Is It Naptime Yet

…But I’m not talking about in the creepy dead way.

Yesterday my friend Sam picked up bread and eggs for me from Trader Joe’s, the two things I needed, since I had 4 slices of bread left and eggs are always being used around here. Now my trip to Trader Joe’s can wait till next week. Hooray!

Anyways, Sam brought the groceries to me while Eden was sleeping. Eden being the observant girl she is since I was too lazy to put the bread away and left the bag on the ground in front of our cupboard asked if I had gone to the store while she was sleeping. I told her no because that would have meant that I left her home alone and I would never leave her home alone. Then I took it a little farther into a lesson asking her what she would do if she woke up and no one was home. Eden told me she’d find the police. (We’ve been talking a lot about stranger danger and people danger overall lately.) Since I had just read a blog by my friend Amber where she found a wandering 3 year old on a busy street, I pictured Eden going outside to find the police and being ran over or something terrible happening. Truth be told our doors are hard to open and Eden has yet to open our front door without Lilah’s help, so I’m not too worried that she’s going to go wander the streets unless something terrible does happen and the door is left open. Anyways,  I finally taught my girls about dialing 911 yesterday so they would know how to contact the police if they were home alone or is something terrible had happened to me or Jon. I’ve mentioned 911 to Lilah before, but yesterday I had them practice dialing it, since you can dial on our phone and then hit talk for it to really dial it. I emphasized that they could get in trouble if they dialed 911 without it being an emergency and since my girls don’t even answer the phone, they ignore it or bring the phone to me if it’s by them, I’m not too worried about them calling 911.
In fact my worry will be if they remember how to use the phone if a real emergency happens.

Last week Andrea and Brien came to town to see Scot and Fallon. Since they live in Ely and Ely has no large restaurant chains, besides McDonald’s and Subway, which are fast food, they like to go out to eat to at least one of their favorite restaurants. We choose Olive Garden and it was basically those who were at my parents house that came. Carolyn called me while I was driving there so she she came along after work.

I got some cute pictures of the little girls there and some adults and a video of Zarina. I warn you that my finger was over the mic at first so don’t turn the volume up too loud because I uncover it later.

Cute Zarina, even with a mouth full of bread. She was on an all carbs diet.

Eden was all smiles for the camera.

Lilah was bashful for some reason.

I guess she wanted to take the pictures rather than be in them. She took this one of Brien.

Scott and Fallon talking to my parents.

Grumpy grandpa getting a bite of Lilah’s sundae.

This is my catch up blog of all the mundane things. I will do some interesting picture posts later but this is my last week and a half in a nutshell.

Last week was a little crazy. My brother Scott and his wife Fallon came to town. Since they were here I was in Henderson a lot last week.

Monday I went over to visit. I don’t remember when or how long but I was there. I think I went shopping with Kristi at Target and then to Costco with my mom and Fallon. That seems familiar.

Tuesday I had Relief Society stuff to do so I stayed on my end of town and had a fun night with the sisters in my ward.

Wednesday we had a Whole Foods grocery store tour in Henderson with the homeschool group. It got canceled half an hour before, but we and two other families did not know that and were there. They gave us a “tour” where the walked us around the store and gave the kids free samples. Lilah was in heaven because they got fruit, pizza, cheese, brownie bites, and kettle corn popcorn, which meant two sweet things in one day, all before lunch. We also bought some expensive cheese and a cinnamon bun that we left at my parents and didn’t eat till Thursday.

We hung out with the family afterwords and then went out that night to the Olive Garden. Jon didn’t go with us because it got to be too late and he was to hungry to wait at a restaurant.

Thursday I went shopping with Fallon, though I did not find the specific items I was looking for. (A casual jean or khaki skirt and cute capri’s. I hate when I’m looking for something specific it makes shopping so hard.)

I then hung out till later that day and went home that afternoon.

Friday the girls and I went to the Lied Children’s Discovery Museum. We went with some friends and then had a picnic with some other friends right afterwords.

Then Friday night we had family pictures. I don’t remember when all six of the kids were in the same state so we seized the day and took pictures to remember that there are six Harvey kids.

Saturday Lilah and I had play practice. We then dropped Jon’s car off at the mechanic and then onto my parents house for a BBQ that started 3 hours behind schedule. Oh well. I got to see family and eat good fruit while we waited.

Sunday Jonathan went out of town for a business trip. I had to teach the lesson for my class and I forgot that Eden was to give the scripture and prayer in closing exercises for Primary until I went to pick her up and everyone told me what I nice prayer she gave. I was so upset that I forgot since this was her first prayer or anything in Primary. I’m a lame mom. With everything else it just slipped my mind.

The girls and I then had a lonely Sunday and took a nap together. I was too bummed to cook so I broke the sabbath and bought some Subway for us.

Monday we stayed home and cleaned a little. Our house had gone to the pits since I was gone most of last week.

Tuesday we had lunch with Anna and picked Jon’s car up from the mechanic with my mom’s help. I can’t wait till my car is paid off and we can get him a nice one.  I also had practice that night so the Lee’s watched the girls for me.

Wednesday, or today we went to the Dolphin Habitat with the homeschooling group. Hannah came along and then hung out at our house till Beth and her sisters got home. Lilah was so enchanted with having Hannah around that she asked if I would like Hannah to be apart of our family. I said Hannah was our friend, but friends can be like family. Lilah then replied that she wished Hannah was apart of our family.

I also picked Jon up from the airport and the girls have hardly left his side since we’ve been home. Of course they’re having fun looking at the Big Picture blog and other things, but I think it’s too cute to see the two of them on either side of their daddy sitting on the couch looking at his laptop.

There, now I can start posting about other things that are on my mind, but that will have to wait till at least tomorrow.

Our St. Patrick’s day started off late.

Lilah decided to sleep in until 9:30 am!

Isn’t she so cute. I just love watching my children sleep.

While she slept Eden and I ate breakfast.

Since some of the clothes we bought yesterday were green or had green I washed them so the girls could wear them.

They sure are hams sometimes.

(Eden was suppose to choose a shirt, but she chose these ladybug shorts, and since I have a soft spot for ladybugs I aggreed to buy them and the shirt that goes with them.)

By the time we were dressed we had a short errand to run and then it was time for lunch. Lilah wanted to do something or go somewhere to celebrate St. Patrick’s day, but we’re not, so I suggested having green macaroni and cheese. She loved the idea and was happy to suggest that we should also have applesauce and dye it green too. I obliged and we had a very green lunch.

Lilah loved the green applesauce.

Our green lunch.

I’m suppose to actually eat this green slimy stuff?

Saturday was the first day of practicing for Lilah. I sat next to her to help her hear the melodies and read the words up to the speed of the song. She did quite well and was very good for the whole practice overall.

She was assigned to be one of the Lullaby League Girls, which also will maker her a snowflake girl later on in the play.

The flying monkeys have yet to be determined because the director wants to make sure those kids are listening and not goofing off. Lilah wants to be a flying monkey so she can run and jump across the stage, though I’m not sure if they do that, and so she was very well behaved after the director made that announcement.

I know Lilah can be well behaved and I’m pretty sure she’ll get to be a flying monkey too.

The dates of the play are: June 17, 18, 20, 22-27. Just so you all know and can block out a night in June to come see the cutest Lullaby girl!

Family night is June 16th, so if you can’t afford to buy a ticket let me know and I can see if I can hook you up for that night, though I won’t know how many tickets I get till later. Tickets will be around $12 a seat and on the group nights, Mon-Thurs $8 if you buy 10 or more on their website, which I’ll post once it’s open to let you buy tickets later in April or May.

All proceeds benefit the Senior Citizens of the Las Vegas Valley.

Some days homeschooling seems impossible. Kids are ornery, mom is ornery and we are just not getting along. Other days it goes wonderfully. They ask for more “work” or ask me to read another story or just try so hard to figure things out. Some days we unschool and I let the girls do whatever they want.

What I do love is to look over and see my daughter has written her name for the first time all by herself.

Or the other is reading a book about ants and follows the words with her little finger.

Some days one school thing is enough for this momma and her girls. Some days one school thing is too much for this momma and her girls. Some days all we do is learn in both conventional and unconventional ways.

What I do know is these little kids are sponges and the soak up knowledge so quickly along with grow far too quickly.

Yesterday was an eventful day. It was my only nephew’s baptism. The girls and I went and I was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. One thing I want to note is that families are in charge of getting the speakers and doing a musical number and if there’s more than one child both families or each family is asked to have someone give a talk etc. If your child is getting baptized the same day as another, try not to make the musical number all about him and if you’re giving a talk, try not to make the talk all about the relative that’s being baptized or your family history. I’m sure my nephew may not have picked up on this, but as an adult that was in the other family, I felt like I was an outsider at my own nephew’s baptism. Make it personal to your experiences yes, but also make it generic for the other child and their family. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

After the baptism my sister did a luncheon to celebrate my niece’s birthday which is coming up. We went to her house and the girls had lots of fun playing and eating cake. After doing this we stopped by my parents to pick up my mom’s sewing machine. Lilah wanted to see Grandpa  even though we had just seen him at Aunt Kristi’s, so he came out and checked her tooth out. Grandpa said it was ready to pull, but I was skeptical since it still seemed attached in the middle. He asked her if she wanted him to get a string and pull it out and Lilah shyly replied no, so he told me to do it once I got home, which I didn’t because it grosses me out.

Well, I guess the fact that Grandpa Harvey said her tooth was ready to come out stayed with Lilah. While in time out last night she pulled her own tooth out! I was a little grossed out but mostly curious about the whole lost tooth thing.

We took some pictures and a video and put it on Lilah’s blog in her own words. Since hers is a private blog I’ll just post the pictures and video here for my own records.

Which leads me to my IOU. While Lilah stood in time out I thought about what money I had on me, she hadn’t yet pulled the tooth out, but I knew it would come out soon and I knew I didn’t have much change or any small bills.  Since we almost solely use our credit card I never have a lot of cash on me or small bills. I wondered what I would do if her tooth did fall out and sadly I knew what I would have to do.

Raid the girls’ piggy bank.

So that’s what this momma did, I took four quarters from Lilah’s own piggy bank and placed them under her pillow last night as she slept. We are kinda encouraging the Tooth Fairy myth, but more in the ‘how do you know it’s not true if you never see who puts the money under your pillow’ sense. Lilah was sad to hear the Tooth Fairy took her tooth, so I said she just does tests and then gives it back to me. I think I’m going to write a little letter and mail it out tomorrow so it will come back in an intriguing way. I don’t know if Lilah does or does not believe in the Tooth Fairy or if she wants to. She says it’s a superstition, thank you Martha Speaks for the vocabulary word, and that fairies aren’t real, but I’m sure the child in her wants to believe in something magical, just as I did at that age.

So my daughter has lost her first tooth and I’ve learned that I need to start having ones and quarters on hand for the next few years.

They grow up too fast.

My niece Shauntae is having a girls weekend in Vegas with some friends. She flew down Thursday so she could visit with family. I had the pleasure of picking her up at the airport, which I got there at 10 am, just like she had predicted, even though her flight came in at 8:30 am. She brought reading material and people watched while she waited.

We tried to surprise my MIL since Shauntae hadn’t told her that she was coming to town, but Rawlin, Shauntae’s father, had told Grandma so our devious plan to just show up and surprise the grandparents was short lived. (We called ahead to make sure they were going to be home and me just dropping by wasn’t working since she knew I was suppose to pick Shauntae up.)

So we first swung by my in-laws and then I took Shauntae to her dad’s. After that I went home to clean, so my house was in a more acceptable form of organized chaos. We just have so much stuff that it always feel somewhat chaotic to me even after I’ve cleaned or organized.

Friday Jon and I had a lunch date with Shauntae. She wanted to see her favorite uncle, though I don’t know if Jon is her favorite, but he sure is my favorite out of the Blake boys.

My MIL brought Shauntae by Friday morning and she got ready here. When I gave her the tour of our small, humble, abode the girls ran around like crazy people. I really don’t know what gets into them when people come over, but they act very silly.

I dropped the girls off at Beth’s, then we picked up Jon and treated Shauntae to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Lindo’s.  We stuffed ourselves and then it was time to return Jon to work. There was a motorcycle cop hanging out where we dropped him off and I’m sure it must have looked odd to have Jon receive a kiss from me and then get out and hug Shauntae.

We then got the girls and took Shauntae to the house that she and the other women were renting for the weekend.

I’m happy I got to chat and talk with her in all our driving together. It’s fun to see her since our relationship has mostly grown because of us both blogging. I wish they lived closer, as does Lilah who was so sad that we don’t see her more often and wanted to go to lunch with us, even after she learned she was going to the Jewitt’s, which shows you how much she loves you if she’ll skip her favorite babysitter.

Before I took Shauntae to her house I had Lilah take a picture of us and took one of them with their oldest cousin.

Aunt Lacey with Niece Shauntae. I can’t help but laugh when she calls me her aunt.

The oldest grandchild with the youngest grandchildren.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Toilet.
Toilet who?
I’m gonna kill you and flush you down the toilet.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
gas tank.
gas tank who?
I’m gonna cut off your head and smash you and stuff you in the gas tank.

Eden and Lilah love making up knock knock jokes, and Eden’s all have a theme. The above two are made up by Eden and are not so gruesome when she’s telling them in her cute little Eden voice and is smiling and laughing because she thinks she’s so clever.

I’m not sure where Eden got the idea that all knock knock jokes involve killing the person you’re telling it too but she did and it’s the only time she uses the words kill or dead and refers to doing someone bodily harm.

A part of me feels that I should correct her in a solemn voice and let her know it’s not nice to say you’re gonna kill someone, but I also feel like it’s overboard policing of my children. If she were yelling it and being mean hearted I would correct her, but she’s just playing and not meaning anything by it and I’m positive won’t act upon it. To her it’s just a funny word and thing in a knock knock joke. To me it’s my daughter exploring speech and possibly trying to get attention, but overall just having fun.

I do correct her at times, but I don’t feel the need to say she must never say kill or talk in a way that means you’re going to kill someone. I want her to express herself and she is, just in an unusual way that I know some people might find offensive.

Well today was the much anticipated day of auditions for the Wizard of Oz play. I think they girls will be happy that mommy will not be repeatedly singing the lyrics from Lullaby of Broadway, though they have been known to sing along with me.

We got there a little later than planned, but the Lee’s were still filling out applications, so we got there at the right moment and were directly behind them, which was the plan.

They took our pictures and Eden was being a little bashful. I was worried that she wouldn’t sing.

After waiting they took us to a room to sing for the directors.

I went first and did alright. I was very nervous and made no eye contact that I can remember while singing, but I think I stayed in key and hit the right notes. I mentioned I sewed and had been attending the plays for the last 12 years since I’m good friends with the Lee’s.
Sewing is definitely a plus and I admit I’m hoping between sewing and knowing the Lee’s that the girls and I will get cast.

Lilah and Eden were next and they were very quiet with telling their names and ages. I just remembered I forgot to have them say something they enjoy doing but I think we were all nervous. Kelsey accompanied them and they both sang very well, though Eden made no eye contact. I think she takes after her mother.

After singing we went to learn dance steps. Eden was too bashful to learn with the other Lee kids and Lilah. Lilah did pretty well and I was very happy for her.

After the kids danced it was the adults turn. I was in a group with the Lee’s so it helped me feel a little more comfortable. I think I did pretty good for not ever dancing and the instructor said this was one of the stronger groups, though she could have completely been referring to the older Lee kids.

My legs are hurting from kneeling and I will definitely need to get in shape if I have any dancing to do. I plan on trying to lose weight anyways for the play, though I’ve yet to lose any, I just haven’t gained any.

I’m excited and so is Lilah. Eden said she was too nervous to dance, so we’ll see if they still allow her to be in it. I’ve prepared her that she may not be in it, but she can always audition next year if she wants.

I guess now all we can do it wait.