Throw back Wednesday

I found this email as I was cleaning my inbox of  OVER 5,000! Sheesh. I don't think I believed in deleting or putting things into folders in my early days of gmail. Now that's the first thing I teach my kids!

Anyway. This email was to all of Kevin's female cousins' wives, his grandma Janice, and Lyndi. So basically anyone from that side of the family that didn't live close. It was sent 02/06/07. I was pregnant with Tennyson.I'm also going to include the responses to the email.

 The pictures below were also attached. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,
     Since we don't see each other that often, I'm taking a page from Katie's book and sharing our news through email. I hope we can see each other soon!
We have two big announcements this month. On Jan. 25th we found out we are having a little boy! Karaia was a bit disappointed about not getting a sister. This pregnancy just isn't working out for her. No twins and no sister. But, she has thrown her sorrow into naming her new brother. The current frontrunner for her is Marvin..............which is really a step up since her first choice was Dinosaur Web. Beckham has refined his name choice to 
Buzzlightyear The Robot Daly. Kevin and I currently have no favorites. Or even a list for that matter. And on Jan 13th we bought a van. WeLOVE the extra room and that we can transport more than just our little family now. We bought a new 2006 Toyota Sienna.
   In Jan. we also took a trip to Bear Lake (in our new van with the extra room) and we went snowmobiling (no Emilie did not go) and extreme sledding. Karaia loved both and Beckham's pretty sure making a child participate in those kinds of activities can be categorized as abuse. The "hill" was about 1/4 mile long and VERY steep and fast. Karaia could not get enough of it. "I just like to scream on the way down", she told us. Beckham wouldn't even SIT on the sled...... even while it wasn't moving. Emilie finally put him on the sled kicking and screaming and just pulled him around awhile. He did eventually warm up to snowmobiling. And when we asked him later what his favorite part of the day was he said, "The snowman building ride".
    Speaking of funny things our kids say. Karaia was asking about baptism and she wanted to know if you got baptised with your clothes on because you go in the water. We told her yes, and explained how they are white because they symbolize being clean. Then Emilie said that when you come up out of the water all of your sins and mistakes are washed away. Karaia asked, "Do they go to the bottom?". To which Emilie explained, "No, you can't see them. It's kind of like a metaphor." There was a long pause from Karaia after which she finally announced, "Mom, I think you're speaking Spanish."
     Beckham's been learning what letters words start with and had quite the amusing if not confusing conversation with Kevin.
Beckham : "B is for me!"
Kevin: "I thought M was for me."
Beckham: "No, M is for mommy. D is for you!"
Kevin: "I thought Y was for you."
Beckham: "No! B is for me!"
 Aw the mind of a 2 year old :)

Love, Em

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Katie Longhurst	2/6/07

love it!  keep them coming. 

kade and i laughed so hard at beckham and kevins conversation, classic!

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Teresa Longhurst

Hi Emilie--I laughed out loud at your email.  Thanks for sending it to me.  We just bought a van too.  I keep telling myself over and over, "I can still be cool and drive a van!"

Hope to see you soon,

Teresa

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Janice Holmgre

Thank you.  I love getting these letters and pictures.  I copied the family one for the frig.  Love Grandma Janice

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Beckham done with 5th grade

I have really been feeling like the very worst memory keeper of all. So this is an attempt to document at least this one thing, that I think Beckham will want to know later. 

Today, Beckham officially finished and passed all his requirements for 5th grade math in the Think Through Math program and will now start on 6th grade math. Go Beckham! He's worked really hard for this achievement and we are so happy for him that he accomplished it. 

Here's the email from his 5th teacher, Mrs. Eliason:  

"Beckham has finished the 5th Grade material on Think Through Math and will now be working on 6th Grade stuff.  Yay!  I am so proud of him!

He is such an amazing kid, I love having him in my class!

Laura Eliason"

Elementary school has been a challenge for him in that he can't always progress as quickly as he'd like. This is fine with Kevin and me because we realized that he only has these short years to be a kid. The majority of his life will be spent on being an adult and excelling as fast as possible. We've promised him that in Jr. High we will help him navigate any barriers he might encounter that impedes forward progress. But for now, we are happy it's mostly social learning for him (heaven knows that social learning is such an asset in real quality of life situations) with a few academic cherries he's been able to work for sprinkled in. 

I'm excited to see where he goes once the gates are open and he can run as fast and as far as possible. Love that kid. 

Records and Mom's Surprise

Too much time has gone by since I've recorded my family's journey...and they've still grown and changed. Stinkers.

We are entering a new era around here and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about the things I haven't written down. However, I can't change the past, so I'll reshape my future instead.

I don't know how often I'll write, or even if I'll keep this a public publication. Sometimes I really want to document the less than perfect parenting moments so my children will know it happens and how I learned and grew from it. I'm not sure that's something I need to world to know about though ;)

We went to Lagoon at the end of July. It was the first time our whole family was able to ride on just about every ride if we wanted to. It was also the first time we could send some of the kids to ride one ride while the rest of us stayed back to ride another. IT. WAS. MAGICAL.

I loved it. No one whined. Everyone communicated their needs and wants like human beings. They were grateful and plain ol' fun to be around. It made me so excited for this stage.

A few things I learned about my kids:

Sanders has turned into an Adrenalin junky, just like his sister. He would hardly go an any rides last year and this year he went on Cannibal at the ripe age of 6. He was in tears when he thought he might be too short and not able to ride it. Thankfully his hair topped him over ;) He thought it was the best!

Tennyson, like me, has a strong sense of survival when it comes to amusement rides. He opted not to try Cannibal, but declared his favorite rides to be Wicked, Colossus, the White Roller Coaster, and Wild Mouse. Which is a far cry from refusing to go on ANY daring rides at all last year.

Beckham, has learned that he traditionally feels flutters and anxiety before the big rides, but if he powers through those hurtles, he LOVES those big rides. His strong sense of mortality and his need for the rush and, to be completely honest, a good story to tell, fight with each other. He's learning to trust the statistics that most people simply do not actually die on roller coasters. It's been fun to see him work through this process and not let fear keep him from doing things he loves.

Karaia is CRAZY! The bigger, the faster, the higher is all the better in her book. She reminds me a lot of her Uncle Landon who does big adrenaline rush things because 1. It sounds fun. 2. The payoff of fun is so much better than wondering what it would have been like if he'd done it. It's just not worth staying up at night wondering about that stuff I guess.

Kevin loves a good roller coaster too and thankfully thinks the same amusement park rides karaia likes are pretty awesome.

I went on Wicked for the first time this year. I used to be SO afraid of roller coasters and never once felt like I was missing out when I politely, but firmly, kept my feet planted to ground while others strangely rushed off smiling to be nearly killed. Something changed this year. I found myself thinking, "I could probably do that without hyperventilating".

When my family rushed off to ride Colossus, I found myself sitting next to Wicked with these thoughts. Next thing I knew I was in line, BY MYSELF. Then, without any warning whatsoever, I found that I had willingly buckled my seat belt on the ride.

 Just as I clicked the belt, my phone started ringing. It was Kevin. My family was wondering why I wasn't predictably waiting on the ground for them. The kids joked, "What if Mom comes walking out of the Wicked exit?" To which Kevin nearly forgot how to breath because of the laughing. He has known me for 18 years and that scenario was 99.9% unlikely to EVER happen.

Except it did. It was perfect. Like you'd expect to see in a movie. The kid's mouths broke out into HUGE smiles and they all rushed over with lots of whooping and screams of delight giving me big hugs and high fives. Kevin's jaw dropped and his feet became glued to the ground. Where were the prank cameras? There is no WAY this just happened. But I saw the twinkle in his stunned eyes.

Perfection.

The kids begged me to go on it with them. So we all went, as a family, together.

 The beginning of the end of our time with the kids home is so bitter sweet.

Beckhamism

"Daniel is SUCH a friend. He helps me through all my pains."

~ Beckham, 3rd grade, Age 9...going on 60

Saying sorry is good

Beckham and I have a rough go of it today. I'm sorry was said in both camps. Sigh. Days like this make me really wonder about my ability to parent these amazing souls. I

I want to document all the wonderful things I know about Beckham.

I love his thirst for knowledge. That kid can't learn information fast enough.

I love his dimples. They only come out if he is really, truly smiling. If you see those you've hit gold.

I love his ability to eat broccoli even though, second to tomatoes, it is the worst tasting food to him.

I love his retention of gospel related things.

I love how he loves his siblings.

I love to hear him play the piano.

I love how quick he is to say he is sorry. And mean it.

I love how he is a good friend.

Of course the list could go on, but it's a good start.

Preschool program

Sanders had his preschool graduation at the exact same time as Karaia and Tennyson's soccer games. Who's ready for summer? THIS family! 

Sanders was hilarious. He only recently began to think that singing was "cool". Before that, any time I sang to him or asked him to sing he would only tolerate it and that was only if the song was on his short list. A list that mainly consists of Thomas the Train songs. I was over the moon when I Am a Child of God made the cut. 

Church songs were always met with glares and then lectures about how much he didn't like church songs. He happens to call this song the God song. I don't care what he calls it. I'm just glad he will let me add to our playlist and more importantly sing part of it with me.

But I digress. Sanders loved his program. He was wiggly and excited. He knew most of the actions and occasionally graced us with a word or two of the song. I know he knows more because he sings to himself now and again. But mostly he just did his thing and forgot that he was in front of a bunch of people. There may or may not have been some nose picking, booger eating going on that makes me gag. WHY does anyone do that?!?!!??! 

The highlight of the whole evening came after the last song. He thought his teacher had given them permission to give their moms the gift they had made us. Instead of walking around the tubs that held the props he, like any rational, fun loving boy, decided the fastest, most fun way, to me was to jump over the tub. 

Yup. You guessed it. His foot caught the tub, tipped it over, while the teacher was still talking, and he sprawled out on the floor. 

SO funny! AND I caught it all on tape!

He's a cute kid and always keeps us laughing. 

Sanders' picture is at the top right above him.

Oh how we LOVE Mrs. Karen!

In other news, we have decided to have Karaia and Beckahm go competitive in soccer. We found a leauge, DFC (Davis Futbol Club) that will give them the competition they need without sucking the fun out of soccer and there isn't too much travel. Karaia had try outs today and Beckham's are tomorrow.

The breaks

Today I had plans.

Plans to get a lot done on my designs so I can be more present in my life. AND because my feature month starts June 1st! I've got to get this line done.

But right from the get go, someone else had other plans.

I stayed up late last night to get a job start on my usual Monday duties. And by late I mean early. And by early I mean 3:00am.  Which also meant that I did not get up with the kids. However, we have this great chart, or so I thought, and my nagging is no longer necessary.

Turns out the kids completely forgot that the chart is law even if mom is not there to remind them of this little fact.  By the time I was woken up, albeit to kids playing silly with each other, at 8:05am they were FAR from being where they should have been having been up for over an hour. Some of them had still not eaten breakfast. WHAT?!?!?!?!

Sigh.
 
Sanders slept in until about 8:20. That was wonderful. Although it did put him quite a bit behind and by the time he finished all of his stuff, playgroup had been going for almost 45 mins and he really just wanted to stay home.

So, I let him. I thought, I'll just turn on a show and I know I've lost 45 mins of design time, but spending that time with Sanders was important and he will be perfectly happy to sit and watch his show.

And that's true, he did. But then PYP stuff went up in smoke and I ran around putting fires out during the time he was absorbed in his stuff.

Soon it was time for Tennyson to come home. Wonderful! I thought I'll feed them lunch and then Sanders can finish his show with Tennyson and then they can play together while I get some design stuff done.

However, Tennyson's homework today, while usually something he can do on his own, felt extra challenging to him today and he needed his mom. Which I was happy to do. THEN the garage door man came because our garage wouldn't shut this morning. Although when he asked what was the problem and I told him and then pushed the button it went down just fine. Of course! Still, the garage door was hanging crooked so he fixed it for us. The best news is the whole thing only cost $80! Best news of the day!

Meanwhile, Sanders and Tennyson were having battle of the siblings, while Tennyson was still trying to finish homework and then get to eating his lunch.

After all of that, I had time for one file before PYP stuff needed attention again. Then more moments with the boys. They were good, they were just unplanned. Which is great, but it means less time for the things I thought I was supposed to be doing today.

By the time that was all over, Karaia and Beckham came home. We talked school stuff and Beckham talked about being nervous for his baseball game tonight. They were playing the most challenging team in the league.

My friend Nicki's computer was throwing a fit and she asked if she could come use mine for a bit. I LOVE that! So nice to have friends that feel comfortable in your home. It was nice to chat with her for a while.

While all of this was going on, I learned that the printer at Modern Yardage was also throwing a fit today and not a whole lot of anything was happening down there either.

That's when I paused.

What was I supposed to be learning/doing today instead of what I had planned? Clearly, the Lord was throwing every possible road block in my path to get me to stop or slow down. Or was this a trial to see how I would chose to take the day or because really good things will happen when this get done and someone doesn't like when good things happen? Either way, someone was trying to put on the breaks and slow things down. It felt a lot more like gentle reminders than thwarting.

Thankfully, I felt stressed, but calm most of the day. If that makes any sense? I knew I had stuff that needed to get done, but even if my end was done the warehouse wouldn't have been able to do anything with it today anyway. So there was no point in really stressing over it. I just did my best.

Beckham lost his baseball game. He even struck out twice and was the last out twice. He was doing a pretty good job handling it. I wasn't able to go and he said,

 "I'm glad you didn't come. The PAIN! The HORROR! I'm glad you didn't see that."

I made sure he knew I can't possibly love him less because he strikes out...ever.

On the way home Kevin and Beckham saw a rainbow that looked like it ended right at the top of our street. Kevin said, "Look! That rainbow ends at the top of the road. Let's go find the pot of gold."

"Ok! Yes, let's go find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!!!"

"There isn't really a pot of gold at the end."

"Way to crush my dreams, Dad."

That kid is so funny!

Here it is almost 10pm and I have still only completed about 6 out of 50 files that need to be done. I feel, though, that everything is happening in the time frame it needs to. I have faith that while I don't think there is enough time to get things done Someone else can see more of the picture than me.

So I will pay heed to the breaks and enjoy the slower pace

Faces

 Sanders had to get shots today at his well check up. I told him we were going to go get ice cream because he'd been so brave.

"I wasn't brave. I cried."

"But you didn't wiggle or try and stop the nurse from giving you your shots. You can cry and still be brave. You still let them give them to you.  That is very brave!"

These faces kill me! 
 

He LOVES stickers. More specifically he loves stickers on his face.  Particularly stickers you find on fruit. This is a very typical, daily, look for Sanders :)

Look at how long Karaia's Hair is! She is a doll.

My sweet Tennyson. We have either really amazing days or days where, to coin a phrase I heard my cousin use, we learn a LOT from each other. 

Isn't that the best way you've ever heard to say that?

I wish I had a picture of Beckham today. He was running around so much we barely saw each other.

The older two didn't actually get home from school until after 8:00 pm. They came home just before 4pm. Long enough to grab a quick snack and change into soccer stuff, then they were off to activity days (Karaia) or soccer (Beckham).

I picked Karaia up from Activity days to drive her to her soccer game on our way to Tennyson's soccer game. When her game ended after 7pm, she had piano starting at 7:30pm. Kevin picked her up after her lesson and took her grocery shopping with him. They got home just before 9pm.

Meanwhile, after Beckham's soccer game he had just enough time to shove a hot dog in his face and then change for scouts. They went hiking. Poor little guys legs were killing him by the time he got home around 8:15.

This was all after Karaia and Beckham got to go to the Rec Center and swim for a few hours for a field trip!

We are so ready for the non-schedule of summer!

Pictureless day

There were two, not the usual three, soccer games today from 5:00pm to 6:00pm.

Good thing, because Karaia and Beckham had a choir concert starting at 6:30pm.

Their mother did not take one single picture of any of the three events.

You really can't be too mad at her. Sanders was really patient attending all these events that he doesn't get to participate in until the last 10 minutes of each event. She tries very hard to keep him entertained while watching and supporting the other kids. Throwing picture taking into that mix felt like too much of a challenge tonight. Thank goodness for Kevin and her mom at the choir concert! Mom's entertainment was starting to lose it's effect.

The kids did great and we feel really blessed they get to have so many fun things in their life.

After the concert I took Tennyson out for ice cream because he scored a goal during his soccer game. This is a very big deal for him seeing that last year he thought watching his shadow as he ran around on the field was a much more productive use of his time that paying any attention to the ball.

He is getting to be a very good player. He can anticipate where the ball will be headed and try to position himself accordingly.

We had a wonderful time and ate our dessert before out dinner! I tried to get him to open up to me when it was just the two of us. We have a unique relationship and his choices don't always allow for a lot of positive bonding. Something we are both working on. We adore each other and I think this little rough patch makes both our hearts ache a lot.

I asked him what he thought of the new chore chart.

"I like it!"

"What do you like best about it?"

"Well, see, I really like jobs more than I like playing."

Believe me when I tell you, It's a good thing he told me!

First pine wood derby

Beckham had his first pine wood derby tonight. He named his car Destroyer. The organizers did an amazing job. They had music and flashing lights and a spot light and introduced each boy and their car as they raced through the "tunnel" (from the foyer to the gym with streams in the doorway). The boys loved  it!

Grandpa Jim guided Beckham, with Kevin, as he bought his car. Grandpa Jim left the country before the derby so Beckham wrote him an email all about it. He typed it himself without any help.

Here's Beckham's report on tonight's Pinewood Derby:

Hello grandpa, tonight I went to the Pinewood Derby. The first time I raced I came in first. then the next time I came in second and then second and second and second etc;. Then I came in third then second then second then second etc;. Then at the end my friend Matthew came in first out of thirty four. I came in seventh out of 34. My friend Austin came in 8th out of 34. Matthew can clear the track in 3.59 seconds. The second place winner Brenden can do it in 3.75 seconds. some of my friends didn't get to go to the finals. It's o.k though it happens some times. Hope you can come to the next Pinewood Derby.

   Love,
      
Beckham

I didn't know he know the phrase, "etc." He's a great kid. Way to go Beckham!

Molding the future

Grandma Candace has a rule that once you are 1st grade you get to spend a WHOLE day, just you and Grandma, at the Capital with her. Grandma Candace is a lobbyist and the kids love, love, LOVE when it's their day.

Beckham got to go today. He was so excited that waking up early was a treat because it just meant his day got to start sooner.

Grandma put him to work doing all sorts of intern type things and I have no doubt that at some point in Beckham's life he will either intern for her for real or one of the Legislators. He really loves it up there.

Thank you Grandma!

Looks are deceiving

Grandma Emma and Grandpa Guy gave the boys some play dough for Valentine's day. They couldn't get their morning jobs done fast enough!

 When Tennyson saw his picture he said, "Hey! That really looks like I'm eating a cupcake!!"

Later in the day the temptation to smash all three colors together grew too hard to resist and he created a "flat cake" that he insisted on taking an action eating shot. So do the kid a favor and pretend you really believed he was eating that delicious flat cake....that is comprised of naturally occurring flat cake colors. Everyone knows that.

Also, someone needs a hair cut!

Like father like son

Kevin's dad plays the saxophone. Kevin plays the saxophone as well.

One was playing tenor and one was playing alto. Don't ask me which is which, I keep forgetting.  

They serenaded us with the "Star Wars theme" (not sure if that's the true name, but you all know what I mean) and "Born Free".

Kevin decided the talent should be kept in the family so the lessons began.

 Beckham caught on right away and is able to read really simple music. Beckham and Kevin even played a simple duet tonight. I'm excited to see where Beckham's musical talents take him. It's so fun to have these Daly men share this common interest. Families are the best!   

Even if they are loud ;-)

The post that is Disneyland

Hooray!!! I'm finally posting about this almost exactly 6 months late. How's that for timing? Nice.

I'm sure this will be more pictures than words since, you know, we created these memories 6 months ago. But I'll give it my best go.

We left for Disneyland April 29th, 2012.

Spent the night in Vegas and then headed for California and a beach afternoon on Monday. Kevin and the older two kids LOVED the beach and boogie boarded for hours. The younger two kids tried to like the water until a wave knocked them down face first. That was the end of their water adventures. But they LOVED the sand.

Me? I don't do the ocean. I love looking at it and being on the beach, but the salt of the water and, frankly, the fact that BIG fish with lots of BIG teeth also live in that water keeps me safely on shore.

This was Sanders' first time ever at Disneyland. I'm pretty sure I was more excited about it than he was.

I made these next shirts with my silhouette my in-laws gave me for Christmas.

 

 I love that machine as if it were one of my children and use it often. The shirts are pretty cool and we were all super happy with them.

Sanders riding Casey Jr. he would have been happy to do that all day!

The super fun part about this trip was my sister, Annie, her cute family, and my mom and Dave came with us! My mom's legs aren't really known for the amount of walking she can do. They opted to rent a wheel chair and she HATED every minute of it. It was probably the right choice at least for the first day, but for the rest of the time, mom was sans wheels and did just fine. Hooray!

As you can see, these cousins adore each other and can't be bothered to stop moving and playing with each other for a lousy picture ;)

Does this not just CAPTURE the Disney magic? Look at those sparkle eyes!

I think Karaia was feeling nervous because those hands stayed up in all the pictures

waiting in line for Star Tours. Mr T was super excited to be tall enough to ride this!

Awwww, Sanders' first pair of Mickey Ears. SUCH a treat to give the kids their first pair.

The stinker wouldn't look at the camera. What can you do? He's still cute. And those mouse ear...I die of cuteness over load.

And now we come to the series of mom-really-REALLY-would-like-one-nice-picture-of-all-of-us-so-let's-be-as-crazy-as-possible

What is Sanders doing?

Still they are hilarious and so I include them.

Again, Sanders?

soooooo close

Clearly this is Beckham's favorite part

Good job, Beckham! Wait. Where did Sanders go? Tennyson has decided that slapping himself with the strap is a better option than looking in the camera. Nice.

Almost....

Wait, Sanders disappeared again.

3 out of the four are at least smiling. Let's take a few more just to see if we can get lucky.

And Sanders has disappeared yet again....sigh.

This is as good as it get! At least we can see everyone's eyes.

Waiting for It's a small world.

My four little Mousketeers

I think it's a rule that the youngest child must fall asleep at least once in the stroller. Thanks for keeping the rules cute Sanders.

The Second day of Disney. I made my shirt, the kid's shirts and Karaia's skirt. They loved them. Sanders did NOT like his picture taken.

Told you. He was NOT happy we were taking pictures.

Tennyson, however, wanted to make SURE you saw his great new shirt his mom made him.

Tennyson is making up for Sanders smiling by smiling even bigger.

Disney cuteness for sure!

Can't ask for a better backdrop.

Love this picture of Beckham.

These two are such good buddies.

I promise Kevin was having fun! I'm not even being sarcastic. He really was. He just looks kind of grumpy when pictures capture him relaxed. It's a running joke.

Great now Kevin is smiling, what's up with everyone else?!?!?!

We also went over to California Adventure on that second day to meet up with the Lawson's and mom and Dave. Annie and I collaborated to make similar  shirts for our kids. Fun times!


Now to try and get double the amount of children to look. at. the. camera!

L to R: Sanders (3), Beckham (7), Brenner (4), Mckinney (6), Davis (2), Tennyson (4), Karaia (9), Brightynn (8)

Clearly, it's time for a dance party!

These next ones are pictures Tennyson took. I think he did a good job!

See, they had these turkey legs that were nearly as big as your head. Kevin couldn't resist. I think he may have been more in love with that leg than with me for a few moments.

Onto the 3rd day! The Lawson's had left by then and boy did we notice. The kids kept asking where their cousins where.

AND because I am a gluten for punishment, I tried to take pictures of the kids. When will I ever learn.

At least they were having fun. Doesn't Karaia look adorable?

At one point Karaia and Beckham thought it would be funny if I took pictures of them "fighting"

I'm so glad Beckham is choosing to fight like a girl because he is fighting with a girl. Classic.

Can you tell it's the third day by the look on Kevin's face? Happy but exhausted.

What's this?! A rare sighting of the mom! Hooray! I was actually there!

Back on Casey jr. He loved it so much.

This was the best! All Tennyson talked about before going to Disneyland was doing the Jedi Training. The first day we tried it was rained out. This was our very, very last chance and he got chosen!

I thought it was so cool how they came up from the ground.

The last night there we decided that ice cream for dinner was the thing to do when at Disneyland. It was perfect.

He makes a good pirate!

And then we went home. We closed the park out every night. It was a great vacation. Sanders talks about Disneyland nearly every day. We can't wait to go back!

PS looking back I remember more pictures with Nana and Pappa. I wonder where they are? Hmm...I'm going to have to go and find those.