Mom is Dumb-founded!

Great news! Anna called me from school because she was so excited about the part she got in the play. She got the part of "Cogsworth"? Is that the right spelling? Regardless, she got the part of the clock. There were about 8 parts that they called "the leads" which required a teacher recommendation, plus a lot of memorization. (Obviously, Belle, Gaston, the Beast, Mrs. Potts are the main characters). Anna kept saying over the phone, "I got one of the leads!" She was thrilled to finally have a part that had a lot of lines. She had asked me the day before if she could not do the play if she didn't get a part with more than just a few lines. She would have been happy with 10 lines. I think the most she has ever gotten is 5 lines plus some group stuff. (Later, Anna came home and looked up the script online and counted her lines - 52 lines! She is thrilled.) I asked her what Josh got and she said he got the part of the "organ" - okay, not really sure what part that is, but if he is happy, that is great. One of the mom's at the school told him that was who his part was, but we later found out she was wrong. Eliza is a plate :) Claire is one of the villagers. Super.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SJCixomLf8

So I go to pick up the kids and I'm asking Joshua what the "organ" part will be. He didn't know. Then Anna gets in the car next and says, "Joshua! You are not the organ! You are Gaston's sidekick! The really fat, goofy guy!" Joshua's face was hilarious! He was so surprised and his face got a little red and I started laughing out loud because I'm trying to imagine Joshua in that part. He said, "MOm!!! Stop laughing!" but we couldn't. I guess Anna and Josh were goofy enough in the speaking part of the tryouts. Later Joshua said with a cute little smile, "Well....I'm a little more proud to be Le Fou (is that translated "The Fool"?) than to be the organ." Then I hear Claire and Eliza complaining that they got "little parts". Oh boy. "You are 2nd graders!! You are lucky to even be included this year!" Here we go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9v-PQGxqk&feature=related

Later at home they put in the Beauty and the Beast dvd and were having so much fun laughing at their parts. I guess I do like Beauty and the Beast a little more now :) So much for fretting and worrying. Now we have a whole year ahead of us to learn "My Country Tis of Thee" REALLY well :)

Play Tryouts

Well, it is this time of year again. The annual school play. Anna and Josh have been doing this for several years and love it. This year they opened it up to the 2nd graders so Claire and Eliza were thrilled to be able to try out. I say thrilled because after Claire and Eliza's tryouts, Claire came out to the car with her head in her hands and said she did "terrible" and how embarrassing it was. Anna's and Josh's tryouts were 1/2 hour later.

We found out after Claire and Eliza's tryouts that there was a one page script that they were supposed to be practicing with (it was online - and I missed it somehow. Bad Mom! :) So Claire and Eliza basically read the script for their tryout. Anna and Josh had a little time to practice before their tryout time. I said to them about 999 times to talk slower than they think they need to and try to ennunciate (something that doesn't really happen in this household). Most conversations are, "What? I can't understand you. Start over." (Bad Mom! I have not been a good example in ennuniating/ speaking. I talk way too fast and not very clearly.) I am NOT an actor, but I did tell them "funny" will get you noticed. Be "over- dramatic" and then we picked a few actions/body language (eye rolls, preening etc) type things for them to do at certain lines to emphasize the lines and I think they really got it. I heard them practicing later in the little room at school right before it was their time and they were doing great!

In anticipation of tryouts the kids had been practicing songs they knew and wanted to sing for tryouts, but then we found out the night before tryouts that they had to sing "My Country 'tis of Thee" or "Happy Birthday" or "Twinkle" the night before. Happy Birthday and Twinkle were "for babies". Unbeknownst to me (Bad Mom again!) my kids don't really know the tune to My Country Tis Of Thee. Well, I take that back - Eliza could sing it, but Claire butchered it completetely. We took a family vote and convinced Claire to stick with "Twinkle" even though she can't pronoune her r's :) Joshua seemed to think the notes went up and down with each word and Anna can't sing that high. Luckily, for Anna, she started out her singing portion one octave too high..........:) A little painful to listen to. It didn't help that right before it was her turn she was practicing in the car and she suddenly thought "sweet land" went down when it was supposed to go up. Then the tears came and we were in "high stress" mode. They stopped Joshua mid song (thankfully) and asked if he had another song he would enjoy singing (or was it "another song THEY would enjoy listening to"), but Joshua doesn't switch gears too quickly. Anna told him to sing "Old Yeller" (the song he had been practicing) but he didn't want to. He just started singing "Twinkle" in quite a high octave as well, but it did sound okay, kind of sweet, from what I could hear out in the hall. Anna told me later that Joshua's face got really red. Oh, the pain of this all!

Joshua came out of practice saying he never wanted to do that again. Anna said they did well with the speaking part, so at least that part turned out okay. I felt really bad like I hadn't prepared my children adequately. I know it was "good" for them, but it also would have been "good" for them to be prepared better and to have done their best. I know it is just the school play, but they put a lot of time into the practices (and I do a lot more driving) and it costs money to participate, so it is nice to have a part that makes it worthwhile. Last year Anna and Josh had fun parts. Josh was a chimney sweep and got to do some fun dances and group singing - I don't think he had any lines. Anna had a few lines and she was a horse and a chimney sweep. Anna was hoping this year since she was in 6th grade she would get a decent part. She is great at memorizing. Usually, you are lucky to get any lines if you aren't the lead because around 100 kids are in the play (including scenery/stage crew).

I think I am more in suspense than they are. I am honestly really disappointed that they didn't do better. I know I am their mom, but I know they could have done better if they didn't get nervous. And had had some voice lesson :) I suppose that is just part of life.

Disneyland 2011

I really was dreading this trip. 6 kids at Disneyland? I pictured Porter and I standing around all day. Going back and forth to the hotel for naps. Tired, hungry kids. Motion Sick Dad............

First of all - the 6 hr drive was a breeze! We couldn't believe we actually were at our destination already :)

Second - we never once went back to the hotel until the park was closed each night. Yes, kids were tired, but they had so much fun! I had so much fun! There were so many rides that our whole family could go on together, plus it was so not crowded. We rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes for a ride and often could go on rides multiple times without waiting. One time we were in a long line (Peter Pan) and I was complaining. Brett explained that waiting 15 minutes is nothing. He's waited over an hour for rides when he came in college. I hadn't been since I was 6 or 7 yrs. so this was new for me.

Claire and Eliza had thought Disneyland was inside, "like in a church gym with lots of activities and games". We didn't tell them anything different. Luke thought Disneyland was the place were you play miniature golf in Livermore (to give it credit, that place does look pretty Disneylandish). Joshua had just complained that he was the only one in his school class who hadn't been to Disneyland. Anna was excited, but wasn't sure how much she would like it. She was way off - she loved it!

The best thing for me was seeing how much fun everyone had. Running from place to place. The first day at Disneyland we made it to 26 rides (not counting going on some of them more than once). Not bad! I wasn't expecting to have fun on rides, but they had some really great rides that I would do over again. Like the Flying Over California ride which you feel like you are hang gliding over the beach, mountains etc. Also, the Grizzly Rapids where you are on a big innertube going over falls. The kids were so afraid, but I thought it was great because I KNEW we wouldn't tip over (unlike some of the innertube/canoe rides I took as a youth in real rivers!) I could do that one over and over.

The kids also talked me into doing some haunted thing - the elevator that falls. I really didn't want to do that one but they begged and begged and so I went on it and it was actually fun.

Luke was a little overwhelmed with all the older kids trying to convince him to ride on some of the bigger rides. I finally took him to Bugs Land and he was in heaven. He just ran from ride to ride and thought he was the king of all bugs :) The funny caterpillar ride that basically makes a figure 8 and lasts about a minute - he thought it was SO FUN!!! :) I also took him on the Winnie the Pooh ride 3 times in a row cause he loved that (while the big kids did the water/canoe ride over and over!) He cried and cried about going on the Storybook Canal ride cause he saw the whale with the teeth. We were trying not to laugh and basically forced him on the ride. Of course, he then liked it.

We went on California Screaming (the roller coaster that goes upside down) several times and that was surprisingly fun. Then I talked the kids into going on the Ferris Wheel? (gondolas?). As soon as we get in and it starts (we chose the swinging one) Joshua, Claire and Luke (who were on the seat across from Anna, Eliza, Porter and I) fell off the seat onto the floor of the car! It was kind of funny, but they were pretty scared! Then Joshua started to get a little sick and when we got to the bottom Luke yells at the man, "I want to get off!!!!" but we still had one more loop to go :)

I had thought our family (because of age differences) would have to divide up and be split up most of the trip, but we only did that one day for about an hour. The only bad part was when Brett's phone died and I was walking all over trying to find the big kids and Brett. (Man! Could have gotten 4 more rides in that time!) But really I was very pleasantly surprised about how much fun it was. Yes, my calves were a little sore (but that is due to my own inactivity lately!) but we will definitely start saving for another trip.

Joshua's SURPRISE Birthday Party

When doing a surprise party, it helps when you do the party 6 weeks after their birthday. Then they are REALLY not expecting a party! This was Joshua's first friend party (if you don't count the one he had when he was 4 and we combined it with Anna's party and none of his friends came). This time we invited 9 of his friends and they all came :) No girls this time, just boys. He went over to his friend's house to play after school and then was sidetracked by our neighbors, Jim & Charlotte, who invited him over for a minute. Joshua returned home to be greeted by a house full of friends. He was REALLY surprised!

The hardest part was trying to make the cake without any of the kids seeing me. Including Luke! I couldn't tell any of the kids (except Anna) about the party for fear of something slipping. Just when I would be on a roll (or cake - haha) it would be time to clean up before the kids got home. Finding time when Porter was "happy" on his home was a challenge. He spent some time in the bjorn reaching for mounds of cake, but never quite getting any :)




We made it a "Survivor" Theme so we could do challenge games and activities. It was kind of fun "setting the state". However, after it was all over it looked like a tornado had just blown through.






One of the favorite challeneges was melting an ice cube in your hands (without dropping it) until you could eat the "dead beetle" inside (aka - raisin). They also got to sew up a little camouflage bag to keep their treasures in. This was indeed a challenge for some, but you cannot survive on an island without being able to sew! Right?


One thing I realized is that I should have used a microphone when giving directions. BOY! These 9 - 10 year olds were NOISY! Super noisy and hyper! Good thing we fed them cake at 9:30 pm and sent them home. Haha. However, it was a lot of fun. And it is now over......

Porter's Blessing Weekend

This was a really fun weekend that I am finally posting about. Thanks for everyone coming out! I'm planning on making a photobook with more details, but thought I would at least post this for now.

Luke's Preschool 2010/2011

What a fun year we had. Luke, Gavin, Raquel & Kami. 4 perfect little 4 year olds. Seriously, I couldn't have hand-picked a better group. They LOVED each other. They had so much fun with each other and they were SUCH GOOD STUDENTS! They were great listeners and just soaked up whatever we were learning. We got through the 3 yr old, 4 yr old and Kindergarten Carden Math books, lots of learning the sounds of letters, starting to read simple words, French, Art Appreciation, music and lots of writing and coloring. I was continually amazed at how eagerly they would come back inside after recess to do more school work. Such great kids. Again, I am so amazed by what a great teacher Mae Carden was. I LOVE her books and workbooks. She really knew how to build a great foundation for learning and to build a love of learning for her students. After preschool ended I was surprised at how well Luke had learned certain concepts and was ready for more. I'm starting him now in the 1st grade Carden math book and he is in heaven. He loves Math (like I do) and colors perfectly (like his daddy!).

I debated doing preschool again this year, but I decided not to because of having a new baby. However, with the big kids back in school, I look forward to having more time during the day for just my little boys. Not sure I could devote several hours in a row to teaching at this point.

Luke really misses his school buddies - they are headed off to Kindergarten this year, while his December birthday keeps him home one more year. However, that hasn't stopped Luke. Daily he brings out his workbooks and begs me to do preschool with him. I seriously can't keep up with all his demands for school, but I'm trying. Porter doesn't allow us TOO much free time during the day, but that is okay.

A few days ago we were bemoaning the fact that summer was over and the kids were starting school tomorrow. Luke piped in and said, "FINALLY I will have some PEACE and quiet!" We just laughed - this coming from the noisiest kid we own! :) Oh, we love our Luke.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry :)

Back in School

Joshua's class (someone emailed this to me - I don't have the other kids)

Every morning the kids always want to be the first to hold Porter, or to get him up out of bed. It often ends up with them all on our bed. No wonder he sleeps through the night - he needs a BREAK!

Latest latest

So much for my blog becoming a future scrapbook......I just can't seem to find the time to update it right and regularly.....a time for everything I suppose. Here are some of the recent "exciting" things around here:



Claire and Eliza turning 7! I don't know why but every year after their birthday I always feel like I really accomplished something. Is it because again it is a two for one deal? Is it because I feel slightly crazy trying to make two very different girls happy? They aren't that hard to please but I like to make them feel like they aren't just lumped into one. We had their first birthday party this year. They were very excited about having a "friend" party. My sister Beth and my friend Patty both came up/down to help out and it was very nice having some other adults around :) Brett told me to have it on a Friday instead of Saturday so he wouldn't have to be there! But then he did come for the last hour :)

I worked very long and hard (but enjoyed it) on their cakes. Aunt Beth made special birthday girl cupcakes for each of them which they loved! We had some fun relay games/races and then 2 1/2 hrs later it was over. Hurray. Check.



Joshua and Eliza qualified to compete in the Championship Swim Meet. Anna was very happy to not have to swim in it and she spent the day with her friend Lily. They watched Luke for us.

Surprisingly, (to us) Joshua's relay team came in first and broke a record! Wow! That was fun to watch. Brett told Josh right before the race that if they won, he would buy him ice cream. Josh said, "What if we get 2nd, can I still get ice cream?" Brett said no. Since Brett really doesn't like the kids to have ice cream period - this was quite a generous offer coming from dad. (Now, mom on the other hand........). Well, they came in 1st. The coaches were SO excited.



Joshua was more excited when the day before his drawing for the t-shirt competition got 2nd place. So they gave him his drawing back in a nice frame and put a picture on his drawing on all the award/certificates that they handed out. Dad's gene. Just before they made the announcement for the winner of the t-shirt competition, Joshua said to me that he really wished he could win. He already knew that he didn't win (because the t-shirts were already handed out) but he didn't know they were having a 2nd place winner. He just ran like a rabbit to the front to get his "award" and was bursting with joy. It is hanging in his room already.

It was just as fun to watch Eliza swim her butterfly race. I never was able to coordinate my body well enough to do this stroke, so it amazes me to watch it. I was watching her swim her race and I just couldn't believe how powerful she looked and she was so fast! I think she got 2nd. She loves swimming and never wanted to miss a practice. She must have inherited the swimming gene from the Bailey side. I'm really good at floating on my back and the side stroke.

Now I will just post some pictures - in no particular order.



Go Josh!!!


One more picture I found of the other cake.....

Congrats Carden & Kelly!

Madison Marie Gambee

7 lbs 12 oz.

June 21, 2010

http://Cardenandkellygambee.blogspot.com

Porter James Bailey

Our friend, Jim, called on Sunday to offer to come take some pictures of Porter. Brett hesitated because of Porter's pimples, but such is the life of the baby model - haha. These are some of my favorite ones. Nice to have some pictures of when he is little. I really like the last one. He was pretty sleepy.....


























***********************************************************************************
These are just some snapshots we took over the past week........

Good News!

I am kind of feeling like a train wreck, but I do have some good news: we have a name! Porter Jimmer Bailey. Did I say Jimmer? I mean Porter James Bailey. In honor of many - especially a certain stalker on our blog (Anna Rampton knows who I mean!) our awesome uncle Chip (he heavily campaigned for this), Marty Manning's uncle, neighbor Jim (our kids 3rd grandpa), James Madison (since Carden & Kelly stole Madison), Brett's bro Travis' middle name, and of course Brigham's big bad body guard. The other great news is that I've lost some weight!! :)

Baby Bailey - May 14, 2011

"_______" finally made it - only two days late. Mom is home now and only slightly missing the quiet at the hospital :) Now to figure out a schedule that everyone is happy with regarding "My turn to hold the baby". I can't count how many times Brett and I have already said, "Don't fight over who's turn it is!" We had a preview of what it would be like last Thanksgiving at Aunt Amy's (with baby Annie) and then again at Aunt Buffy's (with bigger baby Micah).

"___________" arrived at 5:50 pm on Saturday, May 14th. Weighing in at 10 lbs 1/2 ounce. I quickly learned that "that was nothing" because cousin Eve bounced in at ten lbs and FOUR ounces last summer.

Anna came with us - she really wanted to see the delivery - despite my warnings of blood, gruesome, scarey, gross vs. staying at friends house POSSIBLY overnight! I heard her talking to her friend. Anna: "Lily, would you feel bad if I didn't come to your house and went with my mom and dad instead?" Lily: "Anna, you can come to my house anytime, but it is not often that you get to see your own baby brother born!" What a nice friend. So she came and she was awesome and she loved it. She told Brett, "There was only one time I was kind of scared." Oops.

But anyway - the delivery was very quick. Arrived at hospital at 4:30 pm - didn't do much for an hour. Dr came in and suggested pitocin, I asked if we could wait on that (heard it makes labor harder and faster and wasn't real excited about that) - got up to walk and immediately went into transition - and had the baby 10 minutes later. I thought it was more like 3 hrs of pure torture later......

Just very glad the pregnancy and delivery is OVER. OVER. OVER!

We are so happy to have the little guy with us. He is perfect so far and we are already his family in waiting.

Anyone want to sign up for Claire's Choreography School?

Sorry, these are un-cut, un-edited. Maybe in my next life..................they took forever to download, which is one drawback to blogging for me.

The kids are having fun with the Karaoke machine Patty gave them. Claire is very decisive in her moves :)

Note Claire's guitar solo during the piano instrumental part........

If you have seen "Cloudy With Meatballs" think of the part where that big fat guy says, "Uh Oh!" in his diaper. Luke's favorite thing to do now.

Snow Trip

What will we do now that soccer season is over?!

Today is our first Saturday since June 15th that we are free of soccer games or swim meets. Because of this I was surprised to see Brett up at 6:30 am getting ready and dressed in his church clothes. (He had a stake priesthood meeting.) Then he and Josh will be passing out flier for the scouts food drive. So I guess ONE of us has a free Saturday :) The kids are actually kind of sad - "How come we don't have anymore soccer games?!!" I'm enjoying it. Also enjoying the fact that Halloween is another year away!

Here comes another one.............

Around May 12, 2011 - a new little girl (according to the Chinese birthing calendar - and we all know that is flawless) will join our family. Our children are not excited because they don't know yet, but I will say that when baby Micah was here visiting for Joshua's baptism, the kids did NOT want him to go home. The kids kept saying how lucky they (Allan, Buffy, Jack) were that they got a baby. I think Buffy was a little tired of the kids waiting in line asking to hold him :)

Dad is still in shock, but is sure it is a boy.

Mom is still sick and sure it is a girl.

We will get excited sometime around April :) Does that sound bad? Not meant that way! We absolutely welcome this child. Hopefully, this child will recognize us as his/her parents and not his/her grandparents.

Joshua's Baptism

Josh's big day - a few pictures. With the Grandpa's

With Grandma

Baptism needlepoints made by Grandma Claudia

It's All or Nothing

Haven't been doing too well with blogging lately. Decided to do a post on Joshua's birthday and then I realized I hadn't done Claire and Eliza's and then I saw that I had saved many many old "drafts" of posts, but had never published them (like Claire and Eliza's). Back to to Spring Break. Not in any order, but at least they are up :)

Claire and Eliza's big adventure! May 2010

It has been about a month, but they are still talking about their time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They had so much fun being the big kids and just the fact that Anna and Josh and Luke did NOT get to go. It was also nice for them to have some time with Dad on the rainy days. Thanks to Grandma for entertaining them and for helping them with their school work. They didn't even seem to mind the drive. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Meanwhile Mom and Luke were were busy at home remodeling the bathroom. (And no, it's not done)

This is the "before" picture: what it doesn't show is the floor rotting around the toilet and in the entry way to the room. Linoleum is peeling back and the partical board is deteriorating.

This is the "in between" picture. Since this picture I have finished all the wallboards and the backy board is on the floor with a perfect circle cut around the toilet area.


Our next project: