A Princess, a Storm, California & Solo Mio

Oh, Boy. What had I done. The beautiful invitations were sent and people were expressing their excitement to come. Would it be what they were hoping it to be? I had planned the 'mother' of all little girl parties: The Princess Party. I got a little nervous. But happily, when all was said and done, prayers were answered and Cali's 5th birthday party was a success! Well, all except the castle cake I attempted to make, that is. Grandpa Steve decided to dive right in with a plastic spoon for a taste test as it sat in a chocolate and white frosting heap (resembling a volcano) on my countertop. At least it tasted good even though it was a sad sight to behold. Super Daddy to the rescue! He and Cali hopped in the car and made a quick run to Smith's and brought home a lovely white & hot pink sheet cake adorned with curly ribbons before the party began. And it was just delicious. We had two princes and seven little princesses. The 8th little princess, Carice, crashed for most of the party. Sleepy time! The girls decorated dome-shaped princess hats and made pretty colored plastic bead bracelets. We had pointy crowns for the princes. Unfortunately the 4 year old prince wasn't into the party :( but he came around for cake and ice cream! The girls played "Musical Frogs". If they landed on the picture of the prince and princess instead of a frog when the music stopped, they would win a prize: a kiss or hug from their prince! A Hershey's chocolate hug or kiss, actually ;) Cali got to open fun presents and enjoy cake and ice cream with everyone. We gave a Thomas the Train book for our handsome princes and to our little princesses a princess wand to thank them for their gifts and for coming. We all had such a good time! Here's a special shout out to Gramma Shelly for helping tie those small elastic strings for the bracelets! And a huge thank you to everyone for mailing and giving Cali all her wonderful gifts this year. You truly treated her royally :) Happy 5th birthday, Cal~ You are such a beautiful girl and hope you had a fun and happy time at your birthday party. Daddy, Carice and I also took Cali out to dinner at Applebee's that night for a final celebration :)



Cali's end of the month field trip with her preschool found her, Carice and I at the Dinosaur Museum. It was really fun, we had never been there before. Cali got to play in wet sand and brush off dry sand to uncover 'dinosaur bones'! Cali had her VIP week at school the week after her birthday. She had a form to fill out about herself to put on the back of a poster also about herself! Daddy and I made the poster with pictures of her and us and even our fun boxy car. We brought diamond-shaped sugar cookies to share with the class during her VIP week. (she had to bring something diamond shaped for show and tell that week, so I combined the two events!)

Yes, it wasn’t much fun for Carice at the Dinosaur Museum. She wanted to get out of the stroller, but she just was a little too young for the activities. She’s a pretty patient little tag-a-long, though. (Thank goodness for the Mommy!) Maybe if Daddy had been able to come with us, she could have played with the big kids. She sure is talking up a storm like a big kid. It’s not really what she says so much; her words aren’t completely clear, but it’s the influction in her voice that makes it possible for us to understand her. It’s so amazing for us to see at only 19 months old! Although, at one point she apparently didn’t see where I had gone and Daddy heard her say ‘Mommy, where ah you?” (Did she just say what I think she just said?!) Amazing.



She weathered her vaccines with strong-Carice style. She had to have four injections! Two in each leg. Ow! She didn’t (and doesn’t) even run a fever after her shots. However, the next morning when she got up, I carried her into the living room and put her down in a standing position. It was then she could feel the pain as she was trying to walk :( Oh, my little love! It sucks to have so many shots in less than a minute! But she is a trooper, no doubt about it. I still remember the minute she was born. I elected to have a C-section with her and found out that sometimes, when babies are born this way, they can have trouble breathing because their lungs aren’t ‘squooshed’ (for lack of a better term) through the birth canal enabling any extra fluid to be ‘squooshed out’. Carice came out coughing and then immediately crying. I remember Dr. Robinson telling her something like, “That’s right, you just spit that stuff out.” At that moment I knew she was supposed to be here.

The girls had fun with Easter eggs and candy and fake grass & all that jazz for the worldly fun of Easter this year. We decided, though, to ‘bag the bunny’. Forever. My hope was to do all the gift giving (from us...not from the furry one) on Saturday so we can have Easter Sunday unencumbered by all that. But my poor planning and time schedule didn’t get it all done that way. (Next year!)

I want this beautiful, thought-provoking holiday to be focused on the Savior, Jesus Christ. And it is, essentially, but I think it’s just easy to get lost in all the pastels of the season. A tole-painted craft hung on a fellow tenant’s front door this year that read, “Believe in the Bunny,” I want the girls to realize and know what Easter is really all about. I put a coloring page in their baskets of the Savior and it is my plan to put something of Him in each year. I’ve heard of a couple other activities to do that focus on the Savior, too, so maybe I can incorporate them as well. But even with our decision to not have the Easter bunny visit, I’m sure our girls won’t be suffering for want of a chocolate-smeared face when spring begins year after year. ;)



Daddy had a conference to attend in San Diego at the end of the month for work. (Brought home way cute monkey shirts for the girls.) That left me, you guessed it, flying solo for about 4 days. He left Tuesday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. He had a pretty good time (as all day seminars go) and even ran into Governor Huntsman while enjoying an icecream cone with his fellow travellers. The Govenernor stopped to talk to them all. Apparently he knew the area they were in well from growing up there. Who knew? :)

I faired decently, I suppose. We enjoyed a trip to the Dinosaur Park at Southtown Mall with a drive-by for an ice cream cone from McDonalds. Cali went to school as usual. I thought Cali and I would have ‘sleep overs’, but she went to bed in her room and me in mine. But, by Friday, I had had it. I ate some artificial dyes-- shouldn’t have--they don’t seem to affect Cali, but I sure am crabby. Cali started picking on how Tilly was going to be in the stroller on the dinosaur fieldtrip. (Sibling jealousy at its finest...) And so I lost it with that. Threatening that she will have her trains taken away for 30 days if she made a big deal about the stroller again. Short story short: she lost the trains until the end of Apirl. By days end...I knew they weren’t tired to go to bed at the usual time, so I waited a little longer. I had Carice on my lap and suddenly felt my leg get warm. Leaky diaper? No, I couldn’t even find the diaper for a minute. One side had come loose and the diaper was somewhere lost in her sweat pants. I put her on the bed to get her changed and left (stupidly) to get her new pants that were across the room. Bad choice. She twists herself and tumbles what I thought was head first off of my bed. I’m freaking out, absolutely scared she may have a head fracture. Better to be safe than sorry, right? So, in my frenzied state I call 911 (and Rick) and a crew comes out to make sure she is okay. They seemed worried about me, too. The house looks like a tornado whizzed through, I’m a mess inside and out and I have a peed on leg. Carice was fine, but I’m not a doctor, so I had to make sure. I was alone without the Priesthood for a blessing to know for sure and to calm my troubled mind. Cali, of course, was more than thrilled to have an ambulance show up & be parked at her house. *sigh* Yes, by Friday, I had had it.

We had planned to pick Daddy up at the airport and have lunch together and play, play, play at the Discovery Museum downtown. Didn't happen. Too frazzled. Too pooped. Too un-showered. So, we had lunch with Daddy at home and can't you hear me singing now, "I'm so glad when daddy comes homes, glad as I can be!" Only now, I have to do it again this year. Rats! However, we are thinking of me and the girls going. Seattle is a great place to visit ;)

It is a sad commentary of me, though. My older sister, Mary, is made of strong stalk. As of next month she will have been flying solo for 14 years straight. Her girls were 1 and 2 years old, respectively, when her husband Mark passed away. How did she do it?!? How does she continue to do it day in and day out?!? I have utmost respect for her. And her girls are awesome. My sister is truly building the most beautiful breath-taking Mansion in Heaven as we speak. Perhaps that strength is in my genes somewhere. Sadly, I know it's not. I could have used it on Friday.





Do I at least get an 'E' for effort?? :)