Livi Speaks

Jealous Much?

Who doesn't love 16 inches of snow? They had to cancel school (snow days are rare in Nebraska since our buses have huge snow tires), so the kids are having a blast playing together and drinking all my hot chocolate. I bet you all wish you could visit and make snow angels in my yard.

Failure is My Option

I guess it's because I have two parents who never seem to fail at anything that makes me feel so horrible when I have to give up on something. I realized 2 weeks ago that I was failing at everything. Ethan was crabby all the time, Ella was acting out, I was stressed beyond belief, my house was a mess, and I had primary teachers letting me know what a bad job I was doing. I always thought failing was not an option for church callings, but I decided better to fail at that, than everything in my life, so I asked to be released as Primary President. I have never asked to be released before, and it was humiliating, but now that it's all over I feel awesome. The Bishopric was very understanding since one of my counselors never showed up and the other is pregnant with her 6th child (and is the Bishops wife). With Olivia being my little tumor (permanently attached to my side) I just couldn't pull the extra weight.
I didn't get off scott free, though. I was called to be the Achievement Day leader for the 8-11 year old girls, which is the calling I had when I first moved here and LOVED it. I was also called to be a Relief Society instructor. Some of my friends think this isn't much of a break, but 3 days a month is WAY better than everyday as Primary President (because of all the craziness here). When you have a ward as small as ours every person has to do double duty, even crazy, overstressed mothers and fathers (Eric is 11 year old scouts leader, and ward emergency preparedness coordinator).

One of the thing that cheered me up this week was this picture. Iwas finally cleaning up and pulled this stuffed animal out from under the table. I guess it was jail, and this poor bunny had broken the law. One of Ethan' favorite games is to have his stuffed animals break the law, and then he is the cop and prosecutor and Eric plays the judge. Ethan laughs so hard when bunnies and bears are sentenced to hard labor making Easter eggs, or collecting honey.
The picture at the top is from the mall. Ella wanted to ride the horse and Ethan tried to ride on the back, but kept sliding off. This is why I am a Mom, I love how silly my kids are.
Another fun thing for me is to look over and see Eric holding Livi. My heart melts evertime I see her tiny body cuddled up in his big strong arms.

The Pirate Ship That Wasn't Meant to be.

Ethan really wanted a pirate themed birthday party this year. It is the first time we have had a "friend" party and I really wanted everything to be special for him. I decided to build a 3-D pirate ship for the cake. I had it all figured out, but forgot about gravity. The sides where too heavy and the ship split into pieces. After a frantic call home, my Dad calmed me down enough I could think about the problem and after consulting my vast cake knowledge (from watching Food Networks "Ace of Cakes") I fixed the problem by tearing the layers apart and putting in platforms. Crisis averted, or so I thought.
I guess this cake offended someone in another life. Maybe it was a rich man, like Mister Burns, and Karma felt that he should be reincarnated as a doomed cake. Maybe I took on too big a project. Maybe life just happens. Whatever it was, this cake had a contract out on its short life. Enjoy watching our disaster.


I have a few more fun pics to add for this birthday post.
Yes, Ella did wear a princess dress to the pirate party. Ethan was less than thrilled, but I had to explain he couldn't dictate what she wore.
We went to Pizza Hut for Ethan's birthday dinner. I was trying to get a nice picture of Eric with the girls, but somebody thought this was the funniest thing ever and did it to 3 more pictures.
The picture I finally got.

Me and the birthday boy. This is my tired face from waiting 45 minutes to order, trying to take pictures that he blocks, and trying to get him to smile. This was the closest thing to a smile we could get, but you know what, I love it.