Tickled Pink!

For the last 2 summers, I've heard the same plea.

"Mommy, can I get my ears pierced? Pleeeeeeaase?"

I said that was okay and I take Eliza to Clair's Boutique in the mall. And every time, we would walk away from the mall un-pierced. Until today. Eliza got some earrings for her 8th birthday and so has been anxious to wear them. (btw, she's almost 9 1/2. this is how long it's taken.) I was in no way pressuring her to get them done. I answered truthfully when asked whether or not it was going to hurt. A quick pinch, but then it will be all done. Eliza has been working up her courage since we got back and decided that today was the day. Although it almost wasn't. We got there and I could see her excitement deflating fast. We walked in, hemmed and hawed and then let her think, left the store, walked around and then Mairyn pipes up,

"I'm ready. Let's go get my ears pierced."

Oh, okay. That was unexpected. We kind of had an unspoken 8 year old line you had to cross before getting your ears pierced, but Eliza and Mairyn have done a lot of things at the same time. And Mairyn usually takes the plunge first and then Eliza. Alright, we acquiesced to her request. So Mairyn hopped up on the chair, picked out her studs and did it. Not even a tear shed. Then it was Eliza's turn. She wanted to hold my hand and then, once it was over, was quite surprised by herself and said,

"Oh, that didn't even hurt. Just a pinch."

And all day the two of them have been beside themselves with amazement and giddy excitement that they have pierced ears. Many a conversation has been had about what kinds of earrings will be purchased once their studs come out and again, how painless it really was.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, ah, a holiday that is really fun to say! Cinco de Mayo. Did you know that in Mexico, it is a "voluntary holiday" (oooh, something else fun to say) and is "not an obligatory federal holiday". It celebrates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over the French forces. A good reason to celebrate, but why, I ask, in America? For us, it is probably just a reason to go eat some good Mexican food. And since we have been seriously deprived of that in Egypt, we decided to go get our fill. We were knocking around Provo this week and popped in on our favorite local Mexican eatery, Los Hermanos. They are good in their own special way. I had the ever satisfying Chicken Chimichanga (say that 5 times fast) and Spence sampled his longtime fave the Smothered Beef Burrito. The kids filled their faces with the abundant chips and salsa and also branched out to the Chicken Taquito. All raved, everyone was satisfied, a good Cinco de Mayo.

My New Baby

When we left Egypt, we also left behind our Toyota 4Runner. But not without some monetary compensation. And thus enabling us to purchase a new baby. Spencer has been taking very good care of me. He is making sure that I have dependable transportation while he is gone in I-crap. (yeah, that's my new name for it. Maybe not appropriate in ALL situations, but ok for here! ;)

It has been a dream to drive, I love it! Now I'm under a little pressure to name the car. Yes, name it. Spencer's family names cars. I'm not against it, I just can't come up with anything good enough. I have some names, but they all get shot down. I like Apollo. My train of thought: This car is like driving a spaceship, Apollo was a spaceship and for some reason I associate the name Apollo with blue. So, that's my two cents. Spencer likes "The Blue Bullet". And Baby Blue has been thrown out there, too. I'm not as hot on those just because I like to be more subtle. Anyway, and here's one of my favorite features!

A Night at the Movies

I'm still catching up on posts from when we were in D.C. We've been in Idaho for the last week and it has been just craziness! Before we entered our current state, (hah! state) we went to the movies as a family. I would have considered this useless before, but little Jacqui has reached the point of understanding. Never would I have thought about taking 4 children to the movies. But Spence was there with me and we figured it would be a team effort.

We went to see Monsters VS Aliens in 3D. It was awesome!! Things flying out at you, narrowly missing us, it was very real. When this spaceship landed, the dirt flew out and Mairyn proclaimed,

"I got dirt on me, Mommy!!"

I don't know if I'll do one again. You still have to wear the glasses so of course Jacqui would not. Just because she's contrary like that. The special effects were awesome, but felt dark. Yes, I know that a movie is supposed to be in the dark. But with the 3D glasses on, I felt like the screen needed to be brighter. Anyway, we enjoyed it mucho.

And there was a strange coincidence in the movie. (I'm not giving away any of the plot) The mother-in-law to Susan the 50 story tall woman has a stub thumb. I'm not kidding. Susan spies this minutes before the wedding and gasps. Mother-in-law says,

"Oh yeah, don't worry, honey. Derek doesn't have this. It skips a generation. So your kids will have it!"


Yeah, wonderful, encouraging words, Mom. But that's not the end of the stub thumb's appearance. When they are escaping the church, MIL is first to the door but can't open it because her thumb is too short to reach the latch. I know they are exaggerating things here, so ha-ha, very funny. But they really made her thumb look disgusting. But I am not ashamed of my Stumpy, I wear him with pride. Although, not that I have a choice!

A conversation at the mall . .

Me: Thanks for the maps and information. They'll come in handy.
Information desk lady: You're very welcome. Oh, your children are so beautiful.
Me: Why, thank you very much.
Info desk lady: And how is it that none of them got your gorgeous red hair?
Mairyn: Because she dyes it!!

Thank you, Mairyn, no, really; Thank. You.


** Although the lady did say that it looked very natural and never would have guessed that I color it. That's the look I was going for! ;) Then again, what else would she say when your child outs you to a perfect stranger?

A springy picture I took this last week. I want to know what kind of tree this is and does it do well in Idaho?

Gone Fishin'

Playing in the Park

Ok, I was trying some different display options on here. Let me know how you like it. I wanted to do something other than Picasa. I love Picasa, but sometimes, it's just nice to put up some pictures. Click on them to make 'em bigger. We went to a park, took a picnic lunch and had a blast!!