Snow Days

One morning the air was filled with "sparkles" and Anne went outside to catch them.

Edwin captured them on the camera.

James wanted to join the fun with the family outside.

He hollered at me until he had Anne's boots and hat on.   

The kids used our slope from the backyard to the sidewalk as their sledding location while Edwin shoveled the driveway.

James didn't last long outside, but he sure had fun.

"Big Enough"

I found this entry I didn't post! 

Here are pictures from Grace's Birthday 45 days later!

The morning started off with Grace lying in my bed saying,

"Look how long my five year old arms are!"
"Look how long my five year old legs are!"
"See how big my five year old hands are!"

Yes, Grace turned five and that means her world will change forever. She will start school next year. She is now "big enough" to cross the street by herself. Little does she know that I stand looking through the window and I've called the neighbor who is standing at her door watching as well to make sure Grace is safe crossing the street by herself. But, she is finally "big enough" to do it on her own and it separates her from the little kids.

 

First thing in the morning we went to visit our friend, Pops, and get him some breakfast. Then we decided to come home and get the party room ready for the pinata. Grace was super excited to take cupcakes to Reading Club, but unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute for medical reasons. So a disappointed birthday girl stayed home and painted her pinata. We were able to hang the pinata in the basement this year so everyone stayed warm. Clare and Jacob came from our old apartment complex, and our new neighbors, Loie and Gavin came over as well. The kids busted open the pinata, played with some toys, and then we sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes. It turned out to be a pretty low-key event and we had a great time. Edwin ended up working extra late so the rest of the party seemed to take forever to arrive.



However, we managed to survive the long day and Grace was soon able to open her presents. She only wanted two things....More Barbies and Wood. The Barbie car was an added bonus that she seemed quite pleased with. The wood is being used to make a large Barbie house. Grace drafted some plans with her daddy's help. The Barbie house is in the building stages, but Edwin wants to wait until it is finished before we post pictures. So wait you must.

All in all it was a fine day and Grace loved her tall "stair cake like the one when you get married at your wedding." She is all girl...there's no doubt about it!



Our friends came over the next day to eat birthday cake for breakfast and have a tea party picnic on the floor.  Happy Birthday, Grace!

He's All Pooped Out

Here is my beautiful boy asleep on his bed.  This is a very rare thing these days.  His GI track is all messed up and the doctor saw to it that he received four shots and a finger prick to top it off.  Our days have been something like this....
change diaper
play for 10 minutes
whine for 5 minutes
change diaper again
snuggle for 10 minutes
play for 15 minutes
snack while playing
change diaper again....
on and on it goes all day.

I'm tired.

Decorating

We rolled, baked and painted the salt dough ornaments.

We painted our annual Photo ornaments.

We've paper chained and ribboned the tree.

We are ready for the baking!

Holiday Confusion

The Christmas Dresses Arrived From Grandma Peggy.

We love them for lots of reasons.

 

Have a Spooky Little Christmas! 

We love you all.

Night Shift

Photo by Anne

Anne: Daddy, wake up.
Edwin: I am awake.
Anne: Your mouth is awake. Your eyes not awake.

Dinner Etiquette

Anne took this picture of her sister this week.  Anne is a budding photographer. 

 I'm amazed by how many pictures that kid can frame. 

Grace turned five this week.  We have some pretty good pictures to post another day...when the camera is found. 

The other night at the table we listened to an interesting conversation between sisters.
Grace: Anne when I'm old enough and go to school, will you do me a big favor?
Anne: Yes, Grace.  What is it?
Grace: Will you play with all my toys?  I need you to play with all my new birthday toys.
Anne: (nonchalantly replies) Sure Grace.  I will play with your toys.
Grace: Oh and will you please be a good help for mom and do what she asks?  That will be a good thing to do.
Anne: Okay, Grace.  I can do that when you go to school.

Perpetually Halloween

We enjoyed Halloween this year and we are making plans for next year.

Anne finalized her Halloween plans the day before our party.  In August she wanted to be a Chocolate Milk Maiden.  The first of October she decided she really wanted to be a ballerina.  Two days before the party she didn't know what she wanted to be for Halloween.  The day before the party we sat down and looked at pictures to really try and get an idea of what she wanted to wear.  Her answer....A HORSE!  I said no.  There wasn't time to get a horse costume and we were still recovering from illness.  This mom wasn't about to do a horse costume in a day.  So I asked if she wanted to be a horse rider and she was delighted.   Anne chose pink satin fabric from my stash for the legs, pink poke-a-dot ribbon for the belt and some lace fringe and we were done in no time.  This little cowgirl loves her new pink boots, and the cape was added as the final touch before she rode off to the big party.

Grace knew what she wanted to dress like in August and never deviated from the course.  One hot summer day she was drinking her lemonade and decided to be a lemonade queen.  The blond wig is 36" long and is quite a sight be behold.  Nothing like being a queen for the day.

James is one and lets face it....adorable doesn't count for a Halloween costume.  One night the girls pulled out some random pajamas and the wheels started turning in this mother's head.  Red onesie.  Red sweat pants.  Red sweatshirt. 

 Santa?  Too predictable. 

 The devil?  Not my style. 

 Ketchup?  PERFECT! 

I am now a citizen of the Emerald City.  Since we recently read the Wizard of Oz and learned that everyone had green hair the girls were adamant that I color my hair green.  Quite frankly I think it's becoming a trend and I might just make it a permanent  addition to my life.  Edwin didn't notice the hair color until he looked at the pictures.  How long would it be before he noticed it was a lasting hairstyle?

Sunday evening Edwin had twenty minutes between sleep and work.  He used his precious time helping the kids carve their traditional pumpkin. 

This year we had a Jill-O-Lantern complete with a carved ponytail in back!

Bravo sweetie! 

Since Halloween was Sunday evening we opted out of the traditional "trick-or-treating" activities and stayed home and read scripture stories.  We found several stories where people dressed-up in disguises or were super tricky and had entire cities sneak past some sleeping guards. It was an adventurous scriptural feast.

Overall we enjoyed many Halloween festivities..but the fun just keeps on going.

Arts and crafts gone awry.

We like big hair...

Very Big Hair!

We will be ready for next year...we are making plans!

(Oh, and I did purchase some costumes on sale for next year only to discover that it made me melancholy.  I returned them later the same day.  Costumes just can't come from the store in this house. 

This mom likes to sew!)

Pink Applesauce

I love fall apples.  Apple pies.  Applesauce.  Apple turnovers.  Apple doughnuts. Apple cider.  I really enjoy the fall and I love, LOVE, LOVE the apples.  This year I picked apples from our neighbor's tree.  We made some delicious applesauce for a friend.  Then, Edwin's friend Katie brought us a bushel of apples from her father's orchard.  They were beautiful.  Red.  Worm free. Delicious Jonathons. 

We set up the applesauce station and the kids helped.  This time I cooked the apples with their skins.  We ended up with pink applesauce.

Anne was a great help.

James enjoyed sampling everything.

Grace enjoyed the scenes from a distance.

We have 12 quarts of pink applesauce, and I can't wait to eat it this year and maked more next fall.

Maybe we can go Katie's family orchard and get the apples ourselves.



Something Besides Laundry

We've been ill.  At 2 am while hugging the stainless steel bowl and crying for a drink of water Grace said, "I am not having fun."  Tears in my eyes and bowl in my own lap I replied, "I know sweetie.  No one is having fun."  Within four hours of the first tummy ache complaint, all five of us had the stomach bug.  That was 10 days ago.  We are still recovering. Ironically I am happy to report we have progressed to washing the bedding every couple of days instead of every couple of hours. Laundry is usually a job find enjoyable, but I have come to loathe it lately! 

In the midst of this icky mess, we have had many friends help in various ways.  Meals, groceries, child care, early morning phone calls for help, blessings or errands have all been received well.  We are surviving and I think we are ready to get busy with living life again.  Needless to say I haven't taken many pictures lately but I do have a few things we did prior to our stomach mishaps.

WE HAD VISITORS!!!

They arrived. They ate.  They pulled out the fishing gear!

James tested the poles to make sure they were in tip-top shape.

Edwin, Grandpa, and Richard wanted to go fishing.  They went to the fishing store TWICE before bedtime.  They were out the door first thing in the morning.  Although they planned to do the fishing, they didn't plan on swimming. However, when the canoe tipped the fisherman became the bait!

The girls and James met the boys for lunch.  Edwin successfully paddled us around the lake without tipping us over.

James stayed on the shore and ate the chips, sandwiches, dirt and rocks. He didn't like the canoe for very long.

The kids enjoyed a brief nap on the way home.  Anne is "keeping the sun out".

One day of fishing isn't enough for this grandpa.  Edwin and Grandpa went fishing the next day while Richard was scouting out the law school here.  They caught a few catfish and a white bass.  We all ate well that night, a little too well.

The next day we took another trip.

You can't come visit us without a drive to Nauvoo.  The kids and Grandma and I went to the Family Living Center to ride the sheep and bake bread while Edwin, Grandpa and Richard and Jess attended the temple.

We enjoyed a carriage ride in the countryside in the afternoon.

We also made it Carthage.

I love this shot of Grandpa.  He scouted a building project and couldn't  resist touching the lumber and reading the building specifications.  Here is a man who is passionate about his job.

Aunt Jessica

This is one of the women my daughters admire, and a woman I am happy to have as a role model for my girls.  We love you Jess!  Good luck with your new bundle!

September In Review

A Day at the Zoo

Our friends, Clare and Jacob took us to the zoo. 

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Fall Harvest

I'd like to say we had a bountiful harvest, but alas, some little critters got to the garden before I did.

Good thing these little critters are cute!

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Birthdays at Home

Sweet little James turned 1! 

Somewhere between the day trip to the temple and the General Relief Society Broadcast Edwin managed to make a cake and put together a party.

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Dress-ups

Grace is a good mommy and strapped her baby on tight before giving her a drink of water.

Nothing like mom's old toe shoes to make Anne feel so grown up.



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Family Chores

The girls have started to be a big help with cleaning the house.  James tries to help too, but Grace and Anne don't appreciate his help.

The girls clean the bathroom, wash the windows, scrub the floors, set the table and occassionally wash and dry the dishes.  The thing about little girls doing the chores is that they love to pretend they are Cinderella and sing, "I am Cinderella.  I am Cinderella." while doing their chores. 

Alas, they are children.  

We are parents.  

Thus, chore time is not always a singing experience.

This concludes our

SEPTEMBER IN REVIEW!