Pretty Hair

I just had a good chuckle over an argument between 2-year-old Jane and her 2-year-old friend Claire. Jane, who is still nearly bald, was briefly able to wear a barrette in her hair today. She walked up to Claire and me to show off her barrette and said with a smile, "Pretty hair." Then Claire responded, "MY pretty hair." Jane screamed back, "NO, MY PRETTY HAIR!"

More Fall Photos

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Azael, age 10, enjoys: Dragonball Z, lego, video games, drawing, Fablehaven books, Wonka candy, friends


Ephraim, age 8, enjoys: Pokemon, lego, computer games & video games, friends, jumping around

Silas, age 6, enjoys: playing lego, TV, being silly, Secrets of Droon, going swimming in summer

Lorelai, age 4, enjoys: dancing, ballet, preschool, birthday parties, Nick Jr. on the computer, reading, drawing.

Jane, age 2, enjoys: dolls, strollers, toy shopping carts, chocolate, friends, hugging Mom & Dad.

NYC!

I recently took a leave of absence from my post as a mom.
And visited my friend Marianne in NYC!

Their apartment is ALL windows. Amazing views!

 Marianne & one of her daughters, Ellie.

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art (on the right)

 Me, posing by a cool knight on horseback, at the Met.

 The Manhattan New York Temple.

 Times Square. Wow!

 I was really moved and inspired by the statue of Liberty. I could just imagine all the immigrants seeing her for the first time!

 Manhattan in the background...

 I had to get a pic of this display at Ellis Island. They know exactly which instruments have historical importance. ! :)



I read 5 books (yes, FIVE) while there and had a lovely time. Most important, I was able to gain some extra perspective on my life and see some of the things I'd like to do a bit better or a bit differently.

Marianne and her family were wonderful hosts. I am blessed to have such a great friend!

Jane is TWO!

Happy Birthday, Toddler Jane! Yep, I can no longer call her Baby Jane. But I still do sometimes. 

A last-minute cake I was able to rig up with - you guessed it - Halloween candy collected the week before! :)

 She was so very excited. :)

 Sampling the M&Ms...

Ripping open a present with help from her big brothers. A Little Tikes shopping cart. What a hit! Jane has pushed that cart all over the house. She also got a little doll stroller, which is an even bigger hit than the shopping cart, if that's possible.

Jane is super fun... and super funny! A year ago I think I wrote something about Jane being a bit grumpy, but we feel she is outgrowing that and becoming more social. Jane just began attending nursery at church (on her own! 6 months after her first opportunity). She has several friends she loves to play with.

Here is a photo with her best buddy, Claire.

They are both carrying little "shopping bags" with their initials on them.

 Jane can say a ton of words now. She likes to chase Lorelai around the house, making Lorelai scream, "MOM! Help! Jane is going to get me! Help!" All her brothers love to hang out with her. Just last night our whole family sang "Wheels on the Bus," trying to get Jane to join in. She did all the actions and clearly loved all the attention. From a mother's standpoint, I truly love Jane. She is so cuddly. Jane loves to give frequent hugs to mommy & daddy. We love it. I think she will grow up to be a responsible, slightly serious, slightly sensitive, but also silly and loving little girl. Happy Birthday Jane!!!! :)

Fall Fun

This has been a beautiful fall... We've played outside daily and done several field trips.

Jane at a local pumpkin patch. Behind the fence are some very interesting goats.

 Making giant bubbles outside. Lorelai and Jane popped them almost as fast as I could make them.

Jane in front and Lorelai & friends Sam & Jonah (back) wait for another bubble.

Jane stays warm...

 Silas at a soccer game

 Visiting our neighborhood cave (Azael is on top)

 Our family posing with Grandma-Joni (our kids referred to the two of them as "grandma-Joni")

 Eating fondue with Grandma-Joni

 Jane is digging the chocolate...

 mani-pedi-massage-chocolates-sparkling cider, compliments of my Aunt Joni. She rocks!

 Lorelai loved having her toenails painted by Grandma!

 Our scary Jack-o-Lanterns. Thanks to Grandma-Joni for their carving expertise and help!

This has been a fun fall!

P.S. Interesting factoid: every time something beeps (microwave, oven, clothes drier, alarms, etc) Lorelai gets extremely nervous and screeches to "Hurry, stop the beep, stop the beep!"  Unfortunately her (mean) brothers have made her believe all the beeps mean their is a fire somewhere in our house and she really gets nervous about it.

Moldy Oldy?

Mystery Man had another birthday this past month. How old do you guess he is? Do you think he's probably a "moldy oldy"?  We don't. MM is high energy and generally fun to be around. He's a great dad. Can you believe this guy weighs the same he has for the past 15 years? I challenged him to be in a race... stay tuned to see if he'll do it. Happy Birthday Mystery Man!