Sadie Spotlight

I feel like I always post about both the girls, or, if I single one out, it's usually Morgan, so today, I thought I'd post a few random, but very characteristic pictures of Sadie.

Sadie refers to herself as "Sadie-Cinderella" or "Sadie Bugger" these days.   When she's not eating, she's wearing her Cinderella dress.  And, about a month ago, I banned her from taking her "blankie" out of her bedroom.  If you get to see it, you'll thank me.  It's seen better days, and I think Brian's willing to let her get her ears pierced if she parts with it.  But, she's not old enough for pierced ears yet, so we'll have to keep blankie (in her room) a little longer.  So, she totes, Lulu, her hippo, around the house now, instead.

Dress up should be this girl's middle name!  Here's Sadie all decked out to...cook in her play kitchen.  Her current specialty is oatmeal, something I'm sure she misses me fixing around here.  But, come August, I promise, I'll be better about it again!

Since we've had like the 4th driest winter on record, it's been important to water the lawn and trees this season.  It doesn't matter if there are ice chunks coming out of the hose!  If there's water, Sadie finds it!  Brian said he even tried to not get her wet, but it's no use!

When the Sun Goes Down...

We've lived in our house for over 4 years now.  And, for over 4 years now, we've had regular, uninvited visitors.  They haven't technically bugged us (sorry for the pun), and they've stayed far away from the house, so we've just let them come and go as they please.

These, my friends, are our regular lawn visitors.

They're only there when it's not too hot or too cold and the sun isn't too bright.  And, they stay right here, in this pile for a couple of hours, and then, miraculously disappear for a couple of days/weeks/months, until they come back.  We've even tried washing them away with the hose--they still find their way home.

The pile is large enough that you can see it when we pull up the driveway and into the garage.  So, the first thing the girls do if they see the pile as we come home, is get out of the car, run over to our "guests" and scream, "You naughty ants!  Go away, you naughty ants!" and stomp around the pile.  Heaven forbid they actually step on one and get it on their shoe!  My girls are such princesses!

So, until they get closer to the house (at that point I WILL be doing something about it!), here they stay.

Thoughts on a Tuesday

I was just thumbing through the latest Deseret Book catalog, and came across this quote:

"If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart.  So it has been with the best people who ever lived." --Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

If that doesn't completely sum up my thoughts right now, I don't know what else could!

I know we all have trials and they make us stronger and draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  And, I know that even if I don't particularly like my given trials, I wouldn't trade them for anyone else's.

Easily Distracted

Sadie was downstairs playing this afternoon.  She came upstairs, with her helmet on (their bikes are in the basement for the winter), and said, "Mommy.  I want to ride my bike but I need shoes on first."  

Here she is a few minutes later.  I think she forgot what she came upstairs for.

Conversations with Morgan

Why Can't We Have More Conversations Like This???

Morgan: Mommy, can I get out some paper to color??

Me:  Yes, but please get only scrap paper.  No new paper today.

Morgan: Is it because I haven't used scrap paper until a long time ago?

Me: Yes.

Morgan:  Okay.  I would like new paper, but I'll use scrap paper because you asked me to and I'm going to obey.

Me:  Thank you!

And Less Moments Like This???


Me: Morgan, please get dressed.  I need you to wear something warm today, so if you want a dress, it needs to be one of your dresses with pants.

Morgan:  Can I please wear my sandals?

Me: No.

Morgan: AAARRRGGGHHH!!!  YOU ARE SO MEAN!!  (Goes to room, slamming door behind her.) THIS IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION!!  I DIDN'T GET MY WAY AND I'M GROUCHY BECAUSE YOU MADE ME MAD!!!  (10 minutes later, she is still screaming in her room)

Me: (When I think she has quieted down) Morgan, are you dressed?  We need to do hair pretties and brush teeth before we leave.

Morgan: THIS IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION!!  I DIDN'T GET MY WAY AND I'M GROUCHY BECAUSE YOU MADE ME MAD!!! (back to room--can you see where this is going??)


Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm sorry I was an awful child.  I'm sorry for all those times I screamed and threw fits and mom had to take me to the station to sit in the waiting room for hours until Dad came home from work.  Morgan is definitely giving me a little taste of what I must have been like! I can't wait until she's a teenager!

Love,

Kenzie

Oh, the joys of Motherhood!

NCAA Tourney

Our great friends, the Hancocks, came up from AZ to visit last week (really, the guys wanted to see BYU play in the tournament).  We had a fabulous time at the zoo, playing games, and just hanging out, but the true highlight for all the kids was the snow!

Before they came, Tiffany had mentioned how fun it would be if it snowed.  We haven't exactly had much "winter weather" this year, so it looked doubtful.  Even the forecast predicted the weather to be in the mid 50s and warmer.  

We lucked out!  We woke up to about an inch of snow Friday morning.  There was just enough on the grass for a snowball fight, some snow angels, and even some sledding down our front hill.  

The kids really wanted to build a snowman, so he stood about 18 inches tall, had blueberry eyes and a tangerine slice for a mouth.  That afternoon, the kids went out to the porch and found a puddle, 2 blueberries, and a shriveled orange slice.

I think the only bad part about our little "snowstorm" was that Miles had to wear pink.  We had enough jackets, gloves and ski bibs (thanks to winter clearance last week!) for all 4 kids--but only in girl colors.  He didn't seem to mind one bit, though.

 The kids wanted to clean the snow off the car.

 Good thing it was fresh snow!  All the kids wanted to eat it!

Miles and Sadie licked the snow on the grass when we took a walk!  Yuck!

We played a quick game of hide and seek.  If you've ever seen our yard, there's not much to hide behind.  Brian found a pretty good spot, but Sadie always seemed to be found...

 We rearranged some stuff down in the basement so the kids could have room to ride bikes.  They loved it!

The Hancocks left pretty early in the morning to start their long drive back.  Miles and Hailey decided to warm up by the vent before heading out to the car!

All the kids enjoyed making art projects downstairs.  I am still finding "projects" around the house!  We didn't have enough room to put them all up!

Thanks, Joey, Tiffany, Miles and Hailey for coming to visit!  We had a blast and can't wait to get together again!

Go Jimmer! Go Jimmer! Go Jimmer!

BYU's in town for the NCAA tournament.  While only Brian's going to the actual game(s), we took the girls down to the Pepsi Center for the open practice.  They loved getting to watch Jimmer from the 5th row!

Here's Morgan, watching the team come onto the court.

Sadie kept saying, "I want to go see Jimmer.  Mommy, can I go down to Jimmer?"  Obviously, she couldn't join the practice on the court, so she settled for as close as she could get--the bottom step.  From there, she raised her hand, like the "rah, rah" part of the fight song, shouting, "Go Jimmer!  Go Jimmer!  Go Jimmer!"

At the end of practice, the team headed straight to the locker rooms, out the door opposite the fans.  But, Coach Rose was nice and came over to sign autographs and take pictures with the kids.  The girls thought it was pretty special to give high fives to the coach!

Ladybug on the mail

Today, we received a Lands' End package in the mail (welcome summer swimsuits!!)  It was waiting on the doorstep when we came home this afternoon, complete with a resident ladybug that seemed to have been sitting there a while.

I called the girls over to show them the ladybug and the first thing Sadie did was stick out her finger.  I thought she was going to squish the poor thing, so I gasped and said, "Careful, Sadie!"  She replied, "Mom, I just going to pet it."  Ummm, okay.  Pet a ladybug??  I guess there's a first time for everything.

So they watched it for a few minutes as it crawled around the box.  Sadie tried to pick it up, but it had better plans and flew onto her shoulder before I helped it fly away.  She thought that was pretty cool.  "Look!  Mommy, the lady bugger is on my dress!" (We call her Sadie Bugger sometimes, so she calls insects "buggers.")

Update

We received our first "baby boy" care package in the mail last week from Grandma Tammy. I let the girls open the package. Morgan kept saying, "Oh, it's so cute!" and "It's adorable!" So, I think she's warming up to the idea of a brother.

Oh, BOY!! We've got joy!

We had our ultrasound yesterday, so beforehand, the girls and I made girl and boy signs to share the news.  Weeks ago, while checking baby's heartbeat at an appointment, my doctor jokingly said, "Oh, there's a fast heartbeat.  It's a girl!"  

I, obviously, knew she was teasing, but Morgan took the statement very seriously.  Ever since that day, she's been telling Sadie, "I want a girl so you have to want a boy.  But, I'm right.  Dr. Dena said it's a girl."

So, you can imagine the fiasco that followed the announcement.

Sadie didn't really much care, other than to say, "Oh.  I having a budder." (brother)

Morgan, screamed, shouted (sorry you had to see it, grandparents) threw things, flopped on the floor in hysterics...you get the picture.  She was very disappointed.

This morning, I asked her if Heavenly Father would love her if she was a boy.  She said, "Yes.  He loves everyone."  Then, I told her that Heavenly Father wanted our family to have a boy.  Her response: "But I think sisters are more fun.  I want it to be a sister.  It's a girl."  (How would she know which was more fun?)

I continued by talking to her about all the things we would now need to get for a boy, since we don't have boy things at our house.  She piped in with, "We need to find him some boy slippers.  He can't wear girl slippers."

Brian is ecstatic. I'm super excited (but kind of nervous now--how do you raise a boy??).  Sadie just walks around poking my belly, saying, "You having a budder."  Morgan--well, I think she'll have a change of heart when she meets the little guy in person.