in which i post lots of vacation photos...

yes, we went to disneyland and no, it hasn't lost its shiny happy place in our lives. this trip was marked by a weekend with the Rowley's at their place that included zip lines, chickens, the superbowl, homemade brick oven pizza, and lots of time with great friends. thank you!


while our kids aren't opposed to giving hugs to each other, the number of hugs given in a given day multiply by ten at disneyland and this last trip was no different. anytime my kids are hugging each other is a good time.


amy loves it when i snap photos of her as if she were a supermodel. and while she is a supermodel to me, you can see the slight irony/exasperation in her expression here...who better to spend a family trip to disneyland with than her...


ella continues to carve out her own personality and niche in our family. it was on full display this last trip...


michael is a joy in my life. he is fun, intelligent, happy, curious and handsome (if i do say so myself...)



the rowleys!


i like to think that i contributed to mitt's recent rise in the california polls--outpacing santorum by 20 points in the most recent rasmussen poll...


some of the kids most favorite parts of disneyland can be done at the local carnival--the merrygo round and bubbles...


so serene. abby is an example of finding joy in the simple parts of life.


a character..:)


what better scenes than to have your children embracing each other. may it always be so.


this ride ranks 2nd to last in the park next to the tea cups. i gracefully waited this ride out to take photos...



i definitely prefer my girls to gain a little attitude to help weather life's waves...


my little bekah is growing up. she loves to explore her surroundings, she likes to try out her new ideas verbally with us and i love being around her...


true?

Mother's Day 2011...

It is Mother's Day... a day that means more to me each year that passes. As my children get older, my heart gets bigger. I care more. I worry more. I am more invested. I have more experience. I have more happy/sad/silly/hard stories. I am tougher than I've ever been. I'm more sensitive than I've ever been. And I'm on my knees more than I've ever been in prayer for the good of these little people I care so very much about.

I want to just record my thoughts in this quiet moment on Mother's Day, when my heart is full of love for my children and gratitude for the opportunity to be a mother.

Michael--my sweet, smart boy. You are so tender and thoughtful, fun and personable. Through the years of dad's medical school and busy residency, you became my friend and buddy. I am so glad it continues to be that way. I enjoy so much your maturing sense of humor and ability to get inside jokes. I love to see your beautiful mind work out how the world works. You are keen and smart in so many ways, including how to be a friend to your mother. Thank you for the love you have for our family and the good way you treat the women in your family.


Abby--my lovely, loving girl. You are full of affection and life. You feel things so deeply, and I love experiencing the excitement of life through your eyes. You make me grateful for hugs and kisses and sweet words. I love the honest way you express your feelings, and the cute ways you explain your thoughts. I learn from your friendly spirit and you bring out the fun side of me. Thank you for loving us so very much. Thank you for always requesting mom to put you to bed. It means a lot to me.


Bekah--my thoughtful, thinking girl. You are always thinking of what to do next. Where to go. What to make. What game to play and whom to invite. I love your constant stream of love notes and pictures. We all love your heartfelt goodbyes and welcome homes. I love your determination to do whatever you think is best, and your desire to do what is best for others. You love to make us all feel loved, and you have a mothering way of treating your siblings that is endearing and sweet. Thank you for caring about us so much.


Ella--my cute, cuddly girl. You are the youngest in our family, and you are adored by us all. You love to hug and be held, and I love that I could cuddle you for hours each day if I only had the luxury of sitting still for hours each day! Your imagination draws us all into your world of cuteness, and I have loved the impromptu songs and dances you have been doing for me this week. You are often the comic relief in the comings and goings of our schedule, and you love to be toted around to whatever is planned for the day. Thank you for being a cute goonie bird.


Paul--my adorable adoring husband. Thank you for being my second wind and my saving grace. I could not be the mother I am without your understanding heart, willingness to help, and ability to infuse us all with your spunk and spontaneity. I appreciate so much all that you do with the kids. You carpool, cuddle and read, and do music practice in a pinch. You manage them better than I do in public, and don't sweat the small stuff. You are the best dad to them, with abilities that bring out the best in all of us. You are a tender and emotionally connected father. You are encouraging in all the right ways. Plus... you are a whole lot of FUN!!! Thank you for valuing my role as mother, and helping me in all the most important ways. I love you.


Thank you to my family for making motherhood a fulfilling, challenging, and happy experience. I love you all!!

ironman bells...

two of the neighborhood boys came over to play with ells bells the other day and she took matters into her own hands. i am generally supportive of a healthy sense of self esteem and self defense in my girls and this was great.

she is so cute right now. her favorite part of bowling was the shoes. she's asked about bowling shoes several times since our bowling trip.



today at the grocery store she kneeled in the grocery cart on all fours and said she was a dog. she asked to be driven by different items so she could sniff them and bark at them. for her nap she has a set 'playlist' that i am to sing to her, 'rudolph', 'temple', 'church', and 'child of God'. i love it (and her.)

Ella's Haircut... by Abby...

Oh, the mischief of preschoolers is so fun. So curious. So inventive. Experimental and ingenuitive. Most of this "creativity" I can clean up with the vacuum, rag, or Windex and only keep the memories. But scissors to the little sisters' hair... nope. Not that one. That one's going to show for a while.

Let me remind you about Ella's hair journey here... and how long we've worked for her locks...

Here at age 1 (almost) she is still kind of a fuzzball. A really, really cute smiling happy fuzzball.



At almost a year and a half we could make some pretty decent pigtails...


And by this summer we had some pretty decent hair. So cute and girly.



Then there was the Sunday afternoon at Grandpatty and Grandpappy's house where long hair dreams were cut short. Have you seen Disney's "Tangled"?? Well this is the result of sister Abby's attempt to reenact the last part of the movie. (Seriously.)


Whacked off in the back.


Like the uneven super-short bangs that will take forever to grow out??

Fantastic.

Cute Ella came down excited, then saw that Abby got in trouble for it. Then she turned sad, saying "Abby broke my hair. Abby broke my hair." You can see she was in the sad phase when these pictures were taken. As usual, she found comfort in her blankie and a cuddle from Grandpatty.

Abby even gave herself a little "Tangled" do. Remember that Rapunzel had a section of hair cut from when she was a baby that never grew back?? Abby wanted a short section of her own. So by her neck is now a small section of hair that is about 3 inches shorter than the rest. So fun.

So I've trimmed it up a little, but Ella does NOT keep elastics in right now. So the front is always a little strangely uneven.



But she's still such a cute little goonie bird... and now her haircut goes along with her strange little nickname. :)

And time will help the hair grow back. It will grow back. It will. And this will be yet another chapter in Ella's hair journey...

My Little Runners...

Although I would loved to claim to have run the Salt Lake Marathon this April, the events that were more geared toward our interests and abilities were the bike tour which Paul rode, and the kid's fun run.

It was a beautiful Spring day, the tulips were in full bloom. Ella enjoyed them the best.


The night before, we gave the kids a pep talk and a few pointers about running... you know, pace yourself and don't use up all your good energy at the beginning, keeping your legs up, and keeping your arms close at your side.

We got there and got their shirts and numbers... which they LOVED!


They watched some of the marathoners when we got there and picked up a few good tips. Abby noticed the running stance, especially the tight fists of many of the runners. She kept her hands in tight fists all through the first part of the morning until she did the run.


They did great! I was in charge of staying with Michael while Paul and Grandpatty were in charge of staying with the girls. Grandpatty gets an award to running WITH Ella in her arms! I didn't get a good picture... they were moving so very fast!

At the shout of "GO!" Michael was off like a shot and I lost him in the crowd. It took me a while to weave through all the kiddos and spot him again. He did great! We found a spot on the side and watched for Paul and Grandpatty and the girls. When we spotted Abby, here fists were still tightly clenched. Bekah got a bit distracted by the people on the sidelines who were holding their hands out for hi-fives... at which point hi-five-ing the crowd became the main event for her. Ella held on tight for the run of her life.

Afterward, Michael revealed the secret of his super running skills...


Then they got their super-cool medals, which they have treasured ever since.


The rest of the afternoon was filled with enjoying extended family members who were there... we loved seeing them and spending time with them. What an enjoyable morning!

Now that we're in Utah, we'll be making the Salt Lake Marathon a tradition!

...even if none of us actually runs the marathon. :)

More From March...

Just a few more everyday shenanigans from March should be documented.

One morning I walked into the kitchen to find a small pile of hair next to Bekah, who was holding some scissors.

That's right... bangs...



But as you can see, she made a pretty good line. All we really had to do was get it shaped up, as you can see here...



and here...



March was filled with days of lingering cold weather and random snow. The girls made the most of their time indoors with lots of creative dress ups.


You can see they love to try to be like their older brother.

Abby spent most of her time pretending to be Harry Potter or Hermione. One Sunday we almost lost the battle about whether or not she could wear her plastic Harry Potter glasses to church.



Then there is the baby princess dinosaur who surfaces intermittently.


And the toothbrushes throughout the house disappear quite frequently lately. The culprit: Ella Bella the Toothbrush Bandit...


Which, as you might remember from her early babyhood, fits with her love of toothbrushing... which she gets from her mamma.

Who says the days at home can't be exciting?

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2009...

This year, we spent Christmas with Paul's family. It only took me a Christmas or two with this great family before I caught on. Now I know exactly what will happen and pretty much when... because it is always the same. Tradition is what Christmas is all about here... and I love it. And it is fun to share it with my kids as they get older.

(photo by Libby)

The itinerary is always as follows:

Christmas Eve...

Morning and afternoon:

• Big breakfast, altogether. By Grandpatty Extraordinaire.
  
• Break off to individually run last-minute Christmas errands (there are ALWAYS last-minute Christmas errands...).
  
• Reconvene for an out-of-the-house family activity (decided and planned by the father of the house) while the mother of the house is given full discretion to be in the house and finish preparations without any disturbance or demands. :)

This year's activity: Sledding!! And the awesome sledding hill in our neighborhood was the chosen spot for this family activity tradition. We met up at our house, bundled up for the snow, then came back for hot cocoa. So fun!

This was the setting:

(photo by Libby)

Here is the sledding:

(photo by Libby)

(photo by Libby)

Ella was content to stay in her mamma's arms most of the time. She loved watching all the action, but wasn't so sure about the snow.


Abby mostly loved to eat the snow, and enjoyed going down the hill with her uncles and aunts.


Bekah was our snow dare-devil. She loved going fast and furious down the steep hill again and again and again.


Michael had his perfect spot where he perfected his technique. He loved trying to make his sled jump a bit.

(photo by Libby)

Uncle Stevie showed us how New Yorkers enjoy their Hot Cocoa.

Late afternoon/early evening:

• Caroling. This activity is often the subject of debate and distress, but has often been a highlight of my Christmas experience. Music is such an integral part of Christmas for me, and being able to share it with others just captures the Spirit of Christmas. A few people (friends/neighbors, home/visiting teachees, or extended family members) answer their door to find the Frandsen family on their doorstep singing a Christmas song with some concoction of instruments.
• Home to a traditional meal of clam chowder by candelight. MMMmmmmm... This year, the kiddos ate a quick meal and the *nice* dinner was postponed until they were all snug in their beds so the parents could enjoy. :)
• A reenactment of the nativity scene. Everyone scatters to rummage up suitable costumes and reconvenes in the front room as Paul's dad reads the scriptural account. It might or might not invite the true spirit of Christmas, but it is fun. (This year the list of characters even included the Wicked King Herod--by el Steve-O himself.)

(photo taken by Libby)

Bekah was an Angel...

...as was Abby.

Michael? A Wise Man

Paul and I (Joseph and Mary) managed a very squirmy Baby Jesus (Ella), who was content as long as she had her blanky.

Our little family.

• Opening of the traditional Christmas Eve presents from Paul's parents. As always, we were super-surprised to have pajamas and a book! Paul's mom has been making family t-shirts for the past few years... our kiddos especially love picking out everyone's cartooned face and their BYU gear!

(photo by Libby)

Before going to bed, our kiddos left out some cookies and milk for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer. We hung their stockings with care, and kissed them all soundly and sent them to bed.



Aaaaaaahhhhh.... Onto...

Christmas Morning...

Even sleep-deprived parents are happy to wake up to excited children who can't wait to go downstairs. I love the excitement of Christmas morning. The kids were all so animated, and just couldn't believe that they actually got what they asked for!

Michael: Asked for a car race track

Bekah: Asked for princesses "with those squishy dresses so I can dress them up"

Abby: Asked for "that horse house with the swing for the girl"

Ella: Loved the ball popper most of all, and got the football players Michael asked Santa to give her so that she could play football guys with him.

They even discovered that Santa wrote a thank-you note to them for leaving him cookies and milk!

After opening Santa gifts, we had Christmas breakfast with cinnamon rolls and the traditional present from Paul's dad that never ceases to surprise us... SUGAR CEREAL!!

After breakfast everyone got changed and ready, then gathered again to open family presents to/from each other. This is always my favorite part. I love seeing and feeling the thoughtfulness of others. I loved seeing my kids have joy in the gifts they gave. I loved their excitement as they felt of the thoughtfulness of others.

My favorite gifts to give this year were the blankets I made (with a lot of last-minute help from Hannah!) for Abby and Bekah. They picked out the fabric on their own, and were so excited to see them made into blankets of their very own!


After all of the opening, thanking, and reading of instruction manuals there was more eating, playing, and the traditional Christmas Day trip to the movies. We saw Disney's Princess and the Frog this year... most of which I enjoyed from the back of the theater with a very noisily happy and excited Ella-Bella-Boo.

Thank you to Paul's family for making this Christmas so memorable and fun! I love that, in our 9th Christmas together, I know how the traditions go and just what to count on. This is the stuff of wonderful memories and bonds that last forever. It was a very Merry Christmas indeed.