halloween

Yesterday Jim accused me of loving Halloween.  I instantly & indignantly denied, then was startled to reflect & realize he is right.  I LOVE dressing up my kids and seeing their excitement.  It's these moments I want to bottle up...perhaps to bring out and sprinkle on the "everyday" of some dreary February afternoon.  Trick or Treating was a treat for me.  Miss Mae sped anxiously to each door, then rushed back to the security of Mom, grasping my hand firmly each time until I nodded her to the next doorway.  And she squealed every. time. a piece of candy was dropped into her bag.  I sqealed inside each time her little hand grabbed mine.  Who knows if she'll want to cling so closely to me next year or the next. 

.....

Azure is still well under the power of Mom's opinions, so when I saw a darling Wonder Woman costume on etsy, I quickly swayed her toward it. Which really wasn't difficult once she saw the giant star-spangled tutu. My talented friend sewed it together for less than half the etsy price (yay!). I added the armbands, magic lasso, and tiara, and we spray-painted Aidan's first pair of cowboy boots (her favorite accessory by far).

the first time she tried on the costume, her hands went straight to her hips...such the superhero pose.

dancing (not so superhero, but sooooo Miss Mae)

[a little aside:  yesterday we were headed to the store and Azh grabbed her tiara and boots.  She was yawning, so I asked if she was too tired to come.  Her response:  "No, Mom.  People need to see me with my boots on."  Really???]

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Davyn starts considering Halloween costumes by mid-summer [I definitely know where he gets that from!].  This year when I asked what he was thinking about, his eyes lit up and he replied, "Whatever gets me the most attention."  Well, attention is exactly what he got with his headless doctor costume. 

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My powers of persuasion no longer extend to my Aidan [though that statement falsely presupposes that they ever did!].  Otherwise, you would see him here in a giant mustache and strong man tank top.  His main costume requirement, however, was not a dumbbell...or even an awesome 'stache.  Not surprising to those who know my boy...he needed a weapon. 

 and now is the part where they posed & posed & posed.  I LOVE my sillies.

 

AND I love that we trick-or-treated with the Hendrix hoodlums.  Cousins ROCK!

 

the return of Davynova

D has always been a charmer...big blue eyes and constant kisses, he was a born flirt.  One of his earliest nicknames was Davynova.  I remember sitting in the foyer of the church one Sunday when the boy was about two, he sandwiched between me and another sister in the ward.  After loving on me for a while, he turned and started kissing on her arm.  No matter that he hardly knew her.  She was a woman, and that's what mattered. 

Considering that he started his charming so long ago, I shouldn't have been surprised this afternoon when he came to me saying that he had written a song.  A love song, that is.  The words were all ready, and he was going to sit at the piano to work out the tune. 

If You Have a Love

If you have a love, all you have to do

is ask her on a date when you’re sixteen

and get married when twenty-two.

All you have to do is a little kiss

or if she has lots of jobs, just do them from her list.

If she sings her favorite song,

then just sing along.

When you get married to the girl,

say she looks cute, especially her golden curl. 

I can't help but think of the lucky girl who will someday spend the better part of a lifetime being properly worshipped by this sweet boy of mine. 

 

a birth day story

Jenna gave birth to a beautiful 9 lb. 10 oz. man child on Sunday at 12:52 p.m. 

Meet Jayson Chance Whiting.

But let me back up a bit first. 

I have long known that when Jenna and Tyler finally brought children into the world they would be some of the luckiest children ever.  Period.  Tyler is a giant of a human with an enormous and gentle heart.  Jenna is loving & purposeful.  She knows what she wants by studying things out with all her energy & passion, then works her tail off to bring her visions to fruition.  There will be no accidental parenting in her home because she will make conscious decisions of how each situation will be handled.  I admire that enormously. 

So I guess I wasn't surprised that Jenna had firm ideas on how she wanted to bring this babe into the world.  It would be in the comfort of her own home, with Tyler and both of their moms to assist.  I was surprised, however, and completely honored when she called to ask if I would come, too.  To take pictures.

It was maybe my favorite job ever.  Here he is...no more than a full minute out of the womb. 

The birth story is one of power & beauty, but it's really Jenna's story to tell.  So I'll just share some of the side stories - moments that were sacred from my point of view.  

To me the birth was a love story.  Many of the pictures I took were of Tyler.  He stood right by and held on to Jenna through it all.  Their eyes would lock during the heavy contracting, and it was obvious she needed him...gained strength through the power of his presence. 

It was also a story of a mother's love.  I'm not sure if I felt more pain watching Jenna or Kay.  As hard as Jenna worked, Kay stood right beside her the entire time clearly wishing she could jump in to take over for her beloved little girl.   Jenna was unbelievable, but at the times it became most difficult, her eyes would find Kay's, searching for affirmation.  Which Kay gave with raw sincerity.  It was obvious that she had faith in her Jenna.

It was also a story of a father's love, though I didn't take a picture of this part.  After a while of hard labor in the birthing pool, Jenna called for Mike to give her a blessing.  He placed his hands on her head and called on the powers of Heaven through the Priesthood on her behalf.  As he closed the blessing, my mind jumped back to the blessing I was also honored to witness on the eve of her wedding.  There is a special bond between Mike and his Jenna.  

Perhaps my favorite moment of all came when Jayson was safely placed in Jenna's arms.  She laid down to cradle him, completely radiant with joy, then turned up to Tyler with a simple, "Can I have a kiss?".  Of course his response was instant.  And then she immediately said, "I love you.  We're a family now." 

This picture captures that for me...and, of course, my eyes are wet even remembering that moment.  It was sacred & beautiful, something I felt honored to witness. 

They are indeed a family.  And a good one. 

Jayson holding hands with his dad for the first of countless times to come

One last sweet moment at the birth was when the midwife (who was amazing!) gave Jayson the little hat she had knit for him as Jenna labored.  She placed it on his head, brought him over to Jenna's side and sang a sweet "happy birthday" to the boy.  No eyes were dry in the room. 

When I left to return to my own family, I called my Jim and though I couldn't ask for a kiss at that moment, I gave a hearty "I love you."  And I thanked him.  Because he was always my rock through my labors.  And through every other living moment, really.  And then I called my mom, and thanked her.  Because she was definitely the one I looked to for affirmation as I became a mother.

me, kissing on Jayson

The next day we brought our family to meet him.

They were, of course, enchanted. 

Congrats to Jenna & Tyler

for bringing this beautiful little human into our world!

my three

Summer is upon us.

If you asked me a month ago, I had BIG, big plans.

reorganizing the house...

cleaning out closets...

crafting...

boosting the boys' school skills..

Well, so far I get a big fat "F" in each of those categories.

But here are the 3 on one of our exceptionally LAZY days:

Needs are being met.

Mostly.

{and in spite of their mother}

Easter

just play along with me...Easter wasn't that long ago, right??

Ours was fantastic.  Spent at a cabin in Lakeside with Tyler's family. We played a whole lot of Trek to Zion, did a whole lot of laughing and ate a whole lot of junk.  A good combo for a great weekend. 

Azure had her Choncho to play with (and love on):

And Aidan had his gang of cousins:

D mostly wandered off in his own world (makes me sad that I got no pictures of that..he was truly content & in D-land), but here he is with the Hendrix gang:

a few more from the weekend:

I'm not trying to play favorites, but it's hard not to take hundreds of pictures of this girl when she's constantly by my side...the boys are constantly off doing their own thing!

We made an afternoon trip to visit Grandma Scott in Springerville.  She is 102 and loves her Jim.  

We passed some patches of snow on our way back to Lakeside, and D insisted that we stop.  He has never experienced snow (except when too young to remember), so he was thrilled to step into some. 

until he fell knee deep into a patch and couldn't get his shoe out. He wailed & wailed, and I tried to control my laugher through his: "I never want to see snow again!" 

Aidan ran across and slipped, but couldn't stop laughing through the pain.

This recap says so little, but it was honestly a perfect weekend.  I love how chill Tyler & Gina are..so fun to hang out with!