It's a girl thing

Okay, what is it about little girls (or big girls for that matter) and clothes??? Why can't it ever be simple? The "experts" make it seem like it should be simple: "just give them a choice between two outfits" and they expect the kids to be happy to get a choice and just say "okay, I want that one" and that's it. Obviously those experts have Never been to MY house! This how it goes here: "Emma, do you want to wear this outfit? or this one?" Emma's reaction: kicking and screaming down on the floor saying: "Not those, I hate those, they're ugly! I want to wear this!" pulling out the most ratty-looking shirt and pants she can find. Honestly, I don't know why I bother to spend money on her clothes! I can be darn sure that if I buy a nicer outfit at say, Gymboree, that will be the outfit she will never wear, but if I pulled something out of the box of Alyssa's old clothes and it's something that I should have thrown away, then she will love it and wear it all the time!


It's a wonder we ever make it out of the house. When it is time to take Alyssa out to the bus stop is when she is most likely to have one of her fits about getting dressed. Half the time I would have to hold her down, kicking and screaming, and force clothing upon her body and we would walk out the door with her still screaming and the neighbors would all be standing there watching us, thinking I'm sure that "there's that crazy Mormon woman, it's a shame she can't handle her kids". I have finally given up and let Alyssa go out to the bus by herself because it's too cold to take Emma out half-dressed or in her pajamas.
It's just that we have been through the clothing issues for over 20 years now and it's getting old. Many of Jenna's 2 yo tantrums were over her wanting to dress herself. Erica would wear the strangest outfits and would never wear the cute clothes I bought her and finally at about 10 she asked me not to buy her clothes anymore. Alyssa was 4 when I had to take her shopping with me for her clothes. Unlike Emma, she always wanted the most expensive things and didn't like the cheap clothes. The smartest thing I ever did was give my teenagers a clothing allowance. They are then responsible to buy their own clothes and as long as they are modest I don't say a thing. I still have a ways to go before Emma and Alyssa are there and so the clothing battles will continue! Actually, it usually isn't much of a battle because I allow them to make their own clothing choices as long as: 1. they are clean 2. appropriate for the weather and 3. appropriate for the occasion (ie-dresses for church) which means that we take Emma out in her favorite outfit: a multi-colored striped top with stretchy flowered pants. Lovely.

I have to say though, that I have not had a single fight with my teenagers over clothing. I truly, truly believe that it is because I allowed them to express themselves starting at a very early age. I mean who am I to say that their style is wrong? Clothing is such an expression of personality and young children need to be able to express themselves (within the boundaries as mentioned before) without being made to feel that it is wrong! And so we go out and sometimes get strange looks but most people realize that it is not my choice of clothing but hers, although I do still wish she would wear some of those nicer things. Sigh! I guess I'll just sell them on consignment.


Garrett's wardrobe:


a suit, white shirt and tie for church


a pair of khakis and a polo shirt for nice casual occasions


several pairs of jeans and t-shirts


a scout shirt


along with the necessary pj's and swim trunks.


Doesn't even fill up half the closet and dresser.

So much easier than his sisters.

Budding Photographer

Guess who got a hold of the camera??

Here's a hint...

And another hint...

A peek at a leg...

And another peek...

Ooooh! She must have seen spots after that!

I'm sure you know by now...

Yep, you guessed it!

I found these pictures yesterday when I uploaded to the computer. Funny kid! She's been wanting to use the camera and I guess she found her opportunity!

Weddings, Part 2

We call 2008 the Year of the Wedding at our house. With 2 weddings in one year it seems like our thoughts were consistently bridal! It was fun to see the differences in the two, showing the differences in the two brides, as well as many other factors ie-spring versus winter, California vs Massachusetts, etc.

We were nervous about the weather. Doing a wedding in December in New England is always a bit iffy. We had family coming in from warm weather states who were worried about the weather also. The weekend before the wedding we had 13 inches of snow! Thank goodness our kids coming in from Utah were all able to get here okay. Things warmed up for the wedding day, I think it was in the 40's and though it was rainy, it turned out okay, much better than a snowstorm would have been.

We did have other issues in the week leading up to the wedding. I was sick with an upper respiratory infection. Dave slipped on the ice and we weren't sure for awhile whether or not he had fractured his elbow. After a trip to a specialist in Boston, it was determined that it wasn't broken, just banged up a bit. Thank goodness Chris was here to help out! His help was invaluable. Others, including the groom, had a stomach virus that was particularly nasty. On the actual wedding day everyone seemed to feel okay, except for Dave's brother Stephen who traveled all the way from Texas just to be stuck in a hotel room with the dreaded stomach bug. Poor guy! Emma waited until the next day to start throwing up. Keri and JoEllen just had a hard time getting here with a flight canceled and luggage problems but they eventually got here.

On Friday night, the day after Christmas, we had a dinner here for the bride's and groom's families. Things had been so crazy, what with sickness AND Christmas that the house wasn't as clean as it should have been but I just hoped that no one looked too closely or opened any doors to the bedrooms! We had a nice time that night just relaxing and talking.

The next day was, of course, a little hectic with trying to get everyone ready and things where they needed to be but it all turned out well and as you can see from the pictures we had a good time! The wedding was nice even with a rather long-winded rambling sealer and rainy cold weather that kept us from doing any group pictures outside at the temple. The ring ceremony was beautiful and the reception was fun. All in all, a wonderful time!

Weddings, Part 1

While I am waiting for the pictures from Erica and Spencer's wedding, I thought that I would post pictures from our first wedding of the year. Jenna and Chris were married in the Sacramento Temple on April 26. It was a beautiful spring day and a beautiful wedding!

The bridesmaids had a fight with the bouquets when everything was over. Too funny!

We suggested that Erica and Spencer could use this for their wedding invitations but they weren't too receptive to that idea. Nice picture, though!

The Sacramento Temple is absolutely beautiful and perfect for picture-taking. Chris' dad was Stake President while it was being built so it has a special meaning for his family.

The bride and her sisters. Emma had a tough time with picture taking that day so there aren't too many of her that are good.

Garrett and Jenna. It's amazing how much he has changed just in that short time.

That's it for now! Part 2 will come as soon as I have some pictures for it.