It's Been A Big Week

It has been a big week for our oldest. She started 3rd grade on Wednesday. She really likes her teacher, Mrs. Frederico. At first she had heard she was mean, but on the first day she leaned over to me and said, "Mom I just heard her say a joke. I think she is going to be nice." I have heard that as long as your child is obedient she is a great teacher. The one thing about Midge is that, while she may challenge us at home she is always a shining example at school.

My mom bought her this outfit and this is what she wanted to wear to school on the first day. She was also very specific about how she wanted her hair done.

I got this backpack from Land's End around Christmas last year. They gave me free shipping and it was on clearance. I got a great price for it and it is an amazing back pack. I am so sick of all her other back packs falling apart usually after just a month. Hopefully this will last her a couple of years.

Here is a photo of her brand new school. They are still finishing a few items around the school. The inside is beautiful and Midge loves that is is air conditioned. Leo is starting kindergarten, but much to his dismay he doesn't start school until Tuesday of this coming week. It has been hard for him because he has been waiting to go to the big school for so long and he has had to start almost a week later than Midge. The great news is that we found out he is getting the kindergarten teacher Midge had, Mr. Jordan. We love him and Leo is so excited, plus he will be in the class with several of his friends.

This week Midge also started soccer. Today she had her jamboree, so she had 3 games today. Ken went on a back packing trip with the scouts. (He backpacked in his own tent, a raft, oars, his fishing gear, a foot pump - his pack weighed 60 pounds). As a result of him being gone and the weather being so hot today I knew I couldn't handle 3 kids so I hired a babysitter. That was the best money spent. I was able to focus on Maddy's games and not worry about everyone getting dehydrated. It was so hot, but the big killer today was the nearly 50% humidity. Midge did really well we loaded her up with fluids, brought an umbrella for her to sit under, and a spray bottle to spray her and her teammates down. As a result she had three awesome games and played amazing.

She would charge out on the field with such energy.

She ended up scoring two goals. Her first goal won the game for the team because it was the only goal scored. She is the only 3rd grader on her team, because Midge is a young 3rd grader. I could have insisted that she be on the 10 and under team but there are 17 girls on the team. She would rarely play and I like the fact that on this team her confidence is stronger because she is a valued player.

Hanging out in the shade. Look at all those pink cheeks.

I always love that they line the girls up after the game and make them congratulate the other team.

The boy to the left is Midge's coach. We think he is about 15 - 16. Midge has had a lot of fun with him. He is very patient with the girls. The girls have come up with a nickname for him Mr. Fluffy. I'm sure he is delighted to be coaching a pack of 12 girls.

Baptism Day

Yesterday our oldest and first born was baptized. As I thought back on the past 8 years I was shocked at how quickly this time has gone by. During the program I made a movie for Midge that showed the span of the past 8 years and where she is going in the future. I put the movie to the song "What Heaven Sees in You" (the three white dresses song). I enjoyed making it because it helped me get ready for this day. I was able to reflect on where we have been and express to Midge all of the dreams we have for her.

Ken baptized Midge. I was surprised at how nervous she was. She said she just didn't want to do anything wrong. We kept assuring her that she didn't really need to do anything.

Got to love those 70's jumpsuits. It is so great that they have made them out of indestructible material so they will be around for another 100 years.

The bow Midge has in her hair is what we put on her wrist when she was blessed.

These pictures crack me up. We were trying to get a picture of Uncle Patch with the kids.

Little Miss was just doing her own thing.

With Little Miss you get one shot when you tell her to smile and then you just hope that everyone else is ready and smiling - they weren't!

When she did decide to cooperate she wasn't looking at the camera.

And then she's done!

My parents were able to come down. My mother played the piano for the program and my father gave a great talk to Midge on baptism. I liked how he spoke directly to her.

This is a picture of Midge's bishop. Bishop Richardson conducted and gave her the baptism interview. There were a lot more people at the baptism, but we were rushed out afterwards and didn't get pictures. Darrell Hunter gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. When we asked Midge what she remembered from the night she immediately told us about the talk Brother Hunter gave out about Jerry the mouse and Tom the cat, and the decisions Jerry had to choose which way to go. Midge also asked her primary teacher Sandra Hatalla to give the prayer, and our family friend Harvey Carlisle to give the closing prayer.

A Flashback

So my mother has this blue dress that she wore to her oldest sister's wedding reception. When I was a little tike they put me in the dress and snapped a picture of me holding a picture of my mom wearing the dress. So I got the brilliant idea that I would do the same with my kiddo. I never really got around to doing it with Midge, but don't people always say the middle kids get looked over (maybe that is just my sis :). Anyway I decided when we were at my mom's to get the dress out and put it on Little Miss.

At first all she wanted to do was stare at the picture. Pretty cute, but I was going for the three generation theme and it was crucial that she give me a lovely smile, while clearly showing the picture as well.

Notice no lovely smile and an absolute refusal to clearly show the picture. She actually threw it to the ground - ah you precious little booger.

So guess how we got this smile. Midge came running up behind me with a gigantic lollipop and said, "Smile and you can have this!" Look at that grin that little sneak was capable of it the entire time. Now if she had only been holding the picture correctly.

Ah well here is the picture of me in the dress with a lovely smile and clearly holding the picture of my mother in the dress. What a clearly obedient child I was!

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So I have to add a side note here. Midge's dance concert was tonight, and being the truly wonderful mother that I am I dutifully charged the battery for the camera. When we got to the recital I handed the camera to Ken who promptly tried to turn the camera on, but to no avail. When he opened the battery compartment it was empty. The battery was at home in the charger. I want it noted that I did put in effort to record my daughter's dance recital and she was stinking cute and did a great job. Please note that I can attest I know that there are other mother's out there that this has happened to, and I would appreciate hearing from you so that my daughter doesn't think her mother is losing her mind.

Big News

It is official we are expecting our 

fourth child. 

The due date is March 12th,

 my grandfather's birthday. 

When I called and told him he said, "Well now there will be two great people born on that day!" Thankfully the morning sickness is starting to subside. 

Fun times.

So Busy

We have been so busy lately but I had to take a minute to publish where we were last Thursday. My sister Shauna and her husband Jeff were able to get sealed to their children in the Portland temple. We were able to take our kids to the temple grounds along with my parents, brother, and friends to witness the event.

Ken and my brother had the responsibility of watching the kids while I was able to be in the ceremony, luckily the weather was beautiful. The kids loved being a part of the big day and had so many questions. Tonight Maddy was telling me that we should adopt a baby so that she could go inside the temple. 

Congratulations Burnett family for your big day and becoming an eternal family!

In his own sweet time

Leo is a funny kid. If he doesn't want to do something he doesn't no matter how much begging and cajoling we give him.  For the entire summer we have tried to get Leo to start riding his bike. We didn't give him a choice and removed his training wheels. He would ride along with his feet down pushing himself along, but usually after a half a block he would say that he was tired and didn't want to go any farther. He has two friends who have been riding for a year, but peer pressure doesn't really work with Leo. 

Last night we decided to go and see the kid's new school. Leo said he wanted to ride his bike. Ken was a little reluctant to let him because we figured he would get sick of riding and then we would be carrying the bike for him. After Leo kept begging we relented. About a half a block from our house Ken persuaded him to put his feet on his petals Leo did and then he just started riding. He rode about 20 feet until he lost control and rode into a bush. At first Leo was a little scared, but we were all so impressed and praising him that he jumped back on and kept going. Every time he rode he was able to balance for longer distances. By the time we got to the school he was able to ride the entire length of the parking lot without once falling. Then on the ride home he was able to ride almost the entire way with just a few stops. There were a few run-ins with brick fences but he even made a turn at the corner without falling. 

By the time we got home it was getting dark, but I had to run in and get my camera so I could get a few shots of him riding his bike. 

Where we have been

I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of the girls in their first two years. Let me tell you this post took some tricky planning, but I think it is worth it to be able to see the similarities and differences. The first picture is Midge a few hours old, and the one right after it is Little Miss a few days old.

The below picture is Midge on her first birthday, and the one right after it is Little Miss on her first.

The following picture is Midge on her second birthday and the next picture is Little Miss around the same age.

I can see similiarites but at the same time they are both so unique and different to me as well.