The Lyricist

The other day I pulled out an old audio cassette from my childhood-- John Denver and the Muppets The girls love it. Several times a day I find them humming the tunes to such songs as "Grandma's Featherbed" or "Hey Old Pal."

I just walked in on Allie dancing around my bed singing "... we're going camping..."... or so I thought. After hearing her singing it a couple times in a row, I had to listen one more time to be sure of what she was singing.

"... we're going canning."

Canning? "You're going canning, Allie?" She nodded and smiled. "What are you going to can?"

"Water!"

Hmmm... Maybe "food storage" has been a more common topic around the house than I thought.

In the Past Month... or two

Just when we thought we had our Blogger problem fixed-BAM!- it wouldn't let me in a again for over a month. I was just about to write a regular old email update, when I thought, Eh, I'll give it a whirl. It let me in with no problems. I don't understand it. Facebook is still jacked up for me, though. I feel terrible because about twenty people from high school and my BYU freshman ward have found me and requested to be "my friend," meaning they can see my life's info and vice versa. But I can't "accept" anyone.

I apologize for not sending an update last month, but it was for good reason. I just wasn't feeling well. Fatigue. Nausea. Headaches. Gee, from those symptoms you'd think I was pregnant or something! Actually... I am pregnant. Yes, I'm thirteen weeks along into this one, and due December 13th. All seems to be healthy so far. I had a bleeding episode at eight weeks, that sent me to the ER thinking I had miscarried, but apparently it was subchorionic, and the baby was fine. We decided to tell the girls this past Monday night why Mom's tummy was getting bigger.

I said, "Allie, have you noticed that Mom's tummy has been getting bigger?"

"Yeah." She kept her head down, picking away at her dinner.

"Why do you think that is?"

Her answer surprised us. "Mm... 'cause you have a baby in your tummy."

Kevin and I looked at each other with wide eyes, and I told her, "Well, Allie, you know what? You're right, there is a baby in Mom's tummy!"

She looked up, her eyes popping out, and she and Sami asked, "Can I see it?"

They were disappointed that they couldn't see it yet. I told them they'd be able to hear the heartbeat at Dr. Foster's office the next morning, but Allie was still hoping he'd "cut the baby out of Mom's tummy." Morbid child.

This past Friday was Kevin's off-Friday, so we spent the day at Sea World. At the end of the day I asked Allie what her favorite part of the day was, and she declared it was playing in the water-- the play area with water jets and toys for the kids. We had packed along swimsuits and extra sunscreen. I was sure her favorite part of the day would have been riding the "grown-up" ride Journey to Atlantis with her dad-- a somewhat eerie ride with a terrifying seemingly nearly vertical drop, kind of like Disneyland's Splash Mountain. Yeah, they were put in the front row, and she wasn't even fazed. I saw the picture on the screen, and Allie was clinging to the rail, gritting her teeth and squinting, but Kevin was the one with his mouth wide open in mid-scream, his eyes popping out of his head. I'm excited for the day I can ride Sea World's Kraken with her, their psycho roller coaster. Sami's the one who gets scared easily, though. She had to cling to her dad claiming, "I'm scared!" when the Sesame Street characters came out during the Elmo show. We just rolled our eyes. I think she plays it up 'cause she knows she'll get some attention. She's a manipulator, that one.

At the end of May, Allie ended her first year of preschool by participating in their end-of-the-year program featuring the children singing the cute songs they had learned since Christmas. It took Allie a couple songs to get in the groove. That girl has some pipes. She has way more volume than I've ever had-- maybe it's a confidence thing. She is not shy about singing out. One grandfather commented to me, "So, was your daughter the little singer?" She was right in the middle, belting out every song , so it was hard for anyone to miss her. My friend Aimee, Jackson's mom, came up and said in her Tennessee drawl, "Allie is quite the little singer!" She had such a blast this past year. For her, private preschool was definitely the right thing. I had contemplated doing it myself, but then, when I screwed my head on straight, I realized that Allie in-particular not only needs to be social and interact with other kids often, but needs to get time away from her mom and little sister. Plus, I honestly just didn't want to have to worry about planning lessons. But what a difference it has made for her demeanor! Mrs. Tiller has been a peach of a teacher, and Mrs. Williams, the school's director is one of the most loving, positive people I know.

Tomorrow the girls start their month of swimming lessons, and they can't wait. Allie has been asking me about it for a month, literally. I'm not really looking forward to the parent-tot class with Sami, though. I know her, and she's going to get irked with me for not letting her swim by herself. That is her favorite line these days, "No! I do it by myself!"

She has also gotten into this repeating conversations-thing. As Kevin and I talk at dinner, she'll try to get involved by repeating what we're saying, since it must be important. It's cute. We look at her smile. Maybe we just need to actually involve her in the conversation more...

I really hope Blogger keeps working for me, so I can write more updates and posts. I haven't been able to post any of my creative writing either...

... not that you all really mind all that much.

Mischief Maker

I really wish I understood my kids-- what makes Allie so emotional (sometimes I wonder if I'm really raising a sixteen year-old in a four year-old's body), and why Sami insists on creating mischief. Everyone knows Allie struggles with logic, but not everyone realizes how much trouble our mild-mannered little Sami conjures up. Emptying drawers of toiletries, eating her toothpaste, drawing on the file cabinet with a tube of Chapstick, emptying an entire container of salt into the banana chair, drawing on her face with a highlighter. I'm sure there are many out there thinking that's "small time" compared to the disasters their own little dears make in their own homes, but for someone whose first child has really never felt the need to get into trouble, this is torture!

My blood pressure probably shoots through the roof the minute I have to get in the shower. Please, Sami, don't get in to trouble. Then I call for her every few minutes to see if she comes quickly. If not, I jump out, dripping wet, and yell through the house until I find her. Usually I just find her looking at a book. I always figured Mom's shower time would be the prime time to make trouble, but I realized something. Most of the mischief occurs in my bathroom, so if I'm in there, I've taken away her Resort O' Fun. Most of the time, she gets me when I've turned on a movie in the afternoon, a time when Allie's quiet and when I'm busy. Then I realize Sami's quiet, too-- bad sign. Take today, for example...

I had put in a Blues Clues video, which both girls began watching. About thirty minutes in, I realized Allie was in the living room alone. Sami was quiet and nowhere to be seen. Ah crud. You guessed it, my bathroom. Just the other day she had gotten into my makeup bag while I was gone and her dad was mowing the lawn. We had scolded her, but apparently she didn't learn her lesson. She sat on the floor of the bathroom, my makeup bag in front of her, her finger digging out the lipstick from the tube. I said, "Sami!" which startled her, and she cried, knowing she was busted. She looked up, and lipstick and concealer covered her lips (and tongue, I soon realized), and mascara surrounded one of her eyes (how does she not poke her eye out?). I cleaned her up, and told her what she did was naughty and that she would need to go in "time out." She did so with no fits, even without her precious blanket. But geez!

Are boys worse than this? At least I don't have to worry about them stealing my makeup... I hope.

My Choir Concert

Well, we had our choir concerts this weekend-- one Friday night, with another one this afternoon. Let me tell ya, I am beat. My head is killing me, possibly a combination of my sinuses being clogged, and having to sing "in the rafters" for nearly ninety minutes straight. I nearly didn't make it, though. Although I felt the Lord was with me, strengthening me.

This season has been tough with all the times I've had to "whine" about being sick. I really hate making any type of excuse for my poor performance, but David needed to know why I continued to struggle singing that dang solo. I tried, honestly I did. I would practice at home nearly everyday, trying to make it sound flute-like, just as it was meant to sound. But with my sinuses being blocked it has been difficult to find the right placement. For the most part, I think David has been quite patient with me, with this (seemingly false) sense of hope that I would be fine to sing it. This afternoon he snapped... just a little.

I was tired, had woken up from a nap about an hour earlier. I attempted to warm up in the car (yeah, right), chugging water all the way. In the choir room, David decided to have us run through the last section of "Hymn to St. Cecilia". I slumped in my chair. Oh no, I'm not even warm! Of course, that's the section including my duet and solo. Not wanting to wear myself out, I sang the duet pretty weakly. Then my solo came. I mustered up all could (which wasn't much at that point), and he stopped me mid-phrase, looked at me with apparent irritation, and told me, "Krissy, you're sharp." I thought, I am never going to get this right! He was about to go over it again, when, thankfully, he realized that was pointless. He said, "And this is why I don't like to go over stuff right beforehand. Nerves get to people..." Ya think? Why didn't you just stick to your original policy? I was extremely frustrated. Nikki tried to cheer me up, and the choir members really tried to encourage me-- "Break a leg, Krissy!" "You're going to fine." I said a silent prayer in my heart that I would remember the Priesthood blessing Kevin had given me Thursday night. I was greatly comforted knowing the Lord would grant me the strength to make it through and share the talent that has been given me.

We got to St. Cecilia and I felt my stomach fill with butterflies. It went fine up through the duet. As my solo neared, I was so close to turning to Amy next to me, elbowing her and asking her to do it for me, but I fought the urge, took a deep breath, and sang. Nah, it wasn't perfect. But it was much more than I could have done on my own at that point. I started to run out of air at a bad spot, but ended up just taking one in the middle of a word just before a fairly long phrase (for me)-- heck, it's a freaky poem anyway, and no one understands a word of what I'm saying. It think it came off well, though. I have no idea what David thought. He was probably disappointed that it didn't sound the way he had intended, but I really did the best I could, and I suppose that's all anyone can ask. I'm only a wimpy, imperfect mortal, after all.

I really wish I didn't care what David thought, but I do. He's my director. I want him to be pleased with what I do-- not ashamed or embarrassed.

But at least I know that my Father in Heaven would never be disappointed in me for trying my best, and for fighting my worst fears. So, I suppose that, in spite of what David thought, I should be satisfied in knowing my Father loves me and is pleased with my efforts, no matter the imperfections.

In the Past Month

I just came back in from the back porch, which is screened (Florida-- nuff said), where I had to run around like a fool to chase a little lizard out... for the third time since lunch! What the heck is this lizard's deal, his (or her) attachment to our porch? Oh, and it's easy to find the sucker since it always goes to the same spot-- sits at the top of the metal chair sitting in the sun. And he just sits there, sunning himself. Vain little... Most lizards have not been either able or willing to sneak into our porch. What's the point really? No bugs, so no food. But this guy is bound and determined to make that dang chair his home. I actually had tried to chase him into a bucket I had put on the ground so that I could throw him out of the yard, but he actually just squeezed back under the door and ran out into the yard. But I'm all anxious now about this lizard finding his way back in and torturing me.

Anyway... I know that I said I was back, like, eons ago. I was wrong, which is why nothing has been posted since January. Up until yesterday, when Kev was prompted to get a new modem in hopes of it solving our Vonage issues (audio kept getting dropped on one side-- very annoying), I couldn't log in, but suddenly with the new modem, we could log in to Blogger easily. Uh, okay. I'm not going to question it. But recently I did actually start a new blog with freeblogit, since they would actually let me in. Since this works now, though, I'll rededicate my blogging to Blogger (I think it's better), but if you'd like to see the other blog from March go to www.k2smiths.freeblogit.com.

So let's see, March stuff. Deseret Ranch held their annual rodeo at the beginning of the month. The buckin' bronco riding was pretty sweet, and so was the Mutton Bustin'. Actually that was hilarious-- seeing these kiddies with cowboy hats and boots sit on a sheep as it tried to run away from them. One little girl totally face planted in the dirt, almost immediately, but her dad swooped in to pick her up and the crowd whooped and hollered for her. I'd say, though, that the highlight for the event was when all the little kids were invited out to run around and try to catch piglets. Only the ranch kids were really trying to catch the pigs, so it seemed. All the other kids just ran around like maniacs squealing with delight. Allie was out there with Kevin (Sami was too chicken), and I never saw her run towards anything with a curly tail, but she sure did run the entire time, laughing all the way.

The girls had both of their birthdays-- Allie turned four, and Sami turned two. You can read about Allie's birthday on the other blog. For Sami's birthday, we spent the morning at the zoo, eating a "special lunch" at the snack bar-- ya know, chicken nuggets, applesauce, fries, etc. And in the spirit of St. Patrick we were all in green, of course. I'll always need to make sure Sami has something green to wear on her birthday, especially in elementary school. Wouldn't want her to get pinched on her birthday!

Allie also got on a picnic kick. For a while, she was asking to have a picnic lunch everyday, which was actually nice since the weather, while warm, has been quite enjoyable. So we've spent a lot of time outside picnicking, and the girls have been drawing on the driveway with the sidewalk chalk I got for them.

Well, I should probably go check for that darn lizard again. Little bugger.