Four eyes

Love my Haley's new look. I was 8 when I got my first pair of glasses, too. We bought her 2 great pairs -- one is lime green & blue, the other is this cool black & red number.She can't believe all that she was missing!

That's what she said

Words that frequently come out of my mouth ...

Please speak kindly.
Paige, get your thumb out of your mouth.
Come on, guys, time to go!
Have your brushed your teeth?
Did you change your underwear today?
Go practice the piano ... now.
Put the crackers away.
Don't be the parent here, Christian. I'll handle it.
No, you can't have popcorn right now. Dinner's in an hour.
Shhhhhh...
You can get on the computer as soon as I'm done.
Who spilled this??
You are my favorite (3, 6, 8, 11) year old in the whole world.
Who has my iPhone?
I just need to run to the store for one thing...
Run to the bathroom, Elle -- run!
Clean up that room, Christian. Now.
Turn off the tv.
Take those headphones out, please, so you can hear me.
I'm just going to finish this chapter and then I'll help you.
Please set the table.
Girls into the bathroom so I can do your hair.
Is your homework done?
You need a shower today -- your hair is a rat's nest.
Go brush your teeth. And floss!
Who wants to make cookies?
I need a Diet Coke.
You have some serious morning breath.
Elle, we don't say those words in our family.
Who loves you?

Sunday Afternoon Nap

By Special Guest Blogger Elle Mayfield
and Special Guest-Photographer Haley Mayfield

I love my Daddy. I really do. Now that I'm a big three-year-old, I can do lots of stuff to help him. My favorite thing to do is to help Daddy take a good nap on Sunday afternoons.

For many years, my Dad used to get plenty of rest every Sunday when he was sitting on the stand during church. All of that has changed. Mommy says that Daddy has a "fluff" calling now. I think that means that if he wants to get any sleep on Sunday, he has to do it in his own bed.

I do ALL I can to help him sleep. Today I was really on my game.

When I first saw Daddy go into his bedroom, I took my position standing guard outside of his bedroom door. I didn't want any rogue interlopers to disturb his slumber. The moment anyone even looked like they were going to walk down the hall toward his room, I SCREAMED at the top of my lungs...

"GET OUT OF HERE STUPIDS!! DAD IS TRYING TO SLEEP!"

That's how I keep my noisy brother and sisters from waking Dad up. Sometimes, I even scream at them when they are downstairs just so Dad knows that I am on the job so he can relax. I'm thoughtful that way.

I take my Daddy's comfort very seriously. Today when I thought Daddy was too hot, I pulled the blankets off of him. Then I thought he was too cold, so I climbed on top of him to keep him warm and also just to let him know that I was there watching over him. My presence alone has a calming influence on my Daddy.

Dad is starting to snore a little now, and I don't want the noise from his heavy breathing to wake him up. I know just what to do. I sing him a little song and drum out the rhythm on his tummy. Dad loves to hear me sing the Barney Song when he is trying to fall asleep. When Daddy rolls over and pulls his pillow over his head, I know I am really being helpful.

Oh wait! That's the phone ringing. I'll go get it and put it next to my daddy's ear so he doesn't have to get out of bed. That really helps him to rest well.



Hmmm. I wonder if Daddy is thirsty? I better get him a drink of water. Since he is asleep, I'll just it pour it in his mouth. Uh oh! Now Daddy sounds sick...he's gagging and he just spit up the water I put in his mouth. Poor Daddy. I hope he's not too sick to sleep.

Ooops....hold on a minute. I need to go pee pee in the toilet. Dad really likes it when I give him the privilege of unbuttoning the back of my dress so I can go. I'm always amazed that Daddy can do that with his eyes closed.

Flush.

O.K. I'm back. I just put my wet hands all over Daddy's face so that he knows I washed my hands with soap. He will rest easier knowing that hygiene is very important to me.

I'm getting a little worried that despite my best efforts, maybe Daddy isn't sleeping as well as he should be. I can tell because I am sitting with my face about six inches away from his. He hasn't moved for a few minutes and it looks like he is breathing very deeply--even a bit noisily. There is only one way to really be sure if he is sound asleep. I'll pull back his eyelids and shine this flashlight into his eye.

Unfortunately, my suspicians were confirmed. Dad wasn't really asleep after all. The moment the beam from the flashlight hit his eyeball, Dad got up out of bed and went into the kitchen. He seems a little grouchy right now....probably because he's not getting enough sleep.

I'll have to try even harder next week.

Awards' season

(This post is late in coming, as you can tell by the pictures. No, we aren't still decorated for Christmas.)

Mike has coached many of Christian's teams over the years, primarily soccer and basketball. He has coached little league for years, even before we were married. He's a great coach, knows and understands sports and especially knows how to make the boys understand and love the game.

This past basketball season, Mike and Rob co-coached Christian's team. They lost the first 3 games by a wide margin (the score of the first game was 35-3) but after getting in some extra practices, the team ended up winning 6 of their last 7 games. It was really cool to see the boys start to run a zone defense, execute a simple half-court offense, and even run set plays (or so Mike said since those words all mean very little to me). And true to form for Mike, he went above and beyond by ordering personalized trophies for each boy and then presenting them at an awards ceremony/ice cream party at our house.The boys acted all embarrassed at first as Mike and Rob pointed out their skills, but they definitely loved the recognition. Sometimes, Christian doesn't appreciate what a good and knowledgeable coach Mike is. But guaranteed he'll have a less-than-stellar coach at some point and then maybe he'll realize how good he has it right at home.

A first...

She's even cute in the dentist's chair. And was definitely rockin' the shades.Hallelujah -- no cavities. :)

Hittin' the slopes

I took Christian and Haley skiing Saturday. The kids have only been skiing a handful of times but now that we have Christian's 5th grade free ski pass book, we'll be going a lot more this year. And we had a blast. Well, maybe a "blast" is going a bit too far since we had a wee bit of drama during the day. My kids constantly provide me with drama .. their little a gift to me I guess. :}

Christian started skiing right off the bat like a pro. Haley not so much. The first run was complete with tears and "I hate skiing!" after she fell 4 times. By her 3rd run, though, she didn't fall once and had decided that skiing was pretty cool. We should have stopped right then.

The next hour was spent looking for Christian (who had taken off on his own) and trying to stop Haley from crying once again since I had taken her on a longer, more difficult run. My bad. I also killed my knee when she pulled me down with her at one point. I heard and felt something pop, which I'm sure isn't a good thing.

A little R&R in the lodge with hot chocolate was perfect, and then hitting the slopes one last time with just Christian was awesome. He kept right up with me and even told me that he had "skiied the half-pipe" earlier. Wish I could have seen that!

He loves me

I received these beauties yesterday afternoon. The card read, "Number 26 .. What is your favorite flower? Gerber daisy. I love you, Mike."I seriously love that man. Seriously.

Girlfriend Survey

As sent to me by one of my bestest girlfriends. :)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:15am
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds, large ones
3. What was the last film you saw at the movie theater? When In Rome
4. What is your favorite TV show? LOST
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? cold cereal, my fav
6. What is your middle name? Dawn
7. What food do you dislike? watermelon
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Glee
9. What kind of car do you drive? Lexus SUV
10. Favorite sandwich? chicken artichoke panini at Paradise Bakery
11. What characteristic do you despise? backstabbing
12. Favorite item of clothing? shoes & purses
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Someplace warm and tropical
14. Favorite brand of clothing? Not any one particular brand -- I just love clothes in general
15. Where would you retire to? Probably close to my children, wherever that might be. Kind of doubt that we'll ever leave Bountiful, though.
16. What was your most memorable birthday? Mike threw me a fun surprise 30th.
17. Favorite sport to watch? Basketball
18. When is your birthday? March 26th
19. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning
20. Favorite Color? Red
21. Pets? No thanks
22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Tentatively scheduling a cruise with the kids this summer -- sounds exciting to me!
23. What did you want to be when you were little? An airline stewardess, until I realized they were waitresses in the sky.
24. How are you today? Sweaty and tired at the moment (had a hard workout this morning)
25. What is your favorite candy? chocolate
26. What is your favorite flower? Gerber daisy
27. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? March 26th
28. What's your full name? Misty Dawn Farley Mayfield
29. What are you listening to right now? Blog music -- Coldplay at the moment
30. What was the last thing you ate? apples with yummy dip
31. Do you wish on stars? no
32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? red
33. How is the weather right now? Cold'ish and clear
34. The 1st person you spoke to on the phone today ? no one yet -- too early
35. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Coke
36. Favorite restaurants? Mikado (amazing Sushi), Paradise Bakery (great sandwiches), Bajio (sweet shrimp tacos)
37. Real hair color? dull brown, but my fake color is currently red
38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies
39. Summer or winter? Winter -- love to ski
40. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who's givin' em
41. Chocolate or Vanilla? Definitely chocolate
42. Coffee or tea? Neither
43. When was the last time you cried? It's been awhile. Does that make me unfeeling?
44. What is under your bed? Lots of dust bunnies and other lost items
45. What did you do last night? Played Rock Band with my kids
46. What are you afraid of? Losing my kids
47. Salty or sweet? BOTH!
48. How many keys on your key ring? 2
49. How many years at your current job? stay-at-home mom - 11 years and running
50. Favorite day of the week? Friday
51. How many towns have you lived in? lots -- do mission towns count?
52. Do you make friends easily? Yes, thankfully. I love having great friends in my life.

Fun at church

I take my iPhone to church with me, primarily because I have an app for scriptures. Better than lugging my scriptures to church along with all of my other stuff. The problem with this is that my kids love, LOVE my phone because of all the games on it. So we have a "no phone games" rule during church. All except for one app ... Doodle Buddy, which is just a drawing program. They all take turns drawing me pictures and it's worked so far. But Christian discovered that you can also take pictures in Doodle Buddy and had himself a great old time with the camera before I realized what was going on .... Guess we'll have to make an addendum to the "Doodle Buddy is ok" rule. Cracks me up, though.

The many faces of Elle Grace

Sassy ElleSelf Portrait at 3 yrs oldFully made-up Elle (or as Christian called her, "The Joker")And very sadly, the beat-up Elle. She fell off a chair and landed on her "eyeball," as she describes.Here's hoping for a fast recovery! I much prefer the other Elle's to the beat-up one....

Up-Do

My niece, Sydney, had her birthday party recently at a salon. All of the girls had their hair and nails done and had quite the experience along the way. Paige, Elle and I crashed the party so the girls could have their hair done, too.

Pretty darn sure that's Adam Lambert doing Paige's hair.She adjusted to a pampered lifestyle a little too easily.Ali and the other girls were introduced to the city's more colorful side.Elle was surprisingly patient during the hour that it took to have her hair done. The girl said that she did ask a couple of times, "Are you done yet?!?"Winner for cutest up-do.Beautiful girlies!

Mom & Me

Elle and I take a little 'Mom & Me' dance class. Originally, I had signed her up for her own little class, but it became clear (when she faked that she was sick and clung to my leg) that she wasn't quite ready for that step yet. So we started a class together and she fell in love with the whole thing. And I am becoming quite the little dancer myself. :)

Snapshot at 9pm

(Totally pirating this idea from my sisters, one of whom already stole it from the other. Thanks, chicas.)

* Mike -- comfy in his jammies in bed watching some kind of sports show. In his happy place.

* Misty -- sitting at the computer, catching up on others' blogs and updating my own, craving ice cream for my sore throat, anticipating crawling into bed and somehow convincing Mike that he really wants to watch a DVR'd show or two with me.

* Christian -- just home from scouts ("It was so fun tonight!" since it was all about karate), bummed that his basketball team lost their game tonight (but still somehow insists that he played a great game -- he's semi-delusional about his basketball skills), playing games on my iPhone while laying in bed.

* Haley -- finishing up homework in bed, anxious to also finish up The Lightning Thief since she's itching to beat me to book 2 in the series, loving that she finally has her own room ("Finally some privacy!"), planning out her outfit for school on Monday so it will match her cool new glasses.

* Paige -- the only child in the house peacefully sleeping, dreaming about show & tell at school tomorrow and all of the new words she can read now.

* Elle --sitting in my lap, out of bed for the 3rd time (we need to stop letting her take long afternoon naps, apparently), wearing adorable pink monkey jammies, continually smelling my freshly cut & styled hair and saying, "Mmmmm, mommy -- you smell yummy."; keeps telling me that she can hear dinosaurs upstairs in our house.

Family Togetherness

How does the old saying go? "The family who cheers for the Utes together stays together!"(My extended family will seriously disagree, but there you go.)

My Happy List

* blog comments

* Elle angrily calling her siblings, "Punk!"

* Playing pretend with Elle ("You the queen, I the princess.")

* Christian's pride (and fear) in being so close to earning his black belt. The 5 hour black belt test is scaring him already.

* holiday decor

* a good book (lately The Lightning Thief series, the Outlander series, The Boy in Striped Pajamas)

* The world wide web, and all that entails.

* Avatar. Loved it. 3 times.

* Mani/pedi's -- sometimes done professionally by someone else, most of the time done by me while watching a good movie.

* Going to choir with Haley and hearing her successfully picking out the alto part.

* A cold, 32 oz. fountain Diet Coke. I quit for awhile but am now happily back on the wagon.

* Watching Paige dance; having each of her 3 teachers separately tell me how talented she is.

Playing doctor

Poor thing thankfully had a full recovery.

Permission

"Mommy?"
Yes, Elle.
"Can I have that banana bread in the kitchen?"
Yes, but just a little bit, ok?
"K, mom!"

Family history

My brother has been scanning old family pictures recently and sent me a few. A little journey through time ...

This first one is of my mom and dad (mom sitting on the piano bench, dad standing in the back holding me - sucking away on my thumb), my aunt and uncle and various cousins (all on the left side - Uncle Pat is holding Erin, for those of you who know her) and other cousins who I haven't seen in years. Kind of fun to see the family looking so young!This is when my mom graduated from nursing school. I am sporting the lovely glasses, in case you couldn't tell. I was 9 years old, which makes Quinn 13, Erin 11 and Kelly 7.And here we are welcoming Quinn home from his mission. Not much emotion on any of our faces, huh? :)I know I sound like an old lady when I say this but time seriously flies! Was that last picture really 20 years ago? Have I really had 4 kids since then?

Mike and I went to a funeral today of a woman in our ward who was almost 102 years old. As her family talked about her long life, I kept thinking "Will I live that long? Will I live to see as many huge changes as she did?" I almost hope not, if I don't have a healthy body but still ... I can't imagine what the rest of my life will bring, how many ups and downs, heartbreaks and triumphs, successes and failures. Looking back over these old pictures, though, I'm grateful for the ride and the life experience that comes along the way. I'm grateful I'm not still 9 or 17 like in these pictures. I'm grateful for the here and now and the possibility that lies beyond....

Quality time

We've had a lot more quality time with our Farley cousins (Quinn's kids) than we have had in far too long. Funny how you can live relatively close to family and get so caught up in your own life that you rarely see each other. Not anymore, thankfully. We've been having regular Sunday dinners together.

Nothing brings a family together like ... Rock Band.Seriously Grant, you look like a rockstar with those shades!Julia experienced the leg cramp that comes with playing the Rock Band drums.The little girlies spent the entire night in the toy room. At least, we thought they had until we discovered Haley's candy stash had been raided...That is a look of sheer bliss on Quinn's face -- a daddy's heaven.