Goldilocks

I have never cut Julia's hair. Not even a trim. I probably should, eventually, because as you can see it is quite long when it is wet and straight out of the bath. And when it dries and the natural curls flourish, it can get to be quite the lion's mane. But I adore her baby curls. I love waking up to see her crazy hair that she politely asks me to pull back so she can eat her oatmeal. I love to tease that she is the "little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead..." as the poem my Mom taught me goes. I love simply sweeping her hair into a messy bun without even using a brush some mornings. I love twisting her damp ponytail around my finger to create a perfect ringlet which will last all day. And I love the way her wispy curls frame her sweet face.

Gabe's hair is starting to curl a little in the back. Do you we have another little Jonny on our hands? I certainly wouldn't mind. Bring on the curls. I am in love.

Pioneer Week

We didn't just celebrate Pioneer Day this July, but the entire week. From early Tuesday morning to late Friday night Jonny and I were a "Pa and Ma" on a stake youth pioneer trek in Wyoming. It was an incredible experience. Hopefully the youth enjoyed it and learned as much as Jonny and I did. Our stake leaders were very focused on the youth gaining a greater testimony of how the pioneers relied on our Savior through their hardships and praised Him in times of happiness and success. It is the hope that the teenagers can apply this to their own lives as they go through trials in this troubled world. I think many of them will. And that makes all the time, energy, money, and preparation for the trek worth it. Plus, it was really fun.

No, Julia did not come on the trek with us. Yikes! (Thanks to all who watched the kids while we were gone. That was no small favor. They reportedly had a blast.) These pictures were taken after I found one of the pioneer dresses my Mom made for my sisters and me so many years ago. Julia was so excited to wear the dress and bonnet. (Gabe was asleep during the photo shoot. Besides, I don't have a costume for him. Maybe next year I will find some small suspenders and a hat. I imagine he'd be a pretty cute pioneer too.)
These are pictures of the making of our family flag. I don't have the pictures of the awesome kids in our "family" yet. But here are their feet!
P.S. Unlike most of the youth, I loved wearing a skirt, apron, and bonnet all week. I felt so feminine. Besides that, it was very comfortable. And an apron really comes in handy. I was kind of bummed when I came home to a closet full of jeans.

Scratch that, what we really need is a catcher's mask

A hockey mask would do the job too. Either way, that pirate eye patch (see previous post) would've done nothing to prevent Gabe's latest injury. This is the face I came home to after a nice morning run:
Daddy caught the above photos soon after the accident happened. I tried to get a few more later on. It's hard to capture the color of the bruise and the size of the bump. If you look closely, you can see that the skin almost broke. I think we were very close to an emergency room run. (It's hard to believe we haven't made that trip yet with this crazy guy. Knock on wood.)

Oh yes, how did it happen? Well, Gabe's crazy plunge-out-your-arms nature had him hitting a bedside table during playtime with Daddy and Julia on the bed. Oops.

By now the bump has gone down a little but the bruise is a lot worse. The poor guy looks pretty beat up. (Reminds me of this incident.) He's all smiles, though. I am just nervous he will bump it again while it is still so tender. Like I said, where's that hockey mask?

I'd rather walk the plank

This morning as the kids were happily eating a snack, I decided to get a few dishes washed. No sooner had I grabbed the dish soap when suddenly there was a sharp pain in my left eye. And I mean sharp. Realizing the soap had darted directly into my eye, I panicked a little while yelling and screaming and groaning in pain. The kids sat at the table, staring and shocked. Really, that is one of the worst pains I have ever felt. And with each flush of water the sting increased. I am not a big crier, but the pain had me sobbing like a toddler who just scraped her knee...really bad.

Anyway, the trauma eventually subsided and the sting is decreasing with each passing hour. Home from work, Jonny said he had something to help my eye. I pictured eye drops or a compress. He pulled out a pirate eye patch.

Since I still have vision in my left eye and it isn't hurting as bad, this was pretty hilarious. And wouldn't you know it? Coming in through the sliding door, Julia tripped and got a cut/bruise right next to her eye. So she got a turn with the magic patch too. (Gabe had to try it out for fun. But I should probably just keep it on him for good. He's due for another black eye soon - I'd love to prevent it.)

Have YOU ever kissed a pirate? Gabe jumped at the chance.

P.S. This was not my eye's first run-in with soap. A few months ago the shampoo straight from the bottle attacked my eye. That was seriously bad too. But this one was worse. The sting in my eye is aching even more just thinking about it.
P.P.S. To make matters worse, I had just applied some make-up for the day when the accident happened. Oh brother.

a few nuggets

While trying to put together a Picasa slide show of the holiday weekend, I got distracted and came upon these webcam pictures. When Jonny bought a webcam for me for Christmas a few years ago, we had a lot of fun trying it out. Some of these pictures date back to December of 2008. Then there's a token one of Gabe from last summer. Pretty silly.

See Julia and Gabe...

Walking and Laughing:

Gabe is really getting the hang of this walking thing. He actually prefers it to crawling now. And yes, in the video Julia is telling Gabe to obey the sign on her door and keep out. Poor guy. She is pretty strict about her rules.

Signing:

(Please ignore the last minute where I try unsuccessfully to get Gabe to show off his walking. What was I thinking, he'd just stop watching the show and do whatever I ask!?)

We are serious about the kids learning ASL so they can sign with their cousins, aunts, and uncle. We borrowed several of the Signing Time DVDs from a friend, so they watch at least one every day. We hope to start buying them soon, they just cost a fortune. But they will be worth it. Julia is learning so much and it's a great refresher course for me too.

Playing:

The trike is ever-popular with Julia. And now Gabe loves it too. They do this often and it's all fun and games until Gabe hits his head on the corner of the table. Now that he's a big, tall walker there are dangers he never knew of before.

Daddy's Deck

We have been living in our home for a little over two years. We loved the house, but we were especially sold on the backyard and dreamed of someday building a deck so we could enjoy the space even more. Well, this spring we decided to take action. I say we, but I can only take credit for heading up the design. And I may have stripped a couple of screws in an attempt to help. But other than that it was all Jonny. (Besides the day Mike Baird graciously came to help. Thanks again, Mike! And all the times Julia "helped," of course.)

I am going to give myself license to brag here a little bit (don't tell Jonny) because this was a huge project - and his first serious building project ever. Not only am I once again impressed with Jonny's incredible work ethic, but I am amazed that he just up and learned how to build a deck. It wasn't easy, and it took a lot more evenings and weekends than we had planned. But we are so enjoying it already. The best part? Custom waterproof storage benches. Julia loves to rest on the benches and I love to keep outdoor toys and tools conveniently stowed away. (I don't have a picture of it, but I like to stick big shade umbrellas in the posts. Just take the caps off of the posts and you can have umbrellas providing shade over the benches.)

Check out the deck-building process in the slide show. Jonny still has some finishing touches and clean-up to do, but it is mostly complete. (There will be a more intense photo shoot for documentation when the deck is looking its very best. I was too impatient to wait and post until then, though!)

Thanks, Jonny! We all love "Daddy's Deck," as Julia calls it.