Stake Fair

Yesterday was our stake fair. The girls had a blast! There were 6 jumpers, two of which were waterslides!! There was also a train ride, pony rides and a petting zoo. We were so happy that my sister Yvonne joined us with her husband Hector and their five kids. Bella LOVES to see her best friend/cousin Sophia and they had a wonderful time running around together!

Ceci needed a nap so she was a little grumpy. She and I waited in line for the pony ride for 20 minutes just for her to say she didn't want to do it! She also didn't want to do the bouncer stuff. But she did enjoy the chickens and the goats and LOVED the train ride. Afterwards, Yvonne and her kids all came over to swim at the house. It was a super-fun day for my girls!!

Friday was our official last day of school so the fair was a nice way to celebrate.

So thankful my baby is okay.

We had a nightmare experience this past weekend. Our precious little Ceci got a hold of some medication and accidently overdosed. Before I say more, I will clarify that she is TOTALLY FINE now. There are no lasting effects from what she took. We are so grateful (but still a little numb.)

Ceci took the medication on Sunday right after church--we had no idea. But she was high as a kite, talking incessantly. To be honest, it was actually really cute at first. But after an hour or so, her behavior started to concern us and I started to think she might have taken something. So I called poison control and told them her symptoms and they told us to take her to the ER right away. The fear was that she could possibly have heart problems or seizures. One big blessing was that the attending doctor was my friend from a mommy and me class! She was so wonderful to us. But my poor, precious baby, what a nightmare experience she had! :( She vomited several times, (all over me!) had to get an iv (they had to stick her in two places to get it right, and then to draw blood, they had to stick her 3 times, 3 different people because it was so hard to find a good vein.) It was AWFUL--very hard for me to watch. There she was, trippin' and being stuck with needles. She did a lot of screaming and crying, poor sweet baby. It was very, very hard.

The biggest blessing is that Craig was able to put his hands on Ceci's head and give her a priesthood blessing. He blessed her that she would make it through everything totally fine. That was a huge comfort. What was remarkable is that she talked non-stop the whole day and night, but she was totally silent during the blessing. She was given an antidote which finally calmed her a little. She finally fell asleep at 2am. Then at 5am we were taken by ambulance to the Huntington Hospital because they felt she needed to be observed longer. That's where she and I spent our Memorial Day. (No fun festivals for us!) They did more poking and prodding which was very upsetting, but she finally fell asleep again (she was still a little high.) Eventually, she came down, and really slept. When she woke again, she got to watch lots of Beatrix Potter videos which were such a comfort--we really like those. She also enjoyed all the fruit they brought her. We checked out last night around 7pm. It was so nice to come home.

We are now just so grateful that she is okay! I know many people have it much worse, with more serious and chronic health problems. When I saw the other children in the pediatric ward, I realized how truly blessed we are to have three very healthy little girls.

Enchanted April!

Great news!! One of my favorite movies of all time, finally has come out on DVD! (This month) It was a long wait, the film came out in 1992. I jut got my copy.

If you have not seen this beautiful movie, please put it in your netflix queue. It is one of the sweetest movies I've ever seen! A beautiful story and gorgeous scenery.

Cherries!!!

Yes, they are now in season and DELICIOUS!!! Rush to your nearest farmer's market and enjoy one of God's finest creations. You will feel a bit of heaven in them. These red ones are incredible, but the Rainier's (the yellow ones) are even better! Yum, yum, yum.
And don't forget all the other wonderful summer fruits that are just coming into season--apricots, nectarines, & peaches!

The Renaissance Faire!

We had the most wonderful time yesterday!

We met lots of interesting people.














Ceci played the ocarina for us.







We made beautiful necklaces.



Bella and Lala danced the maypole!






















At St. Cuthberts, Bella and Lala learned to grind spices with a mortar and pestle--they ground some nutmeg.
Ceci made a sachet with dried rose petals.






Bella LOVED watching the dipped candles being carved into beautiful designs.

We saw gorgeous fairy houses that we learned we could later make too!





Various booths had hidden gnomes--so we hunted for gnomes (getting a stamp on our special gnome map for each gnome found) and then got a certificate as official "Gnome-Hunters Extraordinaires!"







I bought some GORGEOUS beaded earrings from my friend Blooming. She had come from Mendecino for this weekend only so we were very lucky to see her. She has been doing the faire since the late 80's when I worked there a couple years! I ADORE her beadwork and LOVE my new earrings!


We went back to St. Cuthbert's and relaxed with this sweet lady while she knitted. It was a very hot day!

We had a delicious lunch--Shepherd's Pie, Steak on a steak, curly fries.


Bella and Lala made these wonderful fairy houses with our sweet friend, who we met at the Northern Faire in '07.  We are so glad she comes all the way from Oregon to do this fair! She made the above fairy houses and other unbelievable beautiful fairy paraphernalia!

Thank heavens Ceci fell asleep.  She was grumpy all day because she was so tired!!  Craig and the girls got to watch Moonie's show in peace while I wandered a little bit!

I was so lucky to run into our good family friend, Lisa, "Mistress Howard" who is royalty and part of the queens court!  She introduced me to many of her fun friends as her little sister and it was really neat to run around with her for a while and watch the Poxy Boggards with her! (their family-friendly show.) :) I can't wait to hang out with her again next year!

We then ran over to the Kids Kingdom where there was a Knighting Ceremony for the children.  Bella, Lala and Ceci were all made ladies.  It was really neat!  The queen talked to them about always being honest, and brave and they got a certificate. I was shocked when the queen told Lala that she remembered dancing the Maypole with her last year!!

The girls LOVED this jester and his parrot. And then this man played music through a YAM! He played "Twinkle twinkle little star" while Bella sang! There are so many entertaining characters to meet at the faire!





Right at closing, we had a WONDERFUL swing ride. We didn't want it to end!!

Then, sadly, it was time to go! We already can't wait until next year!

Releasing our Butterflies!

Today we decided we should let our two painted lady butterflies go. We really didn't want to, we wanted to observe them longer, watch them eat and flit around and possibly see mating or egg-laying? But they really didn't seem happy! They were so eager to get out into the world!

We did this for our circle time. We watched them eat one last time and then read "Waiting for Wings" before releasing them.




Watch our Video!

By the way, right after I turned off the video, Lala DID get a turn and then so did Ceci for about one second! Then the butterfly shot straight up to the sky like the first one did!! What a beautiful experience!









Afterwards, we read "The Butterfly" and then I put the girls up on my feet and let them pretend they were flying too. It must be so fun to be a butterfly!

I am so glad I videoed this, because now we'll always have the memory of exactly how it happened!! Butterflies are meant to FLY!!