October Break 2013

For October Break, I felt like I needed to go to Utah. Jason couldn't really take off work so I went alone with the girls. Bye, bye, desert. I think it's beautiful. But so are other things.

My mom and Lilly went as well as Angela and Margo. So I told Angela I was going to Utah the 19th and 20th instead of the 9th and 10th. She quickly booked her plane ticket... for the 19th and 20th and then later realized in talking to my mom, while I was present, that it was not the same weekend the rest of us were planning on going. $200 mistake that I'm still feeling guilty for. Clara had school Wednesday, so we left after school. We stopped in Jacob Lake for dinner. I had never gone that way, but because the road to Page is still closed and the detour isn't opened at night, it seemed like a good option. Plus, a friend recommended it. While waiting for dinner, we ran into Mrs. Jackson, Clara's preschool teacher and visited with her for a bit. The food was delicious, even if I did have to eat mine while driving and dodging deer on the Kaibab Plateau. After dinner, I let the kids watch a movie on the portable DVD player a lady I work with let me borrow. The kids thought it was awesome. Oh technology, you're so wonderful. Can you imaging how thrilled my kids would be to have a DVD player in the car permanently? Maybe never. :)

I had gotten little sleep the night before trying to get work done, so I called Jason and he talked to me for the last hour plus of my drive to help me stay awake. That first morning was a bit somber, as we learned Steven was having some serious struggles. However, I felt like we were all supposed to be there with Rachel. Once we got past a few things, Rachel's kids took my kids outside to play, Angela and I took all the kids to a pizza buffet for lunch and then we hung out with Rachel's goats. I can't say it enough: Clara needs a goat.

Party on Rachel's bed.

My girls shared a bed (kind of... Hazel mostly slept in mine) and Clara read her bedtime stories. I love it.

On Friday we went to Park City. It was beautiful and made me want to be in Utah every year for Fall. We rode the slide, the coaster and the zipline. I was kind of terrified to do the zipline, but I quickly learned that it wasn't so much a free-fall feeling, but a nice, smooth coasting feeling and I was glad I braved it. My girls loved the slide and coaster (Hazel wasn't tall enough for the coaster) and I loved hearing their joyful squeals.

When we got to the cars to leave, it was discovered that Rachel's keys were locked in her car. I can't say she locked them in because her car randomly automatically locks, which is strange and lame. We sent most the kids home with my mom in my car and Clara, Lucas, Rachel and I got a hot chocolate and waited for the tow truck. From the time I called until they arrived and unlocked our car, it was about 35 minutes. AAA is awesome.

That night we took a ride in Don's new toy, an RZR or something of the sort. Angela bundled up for our ride.

I thought I was going to die and realized even more than I am not a thrill seeker. I don't love the rush of energy and with every donut Don spun, I thought the thing would roll and we'd all be in the hospital. My kids are going to have to adopt some thrill-seeker guardian if they are into that sort of thing when they are older, because I won't be much help.

We also spent some time with Daniel that night. Not sure why our legs in the picture on the left look like midget legs... but the more I look at it, the funnier it looks.

On Saturday, the older kids went to the dunes with Don so we went to the park and out to lunch.

Then we headed up America Fork Canyon (I think... I hope it wasn't Provo Canyon...) and ended at Tibble Fork Reservoir. The scenery was breathtaking, yet again.

Sometimes I end up taking more pictures of Hazel and I realized it's because Clara is bigger now and runs off with cousins more often. Hazel still needs me to supervise most of the time so she is my prime subject. Here she is baking cookies with Rachel, posing for me and trying to get the goat to chase her. She constantly said, "Here goaty-goat" every time we saw the goats (yes, we went back to visit them on Saturday).

That night, Rachel, Angela, my mom and I went out to eat. It was a reminder that life is full of sorrows, but also joys. The food was some of the best we'd ever tasted and it was fun to enjoy it with people I love so much.

Sunday morning I went to Jen's for a quick visit. Because of my short visit in Utah, I didn't feel like I had much family time as it was. I decided next time I need to stay in Utah for at least a week.

I went back to Rachel's and went to Sacrament Meeting with her. I tried to sneakily take a picture of these two cute kids in the chapel and my flash was on. Whoops. I think both of them look a lot like their dads, yet they still look so much alike. Must be their spirits that create the resemblance. :)

We stopped by the Mt. Timpanogas temple for a few pictures because it looked so beautiful. I'm sure these bare little AZ legs were pretty chilly and I'm sure I bribed these kids to let me take a picture.

We went back to Rachel's, changed, packed up, said our goodbyes and left. We only went half-way, but our journey home needs a post of its own. It was that fun. I'm so glad we went to Utah and am already looking forward to our next trip back.

Hazel

I can not get enough of my little Hazel. She keeps us on our toes, keeps us laughing and keeps making me love her more and more. She has the funniest facial expressions and is quite the little character. She loves to help, mostly wants me more than Jason, until she gets in trouble, then she wants Jason, or vice versa. She loves to dress herself and has no sense of matching/style/anything, although she thinks if something is the same color, it matches, regardless of the shade. I let her wear whatever she wants around the house. Sometimes I make her change to go out in public... and sometimes I don't. Top left picture: she does this when she's excited. It never gets old. 

She adores Clara and wants to follow her all over. However, she's also very independent. As Jason described it, she has a very strong presence. It's true. She is small and tiny, but oh, so mighty. She's also rather loud. Clara never really yelled/screamed/squealed. With Hazel, that's her first reaction if something doesn't go her way. We're working on it, but it's new grounds for me so I'm learning as I go. Just pay attention to all her little expressions in these pictures. She's so silly.

She eats really good and is the biggest green smoothie fan in our house. I think she likes them more than I do. She also loves treats and finds every opportunity to sneak a treat (usually while I'm on a work phone call). While Clara was at a birthday party, we went to dinner with Hazel. It was fun and I could tell she enjoyed just being by herself and getting all our attention. Also, pictures of her after she got into my dark red lip gloss while I was on a work call. That's when she's most mischievous. She knows I can't do anything about it.

She really is such a joy and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from squeezing her too much and too tightly. She still has her soft, round, warm, smooth chubby cheeks that I can't resist kissing and slightly pudgy toddler hands that I love to hold. Sometimes I love my kids so much it hurts. 

September 2013

Here's what life was like for the Penrods in September of 2013:

On Labor Day, Clara and I went for our first mother/daughter pedicure. It was fun and I wouldn't mind making it a regular date. But, we haven't gone since, so maybe when she's a little older. In true Clara fashion, she wanted to bring all the stuff home to share it with Hazel. And when we got home, she gave Hazel a pedicure. Clara is always thinking of others and sharing. She's a good older sister... and reminds me of Emily.

We got a new table for the patio so we ate a few meals outside. It was a little warm, but still fun to eat outside. I love eating outside. 

:::clara is so messy when she eats ice cream :::my dad found some red glasses to be like clara :::i babysat some friend's kids and hazel stole the little boy's boots and wore them all over :::utah peaches :::i videoed my dad for fhe telling a brief history of him :::made oreo treats - like rice krispy treats. good, but too rich and next time, i mixed oreos with rice krispies and it was amazing. :::nap time in the nude :::i spy a little explorer :::i make lists for everything, so hazel started making lists and writing on my calendar :::two suckers from the bank for a girl that dressed herself :::piano practice in the nude (see the trend?) :::i love little random things like this that i find around my house, evidence of little creative minds. :::

I have been wanting to put the girls in the same room, but wanted to wait until we actually had beds for them. Clara has been sleeping on my old bed, which belonged to Rachel or Emily before that, since she was two. The bed was old and was just a bed. No headboard/footboard. So I decided it was time to break down and buy them real beds. I found the mattresses on sale a while before at Costco, found mismatched box springs for cheap at Spencer's and got their beds at Restoration Hardware. I looked and looked for beds that a.) I liked, b.) weren't super expensive and c.) were sturdy. When the beds showed up, they were nothing like I had in mind (I should probably not buy furniture online). The color, texture and size were way off. But, once I got over that, I decided I love them. The girls loved watching the delivery guys assemble them. I didn't have all their bedding the day the beds came, but they were so excited to sleep in their new beds so I let them sleep on blankets. Hazel rolled off a few times, more so the first few weeks, but survived her falls. Sometimes she'd come in our room, sometimes Clara would get up and help her. And more often than that, they would end up in the same bed. That has gotten a little less, but it makes me smile every time I walk in and see them sleeping together.  

:::empty room, getting ready for the beds :::we found this tiny little desert sonoran toad at our rental. i got it for clara to have as a pet, but eventually she let it go because i don't think we knew how to take care of it. :::i bought a ton of tomatoes to juice and freeze :::beads at goodwill :::out with the old, in with the new :::catching food for the pet toad :::another race :::we spent a LOT of time at our rental in september. we had to kick our our tenant and then get the place clean. it was so disgusting, it made me sick to my stomach. on this day, we at pizza on the sidewalk in the front :::neat cloud :::pretty sky :::more bug hunting :::i love morning snuggles in my bed :::we got the exterior of our rental painted - lots of money but it looks great :::clara's friend from school over for a playdate :::i got these desks from my dad. clara took over and didn't waste any time making a mess around them. she loves office supplies just like her mother. :::ugh, we had a leak in our shower. i thought for sure we were going to have to rip out our entire shower, but no, just needed the pipe replaced and a little drywall repair.

Dinner at Smashburger. We go out to eat way too much, but man it's fun. I love how Clara and Hazel rarely smile together. One is smiling, the other is being silly. Then the opposite. 

:::reading in the nude (i wasn't joking about the trend) :::cute little shoes :::hazel pulled up a chair to watch cartoons :::my itty bitty strawberry from zupa's. i almost complained :::donuts for breakfast, why not? :::hazel colored this and said, 'look, an apple' so i added the stem. :::that pose :::adoring maren, my friend melissa's baby :::hazel loves her too :::playdate with olivia :::we went to dinner for beka's birthday and the husbands were watching a game on their phones at the table. seriously. :::then we went and got frozen yogurt. i love this girl and what a great friend she is to me. she overlooked my bratty self in the beginning and is always cognizant of when i might need a phone call. :::drawing party at angela's :::watch out, world :::another sleepover in clara's bed :::hazel just couldn't resist the urge to try out clara's glasses

:::miss pigtails - ack, that face and those cheeks :::climbing out of her bed :::i bought a mattress pad for clara from costco and by the time i realized i should have bought two, they stopped carrying them. but i found the exact same one, new, on e-bay. i was pretty excited about that. :::i finally got two of everything: box spring cover, mattress pad, sheets and bed spreads. everything is white and i'm supposed to be adding some color into the mix, but that hasn't happened yet. :::when i get my oil changed, i like to run across the road for some quick shopping. when i went to cross the road, i saw this giant dust/wind storm headed straight toward me. luckily, i got back to my car before it came. :::oh, clara. :::hazel in the corner. she takes putting her nose in the corner very literal. :::mini peach pies. they were pretty tasty, but a lot of work. :::park :::chalk :::family portraits by clara :::clara LOVES our friends little car. this night, she was running alongside some friends and got run over by it. :/ she hit her head on the asphalt pretty hard, but was mostly okay. i think it really scared the boys, who obviously didn't do it on purpose. :::clara had two parties in one day and wrapped the gifts herself. :) :::i was SUPER busy with work deadlines, so while she was at the first, i found a starbucks and sat and worked ::: party #2 was a tea party and the girls got make up, dress up and fake hair. i didn't even recognize her with her hair like that :::i think some of my favorite ways to discipline is by making my girls touch noses on the piano bench when they can't get along. i'm a big fan of kids learning how to solve problems on their own and this makes the process funnier for everyone. it takes the love bench to a whole new level.

:::tiny little red apples from the fruit market :::celebrated my dad's birthday :::dinner outside again :::teaching fhe in the nude :::and all about clara in 1st grade

Here's the picture Clara colored for my dad for his birthday. It's her and him at the temple. That girl is so awesome. 

Sometimes I get crazy ideas. One of my crazy September ideas was that we really need to buy some land for a cabin. I found some we could maybe afford in Young and we took a day trip before church (one benefit of 1:30 church) to go check it out. It was nothing really that we were expecting/hoping for (not super accessible, too much scrub brush) but we still had fun hanging out. top left: a tree at the site; top right: driving from Young to Roosevelt, we stopped for the view; bottom left: it was so bizarre to see pine trees and cactus all together; bottom right: we woke the kids up early to be able to make it back for church and hazel definitely needed a nap to make up for it. I hope someday we will have a cabin. Jason and I would rather have a cabin than a bigger/nicer house. Oh the memories we could make! :)

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.