Duck, Duck, Goose - Richards Style

Time Out for Mommy

I thought I should also mention my "break" that I got last Saturday. I think Mike felt good during Elder Ballard's talk that he gave during the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. In response to the question "What more can a husband do to support his wife, the mother of their children?" Elder Ballard said to , "...give your wife a “day away” now and then. Just take over the household and give your wife a break from her daily responsibilities. Taking over for a while will greatly enhance your appreciation of what your wife does." (To read the whole talk "Daughters of God" by Elder M. Russell Ballard click here) Mike felt good because he knew that the following Friday and Saturday I would be getting a day away.

Last Friday I drove to OKC and met my family at Jenny's last soccer game of the season. Then we went to dinner and my Mom and I stayed over night in a hotel so that we could get up on Saturday morning and go to Time Out for Women. This was the first night that Mike has ever been completely alone with any of the kids overnight. He thought I would be worried about the kids or about him, but I wasn't. I had complete confidence that they would survive just fine. It was an enjoyable day. My sister-in-law Emily was also there and it was nice to visit with her. The speakers were good and it's always nice to get some validation that you aren't the only one dealing with the joys and challenges of life. So thanks Mom for going with me. And thanks Gary and Kathy for buying my tickets. And most of all thanks to Mike for being so righteous that you were obeying the counsel of the brethren before they even gave it!

Mullet be Gone!

The time had finally come for Sabrina to get her hair trimmed. It was starting to look a little too mulletish (if it wasn't a word before, it is now). The poor girl still doesn't have much hair so I felt bad cutting any of it, but I think it turned out ok. We'll just make sure she always has a barrette or bow in until it grows out a little more so there won't be any gender confusion.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Flipped out

Turned under

The back. This picture cracks me up because it makes it look like she has a LOT more hair than she actually does. Must've been the angle.

Visitors

Last week my Grandma Stevens (my mom's mom) came out for a visit. On Friday she and my mom came down to our house to hang out with us for a little bit before they went to OKC. It was fun to visit with them. We tried to explain to the kids that Grandma Stevens is Grandma Stacey's mommy and that blew their minds.

Grandma with the kiddos

4 Generations - this is the first 4 generations picture we have taken. I am the oldest granddaughter on my mom's side of the family and Grace is the oldest granddaughter in my family

On Monday we went to Bartlesville. I know, I know, you can't believe it, we never go to Bartlesville. NOT! Anyways, so we went to Bartlesville to see Grandma Stevens again and also because Aunt Emily was in town. I have to apologize profusely because I did get my camera out while we were there but I didn't get any pictures of Aunt Emily! I'm still kicking myself. We had a very nice visit with Aunt Emily. We missed Uncle John of course, but it looks like he is having lots of fun in China. We are getting really excited for everyone to be together at Chelsea's wedding which is now less than 2 months away. We love you Grandma Stevens and Aunt Emily!

Hannah Montana

I'm sure you are thinking "your kids are too little for Hannah Montana" and you are right, they are. However, yesterday while we were in Bartlesville (see previous post) we somehow acquired a small toy guitar that plays a Hannah Montana song when you push the buttons on it. Grace had it in the car on the way home and I think she pushed the button more than 50 times as we were driving back. At some point during the drive I realized that she was trying to sing the song she was playing over and over and over and over. So when we got home I caught her on tape. I don't know why I think this is so hilarious, it must be a mom thing.


This morning when Grace found the guitar again, I was saying something to Mike about Hannah Montana and Benson looked at me and said "Sawyer loves Hannah Montana. He watches every episode." Sawyer is my 14 year old (boy) cousin. Which just proves that Benson does listen to and remember everything that people say around him.

Sweet 16!!

Yesterday was my sister Sarah's 16th birthday. She is the baby of the family and it is really hard for me to believe that she is 16. I remember the day she was born better than when any of my other sibling's were born, obviously because I was older at that point. I woke up that morning and my parent's were gone and just as I was asking my Grandma Stevens if they had gone to the hospital my parents called to tell us that she had been born. I remember being so excited to tell everyone at school that I had a new little sister! When she came home from the hospital I remember racing my brothers home because each of us wanted to be the first to hold her. Pardon my walk down memory lane.
So anyways, the kids and I headed up to Bartlesville again for the occasion. I could probably drive there in my sleep at this point, but it gives the kids and I something to do and we always have fun. We went to Monterey's for dinner with my family and my Aunt Julie and her family to celebrate. Benson was less than perfect at dinner and I was really wishing that Mike was there to enjoy the fun, but we survived. Then we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's and had a cookie cake. We love Aunt Sarah very much and we are so glad we are close enough to help her celebrate this special day! We know she is counting down the days until she gets her driver's license so she can drive down here to baby-sit. :) (J/K!)

There's nothing like wearing a big sombrero while strangers sing a Mexicanized version of Happy Birthday to make you feel special

Aunt Sarah let Benson help her blow out her candles. I obviously took this picture a little too late, but I love that I caught Grace's cheering. That girl has so much enthusiasm! The other handsome boy in the picture is my cousin Jackson.

Sabrina was a big fan of the frosting

And here's Sarah's present, which is also my latest Photoshop project.

We love you Aunt Sarah!

Daddy's Kid Tricks

Here's a video of what Mike and the kids did for entertainment after church today.

Princess Sabrina the Talented

Sabrina does not want to be left out of anything. Since Grace has to be in dress up clothes all day every day, now so does Sabrina. However, Grace is usually content with 1 dress, 1 hat, and 1 pair of shoes and Sabrina is not. Here is a picture of her from yesterday.

I cut her off at 1 dress, 1 top, 1 skirt, 3 hats, and 1 shoe (I couldn't find the other one). She would put on the whole box of dress up clothes if I would let her. While she was done up in all her Princess glory, I got some video of her latest skills.

Not sure what happened with the chicken there, it was surprisingly similar to the fish. Silly girl.

Bruin Soccer

Friday night was the last home Bartlesville High School soccer game, so of course we had to go. We've been pretty loyal fans this season, much to the chagrin of the other loyal fans I'm sure. Mike actually came with us to this game, which made it much easier and more enjoyable for me. It has been quite cold so we had to bundle up, but we still had lots of fun and they won so that made it even better!

Sabrina enjoying the game from Daddy's lap

No soccer game would be complete without Grandma getting some m&ms for Benson
Benson was in rare form at the game. We stayed for the first half of the boys game and Benson was sitting in the middle of all the soccer girls putting on a show. They would tell him a letter and he would name an animal that starts with that letter. He sang the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song about 20 times and he was saying various words in Spanish. They all thought he was brilliant and hilarious and he couldn't have been happier with such a captive audience.

Grace giving Aunt Jenny a kiss for doing such a good job

Playing Nicely and Dirty Looks

Yesterday afternoon Mike was mowing the lawn and I was trying to get my usual Saturday cleaning done so that left the kids to entertain themselves for a little while. Benson and Grace started wrestling and I was checking on them a lot because it was definitely walking the fine line between having fun and somebody getting hurt. I never did have to put a stop to it because of injury so eventually they just quit on their own. It was quiet for a while and when I checked on them they were both sitting on the rocking chair. Grace was playing with Benson's hair and his face and he was letting her. That is very unusual. And it went on for quite a while. When I came out again I heard Grace calling Benson her "baby", and he was totally going along with it. It was pretty cute. It was like they were taking turns doing what the other one wanted to do - first wrestling for Benson and then pretending for Grace. Then Grace tried to pick Benson up and carry him and that was the end of playing nicely, but it sure made it easier for me to get some things done.

Grace giving her "baby" kisses

Grace patting her "baby" on the back

I've been trying to get a good picture of Sabrina giving her "look", and I got a pretty good one today. If looks could kill, then everyone Sabrina knows would be dead. The girl gives the dirtiest looks to everyone...friends, family, complete strangers. It reminds me so much of a face my sister Kathleen used to make when she was little. Anyways, Sabrina only gives us the "look" when she's mad, but she gives it to strangers ALL the time. She is not a fan of attention from anyone that she doesn't know. She is definitely our slow to warm up child.

The picture looks posed, but it wasn't...she was too mad to cooperate like that

Kathleen's "look"
Don't you think they look alike?

Manly Man

This week marked a major event in Mike's progression toward true manhood...he purchased his first lawn mower. I think this is the first major purchase we have ever made that I did not participate in at all. He had a budget, did his research, and bought it all by himself. And then yesterday he got to use it to mow down the ridiculously long weeds that have taken over the lawn. Actually calling it a lawn is probably too generous in this case, technically it should be called the sod in the yard that was put down so late in the year that it hasn't grown in yet. And of course I had to take a picture.

Doesn't he look more manly? I think so.

Aunt Jessica and Uncle Mike updated

Mike and I have been anxiously awaiting the time when we would officially be an aunt and uncle and I suppose as a reward to us for waiting so long (ha!) we will have 3 new neices or nephews this fall. Paul and Molly will have twins in September and Kathleen and Bryce's new addition is expected in October! Our kids have been the only grandkids, but by the end of the year the number of grandkids on my side will have doubled! We are so excited for the addition of neices/nephews and cousins to our extended family!

Life goes on

It has been one of those weeks at our house where you just have to take everything one day at a time. I don't really have much to say, so here are some pictures of what's been going on at our house lately.

It was too funny not to take a picture. Grace is a girl of MANY accessories. She drives her Daddy crazy because she is always carrying around a pile of stuff and then she inevitably drops something and when she tries to pick it up she drops something else, etc, etc. Each morning she picks out her "stuff" for the day and tries to take it all with her everywhere she goes.

Friday Movie Night complete with popcorn

Daddy tried to get Grace dressed one day and she was not happy with any of his choices, so he eventually left her in her room undressed. She came out looking like this.

This ride almost killed the horsey.

We made brownie cupcakes with Reese's peanut butter cups in the middle. The kids really liked unwrapping the Reese's and putting them in the cupcakes, but their favorite part was licking the bowl at the end.

On Monday we had some crazy weather. That really isn't news in Oklahoma, but the kids were very interested in the hail and all the rain.


We think this may be Sabrina's new coping mechanism (the spinning part, not the being attacked by Grace part).