Too many tutus

With a house full of girls, we are bound to have dancers.

(p.s. Cambri's hair was 1/2 of her doing and 1/2 of mine, can you tell who did what?)

Do we hope/try for a boy?

OR

Do we keep those cute and sassy ballerinas coming?

Pre-Pre-School

I can hardly believe I have a child old enough to begin school! Our little Miss Cambri began preschool last week and I have to admit she was excited to start school and I was just as excited for her (and for me). With her birthday being in October she will just miss the cut-off for Kindergarten next year. So lucky her, she gets TWO years of Preschool AND from what she displays now, she will be the brains of her Kindergarten class.


We love you Cambri! You are such a joy to raise and have in our family. You are constantly molding me and teaching me how to be a more Christ-like mother and I love you for that. You are an incredibly active and busy girl. I am convinced that your high level of energy is due to the fact you have a very lively spirit that wants to be set free and accomplish greats things in this life.

We wish you the best this school year and the many more school years to follow! We hope you continue having a love for learning and strive to learn all that you can. We are here to guide you each step of the way. Good luck Cambri!

Bummin' at the Beach

It is rather embarassing to admit but this was the first and last day we went out to Cannon Beach this summer. I know, lame. But I must say, it did not disappoint.

We have gone out to the coast numerous times in the 2 years we've lived in Oregon, mainly when we've had family in town, and each time we have gone, the weather has been rather dreary.

Not this time. It was BEAUTIFUL!
So beautiful, that our 3 little ladies donned smiles, all day long , it was heavenly!



The girls favorite activities of the day were,

running from the waves,

AND



flying a (free) kite
--given to us by a young lady leaving the beach

On the other hand, MY favorite activity was watching 2 different women, not even 15 minutes apart, chase something along the beach. Sorry no pictures of this one!

I got a good many laughs out of both of these scenes because we have all been there before, but in the end I joined in the race once the women gave up and were no longer entertainment for me. :) If anyone was watching me I am sure they laughed, at least once.

The first woman was chasing a piece of paper. She ran after it for some time, stopping, bending down to grab it, as it blew just out of reach. When she gave up I ran after it to catch it. I figured if this little piece of paper was worth her chasing, it must be important to her. I did just as she did and had no such luck so I decided to catch up to it and dive to grab it. Well I dove, and the paper blew just out of reach. Haha! I bet that was a sight to see. I did end up catching it and found it was a receipt! Sheesh, all of that for a receipt. I returned it to the woman to which she thanked me and said, "My husband is a real stickler with budgets and receipts. When I couldn't catch it I turned around and said, well I lost one. He will be glad we did not lose it."

The second woman was chasing a rectangular kite. She pursued the kite for a little while but her hands were tied down carrying other things that she did not continue on the chase. I caught it and returned it to her just as Cambri ran up. The woman offered us her kite, because she and her friends were leaving. She insisted so Cambri enjoyed the next little bit flying the kite. Upon our leaving Cameron suggested that we find another kid we could give it to. We found a family on the way back to the car that we left the kite with and they wasted no time. That kite was up and flying right away.

What a great day it was! Not only was the weather perfect, we had many good laughs, performed a few good deeds, and were recipients of a kind act.

It was evidence to me that regardless of what we see in the news, we are surrounded by a world of good!

Something Right

Despite my many short comings as a mother, I must be doing something right.

While the girls and I were stuck in traffic, Cambri and I had some cute conversations. One of which was...

Cambri : "I can not wait to be a mom!"
Mom: "Oh yeah? Why is that?"
Cambri: "Because I can take my kids to do fun things."

Although I am not PERFECT and am not always the BEST example to my children, I was happy to hear that Cambri already had the desire to one day become a mom and care for her own children. The most rewarding but most challenging work we as women can ever do!!

I suppose if I am instilling anything in my children, it is the joy that can be had through mothering, through the bearing and raising of children.

OREGONian

Despite the fact Cambri came to be in Utah and that she bleeds "Blue", I must say she is a TRUE Oregonian.

The rain does not bother her one bit.

This week she is participating in a soccer camp that meets everyday, for 45 minutes in the afternoon. Upon our arrival and the start of her class, the skies opened and "the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down". All of the parents who were there to watch took cover, while the kiddos continued on with their soccer drills.

The rain did not phase Cambri.

Needless to say after the 45 minutes was up, the rain stopped and I was left with one wet (but happy) little girl.

She had the time of her life playing in the rain.

I suppose we can toughen up and stick around here for at least another year.

The Living Scriptures

Every night before we put the girls to bed we sit down as a family to read from the Book of Mormon. As of lately, Cambri has really been applying what she learns to her everyday living. Here are two examples:
1. To set the stage, I was changing Kaitlyn's diaper while Cambri and Ella were "playing" in their bedroom. Ella began crying so I called the girls in to see what was going on.

Me: "What happened girls? Why is Ella crying?"
Ella: "Cambee hit me."
Cambri: "No, no, no. I didn't hit her. I whipped her because she was a Lamanite"
Me: "Ella is not a Lamanite. She is your sister. Please don't do that again."

*NOTE: Cambri did not really "whip" Ella.

2. Cambri was sitting on the couch looking at books while Ella was running back and forth between the couch and the hallway, being noisy. Eventually Cambri was getting bothered and asked Ella to stop. Ella continued.

Cambri: "No Ella, stop! Go and sin no more"

Most nights when we sit to read we do not have everyone's full attention so I was happy to know Cambri is catching on. She may not have it down pat but she is indeed learning and finding ways to use that knowledge everyday.