I Want to be a Missionary Now

After an inspirational workshop at Women's Conference on Sunday about "How to Prepare Your Children to be Missionaries," we decided we needed to follow the advice and talk about our missions more. So for family home evening we went through my very fat mission scrapbook. We had fun! The next night during family scripture prayer Jell announced, "I want to go on a mission when I get bigger." Yes! Success! Then she said, "So I can do lots of silly things like Mommy did." Uh, what? See in retrospect, the problem with mission pics are that they're either taken on P-day, at night when you've worked your brains out, when you're leaving an area or when there's a baptism. None of the day-to-day what-missionaries-actually-do is recorded - just stuff like getting stuck trying to climb over a fence, or your companion ironing your hair with an actual iron, or your district leader making balloon animals in the mtc for somebody's birthday or the elders getting their faces shoved in their birthday cake by a Hispanic member family, or ... you get the picture. So not so much a success (don't you love how kids ALWAYS get the wrong thing out of what you're trying to teach them?) and we might have to do that FHE over again and leave out the pictures. Sometimes visual aids only get in the way.
Oh and by the way, don't ask what they're wearing. My kids tend to look like little vagabonds with their layered looks - Meri added her dress when she was pretending to be Belle, who can't be played in jeans and a sweater. And Jell added the second skirt "when [she] wanted to." I guess where one is good, two is better. Lately, Meri's favorite beautifying tip is to go into the bathroom, stick her head under the faucet, and rub her hair all around till it's half wet and sticking out in a million different directions. Whenever we ask why she did it, she responds, "Because I wanted to look pretty" and does the smile and shoulder shrug seen in the first picture along with a little batting of her eyes. Oh boy. Yet somehow, despite their severe fashion handicaps, they still pull off "cute!"

Ah! The beautiful tulip festival...

So I included slightly less than a tenth of the pictures we took. With such gorgeous surroundings and such cute subjects, it's hard to stop snapping pictures! Jell was a little distraught to discover she didn't fit inside the shoe as well as she did last year while Meri still disappeared inside:
Not sure what the tulips did to deserve this grumpy face but it's sure one I'm familiar with:
The girls only smelled a gazillion tulips this day - do the different colors really smell that different?
Some of the tulips were nearly as tall as Meri, and with her headband, she looked like she almost fit in!
Where have you been all my life? Love the drama and enthusiasm in all she does:
And the posing:



Somehow we made it home without any major encounters with the mud puddles, I mean lakes, and without caving in to the girls' requests for rides, popcorn, ice cream, or any other thing for sale that they laid eyes on. All in all, a beautiful family outing (Coop was there too, although he didn't make it in any of the photos)!

Jell really likes to tape her creations on the walls

Resulting in our family room, kitchen, her bedroom and even our bedroom walls being covered in her drawings/paintings. I, of course, make an effort to make sure Meri is also represented but it's rather hard to keep up with the tape machine. Here are just some of the things taped up around the house, starting with the infamous brachiosaurus, which has probably replaced her three-headed monster as my favorite drawing of all time:
I might need to switch these up. For example, I think it's time the Christmas tree comes down:
And the three-headed monster makes its appearance, although the difficult one to see on the left is the most intricate with two witches holding hands with their cats, train tracks, and a train going over three mountains.
This is evidence that she gets carried away. She drew this banana as quickly as she could for the sole purpose of taping it on the wall:
Then comes the grand tamale. Jell drew this lovely portrait of herself surrounded by me and Coop standing under a beautiful rainbow. Meri was upset she wasn't included. Jell brushed it off and, this is the best part, taped it up in the grand place of honor right where a family portrait had recently fallen off the wall and we hadn't got around to replacing it, right over Coop's and my bed. That way we got to see it always. Unfortunately, so did Meri. She kept insisting Jell add her and for whatever reason Jell kept not caring. So Meri took matters into her own hands. The squirt on the right that looks a little like a googly-eyed alien? That's Meri's addition of herself. She was quite pleased with her efforts. Jell was upset that it didn't look like Meri, which led us into a talk about only being complimentary about other people's artwork especially when, like Mer, they did their best (although I also liked the idea that Jell's were totally realistic. Nice mohawk Coop). And besides, you snooze you lose. Now our family portrait is complete:

Where did my brain go?

I think I've lost my mind. I'm hoping I'm not the only one. So I'm asking, do you ever have the kind of day where...

you're singing a primary song that you've known since you were in Sunbeams and you're on autopilot while your mind is wandering and you suddenly don't know where you are in the song or which verses you've already sung or what rhymes with what you just said and could possibly come next?

you leave your wallet at the grocery store, don't manage to notice until you get all the way home with kids unbuckled, have to go all the way back and after scouring the parking lot, find they had it inside all along?

not only can't seem to interpret a single thing your toddler has said correctly but mishear adults on the tv like every five minutes?

you assure your husband that you have a bag of nectarines that you've been enjoying all week, he doesn't believe you, you keep insisting, before he realizes you're actually talking about tangerines?

you're trying to help your daughter calm down for bed by singing sweetly but suddenly feel a little night drunk yourself and start giggling and are unable to keep a straight face because the brachiosaurus that your daughter drew and taped above her bed looks so goofy?

I've lost my mind.

Weeeeeeeee!

We'll take any breaks in the rain - no matter how short they may be. We love spring!


Also, overheard this conversation in the car:
Meri: "I want to sit by my FAVORITE big sister because she's my FAVORITE big sister to sit by."
Jell: "THANK YOU Meri! That is SOOO sweet of you!"

I loved that there was no sarcasm in Jell's response, nor any half-hearted compliment intended by Meri. Instead, Jell sincerely appreciated and was touched by Meri's remarks without the thought entering her head that she is her ONLY big sister.

Olympics 2026 here we come!

This last week we went to my parent's house in Bend. We had a blast! But the morning we were going to leave, Jell got up and packed herself:
Meaning of course, she emptied most her drawers in a big pile on her bed. Helpful!
The hope for this trip was that we'd get the girls up skiing for the first time. My dad, the avid weather channel watcher had picked the perfect conditions and was super stoked. Just getting them up there and in all their equipment took quite a bit of doing but we finally succeeded and even got them to their lessons nearly on time. We got out there and were reminded of the blinding nature of a sunny day with white snow all around. We had to go buy sunglasses for Meri so she wasn't like this all day:
She did so great! Her instructor was super nice, and although she never once said a word to him, I think she liked him too. Her skis were so stinking little!
Documentation of her first fall ever:
Oh and she never smiled during her first lesson but she gave everything a try and said she enjoyed it:
And look, she even did some all by herself!! What a perfect pie :)
Sadly, we didn't get any pics of Jell actually skiing because every time she noticed us during her lesson, she wanted us to get her a snack or something else distracting like that. So we watched from afar. Plus I got tired out from tromping in the snow and parked myself at a table with a good book and all our supplies for most the day. But Jell loved it too - her lesson didn't take her to the lift and the bunny hill and so as soon as she was done, she was begging Bopa to take her over there. She didn't even want to take a break.
Meri had told us she was all done, but we finally convinced her after some "warm chocolate" (they don't like it hot) to go back out with daddy. From that time on they were both really hooked. They only reluctantly stopped for breaks when daddy and Bopa's knees or backs couldn't take anymore. I really wish I'd got pictures of Jell with the harness (that's the blue thing she's wearing - it's not a swimsuit) or Meri between daddy's legs, but the bunny hill was a bit of a hike from my picnic table. It didn't happen.
Even though they didn't want to stop, they enjoyed all the food mommy had lugged up there. And don't they look cool? People all around me would laugh and aaaah every time the girls came to see me. They looked so cute and Meri so teeny tiny to be on skis! I guess that most of the time they were skiing down the bunny lift, they kept yelling out, "I got another gold medal!!!!" Next time Jell will have to master turning left. This trip, she could only ever figure out how to turn right. That does become a problem after awhile! Thanks so much Bopa for giving them one heck of a perfect day! Can't wait to go again!

Can't wait to meet #3!

So I thought I'd better get around to officially announcing it, although by now most of the world knows because
a) you've seen one of the girls in the last few weeks which means that they have proudly told you (they've told everyone - as proof they told the bagger at the grocery store the other day) or
b) you caught on when you either saw me running to the bathroom gagging or heard how many naps I've been taking lately or
c) someone in the ward told you. Word travels fast once it gets out.
Anyway, it is true - I'm pregnant! We're very, very excited even while we have the foreboding feeling that we're getting in way over our heads. 3 sounds crazier than 2. I'm also happy to now be in my second trimester as the first one wasn't much of a joy ride. Translation= I've been sicker than a dog. At least 10 x worse than the other two times, but hopefully, hopefully, hopefully things get better soon. The girls are beyond thrilled. Since telling them, we've had all sorts of fun conversations (most of which have been repeated again and again), such as:

Meri - "It doesn't look like you have a baby in my tummy. Are you sure?
Me - "Yep, it's in there."
Meri - "Can I see it?"
Me - "Not really." (never stops her from trying)

Jell - "Is the baby sleeping right now?"
Me - "Probably. It does a lot of sleeping."
Jell - "Does it sleep when you sleep?"
Me - "A lot of the time, yeah."
Jell - "Does it sleep while you go potty?"
Me - "I have no idea. Maybe I guess."

Me - "What should we name the baby if it's a boy?"
Meri - "I don't like baby boys. It's going to be a baby girl."
Me - "It might come out a baby boy though."
Meri - "Nope. It'll come out wearing a beautiful dress like me (as she twirls)!"
Me - "Actually, the baby won't come out wearing any clothes. The baby will come out nakie."
(Meri and Jell both just stared at me for like 5 seconds, and then both started laughing their heads off. We spent a few minutes explaining that I wasn't lying to which they kept lying. However, at least Jell has decided to believe it because I heard her explaining to an adult the other day, "the baby in my mommy's tummy will come out nakie." Excellent.)

Jell - "How does the baby in your tummy eat?"
Me - "It gets the food that I eat."
Jell - "So you eat the food, and then it eats it with it's mouth?"
Me - "Not exactly. It doesn't have to eat it with it's mouth. It just goes into the baby from mommy."
Jell - "So it eats with it's mouth?"
Me - "Nope, it couldn't do that very well - the baby doesn't have any teeth."
Jell - (laughs her head off) "When the baby is born, will it eat crackers?"
Me - "Nope, it still won't have teeth for awhile. It'll just drink milk."
Jell - "Where will it get the milk?"
Me - "From mommy."
Jell - "But you can't make milk. Where will you get the milk?"
Me - "Uh, I'll uh, have the milk."
Jell - "Can I color now?"
Me - "YES! I'm done with this conversation too."

Also, Meri asks me daily when the baby is going to come - which is going to make the remaining months very long. And oddest of all perhaps, is they've already starting hiding their valuables up high (like a pretty purse on the top of a tall lamp) "so the baby won't drool on them." Classic.

Princesses galore

On to her princess party with friends. This was about as cute as it can get. When we went outside to blow bubbles, no joke people on walks and even cars stopped to say hi, ooh and aah, and comment on their adorableness. There were too many cute pictures to choose from so I had to make a slide show instead :) I'm a sucker.

And thank you for all the help from family that made pulling it off possible!

Meri's birthday

So I know her birthday was nearly three weeks ago now, but these pictures are too cute to not get posted - even if they're EXTREMELY late. These are from her actual birthday when we celebrated just with family. So here they are:This was the best reaction of any of her presents from anybody. We were at home just opening the presents from us, while she sat in the "birthday chair," aka car seat. She opened it, stared at it for awhile, then in slow motion changed her face to expressionless to this face and then hugged the Disney compilation (mostly princesses) cd we'd made for her with a look of pure blisss. Yeah, I think she liked it.
We'd been working on this for weeks beforehand, but she is now very proud to show anyone and everyone how old she is.
Our beautiful princess enjoying her "Happy Birthday" song.
And then enjoying her unladylike no-hands method of devouring her cupcake ... or actually of just devouring the "good" part of the cupcake that had frosting and sprinkles. She left the bottom half.

AGAIN!

Hello, all! I know you'd all rather hear from Alisha, but I worry she won't post this, and it NEEDS to be posted.

Some of you may remember this post from September (http://coopedup.blogspot.com/2009/09/never-ceases-to-amaze.html)--I think it was the last time I posted. It was the first time she had a painting accepted into the Watercolor Society of Oregon (WSO) fall show. Well now I'm posting to say that she just got accepted into the WSO Spring show! The accepted painting is "The River's Dance:"


It blows me away that with all we have going on in our lives, she still finds the time to be incredibly talented!

The girl likes her ice cream

and doesn't mind the attention of the camera either.

Do you have any idea???

Lately Meri has been asking us to sing her "The Dolphin Song" when it's time to put her to bed. We don't have any idea what she's talking about. I'm kinda hoping somebody in the family, at church, or in her little preschool group sang her some dolphin song and knows what she's talking about. Because when we ask her to sing it to us, it's always different than the night before, employs at least 5 different keys, and the only word we catch is "dolphin." If she's making it up, she's not being very understanding that we don't know it. She's getting more and more upset each night that we still don't know it or haven't picked it up from her. Can anybody help?? Does anybody know any dolphin songs????

On a perhaps even more frustrating note, I H-A-T-E lice. And nits. And everything you have to clean and wash and comb and clean and wash and comb again when your children have little bugs infesting their heads. I hate feeling like everything in my house is creepy crawling. I hate not being able to go anywhere for fear of spreading it to others while my kids are going bonkers. So we'll see you all next week when we're clean, unless of course we're not, in which case we'll have to start over a whole new 7 days of being quarantined. Lovely.

4 generations all in one room

So I'll try to catch up and post Meri's birthday tomorrow, but first I had to add this awesome picture. How cool is this? This was at Meri's family birthday party and it shows the girls in front with both their parents, then there are two sets of great-grandparents and both pairs of grandparents in the back row.

The girls really don't even know how lucky they are - not only are all these loving generations alive for them to get to know, but they all live right here in Lake Oswego and Beaverton. We love them all and are grateful that are girls have so many people around to love them!

Happy Valentine's Day ... last week

So I'm a bit behind in blogging - Coop's been hogging the computer with some silly excuse about deadlines to finish his master's internship thesis. Silly. So before I even get to Meri's birthday, which has been loads of fun, here's Valentine's Day:
First off - Meri had to make 4 Valentines for her little school group. You'd think that'd be easy. Just 4. But no, it was like torture after the first one was done. However, we did manage to finish.
Then Jell had to make 17 Valentines for a little girly party. This was our first experience in mass producing. I think we'll go simpler in the future.
Meri did have to make an additional 17 as well, but after the experience with the original four, Mom just made them all while she was sleeping. But the girls enjoyed the party:

After all, to them Valentines Day is just another day they get to wear pink, red, or purple, and dress-up!

Seriously discouraging

We overheard this conversation earlier today:
Jell: Meri, you're not obeying me.
Meri: Oh.
Jell: Do you know what obeying means Meri?
Meri: What?
Jell: It means ignoring.
I gave away the fact that I'd been eavesdropping with a "WHAT? That's not obeying!"
Jell: Well, what is it then? (said all wide-eyed and innocent as if we haven't explained this a million and a half times)

Now to make ourselves feel better, we're going to assume she really knew and just misspoke. That she was trying to say 'you're not obeying, you're ignoring.' That makes me feel better.

Classic

When my Aunt Patti brought up the fact that Meri's birthday is almost here and asked her what she wanted, Jell instantly piped in, "Well, WE haven't had time to think about that yet."

Jell: "Hey mom, ZUMBA!"
Mom: "What's zumba?"
Jell: "Nothing, I made it up. It's a joke."

On Saturday we watched the National Championships, basically the Olympic trials, for Women's ice skating and pairs ice dancing. Every single time there was a lift or jump Jenelle exclaimed, "Wow! I cannot do that." Followed by all sorts of questions like, "Mommy, when will I be able to do that? Can you do that? When will I get my own ice skates ...."

Meri: (totally out of the blue) "Hey mom, I have a happy-pop-osis."
Jell: "No Meri, it's a hy-pop-o-sis."
Mom: "What is your hypothesis Mers?"
Meri: "Dis is my hypoposis." (holds up a weed with a huge grin)
Jell: "No Meri, that is not a hypoposis. A hypoposis is an idea you can test" (Way to go Dinosaur Train)
Meri: "But dis is my hypoposis!" (weed)
Jell: "Okay, it can be pretend, but it's not a real hypoposis ... Mom, I have a hypoposis."
Mom: "What's your hypothesis?"
Jell: "My hypoposis is that worms go deep in the ground in the winter to find more food." (we've talked about this recently and even had to google where worms go in the winter because the girls were distraught that they hadn't seen a worm in months)
Mom: "And maybe to get warm."
Jell: "Yep, that too."

Meri held hands with her friend Sam all during circle time when I taught preschool on Tuesday. She totally initiated at and was very pleased with herself. She just sat there smiling. I had to pull the plug when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Oh boy.

Also, the difference between boys and girls as I've observed it this week teaching Meri's group: Boys try to "kill" the bad guys (pretend ones luckily) by running full speed through the house, yelling, shooting them, kicking, punching, etc. Girls coyly offer their oppponent a poison apple, faint and wait around for true love's kiss. That about sums it up as I see it!

When I taught Jell's school last week, some of the girls came running to tell me that one of the girls, we'll call her Dorcas to protect the innocent, was yelling at them all. I called Dorcas to me and told her we can't yell at anyone. She said, "But I was pretending to be the mom!" Ouch. At least it wasn't my daughter. This time.

Creative experiments

So I hadn't been painting at all, and frankly haven't painted this month that Coop's been gone, but I'm finally getting around to loading these pics so I can hopefully see what you think. I basically was really bored of what I usually do and wanted to have some fun giving something a bit more expressive and loose a try. I did this one first:
Then I painted this one:
And then going way outside the box for me - not even drawing inspiration from a photo but just from my head - I tried this one. I LOVED it as a drawing and halfway through and was rather unhappy with it when I got done.
So I changed it a bit. Still not thrilled. I feel like it makes my eyes go blurry. Not quite sure what's wrong - lack of focal point? too much going on? soft edges not working with hard one? colors? composition? I just don't know. I think it's better than it was, but I'm not even sure about that. But here it is as at present:
So what do you think of them? Any suggestions?

We should join a league ...

because although we can't bowl worth a darn, we have fun trying!
Jell bowled a 75 and Meri bowled an 85 (they used the awesome ramp things). Meri was much more interested in the french fries, and while she would carry her ball to the ramp herself, she barely pushed it down and never stayed to see if it knocked over any pins. Unfortunately, she ended the night by dropping a ball on her foot when she tried to put it back on the rack. Ouch! Jell, on the other hand, was devastated each time she didn't knock "enough" pins over. She's used to being the superstar that she somehow is on the wii. And she doesn't like it when she doesn't win. At anything. Not much to say about Mama and Daddy other than at least we both broke 100! And Mama even beat Bopa!

Sledding at Bachelor

So to keep from missing daddy too much this month while he's in Bend for his internship, we went over and stayed with him for a week. On Saturday when he didn't have to work, we headed up the mountain for some fun in the snow. What a perfect day! There was snow and sun and it was hardly cold at all!
However, for such small legs, it is a long way up the hill.
And partially thanks to the good conditions, this year the girls had a blast!!
Wahoo! (not totally sure what's happening here)
Weeeeeeee!
That was fun!
Hard to give a thumbs-up in these mittens!
Who is having fun?!
Okay so it's also a long way up for long legs with a tired load asking for the royal service.