Silly Pills

Since Benson has started school, it's just me and the girls all day long and they are really getting to be the best of friends. In fact at the park today, Sabrina was telling another mom there that her name is Sabrina and her friend's name is Grace. Not her sister, but her friend...it was so cute it brought tears to my eyes.On a few occasions lately they have both gotten into really silly moods and honestly it kind of drives me nuts. Today was one of those days. ALL DAY LONG. They were giggly and poking at each other and playing and dancing and it didn't stop all day. They were outside playing on the swingset while I was making dinner and I looked out the window and caught them going down the slide on top of each other. One of them would lay down (head FIRST) on either their tummy or back and then the other one would climb on top and they would go down the slide that way. They are lucky they didn't crack their heads open. That's mostly why it drives me crazy when they get like this because someone usually gets hurt because they don't know when to stop. So I recorded some of their silly antics before bed tonight. Seriously it was like this or worse all day long.

Apple Days

On Saturday, Benson, Grace, and I went with some of our neighbors to Apple Days at Ft. Riley.  They have lots of free activities for the kids and supposedly some really yummy apple pies.  We got there towards the very end so unfortunately we missed the apple pies and things were kind of winding down but we still had fun.  We went with our neighbors that have the 3 older girls who all of our kids ADORE.  Sabrina was sad she had to stay home and take a nap, but it was much easier on me that way since she isn't the most willing walker sometimes and it is getting really difficult for me to carry her.  Next year we will make sure we get there early enough to get a pie!

1 - Grace petting a bunny, 2 - Grace and Ashlyn sliding down the obstacle course slide, 3 - Ben sliding down the slide, he finished the obstacle course faster than the little boy who he was racing which he was very happy about - I think school is helping him to value winning more, not something I really like, 4 - Benson in a Kiowa helicopter, which is what our next door neighbor flies, 5 - Benson in a Kiowa again, 6 - Benson in front of a tank

Ballet begins

It took me a while but I did manage to locate a ballet class in Manhattan for Grace and Sabrina that is during the day instead of after school.  Today was the first class and there are enough little kids in it that I'm surprised there is only one offered, but I guess that's living in a small town for you.

The girls were so excited, they asked me every 5 minutes after Benson left for school if it was time to go to ballet yet.  They were both eager and willing participators in the class.  I thought Sabrina might be a little shy, but she did not hesitate for a minute.  I think it helped that she knew not only Grace but her little neighbor friend Reagan.  I don't know how much either of them will learn, but it gives them something to do and they sure do look cute in their little ballet outfits.

Quick Labor Day Weekend Recap

The week is getting away from me but I have so many great pictures to post from last weekend. I will have to come back and fill in more details later, but here's the quick rundown:

4 day trip - 34.5 hours in the car, 1 trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, 1 trip to the beach, 1 great BYU football game, many hours spent with our extended family, attending our cousin Baby Sam's blessing

It was a busy, fun, exciting weekend and I'm so grateful we were able to make the trip because I'm pretty sure it will be a while before we are able to travel that great of a distance again.

Girly Update

Since my last post was about Benson starting kindergarten, I thought I would do a little update on my girlies.

Grace continues to add spice to our life. Sometimes it is good spice, sometimes it is bad. Lately she is either very obedient and helpful or disobedient to a degree I have not before experienced.

• Watching Grace and Sabrina play together lately is a real treat. On Saturday Grace put their dress-up bunny ears on Sabrina and made her sit in the high chair and be her baby bunny. Mike caught them playing Primary in Benson's room after church yesterday. They were singing songs, saying prayers, and even having a lesson.
• Grace makes friends everywhere she goes. She is especially attached to all of our neighbor friends here in Kansas. Her newest bff's are the girls that live on the next street over who are 11, 9, and 6. They seriously come over and ask if she can play.
• Grace still insists on wearing a skirt most days, but I've managed to produce a few cute hair-dos on her lately (she has INSISTED on either long and straight or 1 ponytail for a while now). She also loves her accessories. The other night when we went out to play she was wearing white socks with her pink croc shoes, one purple dangling clip-on earring, various watches and bracelets, and 2 purses filled with who knows what. All the kids were running races in the cul-de-sac and there was Grace leaving a trail of accessories behind her.
• Her cute smile and dimple and silly throat chuckle help us to want to keep her.

Sabrina seems so grown-up lately it is killing me.

• Sabrina will not even let us step a toe in the bathroom to help her. When we try she gets very angry. She wants to do the whole process herself, even washing her hands which makes me crazy because she makes a huge mess of the sink every time.
• Sabrina is almost always our most helpful and willing child. Benson and Grace are also helpful and willing, but not as often or consistently. Her latest helpful desire is folding clothes or "packing" as she likes to call it. And she is dang good at it too.
  
  

  

• Sabrina LOVES babies. She loves to kiss them and take care of them. Today she was playing with a bunch of cars and laid them all nicely on their "backs" on a pillow and then covered them with a blanket like they were napping. Frequently when she is in her room and we call her she yells back that she's feeding her baby or putting her baby to sleep and we have no choice but to wait for her to finish. We have had a lot of exposure to babies age 8-10 months old lately (cousin Spencer, neighbor Noah, friend from Oklahoma Valor) and Sabrina has LOVED it. We have watched Noah several days while his mom worked and it has been a piece of cake because Sabrina loves to play with and entertain him.





• Sabrina is mostly acting very grown-up and like a big girl, except occasionally at night. Benson and Grace have never really gotten up at night (from about 18 mos. or so on). But Sabrina just doesn't sleep as well. When she gets up she likes to be rocked for a little bit, usually insisting that Mommy be the one to rock her, and then she will willing go back to bed. Cute and sweet now, not so good in 3 months when we have a new baby. Perhaps she will grow out of it before then.

Our new baby girl is really growing as Grace likes to tell me lately when she pats my belly. At least she's not telling me I'm getting fat. A few weeks ago we got a book from the library titled "Waiting for Baby." I highly recommend it, by the way. It's about a little boy waiting for a new baby to be born. He likes to put his head on his mommy's tummy and feel the baby kick his face. So now our kids all like to put their head on my tummy and feel the baby kick. It sends them into fits of giggles everytime. Her arrival is already scheduled for Dec. 2, only 3 months to go! We are all so excited. And no she doesn't have a name yet.