Goodman Reunion 2013

As usual, we headed up to Jason's family reunion for Labor Day weekend. On the way up it was really rainy and traffic was going really slow. However, the RV in front of us seemed to be going faster than everyone else and then locked their brakes when they tried to slow down. We heard and saw them skidding off the road. I thought for sure they were going to flip over. Lucky for them, and unbeknownst to me, there was a dirt embankment that caught their front right wheel as they were about to tip. It was a little wild.

Anyway. We made it safe. I love the mountains. It is so clean and so beautiful. I love the sky, especially when there is the contrast of white clouds.  

We spent the weekend exploring, visiting and just hanging out.

Every year there is a serious game of water balloon volleyball. It's a lot of fun to watch. When this years game was over, someone tried to dump the bucket of water from the balloons on the other team. Clara was in the wrong place and got most of the water on her. I think it was so cold and took her off guard that it scared her and she started crying. I was trying to get pictures of the water, because I knew it was coming, but got Clara's sad face instead. 

 

The kids got their faces painted. And then they painted some of the adult's faces. Clara did a cat for me, if you can't tell.

On Sunday night, there is always a program/talent show around the big giant bonfire that all the pyros in the family build. There are a lot of recurring skits and they make me laugh every year. Jason's cousins Rodney and Brandon to "Beans" that Connie narrates (top left). This year they were especially hilarious. Uncle Randall always does Poncho Villa (top right) that makes me laugh so hard. And there is always the "If I were a Goodman..." song (bottom right). They had the kids come up and help.

August 2013

Clara had to wear her hat to the eye doctor || eye doctor fun (benefits of personally knowing the doctor) || One morning I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept well at all. See that tiny space in between Clara and Hazel? No wonder I felt like I hadn't slept well || splash pad with Heather W. and her girls || fun with Grandma Penrod || One night we got together with some friends from high school and went to dinner at Tanzy. While I loved the company, I'd never go back to the restaurant. The food was not very good and on top of that, it was super overpriced || Clara with her lasso on a horse || Baby Avery || Uncle Lamar and Hazel after Avery's baby blessing || Me in a borrowed vintage dress that Jason actually liked... what you can't see in the picture is the gum that fell out of Hazel's mouth in the car on the way to the baby blessing. We looked every where for it, I even searched the car while Jason took the girls into church. I found it at the end of Sacrament when I went to lift Hazel off my lap. Apparently it was in between the layers of her dress and then squished out onto my dress. It came off my dress fine but I threw Hazel's away since the outer layer was like a chiffon and gum was mashed into every little hole. Not worth cleaning!

After the blessing, we brought Jordyn home to sleep over. We spent most of the day swimming at my mom's where I continued to admire my new swimsuit and Lilly scaled the fence, ran across the roof and jumped into the pool. We also painted toenails and decorated cupcakes. We sure have missed Jordyn since she moved up to Utah.

My dad mowing the lawn || My dad with my girls || I knew a lot of people having babies in a very short amount a time and I dealt with some of the emotions from miscarrying by shopping and shopping and shopping for baby clothes. I found some cute stuff || My kids, my dad and my mom for my mom's birthday || Clara loves doing the lesson for FHE. This time, Hazel was her prop and she was telling her to be happy and helping her smile || Annual splash contest at the ward pool party (Jason didn't win this year) || Playing with her food || Flying airplanes || Nursery friends (where Megandee was nursing a doll, Hazel was guarding the drum and Liv remained an innocent by-stander) || IKEA || kale lentil soup || I watched Jessie's little girl, Kimberly one day. Hazel loved having a little playmate || sugar cookies with Brighton || Ever since reading the Boxcar Children, Clara has wanted to run away. Not necessarily to get away from us, but to see what it's like to live on her own. Jason made a deal with her that as soon as she can run faster than him, she can run away because then she can outrun bad guys. So, they race around the cul-de-sac on Saturday mornings || Shopping with Clara || a picture Clara drew on the backside of Angela's foam board

Holding baby Avery. Seeing my girls interact with babies makes me want one so bad. They adore babies and need a little sibling. This is also the night I tried to take Keirsten dinner, only to arrive and realize I didn't have the chicken salad for the chicken salad croissants! Rather than drive 20 minutes home and 20 minutes back, I went and picked up pizza from Little Caesar's. Don't worry, I took dinner another night to make up for it || This picture is gross, but funny. Angela had to cook some steak for work and she let us eat it. Hazel chewed on her piece like it was a piece of gum for about 20 minutes. Ha ha || being silly || being messy || Hazel and I went and met my dad for lunch || cruising (no clothes and sun glasses) || coconut curry lentils that I made and were SO good || getting creative || hmmmm, where does she learn to dress like that? || I bought a nightstand and dresser from IKEA and it took me forever to get the nightstand put together (Jason did the dresser while we were in Utah almost two months later...) || just eating a giant carrot || Clara set up a desk in the living room to do home work and set one up for Hazel right next to her's. She is such a good big sister || Look how loose that tooth is! It was hanging by a thread and then two seconds later, it fell out

I can't stop taking pictures of our sunsets. They are incredible. I love the AZ skies. || I threw a baby shower for my friend Sarah and all the food turned out so good. We had Caesar salad, a pesto pasta salad, fruit, spinach artichoke dip with, a salad with cheese, apple pears, spicy candied pecans and gorgonzola, Oreo truffles and rice krispy treats. Just sayin'...

When Clara is in school, Hazel and I spend a lot more one-on-one time together. It brings back a lot of memories from when Clara was this age. She makes a lot of really big messes but also makes me smile so much.

Glasses

Towards the end of Kindergarten, Clara told me she had to move to the front of the classroom to see. Just as summer was coming to an end, I finally took Clara into the eye doctor and wasn't surprised to hear she needed glasses. Our eye doctor, and my good friend Matt, called me afterwards to make sure I was doing okay because he knows it can be hard when a child needs glasses. Is your eye doctor that nice? :) Anyway, I explained to him that I think kids with glasses are mostly darling and I was always jealous of the kids that got to wear glasses in high school. We started hunting and realized it is very difficult to find glasses for a small face. After going to multiple Costcos, Target and Wal-Mart, we finally found some at the store of the company where our doctor works. I was hoping to avoid that, thinking it'd be more expensive, but it was actually a really great deal. We ordered them and waited. It was the first time I've ever had to buy glasses for anyone so I learned a lot. The first thing Clara said to me when she got her glasses was, "Mom, I can see your zit." As we were leaving the place and I told her she needed to be wearing them most of the time, she acted annoyed and completely surprised that she had to actually wear them. She quickly learned how useful they are and quickly put them on without me asking or reminding. The day she got them, she told Hazel, "They will only replace them one time without us having to pay for it so I have to take care of them." Then she wouldn't let Hazel play with them. I was glad she understood the importance of taking care of them from day one and understood what our warranty covered. She looks absolutely darling in them, but I know how cruel kids are so I asked her what she would do if someone made fun of her. She replied, without hesitation, "I'd blow bubbles with my spit and walk away." Man, I love her.

Back to School 2013

August means it's time to go back to school. We had our 3rd annual fancy dinner the night before school started. On the menu: steamed broccoli, garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom zucchini shish kabobs and brown sugar glazed salmon. Our theme was "shine on" and I printed a ton of pictures of the girls and hung them up. I'm sure the pictures will stay up for an entire year, just like last year. I took down last year's pictures to hang these up. :) Other than that, I was pretty unorganized and the kitchen was a wreck by the time I got dinner done. I hope that I have my life more together next year. We also had dessert, but we all totally forgot about it. I think it was lost in my messy kitchen. 

I love school. However, I hate that Clara is gone so long every day. It was especially bad this year because it's the first year of all day school. But, I have pondered and prayed and thought and laid awake in bed worrying about it and realized this is the best thing for her for now. Plus, I remember how excited I was every year to go back to school. I loved school, meeting new friends, learning, reading, writing, new clothes, the playground, lunch time, etc., etc. School is so much more than what is simply learned and Clara was so excited to start first grade so I couldn't help but be excited with her. Her lunch on the first day: I love you beary much. It's not Rachel quality, but every bit got eaten and it made both Clara and I smile. 

 

Clara is such a beautiful little girl. I think this was the only time we curled her hair for school until picture day. 

I don't worry about her making friends, being nice, doing well or sticking up for what she believes.

I think she has a tendency to reach out more to the different kids, which is the same way that I was at her age. 

 

Sometimes I look at her and know that beyond that pretty little face is a spirit that's the same age as mine. Happy 1st grade my sweet little girl!

July 2013

July was busy with vacations, but we still managed to squeeze some other things in.

I've mentioned this before, but I love watching my kids explore with their imaginations. I also love watching them play together and interact. Here Clara found a toothpaste box which quickly became a telescope and after they added some boots, they became quite the pair of pirates. Hazel looks like a little Schmee.

Here's what Clara learned in Kindergarten.

Top left to right: fort at my mom's, GNO with high school friends/friend's spouses (so glad my friends married people I like), jamming with Margo, homemade pizza with friends, first trip to Firehouse, Clara balancing on the broom, shopping with Hazel, pretty sky, awesome bedhead, letting Clara wear her cat attire to KS, Hazel's awesome glasses, Clara goes to Kathryn's to celebrate Pioneer Day (with a bacon egg and cheese biscuit in hand), playdate with the Smithsons to make and play with blubber.

The day before Jason and I went to California for SaLeah's wedding, I had a bunch of errands to run with the girls. We went to get new tires on my car and got my oil changed. In between, we stopped at Joyride for lunch but there was a big wait (for lunch on a Thursday?) so we went to SoCal Fish Taco Company which ended up being really good. While waiting for our oil change, I paid a dollar for one of those massage chairs and the girls got the biggest kick out of it. It was a busy day, but fun to hang out with my little sidekicks.

Oh, just bought 40+ cups of blueberries to freeze.

 

I wanted to do something fun before Clara went back to school so we went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was Hazel's first time since she was a baby and not surprising, she loved it. I can't believe how young my girls look here, even though it was only 5 months ago!

And just one of my favorite pictures of these two.