Happy Birthday Bailey!!!

Bailey turned 11 today! I can't believe she is that old, it seems like she was little like Joelle not too long ago. Bailey is such a great kid, she is my go to helper with the kids and things around the house. She is such a smarty pants, too. Her teachers this year just raved about her and how much they loved having her in their classes. She was able to test at 100% on many of the practice and official state tests in school, so she got to skip a lot of the extra testing and studying the other kids had to do. She spent most of this time reading of course.

Bailey loves to read and is testing at almost 9th grade reading levels. She also enjoys crafts, cooking, video/computer games, board games, swimming, crocheting, writing, and drawing. Bailey has many ambitions that she wants to fulfill in life and has started writing stories and books, and drawing many pictures and cartoon strips. She also designs clothing. She wants to own a restaurant, a museum, and be a marine biologist (just like I did :) ) I'm sure I've forgotten something in there that she wants to be or do. Bailey is awesome though and I don't doubt she'll be able to accomplish anything she sets her heart to.

Bailey has grown so much and is such a joy to have in our home. She is a silly girl too and loves to joke and laugh and has a strange sense of humor some times. She actually reminds me a lot of myself when I was a kid. Tonight, she secretly clipped some hair bows to my pants instead of returning them to the hair basket. When I got on my computer, I discovered my wallpaper picture had been replaced by a very unflattering picture of myself. Apparently, her and Chase got on and changed everyone's pictures. Bailey is a sweet, loving, intelligent, beautiful girl and I am so glad I get to be her mom. We love her laugh, smile, and her hugs! We love you Bailey!

So, recap of Bailey's special day... Earlier in the month Bailey had a birthday party right after school got out, since we were afraid that it would be harder to get in touch with everyone during the summer break. We had snacks, ate hot dogs, made fluffy flip flops, played "Minute To Win It" games, then jumped on the trampoline with sprinklers, threw water balloons, and had a water fight. So, Bailey's actual birthday was a little bit more low key.

Bailey had bacon, and cinnamon chip pancakes with whipping cream for her birthday breakfast. Then she opened presents and played with new toys and video games. Bailey's birthday dinner was chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice and fruit with fruit dip. After dinner we played the dance game and then watched "The Voice". We ended the night with Bailey's cake pants and rainbow sherbet and a sleepover in the play room.

Restaurants

Somehow at dinner tonight, the conversation turned to restaurants, in particular restaurant names. I believe one of the kids wished that what I had made for dinner was served in restaurants. I laughed and asked why would you wish it to be in a restaurant, when you can already eat it at home for much cheaper. Then Bailey told me I should open up a restaurant inside our home and that way I can become famous and then help her when she has her restaurant. I explained that I could still help her with her restaurant without turning our home into a bistro. She has a dream to own a restaurant among many other things. Here are the names of restaurants the kids wanted for "their" restaurant and some other commentary...

Bailey: Roney's, Bailey's All You Can Eat Buffet, Bailey's Wonderful Mountain of Food, Bailey's 6 Floors(6 Floors)

Addie: Addo's(because she wanted it to sound close to her name but not actually be her name), Addie's Yummy Food, Addie's Great Food, You Had A Bad Day at McDonald's, I Wanna Eat

Cam: Butt Cheeks, Spiderman Popsicle, Throw Away McDonald's Food and Eat My Chicken!, Pink Ponies...He also went on to take a bite of his food and made an exaggerated, excited face and told us this is what they will say when they eat our food "Oh, wow! This is good!"

Emery: Dora Popsicles(tends to copy what she hears), Emery Beth's, Joelle & Emery's, Joelle Emery Addie Bailey & Cameron's Restaurant, Eat My Jello, Eat My Noodles, Eat My Corn, Welcome to Forks...Emery also told me in a very serious tone "It's just as you like, we're gonna build it. We need tools. I'm going to have bathrooms. I'm going to have one floor."

Yes, my children are a bit strange.

Second Coming

I found this clip that I thought was very appropriate for our time. A couple of weeks ago I had no idea that it was supposed to be the "end of the world" until I started reading some posts about it on facebook. Every once in a while my kids ask me about things happening in the world such as wars, natural disasters, etc. My oldest often wonders when Jesus will come again, and has told me she thinks he will come when she is around 21. Interesting, I told her, but nobody knows for sure. I think the world is a scary place and I try to protect my family from the influences of it, but it's impossible to shield my children from everything. I try to teach them what's right and give them the tools to learn and grow and be spiritually prepared. I try to make our home a place of peace and safety away from all the chaos of the world. I think if we read our scriptures and study the teachings of our prophet, leaders, and teachers then we can be prepared and at peace. Knowledge can banish fear if we let it. Sometimes that is difficult for me, since I am paranoid and would put my kids in a bubble if I could. I just need to have faith and trust in my Heavenly Father and every day try to be better than the day before and teach and love my kids the very best that I can. Here is the link...
http://www.ldsliving.com/story/64764-elder-oaks-talks-about-the-second-coming