recital

i have been swamped over the last couple of weeks trying to plan out my summer and wrap up the school year. i just finished piano recitals at the music academy on tuesday and last week, i had a students-only recital at my house for my at-home students. i love these recitals. they are casual and relaxed. the kids are all goofy and they get treats at the end. plus, i think it does a lot to get them used to playing in front of others without the intimidation of a huge group filled with grown-ups.

they all did really well. i really enjoy these kids and have become really attached. i feel so invested in them and wanting to help them succeed and love music.

here they are...i am missing one and i don't actually teach maryn....my friend does...but she got to perform at the recital anyway...

spa-makeover party

so maryn informed me a while ago that she wanted to have a spa-makeover party. she told me that they wanted nails painted, make-up on,....and the most important part was to have cucumbers for their eyes!!! i love it! so after much anticipation, the day finally arrived along with all her cute little friends. auryn and sierra gave pedicures (we did cute flip-flops for party favors) and the girls did their own make-up at a make-up station and made jewelry at another station and ate cucumber sandwiches and scones with jam and cream and sipped their (herbal) iced-tea. they were all so cute and sweet about the whole thing. and you know what? they all went nuts over the cucumbers for their eyes....some even took extras home! the cucumbers made it official!




it was a pretty sweet party!!!

oh, and you might be wondering about maryn's gorgeous cake, it was my friend jennifer...go check out her website!

6 years old

this week, we celebrated maryn's 6th birthday!!! she is such a delight in our family and we just love having her around. she is such a great big sister (even though she sometimes wants to exchange her brothers for sisters right now). the little boys just adore her and are so attached and protective of her too. maryn has had a great year. she is loving elementary school and has a very sweet little group of friends. she has also enjoyed soccer and piano lessons this year. she loves going to school and is really looking forward to first grade.

this was her birthday morning....just aching for everyone to hurry up so that she could open those presents! (eric was finishing his workout...this was very hard to wait through) caleb was just as excited as maryn about everything and told her 'happy birthday' about 50 times during the day. we gave her $20 for her birthday...she was so excited declaring that she had never had so much money in her whole life!!! grandma and grandpa charsley gave her a fancy wallet to keep her money in with another $20 and she thought she'd died and gone to heaven. she told me that the grandma bought the wallet with the money already in it:) we had a very nice day with her which ended with pizza with the whole fam and a swim at the rec. center.




some questions on her birthday....

what is your favorite color?
my favorite color is turquoise....i mean....white.

what do you want to be when you grown up?
i want to be a veterinarian....i mean a zookeeper.

if you could be any animal, what would you be?
i would be a monkey because i love to climb trees.

what is your favorite thing about school?
ummmm....specials...i mean p.e.

who are you best friends?
olivia and grace

what is your favorite show?
tom and jerry

what is your favorite music?
it's a love story (by taylor swift)

what is your favorite activity?
play the wii

what is your favorite thing to do with you family?
play games like candyland and all sorts of games

how does it feel to be 6?
i feel a little older and i feel like the oldest....and i love to be the oldest.

praying for adoption

these are some of my friends and they are trying to adopt. they are such amazing people! i just pray that they can find their baby! if you know anyone who is looking into finding a home for their baby, please consider referring them to this amazing home....for more info, click here..




this is my favorite...

girls

i have been thinking a lot lately about being a girl and what that means. there are beautiful divine gifts and traits given to each of us. heavenly father expects his daughters to develop these traits and use them to better the world. maryn and i talk often about whether we are behaving like heavenly father wants his daughters to and whether we are making the world better because we are his girls. the other night, i lay in bed wrapped up with my girlie after saying prayers and reading scripture stories. i was telling her how much i love her. then i asked her if she knew how beautiful she is. she said, "well, i really don't like my smile very much!" what? really? you are on the verge of turning six and you have picked out something that bothers you about your looks? plus, it is completely off mark....this girl has a smile that is straight from heaven and she lights up the room!

i realized earlier in the day, i was doing the same thing. it was mother's day. and for some reason i was hit with the overwhelming sense that i was just not good enough for my tasks. to the point that i had to leave and take a walk by myself and pull myself together before church. i was comparing myself with others. but the walk did me good...and helped me arrange things in my mind. helped me realize that my children were sent to me because i was to be there mother. i have the gifts that i need to raise them. and even though i don't feel like i deserve any 'mother of the year' awards, i'm doing my best to be in tune and to serve these little ones and honor their spirits.

this is a part of being a girl too. i mentioned the way i had been feeling at our family dinner. my brother and father were baffled how a day made to honor women could make them feel not good enough. bryn declared that on fathers day, he doesn't even think about if he's doing a good job and just feels awesome about himself! i love this too.

anyway, i'm not the kind to wallow but i am trying to feel the spirit of motherhood more. not dwell on the things and circumstances that i can't change and doing my best. i am trying to act like his daughter and change the world in my small way and make someone's day better and brighter because i am a daughter of god. this is a daughter i share with him...and she is magnificent....i hope that she will feel that...

wet faces

i love the way that babies look in the bath with their wet hair plastered to their big noggins and big eyes with wet eyelashes (or "lash-eyes" as a certain miss maryn calls them). anyway, here is my baby enjoying the water after gagging on a french fry and accidentally throwing up.

neglect

i have been quite neglectful of late of this blog....sad. you might think that i'm really busy. well, i am. you might think that there is nothing much worth blogging about...well, i guess if there is, its floating by. the last couple of months, i've been in a transition period. i'm not exactly sure how things are in transition, i just know that they're changing. i feel like my work is taking a different direction and i'm not sure what that is....just a little unsettling. perhaps i'm just trying to find my place and my happy medium in all different areas of motherhood and womanhood....giving myself to my family first and then making the rest fall into place.

and this is the reason i've been somewhat quiet. just enjoying the view for now.

my children are changing....maryn is almost 6......caleb is a real ham and joshie is just.....growing.....doing not very baby things....looking not very baby-like.....and is as magnificent as ever. i'm really enjoying them all.

eric is the love of my life. we just celebrated out 7th anniversary yesterday and i'm so lucky to go through life with my best friend. he keeps me grounded. he lifts me when i need that. he holds me when i need that. he reminds me who is really in control of our lives when i am trying to be a control freak. i am truly grateful to be walking (sometimes climbing) with him.