Sweet, Silly, With Some Sisterly Rivalry Mixed In

For the past two days I've been struggling with some lower back pain. Since I don't exercise except to get off the couch to grab another cookie, I know it isn't from doing something strenuous. After saying family prayer on Saturday night Miriam turned to me and said, "Mommy, I wish it was my back that hurt so that you wouldn't be in pain."

Yesterday my mom came and took the girls to her house so they could go to Church with my family. When the girls arrived home later in the evening Miriam started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I felt so sad being at Church and having fun without you. I didn't like that you were here all by yourself with your back hurting." In talking with my mom this morning, apparently she said the same thing to her on the walk home from Church. She was pretty upset. It must be pretty scary to see the one parent you have at home unable to function properly.

Last night Shaylynn was being very difficult so I gave her bum a little swat. She kept acting up so I asked if she wanted a really hard spanking. She nodded her head and came closer so I could reach her bum. It's hard to be mad at her when all you want to do is give her squishes. Silly girl!

Last week during Sacrament Meeting Miriam was eating Goldfish (the crackers, not actual fish) out of a little container. Miriam was trying to share the crackers with Shaylynn, but Shay wanted to hold them herself. Earlier the girls had been playing with my three tiered necklace, assigning each tier a person. It was funny listening to them trying to make all four of us fit on a three tiered object. After fighting over the Goldfish, Shay looks at Miriam with a defiant look, grabs my necklace, and very clearly says (as she's pointing to each level), "Daddy, Mommy, and Shay, NOT Miriam". Miriam and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Shaylynn was very serious that Miriam should not be a part of our family because she didn't let Shay have the cup of crackers. A little later Miriam handed Shay the cup and Shay fixed the necklace to be "Mommy, Miriam, and Shay". Sorry Daddy, you got left out that time. Even though it wasn't nice, I was still amazed at how Shay's mind worked to create her little necklace revenge.

I decided to post the picture of the necklace so you'd understand what I was talking about.

New Week of School, New Outfit Picture

Day 4, Outfit 4

We crimped her hair today. We were both excited with how it turned out. Too bad it's rainy outside and it won't last the day.

Day 3, Outfit 3

Trying to stay cool and cute at the same time.

Day 2 of School, Day 2's New Outfit

I'm sure you're going to be sick of seeing pictures of Miriam's new clothes, but hey, this is for her Dad. We didn't get to do the "Fashion Show" before he left.

Day 2's Ensemble:

I realized that I didn't get a close up of Miriam's face yesterday. Doesn't she have amazing eyes?

I was trying to describe her hair to Doug and it wasn't going to well. I finally just took a picture. It looks better in person than it does in a picture. My dad bought her this hair clip at the Rexburg Farmer's Market while I was in Park City. She was so excited about it and I think he was pleased as punch to get her something. Silly Daddy!

Hope Ya Know, We Had A Hard Time

I feel so blessed to know that I have a Father in Heaven that I can go to and say, "Hope ya know, I'm having a hard time". I'm so grateful to have the gospel in my life. I don't know how I'd manage without it.

You're Never Alone

Bye Bye Love!

Miriam has now been in school for 20 minutes. Is she enjoying herself? Does she like her teacher? Has she made any new friends? Will she make it to the bathroom in time if she has to go? Will a little boy try to kiss her, if he does, will she know to smack him in the nose? The biggest question running through my mind is: WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT HER?

Miriam is my sweet child, the one who listens to what I say, who cleans up Shay's messes, she keeps Shaylynn out of trouble by playing with her, and gives me hugs and kisses whenever I ask. How can I live without that during the day?

I have a greater appreciation for my Father in Heaven today. I imagine this is a little how He must feel every time he sends one of his beloved children to earth. However; I'm sending my child to a safe environment, to a teacher whom I know will love and care for Miriam, to a school that values education, and we're in a community where most of the kids have been raised with the same values. How our Father must ache to send His children to some of the places He sends them. To drug addicted parents, teenage mothers who are still babies themselves, to war torn countries with evil dictators. Yet, He loves us enough to know that in order to return, we have to have these experiences. How grateful I am that I was born and raised in the situation I was. I feel like I won the most important lottery in the world. Now in writing this, I start seeing my own shortcomings with a microscope. My girls deserve the same blessings that I received. I need to be a little more patient, a little more willing to let the nonessential things of life go. Hug more and scold less. The list goes on and on.

I'm going to miss my little girl, but I know that going to school is part of the growing process. Getting your feelings hurt by a friend who doesn't want to play with you, is part of that same process. It's not fun, it hurts, and I want to protect her from it, but I can't. My parents couldn't protect me from the pain and I am who I am because of the lessons I learned by making mistakes and mistakes made by others. Just like our Father in Heaven can't keep us safe in Heaven forever, we can't keep our children unexposed from the world. We just have to do our best to teach our children to be strong, loving, righteous people who are examples to those around them of how a child of God should be.

This post was meant to be short and sweet with pictures for Doug to see of his little girl. Now it has turned into my soap box. I'll stop now and post some pictures of my little angel on her first day of 1st Grade.

I love you Miriam!

The outfit---we had decided on a different one, but yesterday she put this ensemble together and wanted to wear it instead. I think she chose wisely. She looks BEAUTIFUL!!!

We never go out the front door, but since everyone else has a door picture, I thought we should too. :) Actually, we did the whole front door thing too when I was growing up. The fun thing was that we walked to school with all our neighbor friends so they were all in the pictures too.

Miriam's teacher, Mrs. McCoy. I'm so excited that Miriam got her, she seems so sweet. Yesterday after we met her, Miriam said, "Mom, I've got the nicest teacher ever!"

This is to prove to Doug that I can make pancakes, and yes, I did make them this morning. I should have gotten a picture of Miriam eating, but I was in too big of a hurry. That's why I don't ever make breakfast food for breakfast. It takes too long. However; it's what Miriam wanted for breakfast so it was worth it.

On the Road Again. . . .

Doug is currently driving to Colorado for his next rotation. He enjoyed certain aspects of his last rotation, but is glad to be moving on. He found a basement apartment to rent. It was more money than we were hoping to spend, but in the long run it's cheaper than a lot of other places he was considering. I'm praying it will be as good as it sounds.

It was hard to get up this morning to say goodbye. We decided to let the girls sleep because he was leaving so early, but Miriam decided she wanted to be woken up. Doug did as she said, but gratefully she went back to sleep immediately after. When she got up this morning she said that Dad had told her he wasn't going until morning, but that he snuck out at night. I had to inform her that it was just really early this morning and that's why the sun wasn't up. She was not happy with the thought of him not telling her when he was really leaving.

I was tempted to make the drive with Doug and then fly home, but it's a good thing I decided to save the money. I wouldn't have fit in the car. The trunk, backseat, and passenger seat in the front were completely full. I'm not sure I'll even be able to make the drive back with him after graduation in May! Hopefully we'll be able to get rid of a few things before that day arrives.

Here are some pictures of the car taken right before Doug left:

Oops, bad timing. Sorry about the eyes honey.

Bye, drive safe, I love you, and we'll see you in nine months!

Where Is This Country Headed?

Where Have I Been?

I'm sitting here, knowing I need to blog, but not remember what I've been up to. I know I've been busy, but what was I doing? Let's see.....

1. I went on a MAJOR shopping trip to Park City with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law.
2. I was in charge of the Anderson Family Reunion.
3. I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss.
4. I had family from Virginia visiting for a week.
5. I went to a wedding in St. George.

Phew. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I've been hopping all summer. One of these days I'll get it blogged about, just not this second. Just know that I'm still here. I finally got caught up on reading your blogs today. Now it's time to update my own. More to come, I promise!

Update on the Harry Potter Party

Remember how I talked about the Harry Potter party my friend had? Well, she posted pictures of the experience. Yep, I was right, it was AMAZING. I thought I'd link it here so you can all see the mind blowing creativity Becky has. Feel free to leave her a message on her blog, I'm sure she'd love to know you stopped by!