Happy birthday

 For Levi's 35th birthday, I insisted on throwing him a party. So we gathered all the Bartons we could for a little Cinco de Mayo. As I was walking into Winco the day before to buy the food, I saw a little boy walking out with a pinata. Genius! Clara wanted to buy the flower pinata but I thought this might go over a little better.

 All the kids got to take a turn whacking.

 And it turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be, for everyone. The kids ended up taking turns whacking it to absolute bits, even after the candy had all fallen out.

 Another night, just hanging...

 We tried to get Alice to join, but she wouldn't. The swing was much more fun.

 May has turned out to be sort of glorious.

Hey, pictures! From nearly a month ago...

 This picture is stretched weird. Sorry. Alice loves to push the flour bin around when she's lucky enough to find it on the floor. She hasn't quite got the strength to pull it out yet. But don't worry, she hasn't give up yet.

 My friend gave me a fluffy slip that I tried on under this dress. I couldn't decide if she looked ridiculously cute, or just ridiculous. Either way, I think she looked like a cupcake.

 Clara's fancy hair. Occasionally she'll stand still long enough for me to do something beyond braids or a ponytail. And even less occasionally, I'm pleased with the results. The picture is bad, but it was cute. Believe me.

 The girls, helping wash the patio furniture before a party.

Levi and my dad (finally) getting around to finishing the deck.

a tired blogging catch-up

Well, here it is the middle of May. So tonight I sit down to write a little. Ain't no pictures gonna happen. We'll take what we can get. I don't know how life can be so busy without seeming to get anything done. It's ridiculous. Sheesh. Clara had a scary dream so she's out of bed, watching me type. She's been getting up in the night a lot lately. Levi told me the other night she was just sitting on the end of our bed, occasionally whimpering. Oh, the wonder of earplugs, that I missed that particular adventure. She'll go to bed again just fine, luckily, but all this nighttime wakefulness is making for a grumpy girl. That, and she's just being three. When she gets mad, she'll twist that sweet face as grumpy as she can get it, and yell, "I'm so sad! Waaa!" or "I don't like this day! This is not a day! This is night!" Also, I always figured the expression "dancing with rage" was hyperbole until I saw this girl caterwauling. She really dances around in circles sometimes when she's mad. It would be more funny if it weren't my job to calm her down. It's still funny.

Nathan's all up into sporting right now. He told me that he wanted to do three sports, so I have to sign him up for soccer. Next month he's going to play t-ball. And this month he's doing swimming lessons. That kid is a maniac in the water. He's so excited to be learning how to swim. Where most of the other kids (there's only five) are standing nervously at the edge of the pool not wanting to jump in, he's leaping in, always wanting to be first to try new things, a little too unafraid of putting his face in the water and frequently getting a little too far out of his depth. Before every lesson we remind him to listen to his teachers, but it's so hard to remember when he's faced with all this water to cavort in. But he can float on his own for a couple of seconds and has a lot of fun doing his superman float and windmill arms. We've been going as a family and swimming on Monday evenings after his lessons. I signed Clara up for a parent/child class in July and she's so excited. Nathan's also finishing up preschool in a couple weeks and he's super excited about preschool. He knows his letters and numbers. When he's in the mood I can get him to sound out some simple words. He especially likes to do that with books he knows really well, so he can just look at the pictures and guess. He's also been really social lately. Almost every day he's begging to go to someone's house, "Or else I will be so bored!"

And that Alice. She's talking more and more, but it all sounds the same: "Mom mom MOM!" It's a pretty good all-purpose word. She uses it for both Levi and me, when she wants food, attention, anything...and yes, it has to be right this second. But she is learning to make good use of her pointer finger, and she nods. It's pretty much adorable up to the moon and back. She shakes her head no as she's throwing food off her tray, and the other day she nodded her head yes when I asked her if she wanted to read a book. Sometimes if we ask the kids if they want something ("Who wants a drink?") she'll raise her hand. Today my mother-in-law was tending the kids and gave her some goldfish in a cup. She ate a couple, then shook her head no. She pointed to the teddy grahams, and then pointed to her cup. That's some effective communication going on there. She knows she's just as big as those two other kids, and don't you try to leave her out of anything, be it carrot sticks for a snack or getting candy from the bishop after church. So she's a grimy mess most of the time, but what a sweet grimy mess.

Levi realized today it's been seven years since he started his job. Where has the time gone? Seven years ago we were still pretty much newlyweds, fresh out of school (well, one of us), all but broke. Seven years: four passports, three trips out of the country, three babies, an assortment of callings, a mortgage, a graduation. We're still young enough that seven years makes a big difference.

May Day!

Happy May 1st. We made it to May! I celebrated by eating a ridiculous number of cheese balls. Why oh why did I let Nathan pick those out at the store last week?

Alice is walking. The week she turned one she decided it should be all walking, all the time. Sometimes she gets going a little too fast so keels over. Hold on, baby kid. There's plenty of time for running once you learn balance. She also has developed the charming habit of throwing food off her tray. One night she decided she would eat only carrots. Barbecue pork, potatoes, even a bit of salad, on the floor. Sippy cup, on the floor. Only (cooked) carrots would she deign to put in her mouth. Then she'd screech when she was ready for a drink, which was--wait for it--on the floor. I'm also letting her learn to use a spoon with her yogurt for breakfast, which is a fantastic gooey mess. A great way to start the day off right. And I'm calling her first words as Mom and Hi. Pretty good words. Sometimes she'll throw in a Da but she's pretty stingy with words in general. Grunting is so much more effective.

Clara, despite of a bout of sickness in the last week, is swimming along quite well. She oscillates from uber polite: "May I go inside? Oh, thank you, Mother." to fiendish: "I hate you! I hate this day! This is not a day! This is night!" Being three is so hard.

Nathan, finishing up his last few weeks of preschool, is so excited for kindergarten, and swimming lessons, and t-ball. We started swimming lessons on Monday and he was in heaven. So much heaven was he in, that he had a hard time listening to the instructor. Hopefully he'll follow directions better today. T-ball starts in June and he's so excited. Yesterday at the park he watched some big kids playing baseball and told  me, "Maybe baseball will be like t-ball!" Yep, something like that.

I've been working up some house projects lately. Spring cleaning and such, and also making my house less ugly. I've been swinging between being unable to keep up with my regular housework because it's too hard/boring and working frenetically because I have a few thousand things to get done Right This Second.

We're getting excited for summer. Hikes, swimming in the Great Salt Lake, and maybe... Disneyland? I'm trying to gear up my motivation for that one. It would be terrific.

Birthday parties..May the Force be with you

 Somebody turned five. Somebody who loves Star Wars... although he has yet to see the actual movies. I'm going to have to watch them sometime and decide how old is old enough. But from library books and older cousins he's managed to glean quite a knowledge.

 We had the grandparents (and Linda) for birthday dinner and lightsaber cake.

 Who gave Alice a piece with black frosting? I guess that was me. Oops.

 The next day (Monday) we had a friend party. I figured at five we could start doing something. And the friends in our ward have unofficially decided to do birthday parties sans gifts, which makes me really happy and was probably the reason I decided I could do one. Because the last thing I wanted was twelve little presents coming into my home to then find some place to store.

 We did some Star Wars coloring, pin the light saber on yoda, and then went outside for...

 Jedi training. I set up a little obstacle course which ended with destroying the Death Star (hitting a soccer ball off the t-ball stand). But most of the kids wanted to just play on the swings. It was a little like herding cats. And it was cold. Clara watched everyone out the window because she refused to come out, but no one else seemed to mind.

 Then inside for light saber cake and Yoda soda. It was a big hit.

 With all the kids from his primary class, a cousin, and various younger siblings, we had 12 kids (including Alice). Quite an accomplishment to get them all around our table.

 After cake we watched Nathan's new Star Wars Lego video, which ended just as parents were coming to pick people up. We handed out light sabers as they left--pool noodles cut up and decorated with tape. I was pretty glad we didn't get to them until it was time to go. That would have been a little chaotic.

Everyone had a great time and it went a lot better than I had feared. I think we'll be able to do this kid birthday thing every now and then. A big thanks to my mom for coming to help.

Day 3: Bryce Canyon

This morning we had to say goodbye to our traveling companions. It was a sad day. The kids really missed their cousins, and their behavior certainly showed their disappointment.

 Eating lunch in the car after driving over Boulder Mountain and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

A grumpy Nathan, who only wanted to go back and play at the playground by Ruby's Inn. He wouldn't turn around. A man told us that it took him 53 years to make it here, and then we agreed my kids didn't know how lucky they are. Hear that, kids? You're lucky.

 This picture, kindly taken by an older gentleman and his wife. He really wanted the kids to look up at the camera, but it was so sunny they weren't doing anything like. And, sad as this picture is, is better than the other, wherein only half of us made it into the frame. Don't know how he managed that, but thank you for the picture, sir.

 But they were up for a little more hiking, so we did some of the Queen's Garden trail. They were excited to go down into the canyon.

We got a good ways down before they were wanting snacks, bathrooms, etc. so we decided to turn around instead of trying to do the whole loop. I had to carry Clara back up. I listened to a family behind us have a great time, and the ten-year-old daughter tell her mom, "This is so cool. Thank you so much for bringing me here." This same mom later told me, "I'm so impressed with your kids. They are doing so great." Which I needed to hear, because it's true. They did do great. Nathan was an awesome hiker, and Clara was as well, considering her age and size. Traveling with young kids can seem like more bother than it's worth. But it is worth it.

We spent the night at Ruby's Inn, with more swimming, and we did make it to the playground the kids were wanting so much. It's a good playground. Then, the next day, we made the long trek home. Clara made it from Bryce Canyon to Utah County before needing a bathroom break. It was kind of awesome.

[Someone's helping me blog...]Nathan Barton is the greatest boy who is also five. Nathan's favorite color is red. Nathan's favorite number is five. Nathan's favorite animal is cat. Nathan's favorite place is the desert. Nathan's favorite other animal is bugs. Shrimp. Nathan's favorite shape is a circle.

Clara Barton says she doesn't like this day. (That's her new thing she says when she's mad.) And no one is reading to her. Clara's favorite color is I don't know. Clara's favorite number is I don't know. Clara's favorite shape is pink circles. Clara wants to write about nothing. (Someone needs a nap--she's not been feeling well.)

Nathan's secret message is "Cats goes to the wild. Cats eat birds. (Laughter.) Cats eat fish. Fish eat worms. Fish eat cats."

Day 2: Capital Reef

 After a quick breakfast in our hotel room, we stopped to see the water wheel in Hanksville. This was up in the Henry Mountains, being used to prospect for gold. Sometime (maybe in the 70s?) they flew it down, in pieces, by helicopter and reassembled it at the BLM office.

And, funny story about this water wheel. Sometime years ago, before we even had any babies maybe, we tried to stop and see this water wheel. But as we came to a stop in the parking lot, a herd of dogs came swarming around our car, barking ferociously. We didn't stay. Oh, Hanksville. Lucky for us, there were no dogs in sight, so I finally got a look at it.

 The register rock in Grand Wash? Capitol Gorge? I can't remember. The kids, well, Nathan, did great hiking this. Clara was getting a little tired and I carried her most of the way. And on the hike it was actually warm enough to take off our jackets. Wonderful. (Our trip was more cold than otherwise.)

We went to Torrey to check into our hotel. The lady at the hotel recommended a restaurant that turned out to be a long wait with few kid-friendly options. But the veggie-laden quesadilla Clara refused to eat turned out to be delicious. Then back to the hotel for...swimming! It's hard to resist swimming. Even if the pool turns out to be slightly cold and full of loud splashing children.