Hannah's crazy face

Hannah can't stand to have her picture taken without taking at least one shot of a crazy face.

Revived toy

Nikki got a slide from Santa this Christmas. They really haven't played with it a whole lot unless we have company. However, we moved it out into the living room for a little bit because we need space in the toy room for storage while we are finishing the bonus room upstairs. The girls act like it's a brand new toy. They have been sliding down it all day for the past couple of days.

That's got to hurt

I don't think I've ever seen a clumsier kid than Nikki. She is forever tripping, and there doesn't have to be anything there for her to trip over. Yesterday, just to name the instances I can remember at the moment, she skinned her arm on the way into church. She ran right straight into the computer cabinet, and after she came over to show me where she got hurt she ran right back to the computer and did the same thing again. She fell off the couch, and then she fell while trying to get in her chair at dinnertime. Today she really did a number on her head. She was running to her room and ran right into a corner of the wainscotting (is that the right word?) in our living room that is just the same level as her forehead. That mark will be there for a while. I've been trying to think about what we should get her for her birthday in a couple of months. I'm thinking maybe a football helmet might be best.

my autobiography

I'm just about ready to turn in my portfolio and request my final exam for an independent study class I have been taking from BYU. I have to pass this class to be formally accepted into their Bachelor of General Studies program that I can complete at home. For one assignment I had to write a short autobiography. I wrote it in interview form, which was probably one of the least creative ways, but I was feeling pretty rusty with the whole paper writing process. Anyway, here's my autobiography.

Interviewer: “What are some of your roles?”
Susan: “The first role I fill each day is that of mother. I say it is the first because my two girls are usually the ones to wake me in the morning. It is also the most important role, and I am extremely grateful that I can stay at home each day and spend most of my time fulfilling it. I have also played the part of wife to my husband for six and a half years. I am also a student – a student of BYU, a student of the scriptures, a student of good books, and very often a student of my children. Currently in church, I am using my musical talent to fulfill my role as the Primary singing time leader in our ward, and I also fill in on the organ whenever needed.”
Interviewer: “Tell of a defining moment in your life.”
Susan: “One defining event in my life occurred as my oldest brother served his mission when I was about twelve years old. He would write in his letters about the things he was learning, and I could see how much his testimony was growing. For the first time I had the desire to read the Book of Mormon myself. I read it all that summer and finished it a little after school started again. I gained a love for the scriptures that summer that has continued throughout my life and has often been a source of strength and a place of refuge.
“You only asked for one moment, but I’ll share another shaping moment in my life that occurred when I was nineteen. I was asked to go on a blind date where I met the man who would later become my husband. That night I found the greatest friend I have ever had. My life was forever changed in finding my eternal companion because I now have someone else’s interests to put before my own. I had never learned to serve or love in such a selfless way before meeting him.”
Interviewer: “If you could be anyone you wanted to be and could do anything you wanted to do for one day, who and what would that be? Why?”
Susan: “In the morning I would want to be the organist in the temple. How I would love to just sit there for hours playing hymns in the House of the Lord. I truly cannot think of anything that would bring me closer to heaven. Then that evening, I would like to be the Sugar Plum Princess in the ballet The Nutcracker. I never had dance lessons and am quite uncoordinated, so I would love to experience how it feels to excel in creating such a beautiful art form. It would also be really fun to see my girls’ faces when they saw that their mother was a princess.”
Interviewer: “Describe a difficult time in your life. How did you overcome it, and what have you learned from it?”
Susan: “The most shocking and dramatic difficulty I have had in my life was when at age sixteen my parents, my grandfather, and my grandmother were killed in two car accidents within a six-month period of time. I moved from rural North Carolina to Orem, Utah to live with some close family friends. I remember a few times when I felt so overwhelmed with loneliness that I did not have the energy to do anything but pray. I remember very vividly how my tears and sobs would just stop in the middle of my prayer, and my pleas would turn into expressions of gratitude for the love I felt. Since my father never went to the temple, one year after the accident, my brothers, sisters, and I went to the Provo temple to complete his work and be sealed to our parents. I felt so much joy as we all embraced in the sealing room after the ordinances were completed that I didn’t think my body could contain a single ounce more of happiness. Since then, I cannot remember ever feeling that overwhelming loneliness that had plagued me before. I have learned that families are truly eternal, the priesthood authority is the Lord’s power, and I am never really alone. Alma’s discourse on how faith grows into knowledge makes much more sense to me now. I always had a testimony of those things, but I now know through experience that they are true.”

videos of our stars

Here are a couple of links to videos of Nikki singing ABCs and "Twinkle Little Star" (as she calls it), and Hannah trying to do the same. I was laughing at Hannah, so I couldn't keep the camera very still while she was singing. Her clip gets funnier to me every time I watch it. Of course my girls are once again caught on film in PJs and unbrushed hair. But we didn't have anywhere to go that day, and they didn't want to get dressed, so why fight them? I already emailed this to anybody who would read this blog, but I like it so much that I just had to post it.

Nikki http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3665665739078761057

Hannah http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7881550913355942330

Pretty, Pretty Princess?

I guess this is what a Dad has to do when he only has daughters. Hannah got a Pretty, Pretty Princess game for her birthday where the first one to get all of their jewelry on is the winner. Nate has played it more with her than I have. He's really good not to complain about it, though. The girls get a kick out of dressing him up.

Here are some reasons why today was a really good day.

1. Everyone in the house took a 2+ hour nap.
2. Nate made lunch for me and cleaned up the dishes, too.
3. I'm not the Sunbeam (our 3-year-old Sunday school class) teacher anymore, but my sweet little boys calmed down and behaved when I sat by them in Primary. They are a mess, so I felt really loved by that.
4. Nikki is still taking a nap.
5. Hannah gave a little talk in Primary today, and she spoke clearly and loud enough so everyone could hear. I was really proud of her.
6. I had Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. Yum!
7. When I was leading the children's singing time in church, the kids were all interested in the game I had for them and sang really well.
8. When I was leaving the house this afternoon, Nikki and Hannah came running up and said, "Wait, I want a big hug and a kiss, too." They are so sweet.
9. Nikki is still napping. After her big scare with spiders this week, she needs some rest!
10. I get to spend all evening at home with just our family. It's nice to have a quiet Sunday together.

Leprechauns

Hannah's preschool celebrated St. Patrick's Day today since they don't have school on Fridays. It's usually like pulling teeth for me to get her to talk about what happened at school. I've learned to avoid yes or no questions because that's all I'll get from her. But today was completely different. While they were playing on the playground, some "leprechauns" snuck in their classroom. They made a mess by putting the chairs on the table and leaving treats everywhere. I guess they had scattered Lucky Charms all over the classroom and left green cookies for the kids. Hannah has not stopped talking about it, and she can't wait for her dad to come home to tell him. She has even already picked out green clothes and necklaces for everyone to wear tomorrow, so we won't get pinched or kissed by the leprechauns. She is also so excited for us to see the treats that the leprechauns will leave us in the morning. I can't bear to disappoint her when she is so worked up about it, so I guess I'll have to give Nate a call to pick up some Lucky Charms on the way home from work!

I'm not the only choco-holic in the house

The girls had been eating frosted shredded wheat for breakfast for about 3 weeks straight, so I thought it was time to switch things up a little bit this week. At the grocery store I asked Nikki what kind of cereal she wanted. Why did I do such a stupid thing? She picked out Cocoa Dyno-bites (generic Cocoa Pebbles), and I have had a hard time getting the girls to eat anything else since. Nikki had three bowls for lunch that day.

Shoo fly, don't bother me

I'm afraid this summer is going to be quite an ordeal for Nikki. With the weather warming up the bugs are starting to come out. The problem started simply enough about a week ago over breakfast. There was a fruit fly zooming around her while she ate her oatmeal. Hannah saw it and tried to scare it away by getting really close (which meant right in Nikki's face) and screaming at it. Well, I think Nikki was scared far more than the fruit fly was. Ever since then she has been terrified of flies. We tried to go for a walk after supper a few days ago and she completely freaked out when she stepped out of the garage. She kept crying, "Flies! Flies!" and was shaking all over. So, she went back in while we walked around the neighborhood (during which I almost stepped on a snake).

Last night she had a hard time going to sleep and stayed up playing in bed way too late. At about 9:30 pm we heard her start screaming hysterically, so I went in and she was standing at the foot of her bed just terrified. It took a while for her to calm down enough to tell me that she had seen a spider in her bed. It just so happens that I'm terrified of spiders, too. So, how am I supposed to calm her down when all of a sudden I feel like brushing off my back and hair and looking all around my feet to make sure the spider isn't on me? I tried my hardest to stay calm, though, and we searched all under her pillow and all through the blankets. It didn't matter -- she wouldn't lay down, and I couldn't take her out or Hannah would want to get out of bed, too, and then there would definitely be problems the next night getting them to bed. So, now that I've made a short story very long, I ended up laying beside her for a little bit and she was asleep in less than 5 minutes.

I'm a little torn between showing sympathy for her bug-phobia and telling her to get over it. I understand how she feels because I don't like them either, but come on ... a fly? It's too bad because we finally have a yard with lots of grass to play in, and I plan on spending a great deal of time out there this summer.