Oh, Sadie!

To be 2 again....

You can dress yourself and still look cute!  Even when you have shoes on and you're still in your pajamas and your hair's a mess!

Pigtails (or the hope to one day have enough hair for them) are still adorable!

You see no reason NOT to run in the sprinklers in October, in your church clothes!!

And then walk away, looking cool, as though nothing ever happened.

Oh, sweet (and sassy) Sadie, how we love you!  You bring such a fun spark to our family!

Happy Halloween!!

A few weeks ago, the girls picked out pumpkins when we went to Berry Patch Farms.  They've been waiting to carve or paint them and we finally did yesterday!

Their pumpkins were too small to carve, so I told them we could pick a big one at the grocery store (lame, I know) if they wanted to carve them.  In the end, the paint was too enticing and, so, we painted pumpkins.  

Sadie was so focused on her pumpkin.  I drew a face for her with marker, fully expecting her to paint where she wanted to and ignore my outline.

Look how she did!  I helped with the mouth and a little around the top, but she did pretty good on the eyes and nose!  Way to go, Sadie Bug!

Morgan really got into painting her pumpkin.  A 4-year old budding artist???

Have you ever seen a sunglass wearing elephant???  She's the cutest elephant ever!!!  (Well, this year.  Last year, Morgan was the cutest elephant ever!)

These girls sure love each other!  (Morgan more than Sadie, sometimes, but Sadie's a trooper and puts up with all the hugs!)

Oh, and it was very windy last night, so as my mom has always said, "The kids get all dressed up in their costumes and then cover it all up with a coat!"  Morgan wore her pajama pants under her princess Rosetta dress!  But, they're still the cutest elephant and princess!  Morgan was probably the most polite trunk-or-treater out there!  At one of the trunks, she so sweetly said, "May I have a piece of candy, please?"

One of the families gave out necklaces and the girls were elated!  More princess necklaces!!

And, we're stealing the idea of the Halloween Fairy this year from my sister.  I let the girls each have a few pieces last night and again tonight and tomorrow morning, they will find surprises for the Halloween Fairy.  Morgan asked if I could let her (the Halloween Fairy) know to wrap them like Christmas presents.  So, I (ahem) she gladly obliged.  Pictures of their surprises to follow!

Random Stuff

Nothing too exciting going on around here, but that doesn't stop me from taking pictures!  

Here's Sadie gluing her family picture puzzle together.  I just cut up last year's Christmas card and she pieced it together.  

Not too bad for her first attempt!  (I did help a little, though)

Last week, we learned about clouds (Sadie) and the water cycle (Morgan).  Any guess as to what airline we fly???  (It's also the most easily recognized in the air.  And we see a lot of airplanes take off and land by our house!)

Home Depot has FREE kids projects on the first Saturday of every month.  This past month was fireboats and the girls wanted to paint theirs red.

Two-year olds!  Sometimes they can be so charming...Sadie loves to pose for the camera!

I read on a friend's blog a while ago that her boys have "up" muscles and "down" muscles.  I haven't shown the girls, nor have the actually even played with these friends for a while.  But, the other night, they both wanted to show me their "muscles."  (No, Morgan is not constipated, she's just making her tough "aarrrggh" noise to go with her big muscles!)

Can't forget Sadie's muscles!

New Beds

My girls no longer sleep on the floor!  After searching for a couple of years, and getting everyone's opinions on what type of bed to get (trundle, bunk, regular twin, etc.) I finally found something!  

I still have to get bedskirts, but I found these headboards at Target a few weeks ago on clearance!!  It's been 4 years, but the girls' room is finally coming together (sort of)!  

Oh, and don't mind the "dead bodies" in Morgan's bed.  She's learning to make her bed and I'm trying to encourage, rather than discourage.

Anyone up for Checkers???

You can skip this first section until the bigger type below.  This is just for my record.

So, as our potty-training saga continues, the bribes (yes, at times, I am a bribing parent) have become a little more substantial.  M & Ms evolved into chocolate raisins, which have since been accompanied by "special outings."  

Sadie would go a few days and have NO accidents at all!  In fact at 4:30 the other morning, I heard someone going into the bathroom and it was Sadie.  She got up in the middle of the night and went potty all by herself!  (But, even at 4:30 in the morning, she remembers to collect on her goods and I had to get her a chocolate raisin.)  

Then, there were those other, all too frequent, bad days.  So, I've been collaborating with friends, family, and even our sitter and Brian and I decided that stubborn Sadie was going to make sure this was worth her time!  So, among other "treats", Sadie knows that if she goes an ENTIRE day at the sitter with NO accidents, she can go out for a treat.  And, like any other kid, she picked McDonald's.  Yippeee.

Now that you have a little background to the story (actually, it's more for my record):

Our McDonald's is only a couple of years old so it's also got a little area with touch-screen computers to play simple games like Sudoku, and, you guessed it, Checkers.  

Knowing Morgan's intellectual capabilities, but also knowing she's only 4, I thought I'd see if she could understand the game of Checkers.  She loved it!  We only had time for one game, but by the end, she was laughing hysterically every time she jumped me.  And, because she caught on so well, I had no qualms about beating her by one move!  Call me ruthless...

This afternoon, during nap/quiet time, after our reading, Morgan asked if she could watch a movie.  

As she was looking in the cabinet for a movie, she said, "I changed my mind.  Since you and I are both so good at checkers, we should play that instead."  (I'm not exaggerating--those were her actual words!)  

And, so we played.  And, when I made a good move (or set her up for a good move--I can be a nice mom!), she said, "Great move! You're amazing!"  (once again, her actual words).  

Over dinner tonight, Brian asked if he could teach her chess.  It looks like I'm being outsmarted by a 4 year old...

Berry Patch Farms

When Sadie was a baby and Morgan, two, we took a "field trip" to Berry Patch Farms with a few friends (2008 Trip).   It's a local "pick your own" farm and in the fall, they offer pumpkin field trips.  For preschoolers, they get a hay ride, maze, and pumpkin.  It's perfect!  Morgan's already talking about next year's trip!  I didn't bother to tell her that she'll be in Kindergarten, though.

Anyway, here's the girls next to the scarecrow.  Morgan thought it was pretty cool, and Sadie just said, "Scarecrow!" and then laughed!

Here are the girls "lost" in the hay maze.  15 preschoolers lost in a maze that's about shoulder-high for the parents is lots of fun to watch!  The kids were entertained for at least 20 minutes!

I decided to follow Sadie through the maze and tried to get it on video, but she was moving pretty quickly, so it's a little wobbly.

Here we are, on the hayride.

True to life, here's Morgan leading the way, and Sadie doing her best to keep up!

When she was done in the maze, Sadie decided to recruit her pal, Stewart to throw hay out of the wagon!

These two girls are wimps sometimes!  They wanted to see the goats, but for the first few minutes, they stood about 10 feet from the fence.  Every time a goat would move, Sadie would squeal with delight!  

We love going out to Berry Patch Farms!  

Can you...

Make a triangle with your legs???

Morgan learned how at dance class!  Since we took her out of preschool, I wanted to give her an opportunity to do something else--just for her.  She's in a ballet/tap combo and loves it!  Here she is, modeling how to make a triangle with her legs. 

Next time you see her, ask her how she makes a butterfly, too!

When You're 2...

Fashion is a mere suggestion.

Hence, on most days, Sadie looks as though she dressed herself, because she did.

Nevertheless, she's still adorable, and she knows it!

My first attempt at "pigtails!"  Why doesn't my girls' hair grow???

The hot Halloween costume this year--the elephant.  I think I'm going to have to make second one.  Or, make them play rock, paper, scissors to find out who wears it.

Don't worry, I didn't let her out of the house looking like this!

Only a 2-year old could put her winter coat on UPSIDE-DOWN and still look adorable in it!  

The girls saw that it was raining one day last week and wanted to get out all of their hats, jackets, scarves, boots, mittens, etc. and were very disappointed when we left them all in the house when we went out.

Singing in the Shower

The girls have started taking showers instead of baths and they love it!  They take "singing in the shower" to a whole new level! It's song and dance! All the thumps you hear are them jumping to the Hokey Pokey!  

Women Rule the World!!!

The other day, we were driving in the car and as usual, when we were pulling out of the garage, Sadie requested "Life Highway".  Morgan made a special request for the next song.  MP3 players are a blessing (you can listen to any songs with the push of a button) and a curse (your kids know you can change it to any song with the push of a button)!  Morgan's request was the sog about girls rule.  Her exact words were, "Mom, remember last week when we were driving in the car and me and Sadie were wearing our girls rule shirts and you played the girls rule song??"  I couldn't remember the song she was talking about, so I guessed.  As soon as the music started she said, "No, mom.  It wasn't a girl singing, it was a boy singing!"  I immediately remembered what song she was talking about.  So, Morgan's new favorite song:  Women Rule the World!  

The Prophets! The Prophets!

That's what the girls have been exclaiming all week!

Here are some of my highlights from conference, both from the actual conference and the "audience" in our home:

Morgan got excited when Jeffrey R. Holland spoke Saturday morning.  But, for the rest of the session, she kept making the comment, "He's not cool at all," referring to the latter speakers.  Afterward, I asked her why the other speakers weren't cool.  Her reply: "Because they don't have cool hair like Jeffrey R. Holland."  

"Studying the scriptures trains us to hear the Lord's voice."  --David McConkie

My favorite talk from conference was President Uchtdorf Saturday morning.  If you missed, take the time to read it, or listen to it here.  Here are a few of the MANY things that I liked:

"A prophet of God has said, 'Men are that they might have joy.'  A joy that includes a fullness of life. A life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, the fruits of honest toil, an acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ, of its requirements and commandments.  'Only in these,' Elder Evans said, 'Will you find true happiness.'"  --D. Todd Christofferson, quoting Man's Search for Happiness and Richard L. Evans.

"...it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course and focus on the essentials when we are experiencing adverse conditions.  Dallin H Oaks said in a recent conference, 'We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.' 

...the humble man of Galilee stands with outstretched hands, waiting...my dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little. Proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. 

...diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the world.  

...in family relationships, Love is really spelled, T-I-M-E."  --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Towards the end of  the session, both girls were getting a little antsy, so we told them that we would have lunch right after the song and prayer.  As we were preparing lunch, Morgan said, "Mom, I think President Monson and President Uchtdorf and President Eyring are going to have lunch at President Eyring's house because they are friends."  Then, as the afternoon session began, she said, "I think they had a good lunch and President Eyring's house."

Sadie gave us a play-by-play of each session by shouting out, "Prayer Time!" or "Singing Time!" or "Prophet Time!"  Cute kid!

My most precious memory:  Morgan was quietly coloring during one of the speakers.  She paused, looked over to the screen, then to me and said, "Mom, he's talking about the Lord!" To which I replied, "Yes, he is."

"Do we remember to give thanks for the blessing we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love." --President Thomas S. Monson

"When you walk with gratitude you do not walk with arrogance, and conceit, and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your life." President Hinckley, quoted by Thomas S. Monson