Does the Dentist Cut Hair?

I caught Sierra talking on her pretend cell phone yesterday. She was talking to Daddy. She said, "Mom is making me clean my room and it's just horrible. Maybe you should take Mommy to the dentist and cut off all her hair if she doesn't be nice and buy me a treat."

What can I say? It had definitely been a rough day. She spilled nail polish all over the carpet and then refused to clean up her room even with my help. She is a strong-minded one!
...counting the days until preschool starts....three hours per day, four days per week....(just maybe I'll have more time to blog).

Summer Fun #2

Forgot the camera...no pictures...again. But we had a good time. We went to a new park near Steve's parents' home, then met up with Steve for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Salt Lake City library. This place is so cool.

The kids loved riding the elevator, even Madi who hates them rode it 3 or 4 times. It is a glass elevator with 6 levels. The children's section has its own floor. The kids really liked the attic and cave where they enjoyed playing hide-and-seek and listening to me read stories.

There is a door that leads outside from the children's section where there is a waterfall. They enjoyed feeling the water with their hands and feet. We also walked to the roof of the library from the bottom. There is a curved wall (shown below) with steps leading to the roof. There is a garden and benches at the top with beautiful views of downtown Salt Lake.

Total cost for the day was $12 for lunch, $2.50 for parking. FUN DAY!!!

Cindy's Wedding

Steve's parents are now officially empty-nesters. The last of Steve's siblings got married. Congratulations Cindy and Justin!

(Of course, our girls are thrilled to have a new uncle.)

The girls were counting down the days until they could wear their pretty dresses, except Sierra, who would have preferred wearing a tie like Dad.

To Throw a Tooth...or Money

Lilly lost 2 teeth in 3 days. She told us in Ghana, they throw the tooth on the roof. We told her in America, the Tooth Fairy comes and takes the tooth and leaves money in its place. Any guess which she wanted to do? ....SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

She didn't understand what in the heck the Tooth Fairy wanted her teeth for. Madison told her that she builds tooth castles with them. She seemed OK with that. (Doesn't she look adorable with her "long, flowing" braids? She loves them!!!)

Congratulations Madi!!!

I have to be a mom and brag a bit about Madison. She scored in the top 10% nationally on the Iowa Tests in Math, Science and Total Composition. She is such a good student and loves learning. She never needs me to tell her to do her homework....she just does it on her own. She is very self-motivated and driven to learn.

She also just made a competition soccer team. She has been playing recreational soccer since she was 4 and just loves it. We are happy for her. She will get better coaching on a comp team and I think she will really be able to improve her skills. The competition league held a soccer clinic where the coaches could watch the girls who were interested in the team run through some drills, then the team coach attended one of Madi's rec games to watch her play. He said he liked what he saw and wants her on his team. Practices start in July.

Congratulations Madi! We are proud of your accomplishments!!!

Summer Fun Trip One

For summer vacation this year, we are not going anywhere big or expensive. We have decided to take little day trips here or there each week to keep costs down.

So our first summer trip was riding a train. (Sorry...no pictures....the camera was left in the car.)

We drove to Salt Lake, parked our car and bought a group pass on the Frontrunner commuter train to Ogden ($10 for me, my four children, plus a friend for Madi.) We got off in Ogden with the intent of touring the free Disney Train (promoting the new movie "A Christmas Carol"). When we arrived, we learned it was a 2 to 3 hour wait to tour the train, so we decided to have lunch in Ogden and go back to Salt Lake.

When we returned in Salt Lake, we played in the fountains at Gateway. The kids had so much fun in the water. Here is a picture of Madison and her cousin at the fountains from our trip there last summer.

Ghana in Our Home

I thought it was important to have some items from Ghana in our home. Here are the items I bought in Ghana to display.

Beautiful hand-made beads.

These dolls all are carrying a baby on their back. Women in Ghana sell things on the streets and usually carry their goods on their head.

This doll also has a baby on her back. Each of my girls have one wearing a different color of dress.

Cloth nativity set.

This nativity is carved out of a common wood in Ghana, although I don't remember the name of the wood.

A special thanks to Kathy who helped me in my shopping! She did such a great job. I especially LOVE the beads she picked out for me to make bracelets with!!!