appropriate. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. She is always full of smiles and giggles. She charms people everywhere we go, and I often get compliments from random people in the store about what a cute, happy baby she is. She makes me want to have another baby so that another child can have the privilege of having Lacey for a sister. She wants to play with her brothers in whatever they are doing and will swipe their toys just so they will chase her. She is very smart and is picking up new words every day. She's also physically strong. When she was inside the womb, it used to hurt when she kicked me. I can see her being a gymnast someday. Mostly she's congenial, but she also has a little temper. First she looks at me with a pout, then she falls to the ground, then she cries. It's actually pretty cute. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I think I got the best of the best in the little girl department.

Luke

You know that kid running up and down the aisles during church? Well that's Luke. Whereas Lance is shy, Luke is brave, and sometimes he pushes the limits of what he can get away with. Don't let this innocent look deceive you. Something mischievous is going through that head. Whenever he does something wrong, he tries to distract me so he won't get in trouble. That day at church when I had to run after him and quickly escort him out of the chapel, he gave me tons of kisses. Who could be mad at that? He may be a master manipulator someday. Luke loves superheroes. Batman, Superman, Power Rangers, Spiderman. He wants me to pick him up so he can stretch out his arms and "fly" through the house. This middle child will certainly get attention one way or another.