Dear Michelle my belle,

You are growing so quickly and turning into such a sweet, smart, beautiful young girl. I am so pleased with your kindness and with your courage. You are not afraid to try new things. You just finished an 8 week karate class. I'm not sure whether I was more excited to see you trying out the karate moves or making friends with several other little girls and jabbering away in Spanish with them. I doubt karate will be something you fall in love with or continue, but I was pleased that you were willing to try out something new and not give up even if it was a little hard.

You are doing very well in school, and you are learning to love reading. I hope that in a few years our books will be just flying off my bookshelves as you devour them...just like I do. I have a long list of chapter books to share with you as you get older, just like I've shared many of my favorite picture books. And just because you are getting older, don't think we will stop reading picture books either. There are so many lovely picture books written for older children too. I hope that our reading together will continue for many more years.

Yesterday I was able to watch you perform with your Ballet Folklorico again. I think it is neat all that you are learning as you practice dancing. You are gaining confidence and dance skills, but you are also learning about hispanic culture, making friends and having amazing opportunities to perform. I think it makes you both nervous and excited, but know that we are so proud of you.




More importantly than these things, I am pleased with what a sweet sister you are (almost all of the time). You are so good at helping with Gabrielle and you play with Ella so well. I love to watch the sweet relationships between you three girls. I am also pleased with your love of the gospel and desire to do what is right. You hate to miss church. You feel upset and sad when people don't live the way that you believe and know to be right. You have a great desire to follow the teachings of the prophets and of our Savior Jesus. You remind me if we don't have Family Home Evening. You are such a good little girl. I am so glad you are part of our family.

Love, Mommy

Found!

Today has been a fun, busy day for us. Except for one very traumatic few minutes at the mall. We'd eaten lunch in the food court and were walking down the mall. Ella was full of energy and so I was letting her dart ahead a few feet and then dash back. She did this over and over, only going a few feet in front of us. Then she was walking beside me. Alfredo wanted to show me something and I turned my back on her for a minute and she literally vanished. I guess she somehow went around one of the little carts in the middle and then couldn't see us. She panicked and started running back the way we had walked...which meant she was running away from us. The man at one of the carts said she was running and pointed which way. I started walking quickly that way but couldn't see her. Several people asked if I was looking for the girl with pigtails and said she was crying and running and pointed me in the right direction... but I couldn't see her and was feeling quite panicked. Thank goodness, someone finally grabbed ahold of her and had found a security guard. She was sobbing. I was so relieved and at the same time, felt absolutely terrible that this happened.

**This post was never published somehow. This was actually written on 3/7/09...but I've already printed my blog for 2009 so I figured I would include this in 2010.

Music Concert/Student of the Month

Yesterday the first grade performed at Jackson's monthly student of the month assembly. They sang songs about the weather and many of the students read parts of a script (in English and Spanish) about what they have learned about the weather. They sang, "Here Comes the Sun", "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and a song in Spanish "Sol, Solecito". Michelle has enjoyed learning these songs and has been singing them at home for several weeks now.


Along with her music concert, Michelle was chosen as the Student of the Month for her class. She was so excited and pleased. (Despite looking a little worried/sick while on the stage...I think she gets nervous?) The teacher announcing the Students of the Month for each class said that these are kids who do everything they are supposed to, plus a little more. Quite a tribute to my little girl. Every time I see her teacher (who I used to work with), she tells me how darling Michelle is. We're so happy that you love school, Michelle, and that you are working so hard and learning so much!

Best Things in Life are Free (Family History Journal)

The topic for Family History Journal a week ago was that it is often said, "The best things in life are free." When I first read the topic, I couldn't think of what I wanted to say. But then a few days ago, I realized I knew exactly what to share. The best thing in life (or one of them) that is free is imagination! And my kids...as well as most other kids...are filled with this great gift. I love how my kids can find new and creative ways to use toys, can find ways to keep themselves entertained without toys, and are always using their imagination as they play and interact. If only I had their imagination and creativity still!

Here are just a few examples of kids' imaginations. These first photos were taken in December, on a day when we had a house full of kids. Suddenly, they had found some ribbons, tied them together to make "leashes" and were leading each other around like dogs. So clever and they had loads of fun.



The hula hoops they received for Christmas are usually used as hula hoops. But from time to time, they are used in other creative ways. A few days ago, they began to chase each other around the table and jump through the hoop as they went. It looked a little like an acrobat, a little like tag and a little like the limbo.



Even balloons can provide tons of entertainment...as hats, as balls, etc. The greatest thing is that even without actual toys that cost money, the kids are usually so good at finding ways to play. Imagination is truly one of the best things in life that is free.

Presidents Day Outing

On Presidents' Day, the girls and I headed to Chuck E. Cheese. I let the girls bring along a friend, "Miss K". They all had fun. We had pizza and cinnasweet bread and then the girls rode the rides and played games. A fun time was had by all.

My Valentine

Love this guy!

Had a great Valentine's. On Saturday night, my dad watched the girls for us so we could go out. We saw the movie Valentine's Day and then went to dinner at Rodizio Grill (in American Fork). The best part of all...besides being with Alfredo? The whole evening was free. My dad watched them and on Friday, Alfredo's boss gave him gift cards to say thanks for being a great employee and so the whole evening was paid for. Awesome! Since my birthday is a few days before Valentine's, we were able to go out twice in one week sans kids. :)

So big!

Gabrielle is growing so fast. She is now officially 18 months old (on Thursday) and old enough for nursery. I don't know whether to be excited about all she is learning or sad that she has grown so quickly and really isn't a baby anymore. She has developed a strong sense of what she wants, she has a temper when she doesn't get her way, and she really thinks she can do everything her big sisters do.




And her language skills are exploding. Along with the 15 or so words that she had when she was a year old (dog, perro, Chester, momma, dada and so on), she can say many more, including but probably not limited to:

candy (Did I mention that she can find candy better than anyone? If there is candy anywhere in the house, she finds it! And eats it. We have to keep it hidden and way up high.)
puppy, No, up, down, want, cuckoo, book, this, comida (food in Spanish), poopoo, Jenni & Paco (neighbors across the street), dank oo (thank you), gracias (thank you in Spanish), cookie, Daf-ee (Daphne, a friend's daughter), Dante (our friend's son), mas (more in Spanish), luz (light in Spanish), baby, hot, hola (hello in Spanish), hello, bye bye, night-night, baw (ball), Milo (Alfredo's aunt's dog), and leche (milk in Spanish). She also knows poopoo, good night, thank you, more, milk, and food in sign language. Between her words and pointing, she can pretty well communicate what she wants now. At least most of the time.

She loves to say NO! She also says lots of gibberish. And she really does try to do whatever her sisters do. She runs and she now can climb the stairs standing up, although she still usually goes up and down on her hands and knees. She colors in coloring books just like her big sisters. And she knows how to turn the computer on. She loves to "talk" on the phone. And surprisingly, she is loving the Olympics. We watched some ski jumping (is that what it is even called?) and she kept clapping and squealing and jumping up and down. She was enthralled. Here are a couple of photos of her watching the Olympics.

Look at her smile!!