April 2012

1. Learning Circle - I joined a learning circle this month where I join a group of other mothers and we discuss a parenting article and topic.  I am excited to learn from other mothers. 

2. Xander and Karla's Birthdays - We went to a couple of Callie's friend's birthday parties over the weekend - one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first was for Xander Croft who had decided he wanted to have an egg party.  I marveled and laughed at the cupcakes Mandy managed to make!  Can you believe it?  Those are cupcakes!  Then on Saturday we had a nice time at Karla's party (friend from school).  I like that Latino parties are for whole families and that there is always lots of food.  It's a lot of work, but I think it's very nice. 

These are cupcakes!  Really!  They really are cupcakes! Mandy, you're amazing!

3. Xander's Baptism - Also on Saturday we attended Xander's baptism.  This is the first one of Callie's friends that we've seen baptized.  I thought the program was just lovely.  Mandy gave a great talk relating baptism and repentance to using soap - it has to be done often despite our best efforts to stay clean.  She then gave Xander a bottle of soap to help him remember that.  I thought it was beautiful.  Xander and Brendan and his two cousins also sang a song about repentance that I thought was beautiful.  We were happy for their family. 

4. Spring Break with the Grandfolks - Hurray!  We're so happy when the grandparents and great grandparents come!  We love it when they come visit us!  And it helps us to get out and go sight seeing.  This time around we headed to Monterrey, Pebble Beach, Santa Cruz, and Muir Woods.  I loved it and we took quite a few pictures.  Sorry if there are so many pictures included.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Michaelis and Grandma Great and Grandpa Great for coming to see us.  We loved sharing spring break with you all.

Haven and Alyssa climbing the rocks at Lover's Point

Lovely Little Lighthouse

Callie at Lover's Point

My Three Little Girlies - Spunky Alyssa!

Callie at the Beach in Monterey

I love it when they can explore a bit

All the dark patches near the water are sea lions! -Pebble Beach

The Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach

 
5. A visit from Christy and Ryan - We are so popular this month! We get a lot more visitors in California than in Wisconsin.  It helps to live only 12 hours away rather than 21!  Anyway, we spent an afternoon with Christy and Ryan and their children Ava (2) and Ezra (9mo.) at the Exploratorium (which I didn't think was worth the cost for my kids' ages, but I enjoyed the company!)  And then Chrisy and Ryan and the kiddos joined us for dinner and a little playtime before they headed to the hotel.  It was so fun to see them! (FYI - I copied these pictures from Patti's blog.  Thanks Patti!)  Two weeks later, Alyssa was asking when we could see Ava again.  And fast forward to June - I did Alyssa's hair today for church and she asked after I finished, "Does my hair looks as pretty as Aunt Christy's?" Congrats Christy! Alyssa thinks you have great hair!

 6. Mom's Birthday - 31!  Wow!  I no longer feel like a young Mom.  I completely feel like a middle aged mom.  I still feel like I have the competency of a six year old, but I do feel a bit older.  David and the girls gave me a great birthday.  The most memorable part was when David took us all on a surprise hike in Uvas Canyon.  It was beautiful.  I love nature and I love it when the girls can roam free to some extent. It was great!  Thanks for a great birthday David!

  

7. Mormon helping Hands - David and Callie were our two Helping Hands this year.  They helped paint a fence.  And I believe our impulsive little one only painted herself black once.  Thanks for serving. 
8. New Calling - I was released from my calling as nursery leader soon after little Davy was born.  So I have had a nice calling-less vacation for several months now.  But they are still going easy on me.  They called me this month to arrange babysitting for the quarterly ward temple trips. So far, so good.  I think this is a calling I will enjoy. 

9. Alyssa Sayings - Alyssa made me laugh when she said, "Mom, I just want to make life easier for you. Do you think I'm an angel?" or "Mom, I love you so much.  Do you think I should get some beads for that?" (beads lead to prizes).  She makes me chuckle.

10. Davy starts rolling around - Davy has turned into a rolly polly bug!  Hurray!  Now he rolls over the instant we put him down almost like a reflex.  He also does a lot of crunches! Go Davy Go!

11. Conversations with Haven:   "Mom, Davy can't change his diaper.  His arms are too short!"

Haven: "Mom, you're going to die."
Mom: Why?
 "You're birthday is coming and you're getting older!"
 Will you be okay if I die?
"Yes, We'll take care of ourselves?"
Who will make dinner?
"I will!"
Who will read you stories?
"Callie"
Who will take care of Davy?
"We'll give him a bottle!"
My thoughts: I'm gonna take a vacation!! And I do, too!  Skip ahead to June!

March 2012

1. David gets the Job! - Hurray! We finally heard back from BYU, and they offered David a position as a Chemistry Professor! The first (and hopefully final) real job! We're so happy that his years of hard work have paid off. They let us choose whether to start this summer or next summer, and we opted to stay here another year. We hope that a little more experience and a stronger resume will help David get grants. We went out to dinner at La Bamba and out for ice cream at Cold Stone to celebrate.

2. St. Patrick's Day - We had a fun and busy St. Patrick's Day. First, a sneaky leprechaun turned our milk green!  Then before David took the girls out, they built a trap for the leprechaun.  But this was a rather clever leprechaun and he didn't get caught.  He did, however, leave a series of rainbow colored clues that lead them to a treasure at the end of a rainbow.  Our Best Bites contributed the fabulous treat idea.




3. Shine! - This month we went to a stake youth "play" that was more of a series of music and dance performances, but it was amazing!  I really couldn't believe my eyes and ears.  The youth apparently worked on this performance for about three years, and have the guidance of talented dancers and musicians from the stake.  I was so impressed and found myself wishing we could stay in the area just so my girls could be a part of something so fantastic.  The youth did a fabulous job, and I'm so glad that our family could watch.  PS - Our ward did an abbreviated version of Tangled which mesmerized my girls.  They were so excited to see Rapunzel and Flinn Rider after the performance. 

4. Mission Call -My parents got their mission call!  Hurray!  I've always admired them so much, and now I've got yet another reason to praise them.  They will be primarily working with the young adults in the London South Mission.  They go into the MTC on June 10, and I'll be flying to Utah to say goodbye and wish them well.  Congratulations Mom and Dad!


5. Book Sale and Face Paint - David took Callie and Alyssa to a fabulous neighborhood book sale by the girls school.  Each book was $.50 I believe, and in addition to books they had free face painting (the best I've ever seen!) and food and balloon animals.  What a great event for families!  We'll definitely be going back next year. 

6. Daddy Daughter Dance - David and Callie attended the Daddy Daughter Dance hosted by the Girl Scouts.  They went out for pizza with Callie's troop before the dance.  Callie's favorite part was dancing with her Daddy.  And she even let me do her hair! Wow!  What a night!

7. Cookie Sales - Callie also participated in selling Girl Scout cookies.  I had no idea we would have to sell so many cookies.  Callie's troop leader put in a standard order for her which turned out to be about 70-80 boxes of cookies.  But my little girls were such great cookie sellers! They were so cute, that I think people had a hard time telling them "no", and I almost felt guilty sending such darling girls to sell the cookies.  We would go door to door, and Callie would smile sweetly and say, "Would you like to buy a box of girl scout cookies?"  Haven ran up to someone on the sidewalk and asked them to buy a box, and the poor lady bought a box even though she had already bought some from someone else.  I don't like door to door sales, but if you have to, girl scout cookies are probably the best way to go.  The girls did a great job.  They sold all their cookies. 

8. Customer Service Award - We took some of our cookies to sell with the troop in front of a store.  I didn't go, but the other moms told me afterwards that Callie did most of the selling.  She just kept walking up to people and politely inviting them to buy a box.  Later, she received the Customer Service Award from her troop for doing such a great job!  Good work Callie!

9. Master Davy's Four Month Check Up - Davy is growing so fast!  He weighed 15lbs 6 oz. at his checkup and was 26 inches long.  He's still got a sweet temperament and patiently smiles at his sisters mothering (which I like to call smothering!).  He is super drooly and always wants to have something in his mouth.  He's starting to roll a bit. Happy four months Davy boy! 

10. Callie and the mayor - Callie had one more girl scout event this month.  She went with her troop to accept a letter from the mayor in honor of the 100th anniversary of girl scouts.