And now she's 4

It's hard to believe my little Clara is 4 now!  

We had our traditional birthday breakfast with waffles, whip cream and the birthday train.  We all went around the table and reminded her of what makes her so special.  

Clara is distinguished by her big eyes and dimpled cheeks.  She's happy to be the "little sister", following Maryanna into whatever fun or trouble they can find.

 She often plays quietly by herself making up all sorts of stories about fairies, princesses and animals getting married, sometimes her pretend play transforms into a musical - I love that.  

She is exact and literal often correcting me when I make a mistake, "mommy, you forgot to give me my fish oil and probiotics today".   Paul was tucking her in and said "don't grow up so fast" and she answered...."you mean your not ready for me to be a grandma tomorrow".   I'm not sure I was even ready for her to turn 4 but I'm certainly finding great joy in watching this beautiful daughter grow into herself.

My Macbook also turned 4 - you see it was in the hospital the day after Clara was born that Paul presented it to me.  When he walked into my room holding a large square box wrapped in a pillowcase I was irritated and told him I was not in the mood for a board game or puzzle.  So worn out from the lack of sleep and delivery I refused to open it.  When I did I felt bad for being so rude.  It was a very kind gift and one that has gotten much use.  4 years old is quite elderly for technology and she's definitely not running like she use to.   But she does still run.........just not as fast and cute as Clara.

  

Week of October 10 as told by William's camera

Spotted an airplane

Made a baby smile

Visited with our next door neighbor

Peter, jealous of all the nature fairy houses, built a nature football field

Accidentally took a picture of my plate during the dinner time prayer

Got up close with the underside of a Lego piece

Henry refused to wear anything but Thomas underwear so Mommy made some for him with an extra pair of Peter's and a sharpie

Read another book about airplanes

"Don't give up my girlfriend"

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a regional Relief Society training meeting.  It was our pleasure to have Sister Silvia Allred, first counselor in the General Relief Society, in attendance to lead the training.  She did so with a warmth and spirit that made us feel like we were all friends, walking around with her microphone encouraging all to participate.

She reminded us of the importance of councils, both in the church and in our families and how they should be conducted.  The purpose of councils is to be in agreement (D&C 41:2-3) and to instruct and edify (D&C 43:8-9).  We then must act on the instruction and our action will sanctify us.   D&C 88:122 reminds us that only one person should speak at a time, there should be equal privilege and all should listen.  Every purpose is established by councils (Proverbs 20:18).  There is safety in councils, where there is no council people fall (Proverbs 11:14).  All of these I am taking to now improve the family councils in our home.

Sister Allred spoke directly to the Relief Society teachers encouraging us to teach with power and authority just as the sons of Mosiah did in Alma 17.  We were reminded to seek revelation through study and prayer to know the needs of the sisters we teach. And told that when we witness people changing their lives for good, then we will know our teaching has been effective.

These were all great reminders but what is still ringing in my ears a week later is a comment she casually interjected while one of the participants was reading aloud a long series of scriptures.  In her kind latina accent she gave us "don't give up my girlfriend".   I wrote it in all caps on the side of my notes.  Perhaps this was the real message I needed to hear that morning.

Is that not the purpose of Relief Society?  Are we not all "girl friends" and are to encourage one another in both our triumphs and trials?  Not only did this single statement give me a clearer vision of Relief Society but also armed me with encouragement to counteract the overwhelming noise and chaos associated with caring for so many young children.  There were many moments this past week I felt my patience had hit its limit, it was then that Sister Allred's kind words would whisper in my ear.

On one occasion after meeting with our homeschool group downtown one child refused to follow me along the couple of blocks to our parking spot.  It was cold and she also refused to wear her coat throwing it to the curb as she threatened to run in the opposite direction right into oncoming traffic.  The rest of the children were heading towards another busy intersection (a few of them balancing their fragile ceramic creations) and I was stopped with a loaded down stroller somewhere between all of them.  I whispered the words "don't give up my girlfriend" aloud as I parked the stroller, scooped up the offending child (and her coat) and somehow secured her kicking under my arm as I pushed the stroller.  It was a heavy load but I caught up with the others before they met the intersection. I was panting with both anger and exertion but feel it was the encouraging words of Sister Allred that helped me cope with the heavy load of that day.

Perhaps someday that same naughty little girl who tried to run from me and into the street will have her own little ones and call me for encouragement.  When she does I will simply say in my best latina accent Don't give up my girlfriend.

Thank you Sister Allred!



 

 

Week of October 3 as told by William's camera

Reviewing Arrow of Light requirements with James - multitasking

Lost and found toys

Rode bikes to the Nature Center

Visited a Peregrine Falcon

Observed a bumble bee

Walked in the woods

Begged Clara to wear her new coat

Got friendly with some Canadian Geese at Gallup Park

Visited Detroit's Mexican Village

William's attempted self portrait

Watched Football at Nanny and Poppy's

Nanny made a delicious pumpkin pie

Conference Coat

It seems every conference weekend I have a sewing project going on. I focus more when my hands are doing something so I keep my hands moving.

This fall jacket for Clara is made out of some fabric I picked up at the Scrap box a few weeks ago.  I was undecided about which pattern to use but ended up sticking with Oliver &S's Sunday Brunch jacket with only a few adjustments.  A knit lining was added, about 3" added to the length and the addition of large pockets.

This was my first Oliver & S pattern and although I liked the simplicity of it, I still feel the accuracy of Japanese patterns make them superior.  For example I was disappointed that the pattern cover showed pleats but there was not enough added fulness to do pleats instead of gathers.  Also the button placement was funny but later found an added note inside the envelope to make proper adjustments.

Clara is kind of picky about what she will and will not wear.  I had plans to really embellish this coat with all sorts of fun girly applique and embroidery.  But then President Uchtdorf gave his great talk about simplifying and I decided a simple heart on the inside facing would be enough for Clara to wear it.

I still had to beg her to wear it for these pictures....but it was warm at Gallup Park today.

Instead of button holes I applied snaps and sewed the buttons on top as decoration and to cover the snaps.  It is easier for Clara to get the coat on and off.  And off the coat goes and onto the ground........... 

Week of September 26 as told by William's camera

As I was reviewing the pictures the boys took of our water bag I came across a pile of interesting pictures from our week,  all on William's camera which he stealthfully shoots with.  It is a good piece of history to have a record of our daily doings through the lens of a child's camera - so starts a weekly feature of our days as told by William's camera.

Mystery child in a luchador mask, astronaut suit and red cowboy boots.

Chicken and herbs was on the menu.

Taking pictures of math is sometimes more fun than doing it.  (note the doodles in the margin)

Face painting for arts and crafts (for real).

Found caterpillar, days later the girls still think it is relaxing in the "fairy house" they built.

It rained so free time adventures were limited to the pink carpeted basement.

Conference was set up on mommy's laptop on top of a sewing table filled with projects and tools.

Water on the Go

We are hooked on freezer paper stencils. 

This is our on the go water bag which can hold about 8 water bottles. The boys designed it and I did the exacto-ing and sewing, they chose their 4 favorite languages to be featured, each saying "water" (I hope it does at least).

Since it was their project I let them take the photos.  This first one is my favorite, you may notice in Peter's reflection he's wearing his football freezer paper stencil shirt, he's been wearing it everyday.

  Chemistry

  Spanish

Greek, both modern and ancient because they couldn't decide.  My nephew Johnny served his mission in Athens, Greece so he helped us out on this one, thanks Johnny!

Chinese

No more excuses for thirsty kids at the playground.  Maybe we'll even attract some interesting people from different countries, to my delight it may also be an on the go conversation starter.