Happy Hula Birthday Sophie!

My sweet-as-sugar Sophie turned six this week. Here are the highlights of her day:
Breakfast. That's an "S" and a "6" - Gary's the master of French Toast Carving. And of Cake Decorating (but hey, I baked them, made the frosting, and stuck in the candles!):

The Luau birthday party: I decked out the studio with luau stuff and even enlisted the aid of my awesome blossom neighbor Dawn to help me create three six-foot palm trees out of duct tape and card board. (she's the best!) It was an atypical Martha Stewart touch for me, but they were really cool! Attendees were welcomed at the door by Maggie and her bud Rachel with leis and directed to the snack table or the coloring table where pictures of hula girls and parrots awaited

. Games: musical chairs, ring toss over the alligator's nose, the Limbo stick dance, grab the fish relay, Hula Hula Coconut (duck duck goose) and of course the traditional crazy dance party with the disco lights. I have to admit, having a dance studio really makes party-throwing a breeze! My house didn't even get trashed, although we had 18 kids there at one point, and the studio cleans up in a snap!

Opening presents with the friends. Over all a very successful, fairly easy festivity! Luckily 6 year-olds are quite easy to please!

Things I love about my Sophie:

*that her first instincts are good. When she lets herself, she helps before being asked, is naturally kind and loving, and is a happy child (as her constant singing to herself testifies!) I pray for her all the time that she will keep and nourish this trait!

*that she says the sweetest, sometimes nonsensical but always endearing things: "please bless that daddy will get home safely because I love him so very much." "Mother, watch me cuh-tsy!"

*That she's soft all the way around, from her little dimpled fingers to her "sophie slump" to her tender little feelings

*that she loves little things (dolls, littlest pet shops, tea sets, etc), just like I did when young

*her giggle!!!!!

*how she loves her daddy best. Really, I think this is so sweet! She's a daddy's girl. (It's okay, Maggie likes us both, depending on who's temporarily the most indulgent, but I get Spen! Of course, today Spen told me that he loves daddy best...and my mole. Well, at least he loves part of me!)

Autumn in Idaho

This may not be the most generally pleasing landscape in the world, but to me, Idaho in the fall is inexplicably charming. I have so many memories of Thanksgiving at my Nanny's house in Lewisville (population 451) that being here this time of year swoops me back to childhood holiday highlights. The shorn fields remind me of 4-wheeler rides down the fields behind Nanny's house; the sparsely decked trees evoke games of hide and seek in the riverbottoms; gray skies and the omnipresent wind remind me of curling up in Nanny's uber-cosy house shielded from the storm outside by brick walls, homemade fudge, waldorf jello and carrot pudding. It may be blah to the unconnected viewer, but I love Idaho in October.

Snapshots

Here are some of the most recent snapshots of Life with the Larsens:Our ward is doing a 90-day Book of Mormon challenge, so we read every night on our reading sofa downstairs. We're all really enjoying this, except for Bella, who gets wriggly when forced to sit and listen for too long...

...and for Spencer, who tends to fall asleep (preferably in full pirate regalia) as we read. Notice: he still loves my mole!

Over conference weekend we got to go to the zoo while down in Utah at Nana and Papa's house. Even though I've probably been there 200 times, I still LOVE Hogle Zoo! I could watch the bird show weekly all year long and still get a kick out of it. Luckily for us, Nana and Papa only live about 4 blocks away so we go there often.

By far our new favorite dining experience is eating at Tepanyaki restaurants. Luckily for the ol' wallet, there are none within a 30 mile radius of us up in Rexburg, but there's a lovely one right by Costco in Salt Lake where the kids beg to go every time. We all enjoy the dinner-and-a-show ambience, and nothing makes it more fun than being with Nana and Papa! Maggie had a particularly special weekend; Papa got her and Gary tickets to Conference from President Monson and they got to go to the conference center, park in the First Presidency's lot, and sit right up front. She loved it! Then she, through other private means, got to meet the Prophet himself, and sit and chat with him for a minute. She was one thrilled little 9 year-old!

Back home: who's the boss here, the dog or the cat? Meow!

Excerpt from an email to my sisters: An Unusual Week

Hi gals! So I just had A WEEK. Yes I know it's not over yet, and I may have some good thrilling stories to add to my list below, but for now, I'll just sum it up because sometimes a girl's just gotta vent... and laugh... or cry?

Monday: AM - woke up to discover that my right contact never made it into my contact case. Found it dry and crackly on the floor later. Did resuscitate it, but was visually lopsided for a few hours. Should have known right there that that was setting me up for a week of overall insanity.

Went out to the garage to drive Spencer's preschool carpool (5 kids) and realized, oh, my car's not in the garage! Oh yeah, it's at the church, because Gary didn't see we left it there for him to drive home after his meeting and walked home like we did. I hop on my bike and pedal like the wicked witch of the west to get to the church, retrieve said car, then drive the 5 3 year-olds to preschool. We made it on time, but only just.

Sophie forgot to put on a pullup and wet the bed. Cue laundry.

Tuesday: Spencer wakes up with a low fever. I still pile him in the car and we do errands in Idaho Falls. Only the Shopko lady forgot to put my freakin expensive ink toners in my basket after I paid for them, so I left without them. No worries, it's only a 30 minute drive back for it! At 5 PM Spencer is suddenly a full-blown croupy mess, but I still had to send him to the neighbors while I taught achievement days (my new calling) and took Maggie to dance. Raced home, fed the herds, jumped in the car to pick Maggie up at dance and tried to race back to teach an etiquette dinner at the church, only to find that my car tire was flat. Took a nice detour to the gas station up the street and we limped home on borrowed air. I love tire problems. Really.

Wednesday early AM: 2 AM Maggie wakes up in a puddle after downing 32 oz. of Gatorade after dance. All over the nice clean sheets. Shuffle on new jammies for both her and Sophie, rinse them down, make them another bed, and cue laundry again. Spencer not doing well.

Spence wakes up at 3 almost unable to breathe, begging for medicine. Luckily my foresighted and beloved neighbor smelled drama and had lent me her nebulizer the night before when she heard Spence wheezing, so we gave him a treatment and a blessing. I was primed and ready to race to the emergency room, but his breathing calmed down enough to go back to sleep so I spent the rest of the night dozing at his side to make sure he was still breathing. Yes, it was one of those nights.

Still Wedneday AM: I was supposed to drive Spencer's carpool again but totally forgot about it in stressing about who could stay with him while I drove the other kids, then counting down the minutes until I could take him to his doctor's appointment because he was so deathly ill. Plus I was a little hung over for the Benadryl I had given myself for my insane allergies right now, so Mindy's Head was not completely on, so to speak. Spencer throws up all over me, his pajamas, his blanket and his bean bag. I try to clean it all up while trying to keep Bella from eating the throw up. GROSS! One of the other four parents finally called asking if I needed help with driving the kids, and I melted down into tears of humiliation when I looked at the clock and it was already after 10. Totally mortified. Then I still had to get Sophie to school because the stupid district doesn't bus the kindergartners any more, then the minute she was off I raced to the Community care where Spence got a steroid breathing treatment, a chest x-ray, two shots and a prescription for antibiotics and albuterol because he had croup AND pneumonia. fun fun! Neighbor brings me chocolate cake because she called about something else and I started bawling on the phone. bless her! PM: am a half hour late for Maggie's horseback riding lessons because I didn't write down the right time. It's too dark for her to ride longer than 20 minutes. Enter sleep deprivation-induced guilt spiral about being a horrible, irresponsible person. Sleep with Spence again right by my bed, listening to his every ragged breath.

Thursday: Sophie wakes up with a fever this time. Seriously? Repeat Wednesday but add teaching clogging classes and frantically calling around about car tires to the mix. Can't leave the kids with anyone to go to the grocery store so are completely out of milk, eggs, oranges and bread - our staples. I do have old rice leftovers and instant oatmeal though, and nobody feels well enough to eat much anyway, so hey, no problem! That's what food storage is for.

PM I do get to exercise and shower after kids are in bed, so there's a bright spot.

So Friday and Saturday have yet to come but I'm hoping for calmer weather. Spencer's doing better and Sophie has yet to develop the pneumonia part of the illness, so we'll see. Sorry for the whiny ramble, but really, after a week of random craziness like this I just had to get some of it out! blah!

Maggie and Mom's GNO

So last Saturday afternoon, Gary took the younger two kids to Idaho Falls (Leo's Place!) and Maggie, by her own choice, stayed home to have one-on-one mommy/Maggie time. (Aw!) We had the best time; I had freezer corn to do, so we turned on Pride and Prejudice - THE definitive P&P, starring Colin-Firth-In-A-Wet-Shirt - made caramel popcorn, and went to work. Together we husked, boiled and packaged freezer corn according to Nanny's recipe, while watching Lizzy and Mr. Darcy make eyes at each other and licking caramel off our fingers between batches. Maggie is only nine, but she watched several different versions of Jane Eyre with me this summer when I was going through a major JE phase, so I figured she was ready to be initiated to My World. I should have thrown in pedicures to make the GNO complete, but we were too tired and busy. Still though, what a great night! Thanks Maggie! And Jane Austen!

First Day of School 2010

We had smiley faces and enthusiasm for the first day of 4th grade for Maggie and kindergarten for Sophie! Each girl got a silver necklace with a butterfly pendant engraved with "CTR". We're really pushing choice and consequences this year, and I thought that would help them face the challenge of all the decisions they will be up against as they settle into their new routine.

After a breakfast at home of crepes and turkey bacon, we went out to our annual neighborhood first day of school breakfast. (Did I say how much I love my neighborhood?!?) We took the much-requested nutella crepes which were gone before the prayer was even said, but our cocoa ripple ring (courtesy of the Best Homes cookbook) was a hit, as were the Franson's steaming hot huckleberry muffins and the Ricks' Rolo doughnuts (don't ask, just eat!). Here is a banner lovely Dawn made for the bus drivers; it says "we love our bus drivers" and all the kids signed it. The last "I love you" as Maggie got on the bus... and as I started to cry (I'm such a boob)...

This is what I saw when they got home. Sophie: all smiles. Loved the whole day, her teacher, her new friends, recess, riding the bus home. She's almost six so she's been waiting for this for a long time!

Maggie: my eternal drama queen. Eventually she admitted to me that all was well, that she had plenty of friends in her class and that her teacher was fine. But first she had to pull this, just to get my attention I guess:

We celebrated an overall successful first day with huckleberry milkshakes and cuddles. Then Mags took Bella on a walk and we started in on our first round of homework for the year. On your mark, get set, GO - the school year has officially begun!

Happiness Is...

... a whole gallon of elusvie, hand-picked huckleberries safely stored in the place of honor in my freezer. You know you've arrived in Idaho if you've been initiated to the highly addictive, highly secretive pasttime of huckleberry picking! We like them in muffins, as the crowning ingredient in our homemade raspberrry freezer jam, on our daily yogurt parfaits, and celebrated the first day of school with huckleberry milkshakes!

...sleeping with the dogs at Gram's house!

...and sleeping with dogs at our house. Yes, we are dog people here. Nothing breathes satisfaction more than a happy child falling asleep with their arm around their canine best friend! On a side note, dog person though I am, if Bella didn't have the most gorgeous, clean, thin fur ever this would never happen. She doesn't even shed yet, bless her. We'll see what happens if any of that changes though - I'm kind of a neat freak.

...horseback riding lessons!

...little boy boots that have done their duty. If I had time or brain power to wax rhapsodic and do these boots justice, I would write a whole Ode to them, but as it is, I shall only say, "well done, thou good and faithful boots! You have been well loved and well used; rest in peace!"

...beautiful, happy, safe children.