Sign Language

Our primary is doing "I Am a Child of God" in sign language this year for our Sacrament Program. This video tape is for the benefit of my presidency and teachers (who I tried to send it to but it was too large, so it goes on my blog instead).

Thanks Natalie!

Pig Drama

One of Sienna's favorite things to do is to "make something." She asks daily, sometimes twice a day to "make something." Sometimes I'll have a nice craft prepared with fun materials, that goes with the season or holiday. But more often I use a website (such as DLTK) and find a quick craft. The busy, preoccupied, lazy me usually looks for an easy template that she can do almost entirely by herself: color, cut, glue/tape, voila! A happy kid and free time for mom.

Yesterday she wanted to make a pig while Bryan was mowing the lawn, so she could show him when he was done. She couldn't decide which template she liked better, so she wanted to make two. She spent a good hour on them, making sure the colors were just right, even cutting out scrap paper to paste over a part she accidentally colored but wanted to leave white. She was quite proud of them. Bryan played the role of the very impressed father perfectly, asking for a closer look after the first quick glance.

Less than an hour later we were gathered on the couch getting ready to read, and I casually commented to Sienna that Ashley (who was sitting on the floor) was eating one of her pigs. Sienna leaped across the room and grabbed it from Ashley, then abruptly burst into a wail accompanied by genuine tears. Oh the heartache! the distress! all that hard work now ruined! She was crushed.

My typical reaction (why can't you act like a grown-up instead of a 4 year old?) would have been something like, "it's your own fault, you left it on the floor." But I was in a mood. As I called Sienna to me to comfort her and reassure her that we could make another one tomorrow, I struggled to hold back my laughter. I couldn't stop giggling. By the time Bryan came into the room to ask what the fuss was about, I was the one in tears and could barely spit out "Ashley ate Sienna's pig!"

It hardly seems worth a chuckle right now. But at the time, it was so hilarious that a paper pig could cause such dramatic, genuine, pitiful despair.

If this were Colby, my laughter probably would have just made him more upset. But after a few minutes Sienna was laughing at herself, although I don't think she realized what was so funny.

And yes, we made another pig today.

Cute as can be

Guess who's cutting her first tooth?
Guess who's sitting up?
Guess who has the cutest smile?

Miss Ashley Rose, of course.

July Newsletter

It is now over halfway through August, and I'm finally posting our July newsletter. Pictures from the month are here.

Tennessee Tidbits

July 2008

The Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays. It started with a neighborhood parade down our street. I (Bryan) was on the parade planning committee (which consisted of me, our neighbor, our neighbor’s husband, and the self-declared “Miss Carondolet” – a 13 year-old-girl who dresses the part each year by wearing a prom dress, crown, sash, and riding in the parade in a convertible). I recruited our Cub Scout troop to carry the flag. Sienna rode her tricycle, I walked next to her, and Colby was pulled in our red wagon by a girl in the ward. Ashley and Kristen were spectators – probably a more important job, given that the parade-walkers outnumber the spectators 5 to 1. It was a great parade. We climbed in a fire engine, Ashley won first place in the costume contest, and the Brentwood Journal had a picture of Oprah Winfrey’s dad (our parade’s celebrity) with our house in the background. How’s that for cool?

After naps, we had our friends Chuan, the Lindemanns, and the Smiths over for a barbeque. Following the barbeque, we and the Lindemanns rode our bikes 2 miles to Crocket Park for the annual firework show, with Sienna, Colby, and Ashley in the bike trailer. This year Sienna was “really brave” – she lay on my lap completely covered by a blanket except for her eyes, allowing her to occasionally peak a glance at the fireworks. Colby and Ashley just stared wide-eyed at them.

The next day, July 5th, was spent floating 10 miles down the Harpeth River in canoes with our friends, the Edgertons. The Lindemanns were kind enough to watch Ashley for us. The river was very calm, and the fishing wasn’t that good, but it was still a blast. And the occasional small ripples were plenty large enough to scare Colby. We were late getting back from the rafting trip, so we headed over to Chuan’s farewell party at a co-worker’s home in our swimsuits. Remind me not to bring Colby to work parties in the future – it’s hard to have a nice time while worrying that Colby will spill his food or break some fragile item in a not-so-childproof house.

We had a fun weekend with Craig and Kim and family visiting on their way to Wyoming. We are so sad that they are moving so far away. Sienna is already talking about and looking forward to seeing them at Christmas time in Utah.

Kristen and Ashley went to Arizona for Robin’s wedding later in the month. (Why would anyone get married in July in Arizona?) She had a great time and loved seeing family. As of today, Robin and Spencer are still happily married. I stayed home with Sienna and Colby, as it would have cost us an extra $1000 to fly the three of us out there for the weekend. We had a good time at home. Sienna and I made a list of things we wanted to do while Mommy was gone, and we did most of them: fly a kite, go out for ice cream, play at the playground, build a tent-fort with blankets and chairs, paint, ride our bikes, and go swimming. One of the days while Kristen was gone, I watched the Lindemanns baby while they floated down the river. They put their daughter in Ashley’s crib for a nap at 9am, and she stayed in the crib without making a peep until 3:15. The Lindemanns returned to our house 10 minutes after that. Yes, I’m a good baby-sitter.

The rest of July was filled with the usual: Ultimate Frisbee on Wednesdays, work, church, running, trips to the library, and game-nights with the Lindemanns or Edgertons, etc. July is a great month. Love,

Bryan, Kristen, Sienna, Colby, and Ashley