Circus Day!

Every year for several years now, my MIL has hosted a circus day in the summertime.  She has a vast store of amazing costumes that belonged to her family when she was a little girl.  So, they are pretty old, and really special to the family.  With some newer things added in, the kids always find something they want to dress in for the circus.  This year was especially fun because my brother in law Sam was the Ringleader.  He was awesome! And my husband was able to come and perform too.  His picture alone is worth scrolling down to see!


Amy was a tiger trapeze artist, at least I think that's what she was.



Clara was a dancing cowgirl

Audrey was a dancing girl

Baylor was a monkey

Jeffrey was a cowboy

Aunt Mindy holding Ariana and Benson looking on

Cousin Meilani holding her daughter Lily, the butterfly

Joseph the cowboy

I don't know what timothy was, but he and Amy put on a routine with the hula hoops

Judd wore this wig just to please me

Benson the clown

Reuben, the tiger cowboy

Circus day was on our 14th wedding anniversary. This is the only photo we too to commemorate that day.

Sam the awesome Ring Leader

Emmeline wore Reuben's ambassador to the moon costume. We shot her out of a pretend cannon. 

This is Judd jumping through hoops, over children and then doing a somersault.

The Amy and Timmy show

Paige, the kitty dancer and Audrey

Anna hoola hooping and ukelele playing at the same time!

Benson

I'm a star!

Reuben jumping over Tim. It's more fun with a Tiger head!

The whole gang!

Lunch was tasty!

The kids all had a great time playing games after they performed and then pigging out on pizza, watermelon, soda, and the most disgusting ice cream flavor EVER- Play doh!  Nobody else agreed with me.  I guess I've outgrown liking things that taste like a combo of bubblegum, sugar overload, and clay.

Grandma's Tea Party 2011

Every year for the last several years, my MIL has hosted a tea party for all of the girls in the family.  We all bring delectable finger foods and dress up for the occassion, complete with new personas.

 It's a lot of work but also a lot of fun and something that I hope my daughters will remember fondly when they are grown.  This year I tried out cake balls for the first time.  They were a big hit!

I also brought homemade mini brownies and eclairs.  Everything tastes better with Mexican Vanilla!

Emmeline came as Lola, a monkey grinder. 

Audrey, dressed in a fancy dress, told us her name was Susan.

Amy was in an interesting mood.  She wore cowgirl attire and announced herself as Thorn.

Clara preferred a more classic look and arrived as Cinderella. 

I didn't feel like being Snow White this year, so I concocted a crazy outfit and went as Medusa.However, I was there as a reformed Medusa who only turned door to door solicitors to stone. 

Heather was Cordelia.  Ariana was Angelina Ballerina.  I didn't get a good shot of her, but she was adorable.

Grandma Kristie was Mrs. McGillicutty (sp?) and I can't remember Mindy's name.  It was something fancy.

Paige was Diane and her doll was Diana, both related to you know who.

Clara -Episode 3

Now, if you read my facebook posts, you'll have to re-read most of these, since I post her one liners on there as well. But, I have one new one today, that is just cute and funny and an insight into the way she thinks.  It's too long for facebook, so it warrants a new blog entry.

1.Mommy, if you have any wrinkles or anything, just rub the cream on it and they will disappear! But, it's $59.95. We don't have enough money. Mommy, do you wish you had that cream? (No) Mommy, do you trust the t.v.? (No) I do. They were right about pillow pets.

2.  My sheet is boring white! I get no respect!!

3. Clara (voice getting higher and squeakier with each sentence): Mommy, you have to buy this bowl! It's MAGNIFICENT!! It can never spill!!! And it's only $14.95!!!!

4.Can you give me some dental floss? I've got congested canines.

5. This one is a follow up to the respect comment.  We were sitting around the table eating pancakes this morning. Clara looked at her dad and said, "Do you want to be a baby and get some respect?"  We all laughed but it made me wonder how exactly Clara defines respect. So, I asked her.  And I grabbed a pen and scratch paper to write down what she said.

Clara: Respect is. .
(Timothy whispers in her ear)
Mommy: Timothy, don't tell her.  I want to know what she thinks.  You're being disrespectful.
Clara: The thing which he just did- the opposite is respect.
Mommy: But, what is respect?
Clara: Respect is when somebody asks somebody if they can do something with that person and that person says maybe and then the person that asked goes to their mom and dad and tells them that they asked another person if they could do something with that person, I mean the little girl goes to her mom an dad, and says that her big brother, she says that she asked her big brother if she could play a game with him and he said maybe and the mom and dad CARE about the little girl and tell her biog brother to play with her. 

Mommy: So, that's what respect is?

Clara: Yea.  Respect is when somebody cares about somebody else.  The mom and dad cared about the little girl. 

Mommy: So, you having a boring white sheet means we don't care about you.

Clara: I want another kind of sheet! I want a pretty sheet! I want all the things that have red roses on them- sheets, pillow case, blankets!! Let me see what you wrote.

Mommy: It's in cursive. You can't read it.

Clara looks at it
Mommy : Do you know what cursive is?

Clara: It's when you write it in a way that little kids can't read.  When you write a word that's all connected.

Mommy: Clara, will you co-author a book with me?

Clara :Mommy!!!!! (angry face)

I guess not, but I'd like to thank her for her contribution this morning, whether she intended to entertain or not.  Everyone can always use a good laugh!

Clara Episode 2

1.The evening after school got out my family attended a retirement party for my mother in law at her home. Clara, being her usual self, had to work the crowd, and was happily entertaining newcomers by the fronts door when I happened to overhear this conversation. 
Clara: Hi! I'm Clara! I want to give you my autograph
Woman: Oh, that would be nice. 
Clara: Does anybody have a paper and a pen?  I need a paper and a pen!
Grandma: Can you turn her off?
Me: No.
Clara: I really need a paper and a pen. I really really really really want to give you my autograph. 
(Two new visitors produce a post it note and a pen and Clara proceeds with her autograph:
Clara: Now, I want you to keep this forever, okay?
Woman: Okay.
Clara: I mean forever and ever and ever. Never throw it away!
Woman:  I'll keep it forever
Clara: I mean, when you are about to die, I want you to be holding it in your hand.

2. I was sitting at home about a week ago in the evening and Clara approached me with a small handful of money and asked me if 3 quarters was enough to buy a ring pop.  I sometimes sell candy to my kids.  I told her that it was enough (since I sell them for one quarter) but asked where she got the money from.  She had been broke that morning.  Clara hemmed and hawed for a while but finally admitted that she had gathered fallen snowball flowers from the neighbors tree, loaded up her bike basket, and set off to peddle her wares down the street.  She had 4 flower bunches and sold three of them. She informed me that one neighbor "didn't have any money because she doesn't get paid until tomorrow." I asked "Did you give it to her for free?"
Clara responded, with hands on hips, and exasperation in her voice, "No Mommy! They weren't for free, they were for sale!"

3. Clara "Mommy, We Mormons don't believe in pole dancing, right?"

How to Win a Baby Costume Contest

I know my title sounds a little bit arrogant. Sorry. Hopefully the post won't be unbearable while I talk about how cute my baby is and how smart I am . . .blah blah blah. Okay, seriously, I like entering baby costume contests.  I admit it! There isn't much in life that is cuter than babies in costumes.  Why else would Anne Geddes be making such a hauling with her photos?
Anyway, when Reuben was a baby I entered him in the Provo Freedom Festival baby contest in the costume category.  He won 2nd or 3rd place and I was hooked.  I entered him again the next year and he won a medal again.  I can't remember which place which year. It was just so much fun to come up with creative costumes and try to come up with a cheap way to pull off my vision. 

Here's a rundown of our participation over the last 12 years:

The first year the theme was "The Decades".  Reuben was a baby hippie, complete with flower covered bell bottoms, round orange glasses, and brown braided (yarn) hair.  I even made him a special tye dyed onesie and converted a double stroller into a pretend VW bus.  He was so cute.  He won a medal and some other little prizes.

The 2nd year the theme was something about " When I Grow Up..." My mom sewed Reuben this really cool futuristic spaceman costume with a sparkly blue cape.  He was the Ambassador to the Moon.  We made up business cards for him to hand to the judges. He arrived in style in a baby walker converted into a spaceship.  It was rockin!

Well, we moved to Baltimore but happened to come back and visit at just the right time when Timothy was 8 or 9 months old. The theme was "It's a Small World"  Timothy was a really fat kiddo at the time and I decided it would be adorable to make him a little Samoan, adding humor to the costume by his pasty white skin and ultra blond hair.  My mom sewed him a blue flowered lava lava and I made him some handmade sandals, an arm band to look like a tatoo, a flower for his ear, and a sequin covered earth ball for him to hold.  He sat inside of a sparkly cardboard canoe.  He won 2nd or 3rd place.  I don't really remember that far back too clearly.

Fast forward a few years. We were back from Baltimore.  I had ingored the baby contest for quite some time and was living in Holladay.  Amy was just barely 2 and I was pregnant with Clara and decided I was ready for the contest again.  This time I wanted to be really creative.  The theme was "Sweet Land of Liberty" I decided Amy was going to BE the Liberty Bell.  I started with a baby swing, the older kind that is symetrical.  Then I made a paper mache Liberty bell that fit over the swing seat and fastened with velcro.  There was a hole for her face, which we painted gold.  The bell was spray painted gold and looked pretty cool.  When Amy sat in the swing with the bell on, we could swing it just like a real bell.  We even had the top part covered to look like the top wooden part of the bell. That was the year that we didn't win for the costume.  I still think we were jipped.  Amy won a special award that year- 3rd place for the happiest baby.  I think there was arguing among the judges and they wanted to give her something, but felt that her costume wasn't a real costume because it was cardboard, so they gave her happiest baby as a consolation prize. The reason I think that is that Amy was very antisocial as a baby and wasn't particularly happy for the judges. I can't find any pictures of this, but it was so cool!

After not winning in the costume category with Amy, I swore off of the baby contest.  I had entered so many times and never managed a first place win.  I just couldn't figure out what they wanted.  Then I met my friend April.  April can sew.  April can sew really well and she lived right upstairs from me and she was willing to make a ridiculously difficult outfit for my next baby Clara.  Clara was 11 months old and the theme was "Let Freedom Ring".  I dressed her up as an ancestor- Alice Bracken, a pioneer who came to America because of joining the LDS church and traveled to Utah with the pioneers to avoid religious persecution.  This dress was amazing, and turned out to be, yes, you guessed it, the key to WINNING to baby contest.  She had matching bloomers and a precious pioneer bonnet that my mother sewed.  My mom also made a cover for our wagon to make it look like a real pioneer wagon and we packed it with supplies she might have taken with her.  She was so stinking cute and she won first place!

After that I decided that the dress was the key.  I entered Audrey two years later.  I used the same dress. My mom made a different shirt to go under it. The theme had become a more general one and has stayed that way- America- Freedom, Family, and Country.  Audrey was Martha Washington.  I got her a white curly wig and a hat like Martha would have worn.  I made her a little hand fan and a bag with a famous quote of Martha's hand embroidered on the front.  We had no vehicle that year.  Audrey won 1st place! She got to be in the Freedom Festival parade.

And now, finally, this year.  Enter the dress again.  Emmeline didn't need the wig and I didn't want to do the exact same thing, so I decided to have her be Betsy Ross.  She wore her own hair with hair bows that matched her dress, made from leftover material I had saved.  I got some felt and hand sewed a Betsy Ross flag.  Then I decorated the wagon so she would have some awesome transportation. Because, really, I knew that this time we were going to make it.  I knew she would win a medal and we'd get to be in the parade and I planned ahead. Okay, I didn't really know, but I hoped a whole lot.  And SHE WON 1st place! That dress is so awesome! 

And now that every one of my children has a medal from the baby contest- I CAN STOP ENTERING.  There is a chance that I won't be able to resist.  It could happen, but it might not.  Anyway, back to the title. The secret to winning the baby contest is as follows:
1. Be obsessed
2. Be friends with April
3. Have a baby with cute hair or cover up a lack of hair
4. Pay attention to little details
5. Know my Mom
6. Don't forget about April and my mom.

The end!