When Babetta Kathryn Kelly joined our family, 21 years ago today, I composed a song for her.
It is a whop-dinger of a song, if I do say so myself.
It goes like this:
“Babetta! Babetta! Her name rings through my heart! Babetta! Babetta! I loved her from the start. She’ll always be in my heart!”
I fully accept that it is a lame song. But cut me some slack, I was 11 years old and I never claimed to be Cole Porter. I was IN LOVE and my 11 year old heart had to do something to express all the love I was feeling for this beautiful read-headed wonder of a baby. So I plonked myself down on our out of tune piano, purchased at a bargain from the Westchester Ward, and composed the above ditty.
Babetta LOVES this song. And she really loves it when I sing it to her while we are in a public place with lots of people around. She can’t wait for me to sing it at her wedding. (I practice it in the shower to this day, so that I’ll be ready, Bette!)
Babetta has always been stunning. She was born stunning and has remained stunning. The famous story we tell in our family about baby Betta is that once, my mom was carrying her down a New York City street and a woman passed by and let out a YELP! She thought that the babe in my mom’s arms was a doll and so when Bette moved it really startled her!
Oh, no! Not “a Leonardo smiling at things beyond our ken”, but flesh and blood. And my sister to boot!
That beautiful babe in arms grew to be a beautiful woman of substance and goodness.
Babetta is smart, self-disciplined, hard working, kind, funny, interesting, she has a heart of gold with a testimony that burns bright and true.
The great irony of that silly song I wrote her is that she has, in the last few years, become a songwriter herself! And her songs are actually GOOD! I love her music. I wish you could hear her sing some of them right now. Her voice is willowy and her lyrics are like her – deep, mysterious, light-hearted, fun – and they are so cool.
WHY?
I think it must have something to do with the fact that Bette is cool. You know how some people are just born with “it”. I think Bette was. She knows her mind and she follows her gut. Betta is part of what we lovingly refer to in our family as the “caboose” – Mom had the first six kids, took a five year break, and then had three more. Babetta was no. 7 in our family line-up, or in other words, the start of the caboose. Because I was 11 years old when she was born I was old enough to remember her arrival and I have been able to watch her grow up. I mention this only to give myself a little credibility when I claim to really know something about her.
(Bette with Professor Russell who hearts her)
She is a person who is beloved by all the adults who know her (especially the dads!) She has dads left and right offering their sons to her as prospective husbands, but she isn’t only loved by the adults and she also has the respect and admiration of her peers.
She has an incredible sense of style. Not to brag, but I think she gets it from me. I have been dressing her FOR YEARS! Kidding, kidding! (Bette, what was I thinking when I put you in that black lace shawl?!?!) In all seriousness, she was voted most stylish in her singles ward. It helps that she has got a bod to die for. Everything looks awesome on her tiny frame. When I was in UT visiting my family I was at the mall (what? Liza, at the mall?!) I passed a store front and the mannequins seemed oddly familiar, they reminded me of someone. It took me a minute to figure out why a bunch of mannequins would be so endearing and then it hit me – BETTE! I’d been hanging out with my sister and her bod is just like one of those mannequins!! Yup, she is pretty dang cute.
She is studying film and is a superstar in the program. Her teachers just love her. Must have something to do with the fact that she is 100% dependable, super responsible and hardworking. Mom says whenever she goes to the HFAC and mentions that Bette is her daughter all the faculty go gooey and start to sing Bette’s praises.
She is also athletic. She even won the BYU whiffle ball home run derby this year. She is always beating the rest of us when we have our own whiffle ball derbies at the Kelly homestead – but to see her blow away all the other BYU co-eds was pretty sweet!
She is something of a perfectionist. She doesn’t want to screw up, ever. This makes her a very careful at times. She is also a little shy. When you watch a person grow from baby- to toddler – to child – to teenager – to adult, you get a sense of the whole person, ya know? Bette was such a confident, no nonsense little girl — in high school I watched as she became a lot more cautious and aware of herself, as we all do at that age. The world always tries its very hardest to beat the little child out of all of us. But I’ve noticed that, of late, some of that little spit fire of a red-head girl is coming back, taking the reins and calling the shots.
Me likes! In fact, me loves!
I think she was meant to reign supreme. That little “red-headed Indian girl” rascal and the beautiful grown-up woman – is an awesome combo, wouldn’t you agree, dear sister?
Lovely, kind, good, intelligent, creative, fun, and a wee bit outrageous.
Something in the air? The water? I don’t know for sure the reason. But one thing IS certain,
FRIDAY = LOOKING AWESOME!
Recall if you will the last time I posted about one of Millie’s outfits. She wore that on a Friday.
She always seems to look her very cutest on a Friday.
About three Fridays past she wore this number:
Close up of those socks:
The very socks she told me she did not want to wear, but somehow I convinced her they were the bees’ knees. Later that day as we were walking home we passed a few hip college aged girls who made special mention of THE SOCKS! Millie beamed with pride. A little fashionista in the making, I tell ya.
Last Friday she sported this sweet “get-up”:
But I feel pretty convinced that this Friday’s outfit takes the cake:
She is not the first, nor will she be the last little girl who will parade through the darkening streets at Halloween , as Dorothy Gale, but she is MY Dorothy and so, as you can imagine, I am smitten.
Last night as I was gathering her costume together I thought about Adrian Adolph Greenburg, the designer responsible for this costume that has become iconic. It really is a great design. I wanted to thank him for his design and especially for those ruby slippers. (And I want to thank Target for mass producing them, and only charging $10 for them!)
Once we were in the grocery store and Millie was wearing her sparkly red Dorothy shoes (these are actually her second pair, she’s out-grown the first) the lady behind us in line said, “OH! THOSE SHOES! I always wanted a pair of those shoes!” I’d wanted them too. Target didn’t exist when she and I were little girls.
So wear them for yourself and all the other little girls who always wanted a pair!
Now that the weather is starting to turn chilly – I pulled down the creaky ladder that leads to our attic, made my way passed all of our nick-knacks and paddy-whacks, back toward the bins that hold all of our warm stuff and pulled out some of our winter woolens.
Here we have Millie in her hat and gloves –
And here is Clara in Millie’s old coat and hat.
The hat is particularly special.
When it is worn high on the head it makes Clara look like the pope. But when it is pulled down tight over her little noggin she looks like a 1930’s American football player.
What do you do in the Autumn time when you just finished the primary program?
Give your daughter some tea?
Bake heart-shape cakes that are teeny-tiny ?
Take 200 photos of your friend’s family?
Is that what you do?
SO DO I!
Before going up to the stand on Sunday to join my little motley crew, I sat with the Sunbeams in the first two rows of the chapel. One of the Sunbeams, my daughter Millie, was starting to get stage fright. So, the bribing began.
In our best whisper church voices this more or less transpired –
Mom: Millie, I can’t hold you when we get up to the stand. You are going to have to be brave.
Millie: [Whimper, whimper].
Millie: If you can do this, when we get home I will give you my undivided attention and we can do whatever you like.
Millie: Can we make chocolate cake and have a tea party?
Mom: Yes, ONLY if you are brave, say your part and DO NOT cling to me.
Millie: [ Whimper, whimper]…I think I can.
Mom: I KNOW you can!
She did it. And so, when we got home we had a tea party – which was very well sign posted!
After lunch and “tea” Jan went off to home teach and I threw the girls into the car and met our friends to snap a few family photos and capture their general cuteness. I did a few practice shots with Mills. This is one of my faves. (The ISO was too high, but still – that little face of hers is just so SWEET!)
So, with Clara more or less strapped to me,
I took the following photos of one of the worlds MOST ADORABLE families:
Just look at the mug on this kid!
Love them stripes!
Addie didn’t sit much during our photo shoot, but Jan managed to snap this at the very end of our session when she was worn out.
Here we have the mommy Tanelle and little man Carson series –
(I ask you, is this woman not DARLING?!)
Ben tossing Addie sky high
Nathan doing what Nathan does best… be 100% B O Y!
Jan showed up for the last 30 minutes and took some brilliant shots, like this one right here (above).
When we got home, we put the girls to bed then I worked on my heart shaped cup cakes. I realized that if I cut off the “muffin top” flipped them upside down and THEN frosted them you could really make out the heart shape. So I did this, wrapped them up and took them over to say “thank you” to a family in our ward who sang a solo at the end of our primary program.
On Friday, October 23, the Dawson, Bench and Rich children took over
POTTERY BARN KIDS
(and yes, there were a few hostile moments)
But mostly it was just insane
wild
&
fun
Tea for two
Jack rock’n out! Millie and Hudson battle it out!
The boys “fuss” it up.
Lucy sports different head gear:
(including, “Thanksgiving Lulu”, “Christmas Lulu” and “Pirate Girl Lulu”)
Clara takes herself and babies for a walk.
More headgear, only much less happy about it.
Hudson living L A R G E! (Don’t you want to say, “scoot over, man! and make some room for me!)
To top it off, Lucy brought out her Halloween teeth, just for the occasion. Can you believe this little baby’s teeth are growing in just in time for Halloween. Check out the placement. So fitting. This child is not to be outdone, I tell ya!
Today as I walked Millie to school I recognized something –
since being called to be the primary president I have turned into an A1 grump.
The reason is three fold:
1. I am the mother of two small children and when I add another 5o children to the mix all of the sudden, I feel totally out of my depth, actually I felt out of my depth when it was just two small children so I guess that I am drowning at this point
2. I have felt under spiritual attack – (Dear Satan, you stink! Please go bother someone else.)
3. The harder you work, the more vulnerable you become to the callousness of others
Whatever the reasons – I want to toss them off! BE GONE, GRUMPY LIZA! This is an official invitation to GO. As in out the door, never to return.
Tonight as Millie lay next to me in bed (Jan is out of town and so Millie always sleeps in his spot when he is gone) I was reading to her from the scriptures. We read her a scripture every night and I am pretty sure she listens, but it is in a half-hearted way. I was trying to convey to her what the Savior has done for us. And that if we repent, are baptized, follow Jesus the result is – YOU GET EVERYTHING HE HAS! These concepts are pretty major for a four year old (they are pretty major for a 33 year old) and then I said to her, “Millie if we didn’t have Jesus than when the day comes that you or I die – that would be it. We couldn’t be together.” The look on her face was one of total and utter disbelief. She heard that. And I felt the truth of it as I said it to her.
Later in the evening I was blog hopping. I learned that a woman I know is going to have her sixth child, I looked at photos of a beloved friend’s newly decorated home and we exchanged emails (I love you, Zi!), I looked at my cousins food blog and wished that she was still East Side and that I could drive to her house with a fork in my purse, ring the bell, sit down in her kitchen and TUCK IN to whatever she was making, I jumped over to another cousins blog and read about her futile attempts to buy a mattress for her pack and play – boy did she get the run around! I looked at a blog where a woman had moved to France for three months and renovated a house, I then jumped over to a blog of a mother of three little kids who is a very gifted photographer – and on her blog was a photo of her sister-in-law dressed in black, at her mother’s funeral. The photograph was so moving – apparently this woman’s mother died suddenly and unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm. This mommy had been called home and here was her beautiful daughter, in tears, placing a rose on her mother’s coffin. I thought of my own mother. Of how much she means to me. I thought of Millie who I’d just been trying to teach about moments like the one this girl was suffering though. I wept for this beautiful girl in the photo. I may not know her – but in a way I am her, we are all her.
All these people: Their lives. Their news. Their dreams. Their efforts. Their contributions. Their daily struggles. Their victories. Their pain.
As I jumped from blog to blog I felt the same way I do when I drive through Manhattan and watch the throngs of people streaming past me. HUMANITY! IS! REMARKABLE!
At the center of it all, is Jesus Christ.
Then I went upstairs and read my scriptures. I read about Christ’s betrayal, his trial and crucifixion. Certain moments really stood out to me as I read. When the soldiers showed up to arrest Jesus, I so touched by how quickly Jesus identified himself and made sure that his friends didn’t get hurt, he says, “I am the one you are looking for please let these men go.” Another moment that just got me was when he was taken to the high priests and they are so rude to him and then one of them has the audacity to hit him in the face. How could they have done that to him? I don’t know why it hurt me so deeply, but it did. Perhaps it is because although I may have never physically slapped Him, I know that in another way I am guilty of taking him for granted every day. His love, patience and kindness I cannot live without and YET I forget! The other moment that really stood out to me was when he talked to Mary at the tomb as a resurrected, triumphant being. He tells her not to touch him because he hasn’t ascended to his father and her father. His God and her God. As our savior, he invites us into the most intimate and glorious relationship in the universe. He lived perfectly. He never once let his father down. So that relationship – the one he shares with his Father, becomes one that he willingly shares with us. Christ’s love and atonement make a bridge for you and me to our Father. We couldn’t have it without him.
I can’t believe that he did this for us. But I am so grateful that he did.
As I read through these verses Millie reached out for me, in her sleep, and I could hear my little Clara coughing in her room. After I said my prayers I looked up and the first thing I saw was this –
My daughter. She looked so beautiful to me. Lit by the bedside lamp she seemed to be glowing. (Maybe it wasn’t just the lamp light, could a few celestial rays have made their way to my little bed room?) This little person, who I call M I N E, is only mine because of Jesus Christ. I felt this in such a profound way.
I just wanted to thank Him, publicly for what he has given me – everything – and for what he has promised me if I just keep at it – everything and more. I want the world to know that I have signed up with him, to fight for his cause, to do his work as best I can.
I love him.
Clara just started crying (by golly, so am I).
So I guess this is the end of this post.
And the beginning of a HAPPIER me.
(P.S. To everyone who has had to endured the A1 grump, I am sorry.)
On Wednesday, for fun, Millie and I decided to make candied apples.
Can you tell which apple was made by the mom and which one by the four year old?
I left the room briefly whilst Millie was working on her apple, when I came back she was covered in sweet stickiness.
Then I wrapped up the apple I’d made to take to a friend.
In the midst of all of this the door bell rang.
And there sitting on the porch was a special bag of Halloween goodies for Millie from her pal, Hudson.
What JOY!
And what a stash, I might add – thanks, Hudson or should I say, Hudson’s mama!
Millie was so excited she asked if she could take her new plate and cup and play in the bathroom sink. I relented seeing as there was a fair amount of stickiness on Millie and on the kitchen that needed to be dealt with.
About 20 minutes later I heard Millie SCREAMING that she needed help “getting out.”
Getting out of what? I thought.
Apparently, this is Millie’s idea of playing in the sink:
My friends, if I’m not laughing, I am crying – and I can’t lie – I’ve shed a few tears this week.
My poor brother-in-law has his paw paws all bandaged up.
WHY?
Because he had to have his carpals and tunnels worked on, that’s why.
Oh, Benny-boy, we here in Madison, NJ are thinking of you every day and wishing you a speedy recovery. We wish we lived closer so that we could drop dinner by, or I could bring your nieces over and they could drive you nuts, or Jan could sit on your sofa and talk politics, movies, current events, church stuff – whatever you like.
I heard from that cute wife of yours that you were needing a bit of a break, but I guess lounging around for over a week really isn’t that cool if you can’t use your hands.
(I just love it when Charlotte Bronte addresses her readers as, “dear reader” and I have always wanted to do the same!)
I have made a little house keeping change on my blog. Unless you are my parent, sibling, husband or child I have moved your the birthday tribute to another spot. If you look to your right, on the side bar you’ll see a link to where you can find them now.
These birthday tributes tend to be on the longer side (for good reason!) and so I thought I would stash them in a new location.
Thanks for being a dear, dear reader.
If you carry on having birthdays then I will carry on gushing…just in a slightly different place.
just when everyone is getting sick of it and giving up their blogs, guess who is getting on the blogging bandwagon...me! That is about the time I catch on to whatever is trendy and cool, long after it is trendy and cool. At the very least I hope to amuse my sisters and my mom. I know how to pick an audience, don't I? I am not entirely sure if there will even be a theme but if you stay tuned perhaps we'll figure it out together. oxox Lize
When Babetta Kathryn Kelly joined our family, 21 years ago today, I composed a song for her.
gold with a testimony that burns bright and true.
(Bette with Professor Russell who hearts her)
She is also athletic. She even won the BYU whiffle ball home run derby this year. She is always beating the rest of us when we have our own whiffle ball derbies at the Kelly homestead – but to see her blow away all the other BYU co-eds was pretty sweet!
She is also a little shy. When you watch a person grow from baby- to toddler – to child – to teenager – to adult, you get a sense of the whole person, ya know? Bette was such a confident, no nonsense little girl — in high school I watched as she became a lot more cautious and aware of herself, as we all do at that age. The world always tries its very hardest to beat the little child out of all of us. But I’ve noticed that, of late, some of that little spit fire of a red-head girl is coming back, taking the reins and calling the shots.
