Mean Girls

Last night Ella heard the neighbor kids outside bouncing a ball around. She darted out and went over to talk to them. I stepped outside and listened for a minute. I peered around and saw the little girl she was talking to -who was about 5 inches shorter, but obvioulsy older -maybe four or five. She said "we don't want to play with you, why did you even come over here?". I was taken aback. It takes EVERYTHING a mom has to not let that mamma-bear out and let that little girl have a piece of your mind. I did keep in mind however, that it wasn't my backyard, and simply called Ella back to come inside. She didn't really understand what happened, and still wanted to go play. I don't want her to understand. Ella has such a big heart. She loves all kids, and accepts people as they are. She'll throw her tantrums, but I've never heard something so mean come out of her mouth. I've been stewing about this -and Lance doesn't want her to play with those girls at all now. After a while, I took Ella's little face in my hands, and told her how lucky the kids are who will be her friends someday.

Quote of the day

Lance called me up and told me his sad tale: as he brushed Ella's hair and got her ready for school, Ella thoughtfully observed: "Daddy, your hair is shaped like an M!" ...Out of the mouths of babes...

Ella + Lexie

Ella is a funny girl. She has decided to attach herself to Lexie (my brother Dave's wife) in a CRAZY way. First at Mia's blessing, I've NEVER seen Ella be so well behaved sitting next to Lex. I didn't even have to break out the emergency Skittles! So the other day she got to go play with Lex and go to a band concert with her in the evening. When she came home I had to leave her downstairs for a few minutes while I put Mia back to sleep. Well, I heard the front door open, but wasn't in a position to yell down the stairs and see if she was there ...then came the wailing. Lots of crying -and it was sad crying too. I decided to zoom down (and left Mia hanging, who then started to cry too) and see what the problem was. Ella was cross-legged in the front doorway crying "I miss Lexie". Man. Kids don't get that no one will ever love them as much as you do, and how hard it is to grow a thick skin that can withstand the blows that comes with "but you have mommy" then "but I want Lexie". :) I'll post a picture of them together soon. Yeesh!

Milly Kisses

Ella gave our sweet baby this nickname and I don't think it could be more perfect! Seriously folks, how stinkin' cute are my kids?!

OK! The 5-fer

Fine fine fine. For those of you who check my blog regularly, yes the weekend was originally a 5-fer.
First, David's graduation: David is my brother and is an incredible man. He has managed to finish school amidst making his own business, raising a baby (Noah), and keeping his marriage and family together amidst some very rough trials. I'm so impressed with his drive. I honestly don't know anyone with a stronger work ethic than my brother Dave and his wife Lexie. Way to go Dave! Congratulations! Second, Ella's birthday: What a fun night! She got her dinosaur cake (tasty!) -with dinosaurs that make noise (noisy toys are my nemesis -no one told me that these cake toppers were NOISY) and lots of fun clothes and shoes and even some cool toys in the deal. Ella was so sweet about it. She actually turns 4 on the 14th, but this was the opportunity for everyone to share in the fun! She called it her "early birthday celebration".

Third & Fourth, blessings: Sunday -Yes, I had pulled Mia's blessing from the list, as there were simply too many road blocks. By a very inspired twist of fate, Lance's work cancelled the Sunday shift, and it was back on. My dad blessed her -and it was amazing. Little Mia is so loved it's overwhelming. Bless her heart, she's so attached to Lance and myself that she now will hardly let anyone else hold her without her "losing it" as it's been called. We've been pretty tight this weekend. :) Fifth, Mother's day: We all celebrated our mother in the afternoon -this after a delightful dinner, buffet style (works GREAT when the numbers get this big). Mom is the keystone to this family. It's so wonderful to be able to honor her and let her know how much she means to us.
It's been a crazy and busy weekend with lots of planned events, but there were two unexpected highlights: The first is a song that my brother David wrote for his wife Lexie. They've gone through SO much, and the song tells her in such an incredibly beautiful way how much she means to him. David played it for the family -and I watched Lexie bury her head in tears. We all felt such a wonderful spirit of love in the home. The second was a very spontaneous and suprising announcement that my sister Rachael is expecting her second child! We can't believe it!! Her kids will be 15 months apart! WE'RE SO EXCITED!!! Lily will be a big sissy!
Lots of emotion, lots of love. I have an incredible family that I am so grateful to be a part of.

The 4-fer

There have been many an exchanged email buzzing around my family about the BIG 4-fer (not like a 2-fer, this is HUGE) this weekend! Grandmother (Dad’s mom) is being flown in for the events on Friday. To celebrate:
* Dave's graduation -he's graduating with his business degree from USU. My brother is amazing and deserves his own blog entry, so more on that later.
* Ella's birthday -she's gonna be 4! I'm hoping that somehow that magically means she won't throw any more temper tantrums... :D Wishful thinking? I can't believe how quickly my little girl is growing up! I guess they're not tantrums, as much as whining. We're in a weird stage where she's not wanting to nap, but she's too worn out by the end of the day to really keep it together. Fun for me!
* Benny's Blessing -Baby Benny is being blessed on Sunday. Allen (Mary's hubby) is picking his mom up from the train -she's coming in from CA for the event. I'm glad I'll be here for it! Few women deserve to be a mom as much as my sister Mary. It's always been what she's known she was meant to do (as successful as she is -with a degree in Biology working for IHC as a surgical tech).
* Mother's Day -A celebration honoring our Mom. I guess we'll all do our own Mother's day spiel with our families, as 4 for 5 siblings are parents; however, this is for OUR mom. I have a nice gift that I can't wait to give her. It will be great.

The itinerary:
· Saturday morning: Meet at parent's and head to Dave’s graduation at USU.
· After the graduation: dinner at Hamiltons
· Saturday evening: party for Ella’s birthday –SIMPLE with hotdogs, etc.
· Sunday afternoon: Benny’s blessing & pictures
· After church: dinner for Mother’s day

Lots going on!

THE JUNIORS!!

A word on juniors: Up until Christmas 2006 I was the only sibling with a child at all. Little Ella had all the attention :) . Rachael and Seuao announced a pregnancy that started a chain of additions no family can truly prepare for!

Lily Alaimalo Niusulu (Rach & Wow's baby) was born in June.

Noah John Nolan (Dave & Lexie's baby) was born in September.

Amelia Renée Sortor (MINE) was born in November.

Benjamin Allen Cox (Mary & Allen's baby) was born in February.

4 babies in 8 months. Fourple the love.

Gardner Village

I had earlier mentioned a fabulous trip to SLC to visit family (when I was "busted" by Ella about driving around the road closed sign). It was a gathering of my siblings and our awesome kids just hanging out. We had a fantastic lunch, and later took a trip to Gardner Village. I wanted to get some fun pictures up so you can see all the juniors!

Ugly Frog

So I get home yesterday and dear Lance has purchased the ugliest frog for my non-princess daughter I have ever seen. It is like one of those nasty cheap stress balls with little balls inside (that tend to explode) -all gummy and poorly made with huge eyes that roll in it's head. It's awful -the balls inside are bigger, and Ella calls them eggs. Eeeeew. So I head out for Sam's club with the girls and ugly frog. I ask Ella to leave ugly frog in the car -and I got tears and a quick slam back down in the carseat in response. So in go the girls, ugly frog and myself. We head down the 1st long aisle toward the bakery (after a brief stop by the jewelry counter to oogle) and once there order Ella's birthday cake for next weekend. Does she want a princess cake? No. A bumble bee cake? No. Even a "Dora The Explorer" cake? No. Ella wants dinosaurs. *Thank you, "Land Before Time" friends. So we're walking away from the bakery and Ella hits panic mode. UGLY FROG IS MISSING. There's a small smirk crossing my face as I see the end of my struggle with ugly frog. Well, Ella isn't going to let that go very easily, she has to look for it. We retrace our steps and after me explaining how she should have left it in the car, we pass the display boat in the middle of the aisle. There sits ugly frog on the seat (what was she thinking?). So we've looped around, I've paid for my stuff, and ugly frog has taken a ride down the black belt to the checkout chick and we leave. Yes, we go get a pretzel. We're walking out, and down come the tears. UGLY FROG IS MISSING AGAIN!!! More tears, more jumping up and down, more "where's my froggy?" Oh man. I go into the previously mentioned lecture on how bad an idea it is to bring toys into stores, and we see a worker walking by us holding ugly frog. She's holding it with some disgust --suprise. I told her that was our ugly frog and she gladly gave it up. On the drive home I was talking to my sister Rachael on the cell phone who asks the froggie's name. I turned and asked Ella, who looked sadly at me and held up one of the eyes of ugly frog. Now he's 'one-eyed ugly frog', and he's still in my house!

To Do Today

So there are a million thoughts running around in my head, and I can't seem to make enough lists. I'm SUCH a list person, and it's nice to know what I need -and have a "plan b" so to speak, for not forgetting. This is often not effective. Although my brain is coming back from the pregnancy (the "placenta-suck" as it has been referred to) I still have scattered thoughts and moments that make me a bit on the less-reliable side. So, today I will snag up the girls and head out to Sams, where I'll pick up the pictures I had taken of the girls and sent for 1-hour printing (over a month ago), pick up some bread, some butter, and will probably be talked into getting a pretzel. Next, we'll head to Michaels where I have some fun Mother's day ideas that we'll attempt to complete this weekend. Finally, we MIGHT hit Walmart for a few odds and ends. Yes, this sounds like a LOT to do in one day --especially on the day for the BEST tv shows (go Office!!!), however, it's better to do it now than have to try to get it done on the weekend. That's when you do stuff you want to do, right? These errands are all pending the potential melt-down of either little girl, which could leave me in a state of hurried frenzy to get back to my safe home where if someone drops to the floor in tears you can walk away without feeling like the worst mom ever to take her children out in public. ...That's a long sentence.