Silly Children

Conversation between Benson and Grace, overheard by Mike
Grace: I be a princess when I grow up.
Benson: You can't be a princess, princesses aren't real.
Grace: I can too be a princess.
Benson: No you can't be a priness, that's fiction!

This was what I got to enjoy at dinner tonight (Mike unfortunately is rarely home when the kids and I eat dinner).

They kept going with the singing for quite a while. Sabrina has been making up songs about whatever happens to be going on in her life all the time lately.

If you have seen Ratatouille, what Benson is doing will make sense, if not...well it won't.


Bedtime has been a little rough at our house for the past week or so. The girls did really well sharing a bed for quite a while. But now they feel the need to be giggly and silly for an extended period of time EVERY night. It is driving us crazy. It could be worse I suppose, they could be fighting. Nothing we threaten seems to help and so several nights we have had to remove Sabrina and put her in our bed to fall asleep. I'm hoping that this is a phase that will pass quickly. What are the odds?


I have a feeling that some time in future I will miss all the silly antics of these 3 little monkeys of mine. If I write it down then I can at least have a good laugh while I'm missing the silliness.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Last Sunday was Grace's first Sunday in Primary. They call the class for the littlest kids the Sunbeams. (18 mo - 3 year olds go to nursery, in January of the year they turn 4 the kids start going to Primary until they turn 12 years old) She of course went with no tears and I think thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Her teachers are Brother and Sister Abbott, who were also Benson's Sunbeam teachers who we love and appreciate more than words can say! Grace is such a happy girl. Even when she is being disciplined it is really hard to upset her. She loves to have fun and make people laugh. Life is so much more fun with her around!
With the new year we now go to church from 1-4pm, which is a first for us since having children. We have moved at just the right times to avoid being on the afternoon schedule which falls during nap time. We really lucked out because Benson is done napping, Grace can handle going without a nap one day a week, and now instead of having to take Sabrina out in the hall during Sacrament Meeting she will "nuggle" with her mama and take a nap which is more enjoyable for everyone involved.
I had Grace get dressed up in her Sunday clothes again to take a picture right before bedtime, which she was very willing to do. She loved her new leopard print sweater from Aunt Chelsea!

She was also wearing black tights and shoes at church, but you get the idea.

Grace showing off her picture that she colored in Primary.

Such a Daddy's girl...in looks and personality!

They love to be silly with Daddy

Christmas Morning

The girls were both up by 7am on Christmas morning. We tried to entertain them in their room for a while, but they wanted out so by 7:30am we just woke Benson up. All 3 kids were definitely into opening their presents this year. They each got lots of fun stuff and most of their presents were things that their siblings could also enjoy. Such a smart Santa we have! We made them take turns opening one present at a time, going from youngest to oldest. They were actually really patient and genuinely interested in what everyone else was opening, which made the whole process more fun. Here are the kids with some of their favorites.

Benson playing with his Leapster 2

Grace with her new (but same as before) puppy purse and Cinderella doll, sporting her Cinderella crown and shoes

Breeny playing with her cash register. She loves to scan the food, it is pretty cute to watch.

And here are the highlights from present opening. I can't even tell you how happy I was that Mike caught these classic moments on the video camera!

We want to thank our grandparents and great-grandparents for the wonderful gifts and money they sent for us. We really appreciate all of the help and support you give to our family.

Christmas Eve

By Christmas Eve, the girls and I were pretty under the weather with an upper respiratory virus. Mike ended up getting called into work and he took Benson with him and then they spent the rest of the afternoon running a bunch of last minute errands while the girls and I tried to rest. We ordered pizza for dinner and then started our Christmas Eve traditions.

First the kids opened up their new pajamas and slippers (they were less than thrilled about taking pictures together in their new jammies)


Then we let them open their presents from each other. This year we took each kid to the dollar store and let them pick out 2 things for a sibling. Ben bought for Grace, Grace for Sabrina, and Sabrina for Benson. I think they had fun buying for each other and opening one present on Christmas Eve helped to tide them over.


Then we attempted to act out the Nativity Story. I say attempted because it didn't go as well as we had hoped. Benson only wanted to be a shepherd and Sabrina, well she looked like this pretty much the whole time.






We finished off by watching "Joy to the World," a video about the birth of Christ produced by our church and listening to Mike tell the Clockmaker story that is a tradition from his family. We had the kids in bed pretty early because we all needed a good night's sleep.

Christmas Eve Eve

By Tuesday, all of my family was in town except for my brother John and his wife Emily. So of course the kids and I headed up to Bartlesville to hang with the family. We played volleyball and slaughterball at the church and then went to Grandma's house and made Christmas cookies.