It's Christmas here, people

I love this time of year. Joey and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday....actually we haven't really celebrated yet. We'll be doing that after Christmas. I had a Christmas piano recital here last weekend and the kids made graham cracker houses afterwards. It was a fun night with friends. The kids got a little crazy and practically poured candy all over their houses. They figured that the more they put on, the more they could munch and pick at later. I feel ready for Christmas. The presents are wrapped, we're putting together a little program for Christmas Eve, and Grandma and Grandpa will be arriving tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

You better watch out...

Sammie was the only one brave enough to sit on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party. Or maybe she thought that it was the only way to actually get the candy cane. She may not have realized that you will get one whether you sit on Santa's lap or not. But she was first in line and probably felt that she had no choice. I think Olivia thought she was too old and Abby was not happy about it. Santa tried really hard to be a part of the picture with the girls as he leaned over. Abby was very cautious and kept stepping away. The girls are excited for Christmas though. This is the first year that we will be in our own home for Christmas morning. I'm so excited too. I can definitely feel the Christmas magic this year. Santa gets to come to our house.

Abby. She likes to read.

I caught Abby "reading" the other day. She does this all the time. She picks up books and jabbers, makes things up, and sometimes says some of the words she remembers from the pages. She has such a cute inflection in her voice and expressions on her face. She takes her reading very seriously. I especially love when she reads Frog and Toad.
"And fwog says, Wake up Toad! And then it is spwing time. Toad says it's not my button." Those books were a family favorite when I was growing up.
Abby can carry on a conversation non-stop. She always has something to say. She can even have a pretend conversation on a play phone for 20 minutes with herself. She's good company I must say.

It's December

December 1st. Sammie has yet, another fun dress-up day at school. Today is Cowboy Day. She had her outfit panned for a week. Olivia got a new pair of shoes because she was complaining of hers being worn out. The ones that were brand new on the first day of school? Yep. A hole in the botton already. How do shoes wear out so fast? With Sammie motivated by Cowboy Day and Olivia by new shoes, the girls were not only up before my alarm went off, but they had breakfast, brushed their teeth, fixed their hair, got dressed, and packed up their backpacks before my alarm had ever even gone off.

Then at exactly 6:59 they were in the backyard dribbling basketballs.

At 7:10 they were crying about being bored.

Then they got the markers out and time slipped by and we had to run to catch the bus.

I'm loving the cooler weather now. I'm loving my kids. Loving my husband. Most of my Christmas shopping is done. I'm not trying to brag about it. It's just a fact and I love online shopping. As far as my health...I've been slowly improving. I can't even tell a difference in the day to day. But I notice that I'm doing more now than I was 3 months ago. My strength is slowly coming back. Ever so slowly. I have good days and bad. My doctor is saying that I have a "Fibromyalgia probably caused by an illness which may have possibly been Valley Fever (A fungal infection)" How's that for a diagnosis? I still feel confident that I will get better and life goes on.

November...in a nutshell

Is it really already almost Thanksgiving?! I have taken practically no pictures this month. The days have just seemed to unknowlingly slip together and then the month is nearly over. Joey celebrated his birthday this month and we chowed down on his favorite cake, yellow with chocolate frosting. He turned 33. I can't believe how old we're getting. The girls have had the sniffles ever since it started to get cold and our nights have been filled with bouts of coughing. Last weekend Olivia reminded me that her school project was due on Monday (yesterday). I hadn't even thought about it and it's been sitting around for 2 weeks at home. Good thing she reminded me on Friday night and not on Sunday night. She made a newspaper doll at school and we had to turn it into a pilgrim. I have to admit, I did most of the project. I just wanted to get it done. I did make her stay in the room with me and she helped hold things and she drew the face on. She's been doing well and reading up a storm. I love that she even reads while she is walking home from the bus stop.Sammie was "Student of the Month." She was so proud of herself. She will not smile at school. That's how serious she is. Her kindergarten photo is a sad sight. It's funny because she is NOT like that at home. She's completely crazy and up and down with emotions. She holds it in all day and lets it all out at home. She loves school and works hard at her reading words. She's been getting a new list of words every week. Sammie is a thinker and her little wheels are always turning in her head.
Abby has been a crack up. Can you believe that she can draw now? This is one of her first drawings that resembled a person. She has since drawn many others. She just gets paper herself and sits at the table and draws person after person...just like a big girl. I have to often remind myself that she is just barely 2 1/2. This morning she was in bed talking to her bunny. I asked her if she wanted to get up and she said, "No. I'm just telling my bunny about a sea lion and goldfish." I said, "Um, okay. And left the room," wondering what that was all about. So that's pretty much November. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with family and relaxing a little from the daily schedule. I am grateful...for pretty much everything.

Sammie the soccer player

Sammie's last soccer game was on Saturday and then it finally felt like fall. We had such a warm October, but the girls were happily bundled up for school today and my heater has even been on in the mornings. My brother Nate took these photos of Sammie when they were visiting for Olivia's baptism. She is very serious on the soccer field. She's quite an aggressive little thing and it's been fun going to her games and watching her play. I think Joey will be happy to have his Saturdays a little more free. Here's our little soccer player.

The Belle of Halloween

The girls had a great time trick-or-treating. Abby was complaining of her leg hurting. Turns out the safety pin on her tutu was poking her in the leg. They are filled with sugar, but are sleeping now. This was such a busy October. I can't believe that the holiday season is here. Sometimes I just wish that everything could stay just how it is. That no one would ever grow up...but I guess I always feel that way and they still grow and I still enjoy each phase of life. So Happy Halloween...till next year when everyone will be a year older and I'll wonder where the year went.

A Funky Vampire

The "Pink" Fairy

Abby specifically refers to her costume as a "pink fairy."

Halloween

We went to the Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday night at church. The girls were so excited. Sammie was easy this year because she wanted to wear her Belle costume from dance. Abby wanted to be a fairy. I just went through the dress-ups. Olivia must be growing up. She wanted to be something scary this year and vampire it is! We came up with a "funky vampire" costume. So it was scary, but not too scary :) Happy Halloween!

American Pop

The 3rd Graders do an "American Pop" performance each year. Olivia's dance number had to wear country clothes. She would start singing all these songs at home and I would turn and ask, "Where did you learn that?" They performed songs from the 1950s to present day. There was the Beatles, Elvis, Stayin' Alive, Cyndi Lauper, Back Street Boys...all the way to today. They learned tons of songs and there were dancers for each number. So entertaining.

(Olivia and her friend Mary before the performance).

Abby gettin' some air

Pajama Day

Friday was pajama Day for the kindergarteners. Sammie knew just what nightgown she wanted to wear. The red one. We got this nightgown as a hand-me-down from a friend who also has girls. Olivia loved it and wore it all the time. Sammie was so excited a few months ago when Olivia passed it on to her. It also has a dainty matching red robe that goes with it. This nightgown is well-loved and is also worn as a dress-up. For some reason they feel so elegant when they are wearing it. I loved how Sammie woke up early. Before 6 o'clock. If Daddy is still home, you know that it's early. When I got up at 6:45, she was already dressed in her nightgown, had eaten breakfast, brushed her hair and teeth and packed up her backpack. I'm telling you. This nightgown is magic. She was spinning around in the morning so excited for pajama day and was still excited about it when she got off the bus. She skipped all the way home.

"Take-uh pitchur a me, mawm!"

And this is what we got. Abby insists on being a part of everything that goes on in our home. I was taking a couple of pictures of Olivia before we left for her baptism and Abby wasn't shy about her request to have a photo snapped of her as well. She ran right to this spot and looked at me. Held still for 2 seconds and then was satisfied. She just wants to let us know that she's there.

And the winner is....

Oh, the baker in me is so proud. A couple of days ago Olivia came home from school and announced that she wanted to enter the cake decorating contest at school. I had already thrown the rules out the previous week thinking that we wouldn't have time and that neither of the girls would be that interested. Since it was all her own idea, I felt that we should make it happen. I emailed her teacher and asked her for the rules. She did most of the work herself (which was one of the rules). I love it when my kids get their own ideas and I really have nothing to do with it and then they succeed. Her cute spider cupcakes won for the 3rd grade. It took almost 2 hours for her to decorate them and my kitchen was a mess with chocolate sprinkles. Well worth the effort.

Apple Days

October seems to be filled with endless events. It seems like everyday I get a note from the school asking us to bring in something for some fun thing they are doing. Pumpkin carving kits, t-shirts to paint, cowgirl outfit, bags of candy, 3 apples of different colors, cake contest, pajama day. Seriously, nearly every day.
The kindergarteners put on a "Apple Days" performance for the parents. They sang cute apple rhymes with their apple painted t-shirts that they had made. Then we were invited to sit with our little kindergarteners and enjoy apple snacks and treats. It was fun to be at school with Sammie and Abby was thrilled to finally be able to go somewhere at the school. (She is still begging to go.)

Baptism Day

Yesterday was a special day. This little sweetheart was baptized.

It was a great day. I remembered back to my own baptism. I wrote in my journal that day some of my feelings. I jotted down that I was baptized and got the gift of the Holy Ghost and that my family came over for lunch. Then at the very end of my entry I wrote,

"Someday I will see my kids get baptized. They will be happy like I was. And today I know what is right and someday my kids will know what is right. And I love my family and they love me."

When I was little, I always looked forward to being a mom. And I looked forward to experiencing the important moments of my children's lives with them. It was a tender feeling yesterday seeing how happy Olivia was as she made the choice to be baptized. As she was sitting so sweetly in her seat waiting to be confirmed, surrounded by my brothers, my husband, my father-in-law, my dad, and bishop, my thoughts went to those lines of my journal entry I had written so many years ago. I felt such peace knowing that our Heavenly Father knows us. Each one of us. We are His. I felt so happy and so blessed. The family is truly a divine unit. I am so happy for Olivia. She is an amazing little girl.