The Big 5, Pretty Preschool, Snowflake Fest

Some highlights from this past week:

Mylie turned 5! We had a fun party with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, as usual. My parents came over from Cokeville for the party. They're so good to come over for my kids' birthdays as often as they can. Mylie loved her #5 cake, and I was excited about my new cake pan that can do number and letter shapes. That's about as fancy as it's going to get for me in the cake decorating department, I'm afraid.

She loves her new pillow pet from Grannie T.

Wednesday was our preschool Christmas party at our house. The kids and moms had a great time. The preschool kids all drew names and brought a gift for one other child. Mylie got make-up, and within five minutes, all the little girls looked SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

And finally, we had our 2nd annual Snowflake Fest here at the Micheli house. I say "annual" because the kids have loved this so much last year and this year that I'm sure this is going to become a Christmas tradition around here. They just love all the different designs they come up with! I love it because it's simple--computer paper and scissors--and fun. There really isn't much mess--just little scraps of paper that we scoop into the garbage to clean up, and I can leave them up for a few months here in Wyoming where winter lasts half of the year!

Here they are in creative concentration mode:

And we all love the finished product!

Not Left Out

Connor has been starting to wonder just a bit whether it's possible for Santa to get to every single house on Christmas Eve. And that leads to wondering if Santa is even real. But his faith in Santa has been restored since Santa sent him THIS awesome message in my email! (The kids have had a ball with these!!)

SANTA, SANTA, SANTA

Last night was the ward Christmas party, and OF COURSE, Santa was there. Connor had no problem sitting on Santa's lap and telling him just what he wants for Christmas (a Mythbusters kit, air hockey table, or old fashioned sled).
Mylie, on the other hand, has always been afraid of Santa, and had never sat on his lap . . . until last night! I didn't really think she'd do it, especially when we got to the church, and she instantly started crying, saying she couldn't do it, then cried off and on while waiting in line, but when the time came, she mustered her courage and climbed up on his lap so she could tell him that she wanted a barbie house. Afterward, she told me that it actually wasn't scary at all!

I guess to reward her for her bravery, Santa send her a special video message to my email this morning. Click HERE to see it!

P.S. There was no WAY Mariah was sitting on Santa's lap! But with me holding her, we did get close enough to talk to Santa. He asked her what she wanted, and she said, "Toys." She shouldn't be too hard to please!

What I Miss

Sometimes I just miss people and things. I've been feeling that way a bit lately. It doesn't mean that I'm not happy with my life as it is now, because I am. But as memories come to me, I just feel a longing for other good times I've had as well. Here is a short list of what I miss:

Flowers--I suppose my yard is still changing each day and the snow comes, then melts or blows away, and then comes again. And, of course, there are a few more deer droppings each day, too. But I miss the beautiful changes that go on in the summer months.

College Life--I moved away from Laramie about 6 years ago, and I have missed it ever since! This is where I found lasting friendship, got an education, met and married my husband, had my first baby, lived in awesome little dumps also known as cheap apartments, and watched TONS of Cowboy/Cowgirl sporting events! Those were good times.
T.--To respect his privacy, I'll simply refer to this kid as "T". "T" came into our lives 5 years ago, first as a student in Tony's middle school Special Ed. classroom. The very next summer, he did a life skills summer school program on our ranch, spending 60 hours with Tony (and our family) that summer. Soon after that, Tony and I became respite care providers, and his time spent with us increased greatly. He even lived with us for a couple weeks at a time on two different occasions as his family dealt with some trials. We had a bedroom for him, and he was here often. Our entire family grew to love this kid--his tickling, his singing and dancing, his "You're crazy!", and his smile. This summer he moved away unexpectedly and I didn't even get to say goodbye. We hope to see him again sometime, but every time I drive by his house, my eyes fill with tears. We had a lot of good times with "T". Some of my favorite memories with him are going to state basketball, the county fair (a few times), and Lagoon this past summer.Pregnancy--Okay, okay, I know some of you would like to throw something at the computer screen right now (Holly?)--but as the time goes on, I do actually miss the miracle of having a little baby growing inside me. I'm sure it helps that I've had very smooth, sickness-free pregnancies. And as much as I enjoy a flat stomach as well, I'm kinda missing this little bump!
Digital Scrapbooking--I'm about a year and a half behind on this, and it's something I enjoy doing! I need to quit missing it and just get in gear and get on it again!

Sullivan--His birthday is coming up soon, and I've been thinking of him so much lately. I know that two years will be over quickly, but lately it feels like he's already been gone so long and it's been less than 6 months! He's such a good kid, and I really miss him!

Sunny, Sandy Beaches--Luckily, I'll get to enjoy them again in a little over a month! I'm getting so excited!

Good Move

I know this move was long overdue (my mother has been hinting at the need for it for awhile now--"She really is a pretty girl when you can see her eyes."--etc.) and we finally got around to it this week.

Look at my pretty girl before

(I actually put her hair up and out of her eyes this day.)

and after getting my favorite little-girl bob!

She really is a pretty girl when you can see her eyes, Mom!

It's HERE!!!

Christmas time, that is. It's December 1st, and I have all my Christmas decor set up. And I almost enjoyed doing it this year. I'm kind of a scrooge when it comes to setting up the Christmas decorations. It's not that I don't like decorating (see previous post)--it's just that I don't like doing it and then RE-doing it just a month later! But it's up, and I am enjoying it.

Sunday evening we set up the tree. The kids were SOOO excited, and had to put on their Christmas shirts from last year, which were in one of the boxes we brought up. Connor's looks fine, and then it gets progressively worse as you go down in age! Apparently, Mariah has had the biggest growth spurt of the three this past year! They love putting up all our special ornaments one at a time. They're not very evenly spaced, it definitely isn't a pretty tree, but it's our tree, and we love it!

Last night, we were able to get even more into the Christmas spirit by going to the 1st grade Christmas concert. There are 5 first grades, and Connor's was the last class to perform, so the girls were a little impatient waiting. And then we got this:

Their music teacher, Mr. Dobbins, has worked really hard to teach the kids concert etiquette, and part of that is looking at the director and not looking around the auditorium during the performance. Boy did Connor do a good job of that! Mr. Dobbins was directing from the side of the stage over by the piano so that he wouldn't block anybody's view of their child, so we saw a lot of the SIDE of Connor' super-concentrated singing face. It was a cute show!

November (and GIRLS room!)

Every year when November rolls around, I'm so excited about all the time I'm going to have now that both gardening and volleyball seasons are over. So what did I do with November this year??? FILLED it with all sorts of things!

The first week was spent cleaning house and potty training Mariah (or at least trying to do so). She did really well that week, and has gotten progressively WORSE! I've about given up on it. I think I'll wait until she actually wants to do it. It's just frustrating because she knows how! Oh well. That weekend, we headed to Rexburg to visit my sister, Violet, and her husband, Austin. We had a great time there. It was a beautiful weekend, and we went to a park, a movie, and a fun place in IF called Blast Off. Vi and Austin also watched the kids at another park while I did a bunch of project shopping at Home Depot. Thanks again, guys!

From Idaho Falls, I headed to Pocatello to watch the Idaho State volleyball team, which my uncle, Chad Teichert, coaches. It was a fun game, and the kids were pretty good about letting me watch most of it. From there, we headed to Cokeville to spend Sunday with my family, then home that night.

Monday I loaded up the girls and we headed back to Pocatello with my sister-in-law, Angela. We went up to watch Chad's practices on Monday and Tuesday to learn some things that will help us in our coaching. We had such a great time, and Chad's wonderful wife, Susie, watched our kids during the practices.

I was home again on Wednesday and Thursday--just long enough to do laundry, clean house, and get ready to head out again on Friday for a weekend in Laramie and Cheyenne, where we visited family and friends and watched the high school state championship football games.

The next day was Mariah's birthday, and I was SO ready to just stay home for awhile--and that's what I've done. And although I haven't left the house much in the last week or so, I have stayed plenty busy working on some super fun projects!

We have had a room in our house that, for the last 5 years, has been the guest/workout/storage/if-you-don't-know-where-to-put-something-put-it-in-there room. I decided that it is time to have the girls share a room, so I emptied it out and created a girls room that I am so excited about! The girls love it, too, but I think I might love it more! Here are the pics:

So, of course, the paint colors look just a little different in all these photos, but basically, the bottom is a bubble-gum pink and the top is a warm yellow (not a NEON yellow like it looks in some of these pictures).

These cute little jacket hooks are one of my favorite things. Mylie painted them as well as some of the other frames in the room and the walls! We had a great time working on it together.

This was a fun and simple project using 1x3 boards, clothespins, spray paint, and scrapbook paper. I was really happy about the way these turned out, and Mylie can't wait to hang up some of her own artwork on the bottom side of these.

I built both of these book shelves using plans from www.ana-white.com They were so simple and turned out so cute! The one above will have three light pink storage baskets that are on their way via UPS. Also the project above for displaying the girls' names was from the ana-white site. I'll have to wait to post my favorite thing I built, however, since it's a Christmas gift. But I'm SO excited. I just want to build all kinds of things now!

And now, I'm ready to finish out November with some relaxing and spending quality time with family! Happy Thanksgiving!

It's hard to believe that my baby is 2!! Mariah is such a fun girl. She's always making us laugh and I just can't get enough of her chubby cheeks and belly. She's starting to talk more, even though I can't understand her half of the time (which, of course, is a major cause of frustration for both of us). We've also been busy this month working on potty training. She is very capable, but not sure she wants to do it EVERY time yet (another cause of frustraion for me). Despite the typical frustrations of having a 2-year-old around, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little girl!!

Kids say the AWESOMEST things!

Last weekend, my kids said some really awesome things, and I want to document them before I forget.

Friday morning as I was getting Mariah dressed, she patted herself on the tummy and said "Chubby, chubby," with a big smile on her face, so proud of her pot-belly. I thought that was so cute, until later when I was getting in the shower and she pointed at my belly and again said, "Chubby, chubby." Rude!

Later that day, we were at Violet's house looking at all her cute baby clothes for the little girl she is expecting. Mariah was really excited about the cute clothes, and so I tried to explain to her that Violet had a baby in her belly. She looked at Vi's belly and didn't say anything, but I could see the wheels spinning. The next morning as Mariah got in the bath, she patted her belly, and then got an "aha!" look on her face and said, "Baby!" That explains the chub, I guess!

Saturday night, we went to a college volleyball match in Pocatello. After the match, I asked Mylie if watching that college volleyball makes her want to play. She replied that it looked like so much fun and she definitely wants to be a volleyball player. I then asked, "So, do you want to be a libero, setter, or hitter?" She answered, "Libero." Then I asked her why, expecting an answer that had something to do with how great it would be to dig those hard hits. I had to hold in my laugh when she said, "Well, those hitters really sweat a lot, and I don't like to sweat so much." Hahaha!

That same night on the way home, Connor and I were visiting and whenever there was a lull in the conversation, he would say, "What do you want to talk about now, Mom?" We did a few different topics before I asked him, "What are you goals for yourself when you grow up? Do you have any dreams?" He answered quickly and matter-of-factly, "Mom, I've got lots of dreams and they are really good ones. My basketball team is going to win a state championship and I'm going to score 40 points in the championship game. Then I'm going to play college basketball, then go to the NBA for 10 years." Sounds like he's really thought things through. Retiring in your early 30s sounds pretty good to me!

Finally, I have to tell a story about my nephew, since his mom probably won't post it, and I think it beats all the things my kids said this weekend. They were in Idaho Falls, and drove past the temple. He pointed up at the Angel Moroni statue on top and said, "Look! It's Jesus-oroni! Tell it to the world!" What a kid!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Witch Doctor,

the SkeleCutie,

and Princess Mariah.

Once again, I was in Casper for state volleyball and missed Halloween, so we did pumpkin carving, while wearing costumes for FHE activity last Monday night. The kids loved it, and had a great Halloween with their dad!

Harvest (just in time)

So, I'm SO glad I got this done last week before the SNOW hit! (I'm not happy about the storm, but we DID have a beautiful fall.)

I finally got all my root vegetables dug up. Here's the loot.

(Top to bottom: carrots, yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, russett potatoes, red onions, white onions, yellow onions)

I'm especially happy about my carrots this year. It's my first SUCCESS with carrots.

We're trying an experiment this year. We're not going to be able to eat all of these vegetables in the next month or so, and our basement isn't a great place to store them, since it gets too warm down there. My mom heard about this somewhere and has always wondered if it would work, so we're giving it a go.

You take an old dead deep freeze,

dig a big hole in the ground,

and then bury it and put your bags of vegetables inside. Right now the buried freezer is covered with snow, but it should melt off in the next couple of days, and then I'll open it up and see how it handled the days of cold. Kind of fun. We hope it works!

Time-Waster

So, I've just wasted an hour or so reading THIS blog. I know a lot of you have read it, but if you haven't, it's a must. Check it out and get a great laugh! (Although I must admit that every once in awhile, I get just a little offended--"Is she making fun of ME?") Hahahaha.

Worth

Sunday morning, Mariah came into my bedroom looking like this--covered in little pink stickers that I had left in a drawer after a yard sale a couple summers ago. They ranged from 25 cents to $3 to Make Offer.

At first, it made me laugh. Then a thought came into my mind: "Maybe you need to teach Mariah about her worth." The more I pondered that thought, the more I realized how important that truly is. As a woman myself, I know the struggles that we as females in this world face with truly understanding our worth. Many different factors made me question my worth throughout my growing-up years: if I was popular or not, whether a certain boy paid attention to me, what my skin looked like, what my body looked like, what my talents were (or weren't), etc. As a mother, I have found peace with many of the issues that used to bother me, but now I find myself questioning whether or not I am measuring up as a wife and mother, and when I feel like I'm not, I begin to question my worth once again.

I LOVE my daughters, and never want them to feel this way. A couple of years ago, I read an article about how the interactions young girls have with others impact their formation of their self-worth. Most people, when they see a little girl, first mention something about how she looks. With only good intentions, they say things like, "Your hair sure is pretty," or "What a cute outfit you have on today!" But what happens is that young girls begin understanding that their appearance is what others appreciate about them, and therefore, that is where their value lies. I think this is extremely dangerous, and so I truly try to compliment my girls on things other than their appearance, and I don't put much work into their appearance on a daily basis. In fact, those who see my girls very often may judge me as a neglectful mother based on how their hair usually looks. But it's not neglect--it's purposeful. They are beautiful--not because their hair is perfect or they have the cutest outfit ever--but because they are beautiful just the way they are.

I do teach them that there are times to look our very best (church, for one), but I also teach them that it is okay to have people see us not looking our best. I also try to model this thinking, by going to the grocery store without makeup on occasion, not ever making negative comments about my body or appearance, and not talking much about how other people look.

I thought things were going pretty well with this and that my girls weren't going to be too concerned about always looking a certain way. But last week I found out that maybe all girls will feel inferior at some point, regardless of the efforts of their mothers. Mylie came home from gymnastics, and when I asked her how it went, she was nearly in tears as she told me that she wanted short hair again. WHAT? We've been working on growing it for almost a year, and she has been set on having long hair by kindergarten next year. She then informed me that AVERY has short hair and she needs short hair so she can be like Avery. Also, she needs a leotard with a ballerina on the front of it, since that's what Avery has. I didn't know what to do for sure, but I wrapped her in a hug and told her that I loved her just the way she is, and that she doesn't need to try to be like anybody else. And then I've worried about it all week.

I'd love to conclude this post with the magic answer, the sure thing, the never-fail tip for making sure that our daughters understand their worth. But I don't have it. In fact, I don't think there is a "magic bullet" for teaching self-worth. I think it actually comes bit by bit, with small doses of love, listening, teaching, being an example of confidence, and by complimenting the things that are truly "worthy" of our compliments. And as I look at my beautiful daughters, I pray that I can do this incredibly important job of helping them shed the "price tags" and understand that their worth is INFINITE.

My Life Lately--By the Numbers

1--Number of good meals I cooked this week. (Totally slacking!)
2--Number of cute girls I get to spend my days with.
2--Number of handsome boys that I miss each day from 7:30 to 6:30.
8--Hours spent outside this week, enjoying the beautiful weather while working in the yard.
26--Hours spent in the gym this week, coaching the sport I love most!
6--More days until Regional Volleyball, and we host it this year!
29--Age I WISH I turned last month.
25--Number of people that I hope will show up to sing in our ward choir in church tomorrow.
91--Days until I set sail on my next cruise!!
254--Number of items on my to-do list between now and then! Wish me luck!

Lunch

For the past six years (since being a mother of young children), most days my lunch is less than exciting. Quite often, it is actually awful. Ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, and PB&J are the usual menu choices. After contemplating the choices, my decision is usually made NOT by what I would like, but by how much time I have or what the kids want to eat that day. Today, however, I indulged myself by creating (that's how amazing it felt) THIS lunch:

(This picture really doesn't do this meal justice.)

My tomato plants are producing very nicely right now, and I decided to take advantage of that by having a BLT and some homemade salsa with chips! And yes, it was divine! Of course, I made a BLT for Mylie as well, fully knowing that I would have to finish hers, too! (But what a better way to stuff myself than with a bowl of now-cold mac and cheese, right?)

Ranch Road Robbery

One day a few weeks ago, Mylie asked me if she could do a "concession stand" on the side of the road. Our road is just a lane into our ranch, which has four houses on it, and very little traffic other than the family coming and going. I was busy that day and told her to go for it. She decided to sell bread (fresh from the Wonder bag) and water (fresh from our faucet). I was happy about this, since I didn't need to help her at all. Before long, she had made $2 from just three sales--to Grandma and Grandpa, an aunt, and a great uncle. She was so excited about making some money, and when Connor got home from school, they went at it again! This time they sold some fresh garden vegetables that they picked themselves. By the end of the evening, they each had a few dollars. I figured that their customers may have been overpaying a bit, and that fact was confirmed several days later, when I finally read the prices hung on the fence. In Connor's handwriting, the paper read:

1 ceret for 50 (cent sign)

1 pee for 10 (cent sign)

Talk about ROBBERY! (And I got a little giggle about the "pee" part. Made me think of my trip to Mexico, where you actually DO have to pay to take a pee. Haha.)

October 1st Gratitude (the SHORT list)

There are so many things I am grateful for today. Here are just a few . . .

I'm grateful that I was able to make fresh salsa yesterday from my own HOMEGROWN tomatoes and onions. Next year I hope to grow everything I'll need!

I'm grateful that my two cute girls are starting to become great friends! Mariah is old enough to play now and thinks Mylie is awesome! She follows her around and copies her all day long, which Mylie doesn't seem to mind.

I'm grateful that we have had high temperatures near 80 every day this week WITH NO WIND!

I'm grateful that Tony and I were able to go to sealings at the temple this morning.

I'm grateful for the "proud mama" moment I had yesterday as Connor got an award at school for being a great leader.

I'm grateful that my living room window has been open for three weeks straight (day and night!) and my heater has not kicked on once! (So a lot of my gratitude deals with this incredible weather we've had this month! I can't help it . . . I love fall when it's like this!)

I'm grateful that General Conference is this weekend, and I will get to see my entire family (minus Sullivan) on Sunday!

I'm grateful that I am still getting to look at THIS each day (in October?!?)

You'll Shoot Yer Eye Out!

So . . . today was probably the best day of Connor's life so far: the day he got his first BB Gun. Several people gave him money for his birthday, and that--combined with the money he already had--was almost enough for one. Tony pitched in the remaining money, and when I got home from volleyball practice, here is what I found!He could hardly go to sleep tonight because he was so pumped about it.

Even before the BB Gun, Connor had had a pretty good birthday. It started the night before his actual birthday (since I was gone all day on his birthday). He got to have his choice for dinner (taco salad) and his choice for birthday cake (cheesecake: the instant kind out of a box). Can you say EASY TO PLEASE?!? I love this kid! He also got a cheap little yard horseshoes set and a box of over 100 basketball trading cards. He was thrilled!

Saturday--this wasn't really for his birthday, but it felt like we were still celebrating--we went to Laramie for the Cowboys football game. They got killed by Boise State, but it was a nice night and we had a great time with family.
Finally, to finish off the celebrations, we had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins come for birthday cake last night. That's when he rolled in all the dough necessary to buy his newest prized posession! Thanks to all of you who made Connor's 7th birthday such a hit! (Now, what to get him for Christmas? It was going to be a BB GUN!!)

Rollercoaster

Do you ever feel like your life is a rollercoaster? Since I last updated my blog, mine sure has been one. Last week, volleyball went really well. We won both of our games, and had Saturday off, which is very rare. So, to take full advantage of the free weekend, we headed out of town--Tony and Connor to Laramie to watch the Cowboys play football, and Mylie and I to Provo to watch a college volleyball tournament (specifically Idaho State, where my Uncle Chad is the head coach.) Both the father/son and mother/daughter dates were huge successes! Tony got pictures on his phone, which we don't know how to put onto the computer, so you'll just have to imagine the fun they had! Mylie and I got a couple pictures in the gym. We also stopped at Bridal Veil Falls on the way home and went to the bottom of the falls, but my camera had run out of battery, so we didn't get any pics there. Bummer. We also went out to eat, got ice cream, and did a little shopping between games.

Sunday, we headed to Cokeville after church, where we enjoyed a great dinner and evening with my family. We stayed overnight, and I got some more raspberries Monday morning for jam. We had a hot dog roast for lunch, then we headed back home. It was a great Labor Day weekend.

Then back to volleyball. I was super excited to get going again, but we had a pretty rough week. But that pales in comparison to the sad news I recieved Monday night that a young mother in Cokeville died unexpectedly. It has really made me think long and hard about life and how we can never just assume there will be a tomorrow. I have prayed and cried for their family all week. Then on Friday, my cousin Jared passed away after a long battle with brain cancer. Although we knew this was going to happen, it is still painful and hard to see his young family struggle through this. Once again, my prayers are with them and my mind is consumed with thoughts of how short this life really is and how important it is to have faith in our Heavenly Father's plan.

One happy moment in the middle of the week came Wednesday morning as Mylie went to the first day of preschool. She was so excited!

Now--on the way back up the rollercoaster--my JV team had a great tournament this weekend. They really worked hard. Friday had its ups and downs, so we didn't get in the gold bracket, but then Saturday was tons of fun as they played great and won the silver bracket.

Today was also a good day. After taking the summer off, ward choir got rolling again today. We had 25 people show up and I'm excited about our music we're working on for this fall. I still get nervous conducting, but it's getting better.

Finally, I know that I said I'd do garden "updates" throughout the summer, and I have failed miserably with that. But here is my most favorite update possible--enjoying the fruits (or vegetables) of my labors. Today for dinner, we enjoyed stir fry made from our own carrots, peas, broccoli, and onions and corn on the cob!! Yeah! All the veggies went from the plant to my belly in less than an hour. Now that is eating FRESH! And doesn't it look divine?!?

Kitchen Beauty Salon

Now that the boys are back in school, it's a girl party everyday again at our house! Yesterday, Mylie thought it would be fun to have a beauty salon. I wasn't sure if Mariah would understand how "fun" this game would be. But she LOVED it!!

First Mylie made Mariah BEAUTIFUL!

Check out the pedi!

Then Mariah, of course, wanted to return the favor!

Oh, the joys of little GIRLS!