Stream of Consciousness Malia Style

A portion of the stream of chatter Malia produced while I was combing her hair this morning:

"I saw a red Dalek. Daleks are made of cans. They put wheels on them. The Wizard of Oz only has a walking can man and a lion. Lions don’t really talk. They make a roaring sound. The lions at the zoo don’t talk. It’s down to my bum. Sister Johnson needs to cut it! Did it snap? These rubber bands are cheap. One, two, three, four, five. There are five heart buttons on my dress. It’s almost empty. We need to get a big one…"

That is only a portion of the wisdom she spewed forth this morning. There was something about ears as well and a bunch of stuff I don’t remember.

Now a couple of tidbits to help you understand where her brain was:

~While we were at the library yesterday, Nathan picked up a “Where’s Doctor Who” book that is made in the style of “Where’s Waldo.”
~Sister Johnson lives across the street from us. She has a salon in her basement and she is the one who cuts our hair.
~ We broke yet another cheap rubber band before I could get it into her hair.
~ I use a small spray bottle to spritz Malia’s hair while I’m combing it.

The part about the cans totally made me laugh. I mean, she’s not wrong. The Tin Man really is a walking can man. And I imagine Daleks would be a lot less intimidating if they had Del Monte stamped on their butts. ;-)

180°

Nathan came home much happier today. He and his locker buddy worked out a plan. Half of his teachers identified him as Daniel’s brother which Nathan is still happy about (he might not be in another four or five years, but for now I think it makes him feel a little less like one of the largely unknown crowd). He has lunch at the same time as Daniel so he didn’t have to sit alone and Daniel’s friends are so nice that they made Nathan feel right at home. He doesn’t need his map to get around the school anymore and he has memorized his locker combination. He is excited to go to school tomorrow.

Looks like his seventh grade jitters are over. I’m so happy. And so is he.

3 of 4

Daniel and Nathan started school today. Nathan had 7th grade orientation yesterday and came home feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. They tossed so much information at him that he felt like he didn’t catch it all. And because of the dumb way our school assigns lockers, he will have to share a locker with a total stranger. At least there aren’t three kids sharing his locker which happened to some of the kids in his 7th period class. Instead of assigning lockers in advance like I’m used to, our school gives each 7th period teacher a certain number of lockers and they have to make it work for the number of kids in the class. Nathan’s 7th period has about 40 kids and only 15 lockers. Seriously dumb. His locker frustration was amplified when he looked down the corridor and realized that other classes had only one person per locker. Like I said, super dumb way to assign lockers.
By last night he had calmed down and while he still wasn’t super excited about some things, he was getting excited about his actual classes again. Two of his good friends, one who lives just down the street and one that has been in the same class as Nathan every year since first grade (except for sixth grade because the boundary realignments that came with the opening of our new elementary school put them in two different schools), are in his first three morning classes. So that is a definite plus. His art teacher believes in teaching the kids what they want to learn, not just what she wants them to learn, so the kids have input into what techniques and skills they work on and that is exciting to Nathan. The school play this year will be “Annie” which doesn’t have hardly any speaking parts for boys, but since there are not many middle school boys who try out for the plays, Nathan is pretty sure he will be able to snag one of those “human scenery” type parts. And next semester will bring choir which Nathan is very much looking forward to.

So I’m hoping today will go better. And I’m hoping that once he feels like he knows how the school works he will be as happy there as Daniel has. And speaking of Daniel, he is a mighty 9th grader this year and he has been super great with Nathan, sharing info and providing support. He has been nothing but excited for school to start, not only because he will have band again, but because he is in a bunch of accelerated classes this year which means he won’t have to spend as much time dealing with the kids who just don’t want to be there. He had some struggles like that last year. Being assigned a group assignment with a bunch of people who don’t care and don’t do their part was totally frustrating for him.

As for me, I’m looking forward to having a few hours a week all to myself. Matthew has been in school for a whole month already, but Malia won’t start until after Labor Day…just as Matthew goes off track. So for now I’ve got 3 of 4 in school and five weeks until I get to 4 of 4. My solitary hours will have to wait for a while longer.

Party Girl

Malia's birthday was today. Since her birthday fell on a Saturday and Kev's mom would be out here for our quilt class, we decided to invite them to stay for lunch and a small birthday celebration. We invited Kev's other siblings and their families as well. Kev's brother wasn't able to make it, but Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Connie, Uncle Arrin, Nick, Zack and Sammi (Nick's wife of two months) joined us. Malia has been super excited (still) and even picked up her room before everyone arrived, a task that usually takes a good deal of coercion to complete. All week she has been telling us that her big Hello Kitty cake was coming. She didn’t ever say her birthday was coming, just her big Hello Kitty cake. She wasn’t wrong, I just think it’s funny.

You know those times when you choose what you think it a great gift only to have it totally tank? That is definitely not what happened this year. Malia loved all her presents. We gave her a new pair of ladybug boots to replace her old ones. She has had the old ones since she was two and when every time something breaks on them, she cries. So she loved that. We also gave her a bunch of stuff for Baby (her baby doll): an assortment of clothes, a new seat for Baby’s stroller to replace a broken one, some baby bottles (We have a bunch of boys, including my two grown up nephews, that had never seen those cool baby bottles that look the contents disappear when you tip them upside down. Malia was not the only one who thought it was way cool!), a spoon and bowl, etc. I made her a diaper bag and filled it with dresses, diapers, bibs, socks and a coat. We had some errands to run later in the day and she put Baby in her coat and packed up the diaper bag to take along. The only item she wasn’t crazy about was the diapers. She told me Baby needs panties instead.

Grandma got Malia a small table and chair, just the perfect size to go alongside her kitchen. And Aunt Connie got her a Hello Kitty bike helmet (I think it is so fun!), some play food, and a play dish drainer filled with dishes. The dish drainer was perfect because a couple of months ago I was trying to convince Malia to pick up her room and she told me she couldn’t put her dishes away because they were dirty and she couldn’t wash them because she didn’t have a dish drainer. The very first thing she did once we got all her stuff moved into her room was wash her dishes. Woohoo! While everyone was still here, she sat and played house with Sammi. When it was time for them to go, Malia tried to convince everyone that Sammi could stay. She is short of female playmates at home and loves when girls come to visit. :-)

We had a great time. It was a super fun way for Malia to celebrate her big day.

Are You Sure It's Only 9:00?

1 lackadaisical teenager + 1 stressed out preteen + 1 overly dramatic preschooler = 1 crabby mom

It's definitely time for school to start.

At least the short fused elementary kid is already back to school. Otherwise things would be even more explosive.

Rise and Shout, the Cougars Are Out!

As I’ve mentioned before, Matthew is our little sports nut and one of his favorites to cheer for is BYU. Although I really don’t care about the sports, I do have a decent amount of school spirit for my alma mater, so I think it is fun that he’s a fan of the Y. My dad is also a BYU alum and he has always held season tickets to basketball and football. Of all my siblings, the only one who really enjoys cheering the athletes of BYU is my sister, Esther. And she didn’t really get to that point until college. So I think having a youngster to enjoy sporting events with is kind of fun for my dad as well as for Kevin.

BYU’s fall athletic season has just gotten underway and last night they had the annual Cougar Kickoff to give fans a chance to mingle with the players and pick up last season’s gear at a discounted price. My dad invited Matthew to go with him and he was soooooo excited! He did two days’ worth of homework and reading on Monday so he wouldn’t have to do any yesterday and when I picked him up from school he made it to the car in record time. As a member of the Cougar Club, my dad was able to get in earlier than the general public (although the lines were enormously long anyway) and Matthew had a great time. He got a poster signed by the BYU football team’s head coach, played some soccer, and came home with an armload of BYU gear.

Pretty much the only bad thing that happened was Matthew getting hit in the face with a soccer ball. But even that wasn’t too bad. Matthew just decided that he would be Scott Sterling for Halloween.

(looking a little red in the face after getting smacked by a soccer ball)

While Matthew was getting a dose of Cougar Spirit, Daniel was off to a ham radio meeting with Kev’s dad. That left us with just Nathan and Malia so we decided to go out to dinner. We ate at Red Robin and just happened to be seated next to a cousin of mine of that I haven’t seen in years. When we were finished eating, our server informed us that my cousin had covered our bill. How cool is that?!

My family is great. Two grandfathers took two grandsons to two events that they all enjoyed. And the rest of us had a fine meal paid for by another relative. It was a good evening for us all.:-)

She Was Super Excited

Malia's birthday is on Friday. This is the first year that she's really understood what was coming and the anticipation has been killing her. Due to our every other week dinner at my folks' house schedule, today was her day to be sung to with the cousins and she knew it. We have choir practice before church and as soon as it was over she asked if it was time to go to Papa's house. Ummmm....no. Big sigh from her. As soon as sacrament meeting was over she asked again. Still no. Another big sigh coupled with a groan. Off to primary we went and as soon as the prayer, scripture and talk were over she popped right out of her seat and announced to everyone that it is her birthday this week. Poor brand new primary counselor. She is yet unseasoned in the ways of sunbeams whom you have to love, even if they belong to you and are the cause of a mid-opening exercises eye roll. Two minutes later is was actually time to sing to her, but of course everyone already knew that. So primary continued and eventually she was off to class. After church, about two minutes after arriving home, again the question about Papa's house. Definitely no...but getting closer. Cheers. Seeing the decorating of the cupcakes seemed to appease her some. And then finally, FINALLY, it was time to go. Big cheers from the birthday girl.

It has been fun to add some girly themed cakes to my repertoire over the last few years. I actually got to buy pink food coloring this year which has never happened before. And none of my boys would have appreciated the Hello Kitty cupcake toppers, but Malia loved them.

And finally the moment arrived: who has a birthday? “Me!”

Malia’s real birthday is on Saturday and we've invited Kev's family to celebrate with us. She's still super excited. She's already asked me if tomorrow is Saturday.

Ten Things Every Girly Girl Innately Knows

Having a daughter after three sons has been an enlightening experience. It’s not that girlish things were new to me. I’m a girly girl myself so I pretty much know what girl stuff is all about. However, what I didn’t realize that it is something that is generally not learned. Instead, some girls just come wired that way. Over the past four years I’ve watched Malia become quite the girly girl all on her own. And I’ve come up with a list of girlish things that I definitely did not teach her but that she has picked up on anyway.

  #1-Superheroes are swoon worthy. One of Malia’s first discernible words (besides Mom, Dad and some of those other super basic ones) was "Ironman.” Seriously. It was awesome.

#2-A serious girly girl should have a fetish for footwear. I did not teach this to Malia. I swear. But I’m a little bit proud.

#3-Anything with bows and/or lace and/or sparkles is awesome. Having all three is like hitting the mother lode. Malia is like a magpie. If it is shiny, it is good.

#4-What constitutes a good hair day. Malia loves that her hair is long because she is like Rapunzel who, lets face it, is always having a good hair day.

#5-Every girl is a princess. ‘Nuff said.

#6-Taking an entourage makes trips to the bathroom more fun. Malia’s best potty training days were when she was with her cousin Kate. In fact, when they are together they still take their potty breaks at the same time.

#7-How to make a scene when you don’t get your way. Two words to describe Malia when she feels like she is getting the short end of the stick: drama queen.

#8-How to make a dramatic exit by gracefully dashing to your room just as tears begin to fall. Yeah…this one is pretty new. But it happens pretty much any time Malia starts to cry for any reason other than hurting herself.

#9-The follow up to #8: the fine art of door slamming. Sigh. I sooooo promise she didn’t learn this from me. But she know how to do it anyway.

#10-Pretty toes are in instant pick me up. I have to admit that I’ve been excited to have Malia get to this point. Recently she has started to notice when other girls have painted toe nails and has been asking about them. She just had to be able to sit still long enough to let the polish dry. She has hit that point (with the help of a quick dry spray) so we picked out some polish and today was the day. And now she is super excited as well.

Malia chose yellow (of course) which is a bit weird looking, but it’s her favorite color so I’m not surprised. She told me she likes red toes as well (probably because that’s what I chose) and she mentioned that we should get lots of colors so we can do “rainbow toes” next time. I’m actually thinking that would be super fun. Yay! Girl time!