My Smart Kids

Monday, May 9, Mackenzie and Nathan had their post-op appointments with Dr. Vadapalli.  We had to go to Valencia for this appointment because they were getting hearing tests as well and they don't have the setup for that in Lancaster.  It was a long, tiring day, but I enjoyed the one-on-one time with Mackenzie.  Mackenzie always has so many things on her mind!  And she likes to talk about what she's thinking about.  I really enjoy hearing the creative, clever things going on in her mind.  She constantly asks questions, many of which start with "What if...."  Here's an example from yesterday:
     We were using the restroom in Target in Lancaster before heading back to Ridgecrest.  As we washed our hands I could see Mackenzie counting the stalls.
Mackenzie: Mom, what if there are more than 4 people in the store who need to go to the bathroom at the same time?
Me: They make a line.
Mackenzie: But what if there are more than 10 people?
Me: They make a long line.
Mackenzie: (Head is bobbing and finger pointing as she counts the sinks.) What if there are more than...
Me: They make a line.
(Mackenzie is constantly coming up with worst case scenario 'what ifs'!)

     As we were driving to Target, Mackenzie was telling me that Mrs. Glennon (her teacher) wanted someone to tell her how to spell the word egg and she already knew how to spell egg so she didn't have to look in her book and did she want me to spell egg for her?
Me: Yes!
Mackenzie: E-G-G
Me: Wow, Mackenzie! You are so smart! How did my kids get so much smarter than me?
Mackenzie: I think it's because we go to school and you stay home and play with Kelsey all day.  And Nathan. (said with a bit of a question in her voice)
Me: Uh.....yeah, that might be it. :)

Soccer Star

     This spring is the first time any of our kids have played soccer.  We have done basketball lots of times and Haylee has really taken to sports so we asked if she wanted to try soccer.  She is really enjoying herself.  And she's also learning fast!  She made a goal in the last game.  It was in the last minute of the game too.  You could see that she really wanted to and she just kept trying and trying.  Finally, she kicked it and the goalie got it.  But the ref blew his whistle and made some soccer sign that we aren't familiar with.  So I ran up to the coach and asked him if she'd made the goal.  He said yes!  I think the goalie stopped it after it broke the plane.  It was hard for us to see because we were parked right behind the goal and were watching from the car.  It was extra exciting because Grandma Bobbi, Grandma Moffit, and Grandpa Moffitt were all there to see it.
     Here are some pictures of our soccer star that I took the at her game a couple of days ago.  Her team is called the Foxes.

Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls...

 A vase of fresh cut flowers...

 A plethora of fabulous gifts...

 A poem written from the heart (Haylee's heart, to be exact)...

And surrounded by the precious ones that made me a mother in the first place.

I am sure I was the envy of every woman at church with my beautiful felt corsage and brand new matching necklace and bracelet!

     Daren made the yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Haylee made some waffles as well and the girls served me breakfast in bed.  We didn't have church until 1:00pm so I had plenty of time to enjoy the morning with them and to lazily open my presents.  Mackenzie gave me a beautiful felt corsage that she made at school.  She also made the flower pot card with a package of flower seed in it.  She made a book called "What Mommies Do Best."  Most of it was pre-written and she just filled in the blanks.  This is what it said:

Mommies can teach you how to 'read.'

Mommies can 'see.'

Mommies can 'play.'

Mommies can 'cook.'

But best of all, mommies can give you lots and lots of love!

She didn't add anything to the last line but she drew a beautiful picture of the two of us.

We've been watching 'Tangled' a lot lately so Mackenzie gave herself Rapunzel hair. :)

Haylee wrote a poem for me in school which she gave to me.  Just in case it's hard to read in the picture, I thought I would type it up as well:
Mom is nice.
Mom is fun.
Mom is helpful.
Mom is cool.
Mom's cookies smell like chocolate.
Mom's Brownies taste amazing.
Mom's voice sounds like angles.
Mom looks like beautiful flowers.
Mom's skin feels like water.
Mom's kisses make me smile.
Mom is pretty.

Haylee's poems make me smile. :)  Haylee also gave me the matching necklace and bracelet.  She made them with Grandma Bobbi while she was here visiting for Haylee's baptism.  The necklace has all my kids' names on it.  The bracelet has my name on it.  I have been hinting that I wanted some jewelry that had something about each of my kids (I was thinking like a birthstone).  Haylee came through for me!
     Daren gave me a blue tooth car speaker that I have wanted ever since I found out they exist!  After church I put it in the van and called the house phone on it just so I could try it out.  I'm taking Mackenzie and Nathan to Valencia again tomorrow for their follow up appointments so I'm sure I'll get some great use out of it.  The funny thing is that I saw it in his car after Haylee's soccer game because we switched cars.  I could see that he was hesitant to switch but didn't know why until I found the bag.  I didn't say a thing about it and even put a piece of paper on top of it in hopes that he would assume he got lucky and I didn't notice it.  But he asked the kids if I had seen it and they fessed up!  Oh well.  It was still a great surprise, just a couple days early.
     For my mom, Daren's mom, and my grandmas, we got blog books.  I can finally say it!  I finished my blog book awhile ago but have failed to mention it since I was giving some away for gifts.  Now that I have one, I am even more excited to keep blogging and make one next year.
     After church, my parents and Grandma Poetschlag came over to our house and we all had dinner together.  We had Russian chicken over rice, corn on the cob, and yummy cream puffs for dessert.  It was just such a wonderful and happy day!

P.S.  I forgot to mention the primary songs in Sacrament meeting!  We sang two songs: When We're Helping We're Happy, and Mother Tell Me a Story.  The second song has a second part for the mothers to sing.  So our chorister emailed the words to the person who does the program so they could be put in the program and the moms could sing the second part to the kids.  Somehow, it didn't happen.  Sooooo, myself and my two counselors ended up doing an impromptu trio.  It was scary because we hadn't practiced at all, but I think it turned out okay.  At least nobody has had the nerve to tell us otherwise. :)
As usual, the kids did a beautiful job and sang so loudly and clearly.

The Fauxhawk

Nathan's hair is finally long enough to style! :) We were outside enjoying the cool evening and Daren was checking out the sprinklers. Haylee decided to get her hands wet so she could style Nate's hair into a mohawk. I almost washed it out before snapping a picture but then I thought of it in the nick of time. What a lucky guy to have 4 big sisters to do his hair for him!

P.S. Nate turned 10 months old a week ago.

Like a Big Girl

This morning Kelsey asked if she could have a gogurt. I said yes so she brought me one so I could open it for her. Nathan was looking very interested in it. I had helped him eat one a few days before so I thought, why not? I asked Kelsey to bring one for Nathan too. As she was eating her gogurt she watched me help Nathan with his. "Him is eating like a big girl," Kelsey said. I smiled. "Yep, him is eating like a big girl just like you."

Miley

THIS is the bunny I thought we were getting. So....I bought her for Mackenzie and now we have two bunnies. Yes, you read it right, I bought the rabbit, not Daren. Stranger things have happened, but not very often. Isn't she so cute? The story of how we got her is pretty amazing and Mackenzie felt so blessed she kept praying about it and thanking Heavenly Father for letting her get Miley.

Miley Hardy- adopted April 21, 2011

We first met Miley after we took Nate and Mackenzie to the ENT in Valencia for their first appointment. We stopped by Odyssey Ranch in Lancaster and asked if we could look at the bunnies they were going to be selling soon. She was so adorable but she was only 7 weeks old and bunnies can't legally be sold until they are 8 weeks old. They said she would be ready the next Monday. I loved how she had the 'mascara eyes' but I just couldn't bring myself to drive to Lancaster to buy a bunny. Especially since we had to go there 3 days later for more appointments for the kids. (We were thrilled to find out that the ENT we were seeing has a Lancaster office that he works at once a week.)

Well, I didn't really think she'd still be there by Thursday since she was such a good price and such a cute bunny. The appointments went well. Nate's was a pre-surgery appointment because he was already scheduled for tubes the next week. We decided Mackenzie needed tubes as well and so I asked if we could do them the same time. They said sure but needed to schedule it before I could pre-register them at the surgery center. The surgery center wasn't answering their phone so we killed time at Target while we waited. Finally we were able to go pre-register. It was getting late but we decided to just try and see if the bunny was still there.

When we walked up to the bunnies, I saw all the bunnies that had been there a week and a half earlier. I saw the owner and I said, "You still have her!" He shook his head and said someone had just bought all the bunnies five minutes earlier. They were using them for a petting zoo. I was so sad! If I had missed them by a couple of days, I wouldn't have felt so bad. But five minutes! Mackenzie had her head down and was starting to cry. I was telling the guy how sorry I was that we didn't make it but we had to wait until the surgery was scheduled to pre-register. Really I was babbling on about stuff that didn't matter. There was nothing he could do. Suddenly one of the people who bought the bunnies (they were still there looking at other animals) said that she could take one. Mackenzie's face came right up and she started to wipe the tears away from her eyes. The Odyssey Ranch owner put that little white bunny in a box so fast and I quickly paid him. We thanked them and we were on our way! Now you can see why Mackenzie feels like it was a little miracle for her to get Miley.

Horse Show

Natalee has been taking riding lessons with Marianne Buck and we are so grateful to Marianne for this opportunity. Natalee rides a cute little Welsh pony named Flirt. She adores him. March 19, 2011, Marianne gave Natalee the opportunity to ride in a local horse show out at the fair grounds. She didn't take home any blue ribbons (it was her first show after all) but she had a wonderful time!

Natalee and Katie Johnson warming up their ponies. Natalee rode western style and Katie rode English style.

Still warming up Flirt-that's why her jacket is on.

Giving Flirt some love after finishing their turn.

Waiting for the judges....

Looking adorable....

Getting her ribbon!

Flirt looked so tiny compared to the full size horses!

Riding around the arena for the next event. In this event all the horses rode at the same time.