Crimped Hair

We've really struggled with Chloe for the last couple of years. Brandon's pretty sure she is following in his footsteps and just hitting puberty a little early. Let's hope so! I'm ready to be done with any tough stages. But on Sunday a miracle of some sorts occurred. She came and asked me to put a little braid on the side of her hair. I have not been allowed to touch her hair for a very long time so I was happy to oblige. Right after church she came home and took out her braid, and what do you think she discovered? Yup, she had a little piece of crimped hair. She thought it was so cute she wanted her whole head done. I told her we should do it right before going to bed and then it would be crimped for the next day. She sat so patiently and let me braid the whole thing. The next morning she woke up and got dressed, took the braids out and came down to surprise me. She was so cute! She looked so different; it was a little shorter so it looked like she had cut it. But it wasn't just the hair. She had been a completely different person. So happy. She still has lots of arguments with Sophie, but she's been so much more respectful to Brandon and I. She started dancing a lot as well. She seems so grown up. I want to catch that on video, but so far she's not willing to go there. I may have to bribe her, because I'm sure you'd love to see her moves.

"Christmas Time is Coming"

It's basically here, but we've been celebrating for a couple weeks now.

Sophie picked out this activity from a book my mom gave her that she wanted to do for a Family Home Evening. We all decorated sugar cones with green icing -- and she wanted Skittles. Let's just say fruity Skittles don't mix well with icing. I was a bit surprised when the following Friday, the last day of school, Sophie came running out with the same thing! They had made them in her class party, only they got to use M&M's.



I enjoy getting the girls Christmas dresses each year (and Easter). However, last year I was a slacker. I just felt like they didn't need them at the time, so we skipped it, but I really wanted to do it this year. They ended up picking the same dress, so they match again. Chloe's a silly girl. She really likes her clothes a bit baggy so she wanted me to get her a size 12. I thought that was a little excessive. I thought a 10 would probably be just fine, but I let her try them both on. Sure enough, the 10 was a perfect fit, but I decided to make her happy and let her get the 12, under the condition that she could still wear it next year.



Our ward traditionally has a "Night of Service" each year for our Christmas party, but we have new activities chair people, and they're shaking things up a bit. This year we had a breakfast instead. And Santa came! The girls played around with their friends. That's what I remember the most from my ward Christmas parties as a kid, so it was fun to watch them.



The following pictures with Santa are courtesy of Steve Johnson, since I had snuck out in the hall for a minute and missed them sitting on Santa's lap! Last year was Chloe's first time sitting on Santa's lap, and Sophie followed suit. I guess 7 is the magic age at our house. This is the FIRST picture of Sophie with Santa!




Last night we were invited to our neighbor's for hot cocoa and cookies. It was a fun evening. The kids were all crazy, but had so much fun playing, and the adults all got to participate in some conversation. The hostess was wearing a Wyoming Cowboy shirt and they had a BYU pillow on their couch, so Chloe was in heaven. She is getting pretty silly about her teams.

Bullet Point Blogging

I realize how pathetic it is that this is only my second post this month, but I still have a couple hours left in the day so I feel determined to get something written before the month is over. My bullet points worked so well last time I think I'll use them again to summarize my last few weeks.

The girls are still alive, as evidenced by the one photo accompanying this post (well, at least one of them). They are happy and crazy and spend all their free time on Webkinz, but luckily they don't have a LOT of free time.

I was asked to help out with a Stake Primary training meeting. That's what I get for singing while I play the piano. There's a story to that, but it would require much more length than a bullet point allows. I have to do another one in January, so perhaps I'll write more on it then.

I attended a class on cooking with agave. Got lots of fun recipes. And I won the door prize so I have a new kitchen gadget to add to my drawer.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We didn't die eating at home alone, with no turkey. I know my family feels sorry for me, but really we're ok. We had a salad, mashed potatoes, rolls, rice pudding and we splurged on apple pie.

The day after Thanksgiving we attended a holiday festival in Kaysville. They had a live nativity, which Brandon was excited to learn that you can converse with them. There were also tons and tons of other nativity sets from all around the world, puzzles and things for the kids, and ongoing concerts.

Welcome to the world Elsie Aubrey! My brother and his wife welcomed a new baby girl on Friday. Hopefully there will be some photo ops, because we all know how much we love new baby pictures.

Today was the first day back to school and work and whatever you call what I do. It was a little hard, but it's good to be back in a routine.

Halloween

Our fall festivities began back on October 8th when we went to a party for Brandon's department. They usually have a summer party for couples, but this year they got delayed and moved it to the fall and invited the whole family. That really made it different. We were so busy doing the family activities that we didn't get to socialize much, and it was late at night and cold outside so everyone was in a hurry to get done. We went to Wheeler Farm and had a dinner, followed by a corn maze, pumpkin patch (we could pick one per family), and a hay ride. I tried to take pictures, but it was so dark nothing turned out well.

The next day I had promised Sophie a trip to another pumpkin patch, because one pumpkin just doesn't cut it for them. Someone put this idea into their heads that we each need our own pumpkin. I don't like it, but that's not a battle worth fighting. We did have a fun time at the pumpkin patch, though. Chloe picked hers out pretty quick, but Sophie searched and searched for the perfect pumpkin. She even got out my keys which she used as some sort of a measuring tool, because it had to be just the right size. After all that she ended up getting one of the tiny 50 cent pumpkins. Then we spent some time playing in the hay maze. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we just lingered outside.





Grandma and Grandpa Nicholls sent a package of popcorn balls to decorate. They girls had a "ball" doing that. They even let Brandon make his own.




Friday night before Halloween we carved the pumpkins. I forgot to mention Chloe had picked out some crazy gourd as one of her pumpkins. Warning: gourds are NOT fun to carve. I wouldn't really know, but it was awful watching Brandon trying to help her with that thing. Afterward, though, it made all the other pumpkins seem like a breeze.



And finally Halloween arrived. I lost the battle this year, but I'm not giving up. I've already signed up to help with a project for next year that is going to be a FUN, candy free, wholesome event (but don't tell Brandon!), so I have all year to convince my family that there is a better way.

At least as far as costumes go my children make pretty good choices. I've never had to deal with the dark/evil side of dressing up. Yes, I know "Alice in Wonderland" can be a little weird, but it's not frightening (unless you watch the new Tim Burton one, which I won't). So here is my cute little Alice, and Alice's sister.



I hope this post makes up for the lack of pictures from my last two posts!

What-A-Weekend

My Saturday was crammed full. Isn't that the way things usually come -- don't want to spread it out so it makes sense. I spent the morning at a Relief Society activity making some cute crafts and eating soup. Then I got home in time for a baby shower for my sister-in-law. It was held at my tiny house. We had the basement all ready to do it, but when Lark showed up she thought there were only going to be a couple people here so we stayed in the living room -- and then a few more showed up, so we got real cozy. It was all good. After the shower Lark stuck around to see my parents who were coming in that night. She thought it would be fun to take Chloe and Sophie shopping with her. At first I tried to talk her out of it, but then I thought, "No, this could be a good thing" (for both of us!) Afterwards, I don't think she thought it was such a great idea anymore. I was just relieved that they didn't make it any easier on her than they do on me :) When they got back from shopping I had dinner ready. I had forgot to tell Lark I wasn't waiting until my parents got here (oops!), but after eating we got the phone call they were at the airport so we went and picked them up. They were returning from a vacation to Vermont. They brought us some cheese and maple syrup!

Sunday we had another late night. I had a photo shoot on Friday night and while taking pictures the family invited us over for dinner. We did tinfoil dinners (now called aluminum foil, but nobody can seem to make the adjustment). Knowing it was outdoors and going to be a cool night I tried to get everyone to dress warm. The girls didn't want to play along -- until we got there. It was a fun evening just sitting around a fire, visiting with adults while the children ran off to play.

Monday isn't exactly part of the weekend, but Brandon had such an exciting day that I'm going to extend it. After getting to work a coworker asked him if he could drive him to a mechanic to pick up his car. Brandon took him, but on the way HIS car "exploded" -- steam coming out everywhere, antifreeze leaking all over; so they had to get his car to the nearest mechanic. Then they had to call ANOTHER coworker to have him come pick them up, and still had to go get the first guys car. Later that afternoon Brandon found someone else to drive him back to get his car when it was finished, only to have it die on him again on the way back to work. This time he called me. Luckily, the girls got out of school early so we were available. I drove down and got him. He was able to get his car back to the same shop he took it to before (by shutting it off at every light and coasting a lot). Then we still had to go back to his office to pick up the guy that carpools with him, but we got a tour of the new office so that was fun. We did make it home, pretty late for FHE, but we squeezed it in, and he got his car back the next day. All this after putting in a new radiator just the week before.

Well, since I've gone past the weekend I might as well post about last night. We had a school Halloween carnival. Chloe had Activity Days, which is "the funnest thing ever," and she couldn't miss that so I dropped her off at her activity and took Sophie to the carnival. Then Brandon brought Chloe after her thing was over. Sophie got in a few games before I had to be at my post. I ran the Bingo game for a one-hour shift. Sophie played A LOT of Bingo rounds while I was there, then Brandon and Chloe showed up shortly before I was done. They wanted to hit the Spook Alley first. I guess Sophie didn't have a clue what to expect (or I would have warned her), but she was not having fun. She got so scared. I tried to tell her it was all pretend, but when it was all over her face was so white. I felt pretty bad. We took a break for a minute and then went and got some food. Chloe did the fishing pond and face painting before it was all over. Other than the Spook Alley, we all had a fun time.

Costume Party

Sophie is still on an Alice in Wonderland kick, and had picked Alice for her Halloween costume this year. Chloe, being so clever, chose to be Alice's sister. It was fairly simple to find an Alice costume online, but the no name sister -- not so much. From the play we went to Chloe knew the sister looked just like Alice, only wore a yellow dress instead of blue. So, we got to work making her a costume. Then she got invited to a costume party by another girl in her class. I had already started her costume before the invitation even came, so I wasn't too worried; however, you may be familiar with my hatred for the sewing machine. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but it always is. When will I learn?

I was slowly making progress on it when Brandon decided it was time to put a finish on our hardwood floors. Moving all the appliances into the dining room took over my sewing space (which I was thankful for the break), but then it stressed me out to realize I may not finish the costume in time. After having a little breakdown, I finally called my neighbor and begged for help. She was amazing! What would have taken me two days she had done in less than an hour -- while she was sewing something for another client AND babysitting her granddaughter! After that I pretty much gave up on the costume and just finished it so that it would be wearable.

Then I still had to make an apron. The day of the party I got to work on that, and miraculously made something that resembles an apron. I just pinned it onto the dress, because I had no time to think of how to assemble it. After school I picked the girls up and took them to a park to enjoy the beautiful weather before the party started. Chloe started to throw a fit; she had changed her mind about wanting to go to the party. I was not in the mood to fight with her, so we went in the bathroom, changed into her costume, then took her to the party and dropped her off. She was clinging to me, but I was not going to let her out of this (I know it sounds mean, but I also know Chloe needs to be pushed sometimes).

On the drive home Sophie said to me, "If I were you I'd be really sad if Chloe didn't go to the party." I asked her why, and she told me because of how hard I had worked on the costume. It sure made me feel better to know that Sophie noticed, even if Chloe didn't appreciate it. At the park she had made a comment about how this party was going to be like her audition, where she threw a fit but then ended up having the time of her life. That Sophie is quite perceptive. Sure enough, I went to pick Chloe up from the party and amongst all the goodies she was carrying there was a gumball machine. We had heard plenty about this gumball machine. The friend hosting the party had told everyone it would be the prize for the best costume, so I didn't even have to ask. Another mom saw her coming out and even commented about it. I know the prize belongs to Chloe, but I have to say there's just a tinge of pride after all the work I spent on it. I wish I had a picture to share, but I haven't taken any yet. You'll just have to wait until Halloween. In case you didn't figure it out, Chloe DID have a good time at the party.

Now I Know How *34* Feels

And it's not that different from 33. I celebrated my birthday last Saturday. Brandon tried to surprise me with breakfast, only he got a little upset when I woke up before he left to go get it. He came back with a buffet of delicious fruits! He asked me, "Did you think I went to get doughnuts?" And to be honest, I was a little afraid he had. I appreciated him thinking of me enough to get me something he knew I'd enjoy. Then he gave me my gift, "The Original Fast Foods" book that I've been wanting since I went and listed to Jim Simmons speak back in June. It has lots of recipes and suggestions to help me eat better. Since that was the only gift he gave me I asked where my knife was. You see, my in-laws sent me an electric knife I had on my wishlist (to help me cut my bread since we've gone strictly homemade). When this package came in the mail with my name on it I thought I should open it. Well, when Brandon came home from work that day and saw it, he stole it and hid it from me and told me I couldn't have it until my birthday. So, come my birthday I was a little surprised NOT to see it. So he went and got my knife, and the girls gave me a couple things they had made.

After breakfast I didn't have anything planned, my family were all doing their own things, so Brandon suggested I use the afternoon to do something on my own. I went down to the new Church History Library to find a pamphlet Dallas had asked me to locate. That was quite a process to go through -- very high security -- but I got a copy of the whole pamphlet and was in and out in about 30 minutes. When I came out of the library I saw I had missed a call from Dallas, so I was excited to call him back and share the good news.

While I was gone to the library my visiting teachers had stopped by and brought me a gift. Brandon told me they had brought me some soap, and Sophie brought it out to me, but I asked her to go put it on the counter until I could go inside to open it. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it not to find soap, but some organic agave nectar! Those are some visiting teachers that felt inspired. Actually, one of them told me later that she overheard some people talking about it at the store and just thought of me. She was a little worried I would think it was weird, but it was perfect!

For dinner Brandon took me to The Olive Garden (he had a gift card to use). He was going to get a babysitter, but I told him it was my birthday and I would kind of like to have my kids there too. Well, the kids butted in and said they'd rather not go! I know, how mean! But they didn't want a babysitter either; they were squeezing out a playdate with their friends. Luckily, Kellie was a great sport and had no problem having them over. Unfortunately, it was also the night of Homecoming so every high schooler around also wanted to go to The Olive Garden. We waited it out and got a table and I had my eggplant and was happy. I'm pretty sure that is not a grammatically correct sentence, but it was my birthday so I don't care.

I ended the day with phone calls from my parents and my sweetest friend in California. And for all of you that I got psyched up about my big 10-10-10 birthday next year, my party has been called off. I realized it's going to fall on a Sunday and it doesn't feel right to have a 10-10-10 party on 10-9-10.