Date with Lucy Goosy

During Jason's deployment, I made it a priority to take Lucy and Graham out for some mini-dates with Mom. I caught a few pictures when Lucy and I were out for dinner.

Loving our pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. We both kept saying how good it was. I was loving even more the conversation with my sweet girl. While Jason was gone, I felt like I had to be good cop and bad cop in the parenting department and bad cop came out A LOT! It felt like I was constantly nagging my kids to do the next thing or to get something done. So, I really enjoyed sitting face to face with Lucy and just talking. We have tried to make this a priority for the last couple years. We aren't super consistent, but we are hoping to do better.

Goofball got an award at school for testing well on the STAR test. She's a smart little cookie. Her teacher recommended that she be tested for the Gate program in the district and she did really well. The program is run at a neighboring school, so we decided to keep her where she is. No need to add another school to her already long list. Since she started kindergarten, she has gone to 4 different schools. We are so proud of Lucy. She handles change very well and is actually looking forward to our move this summer. I think her tune may change when the final days actually arrive, but I'll take her excitement for now.

Lucy with a few of her besties.

Morgan, Lucy, Pfieffer, Maggie, and Julianna

A few tidbits about Lucy:

-She REALLY wants a pet, mostly a dog. In fact, this past week she was in tears over it. She had asked nearly everyone in her class if they had pet and she found out that she is one of the very few that doesn't have one. I had to tell her that no amount of crying is going to get her a cat or dog. I felt bad for a minute. I honestly can't show any signs of weakness or the tears will keep coming and then she'll enlist her Dad's help. It's not happening. Seriously.

-Lucy has decided she's going to be a rock star when she grows up. She has asked me questions about whether or not she'd be able to be a rock star and a teacher and an author. She was concerned about whether or not she'd have enough time to dedicate to all three.

-A sister in our ward gives Lucy art lessons a couple times a month. She uses oil paints. She has enjoyed the quiet time with Patty. I was amazed at her beautiful painting of an ocean scene. We framed it and she gave it to Jason when he came home. She has always loved creating things and doing projects. She writes stories for us on our birthdays and illustrates with colorful pictures.

-Lucy loves it when I tickle her back or her arm at church during sacrament meeting or at night when I'm tucking her in. Sometimes I get frustrated with her because I'll be wrestling with Ben or Graham and she'll tap me on the shoulder and lean over to show me she wants me to draw a picture on her back. It's the times at night that I need to take advantage of. I'm in such a hurry to get them to bed so I can relax, but I need to take in the moments that she wants me around and when I can talk to her about what's on her mind.

-I'm so excited for Lucy girl to get baptized this Saturday. She's been looking forward to it for so long. Nearly every fast Sunday, she gets up and bares her testimony and mentions how excited she is to be getting baptized and that she knows how important it is. She turned 8 back in August, but we wanted to wait for her Dad to be able to perform the baptism. Grandma and Grandpa bought her a beautiful white dress for her to wear afterward. Tonight, she and I are going to go shopping for "high heeled" white shoes for her wear with it.

I love my sweet Lucy Jane. I love her funny sense of humor and the way she's so quick to laugh and be crazy.