Diamonds in the Rough

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lydia's Obsessions

Lydia's latest obsessions are shoes and toothbrushing. When I am getting her dressed in the morning all she wants is her "shoes". She will find any family members shoes and put them on. I also keep finding her with all the kids toothbrushes and the toothpaste. Though, I don't think she actually brushes her teeth as much as she likes putting the toothpaste on the brush and eating it. too funny!

Last of the Harvest !

Baylee and Kami had fun harvesting the last of the garden all on their own. Then they arranged them into colorful bowls and were so excited to show mom. After all that work it was worthy of a photo.

Picture Day !

So, we got Baylee all cute and ready for school pictures, with the "don't mess it up until after the pictures" talk. Then I happened to look at my calendar and pictures weren't until the next day. oops! So after all that effort we decided to take a picture anyway. What a cutie pie!

Bella Dancerella

Baylee, Kami, Braelyn, and Lydia decided to put on a dance performance. I got some good laughs out of their dance moves.

Holly Lake

Labor Day we took a spontaneous picnic to Holly Lake. It was fun family time just relaxing, fishing, and goin on a short hike. My girls love the outdoors. Kami was determined to catch a fish, but satisfied to just get a crawdad. Baylee loves finding the pretty spots to explore. Lydia just happily tags along.

After the day at Holly Lake, Dave camped with the girls overnight at a spot closer to home. They are always saying dad tent camps with scouts and not with them. They loved every minute of it. I took Lydia home and enjoyed a quiet house for the
evening.

Play time with Kami

Kami has been such a fun playmate while Baylee is at school, she has been coming up with lots of creative fun ideas. I am so proud of her. Kasen and Lydia are her favorite playmates.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

First Day of Kindergarten

Well we are finally entering the public school system. Baylee was so thrilled about finally getting to go to kindergarten that she woke up at 6:30am (because Lacey told her that when you start school you have to get up super early) did her whole morning routine by herself and at 7:30 when she was almost done eating breakfast she says, "I am all ready mom let's go to school". Unfortunately she still had many hours before leaving at 11:00am. Lacey(cousin) had debriefed Baylee on the whole kindergarten school thing days before and so she was confident that she new exactly what to do and that you never want to go to the principal's office. Well, at 11:00 we headed to Highland Primary. I walked Baylee to her classroom and told her I was going to take her picture, but before I could she said "See ya mom, I got to go" and she was bolting down the hall to the playground. I don't think I have ever seen her run that fast. Apparently she has no separation anxiety. Poor Kami can hardly wait tell it is her turn. Kami is adjusting to being the playtime coordinator while Baylee is gone. Today she comes in while I am working on the computer and says "mom grown-ups can play with kids, you know! 'cause the scriptures said Jesus was like a child and played with kids." So what could I say to that? I left my work and we played school upstairs. We picked up Baylee after school and she gave explicit details of her day about 5 times over. I hope this enthusiasm for school lasts for the next 12 years.

Our Adventure

Our adventure together started when a city boy met a country girl at heart (even though she grew up in the city). We are so glad that our paths crossed and that our destination was the same. Now after almost 8 years of marriage we continue to enjoy the adventure of our lives together. While I try to keep up the pace along the path, he makes sure I don't miss any of the scenery along the way. We want to appreciate each stage of our family journey together, by treasuring the moments that matter. With so much to be grateful for through ups and downs we like to carry on the phrase "never has life been better than this".

Describing Myself

So, I have always thought it challenging to describe myself. Maybe it’s a second child syndrome or maybe its because I am a melting pot of quircky traits. Luckily I am not alone in that, its genetic, haha!

So, here is my attempt at describing myself.
An Arizona native, though I was actually born in CA. I love Arizona and its diversity. The desert can be so beautiful. I come from a family of 4 kids. I am #2. I loved taking care of my sister Chelsey, who was 8 yrs younger than me and growing up I always loved babysitting, because I could just play with the kids. I have a lot of self-motivation and a challenge never stops me from trying. This trait was acquired at a young age when I wouldn’t let being the smallest and shortest be a disadvantage. I have always loved horses, since I can remember. It’s in my Randall blood, though I have never actually owned one. I love the outdoors and sometimes its hard to be doing the mundane house jobs when I would rather be outside. I really enjoy figuring out solutions to problems. I like gadgets (a trait from my father). Thus, when my Sunday School teacher hired me as his secretary, when I was a Junior in Highschool, I was in my element and thoroughly enjoyed getting his company out of the old and in to the new computer world. This job supported me through college. I truly love learning. School wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed what I learned and was able to go to BYU. In college I had a hard time deciding on a major because their was so many subjects I wanted to learn about. I took classes in Engineering, science, business, dance, recreation, and music. - so, I probably could be labeled as knowing a little bit about a lot of things. An experience I’ll never forget was living in Jerusalem and Egypt for 4 months doing a BYU study abroad. It gave me a bigger perspective. I am more of a listener than a talker. I love hearing about peoples experiences and I am good at keeping confindences. I remember as a youth sitting amongst my adult relatives, just listening to them talk. I am so grateful for a close extended family that loves to share ideas. I am a detail person and a planner, I am working on being more spontaneous. I am learning to appreciate the different stages in my life, and now that I am 32 I really wish time would slow down. I am so grateful to be married to Dave, a super wonderful husband and father. Above all, I love being a wife and a mom to 3 beautiful daughters, it gives purpose and meaning to my busy days. I enjoy music in my home - playing the piano, singing songs, and dancing with my kids. I especially love to dance with Dave, even though we don’t get to very often. I love doing projects with my kids and reading to them. I enjoy cooking healthy nummy foods and I have way too many cook books. Cleaning the bathrooms is my least favorite house chore and sweeping the floors (since they need it so often) is therapeutic. I will sweep and sweep with a million thoughts going through my head. I have always loved giving hugs (the big bear hugs), when I was young it was my pets, now it is my kids. So big hugs have become a tradition in our family. I love it when I can use my talents to serve others. I love the Gospel. I love that the Lord makes up the difference for our imperfections. I am so grateful to have a forever family.