Dangers of Being a Drama Queen

Maddy has complained about coughing for three days. Starting on Saturday she cried about aches and pains. On Sunday she could barely move and uncharacteristically fell asleep at church.

Now a smart mother would maybe put these clues together and think her darling daughter may be ill, but not this mom. I managed to be completely taken by surprise when Maddy vomited all over Aunt Rebecca's living room...and dining room...and bathroom (I tried to move fast, but my hands could only catch so much). Maddy stayed home sick from school today.

Some mothers might feel guilty about not noticing her child's illness until the fourth day, or about telling her to quit complaining and drag herself off the floor so she can get her hair done for church. But a resourceful mother can easily blame it on the fact the the child in question complains about every ache and pain so dramatically that it's hard to take her seriously. And I am above all things a resourceful mother.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race, Right?

Our family's Biggest Loser challenge this week was to time yourself walking/running for 3 miles so yesterday I put Ella in the stroller and off we went. I wasn't quite sure how long 3 miles was but made a good guess and was back, tired, in 35 minutes. Not bad, I thought to myself.

Later that day, while driving the kids to various activities, I checked my route with the odometer in the van and found it was not quite two miles. Hmm. So not only am I slow, I'm a bad judge of distance.

Rapunzel In The Making

Just to prove that Ella's hair is growing here's a picture with her little ponytails Grandma Nelson did for her. So cute, I know. Last Sunday she asked me to put ponytails and ribbons in her hair for church. While I enjoyed the novelty of someone asking to get their hair done instead of being threatened with dire punishments if they don't come Right Now to brush their hair, we were running late and it was a little inconvenient. There's just no way to win is there? Yesterday at the store a woman asked how old Ella was, then pointed out her hair was growing slowly. Really? Hadn't noticed. I just assumed she's working on her brains first.

A New Profession In Hawaii

While in Hawaii Wynn thought he'd try his hand at a new profession. Can you tell who this is? Think he could make any money? Wynn made friends with one of the paparazzi (the one with the parrot) who said he can make up to $10,000 if he sells a picture (the professional, not Wynn!). Here's the professionals at work:


It was an odd experience watching the whole celebrity/paparazzi dynamic at work. In the end I think I mostly felt sad. Sad that some people live their lives stalked by photographers, sad that some people enjoy living their lives that way, and sad that too many people make it worthwhile.

Maddy's Birthday

Maddy turned six on April 1st. This was the first year Ryan and Carter connected April Fool's Day with Maddy's birthday, as seen in this picture of the present Carter prepared for her. Even Glenn and Rebecca look a little fooled.



Maddy has been planning her birthday for many months. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Disneyland for the day, but she did have a Grandma and Grandpa in attendance. One big requirement for the day was no hair combing, so this is what she looked like:




Maddy decided to get her ears pierced for her birthday present. We headed to the mall (her favorite place to go) and she picked out these earrings because they looked like sparkly gold.



There was only one person working in the store so she had to get one ear done at a time. I was more than slightly worried we would leave the store with only one ear pierced, but the woman was fast and Maddy was brave and we accomplished what we came to do. After recovering, Maddy spent some time looking at all the dangling earring she could find.

After the mall we ate lunch at Red Robin with Grandma Nelson and Rebecca. Maddy was completely thrilled when the servers came to sing Happy Birthday to her and reveled in her surprise sundae. Then it was off to school, where the despair of her worst day of the school week (because of her dreaded computer class) was tempered by the pleasure of her mom picking her up from school.

The evening brought hamburgers for dinner, a birthday cake and finally presents and Maddy showed her usual enthusiasm for it all.
We love Maddy and she loves being six.

St.Patrick's Day

Just Ella

I know it's been too long since my last post - and I do have lots to say. I can blame it on many things - Spring Break, visitors, the computer being in the cold basement, World of Warcraft overtaking the computer (for the boys, not me). I can blame it on all these things...and I will, but in an attempt to catch up here's a short story about Ella.

One day I was tickling Ella and called her "Little Miss Piggy." Ella laughed and said, "I not a Miss Piggy. I a Holy Cow!"