Recognition night

Tonight was Addie's first activity days recognition night. It was a living museum of female scripture characters and it was very cute.

These 4-yo little sisters were pretty cute too.

They could make something or dress up like their scripture hero. Addie chose to dress up.

She chose Abish. Her last line was "Abish was a great missionary, and I will be too!" It was cute. She wrote the whole thing herself, I only corrected her on minor embellishments and helped her remember the story. Other than that, all her. That Anne of Green Gables reading is really paying off.

Yesterday I was making dinner and i broke out Shelly's tomatoes. Totally reminded me of my sweet friend that I miss. Reminded me also of all the times I remembered Lana as I finished off marinades and salad dressings. Why do people have to move away?

This little lady. She was so sick, and since this weekend she's been super tired and still doesn't have a great appetite. She's a sweet little sickie though. On Monday she woke up happy and upbeat, but midway through breakfast she started whimpering and said "my forehead hurts!" After we sent the girls off to school we went right up to my bed and cuddled and she took a 3 1/2 hour nap. It was just what she needed, because after that she was fever free.

I have some regrets about not cuddling my babies as much as I should have when they were little little, but days like Monday ease that regret.

Sunday was the primary program. These kids and their teachers did awesome!

Laney was feeling well in the morning and didn't have a fever, so we took a chance and took her to church. Then she crashed in sacrament meeting. I asked if she wanted to do her part and she cried "no!" Poor baby. Her first program, and she said her part so cutely. 

On Sunday evening Jodie hosted a going away party for the Neilsons. Another family we are losing. Thank goodness there have been 5 new families moved in this past month! Yay for us!

On Saturday Sarah and I went for a walk. We walked Three Notch Trail and it was just gorgeous. Good friends and a good walk.

That night was Women's Conference. It was Addie's first one to go to, and it was sweet to have her there with me. I'm so exited for General conference weekend!

Frankie made herself a Nutella sandwich one day. She asked for chocolate chips, but I said Nutella was enough chocolate for her. She was busy sandwich making for a long time, and this is why. Butterfly sandwich with pb spots.

She's so sweet. And if you know my house really well, you'll know which room I was coming out of when she showed me. (;

Today has rained alllll day long. Rain and thunder. It's supposed to rain till Sunday. Good thing I enjoy a rainy day, and especially a rainy night. 

And one cute thing. Laney was playing dolls the other day and I heard her say "hi relief society girls! Do you love my shoes?!?" I love that relief society is a major part of her vocabulary. And I love that she's so very complementary. Because she doesn't just ask for compliments, she also dishes them out quite liberally. 

Skydiving, piano, and telling the truth

I swear I blinked and a week and a half went by, and nary a blog post to be had. How?? 

Addie is plugging away at her piano. She's learning things now that I didn't know, so I am enjoying learning with her.

Sometimes she works hard and it's easy. Sometimes not.

Little miss thang cannot tell a lie. And when she does, she makes this face. Love her.

Baby boy went to ocean city last weekend with Brian and Pablo. The goal of the weekend was to cross off a bucket list item for them and to go skydiving. Mission accomplished.

They had a great time! They stayed in 2 different hotels, night swam in the ocean, and all three jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet. All without adult supervision.

They had matching Maryland shirts, just like all little girl besties do. (; it's all in fun and I can totally get behind harmless fun like that.

Now he's planning a solo trip and trying to get me to come along. It's just not something I'm interested in!

Also:

*lanes was sick all weekend, including this morning. It wasn't until she woke up from her long nap this afternoon that she finally felt better for a sustained amount of time. I am grateful!

*it was a nice day to be inside all day. Laura came over as my vt'er and helped me fold and put away clothes, and then make my bed. Takes a real friend!

*the weather has finally cooled and there's a definite fall crispness in the air. I've been putting pumpkin oil into my oil warmer and the girls love it every time. 

*matt and I are listening to the debates. Ugghhhh. 

That's all I have time for. Just a quick check in. Hoping to catch up soon. 

Girls trip - flashback edition - part 2

That was a super silly night. We pranked eachother - someone's bra was frozen, someone's toothbrush hidden, someone got cold water poured on them in the shower (ahem, me). All in good fun. Sarah and I got a mad case of the giggles (never happens to me!) and couldn't sleep for the longest time. We also had some deep, friendship strengthening conversations. It was really a wonderful trip. I came out of my (cold) shower to these on my phone.

#nevergrowup

We stayed the night in Annapolis and spent the day in old town Annapolis that day.

We ate breakfast at Chic and Ruth's and it was super tasty. We ate all weekend, it was the best!

We ran into Ms. Maryland and Ms. Maryland Teen. We blended right in with them... who's who?!?

We shopped and ate Kilwins and played. Then we went to a movie and to eat at Cheesecake Factory. Oooh the food! All weekend long we were filled with tasty food!

All too soon it was time to head home to our families and responsibilities, which are wonderful and we are all so uniquely blessed. But all those blessings make our solo time that much more special. Love these special friends. 

Girls trip - flashback edition

I lost one of my best Maryland friends in April when Shelly left. We decided we had to have one last getaway together, and amazingly we found a weekend pretty easily. I really wanted to go to the temple together, it's just such a special experience, and i was grateful that everyone agreed! First stop - Cafe Rio!

Then we went to the temple and did a wonderful session.

We stayed in the celestial room for a long time talking about the temple, our families, our struggles, and questions. It was a really beautiful day.

I can't remember, but something was funny. Probably just trying to fit all of our heads into the picture.

Love these ladies.

Leisa, who also moved that month, wasn't able to make it on our trip. But since she just moved a few miles from the temple we went and took a picture in front of what would have been her new house had things worked out. Turns out they got a different house, and we've all enjoyed a play date there and will in the future enjoy temple kid swaps.

We decided we wanted to see some cherry blossoms, so off we went! It was a beautiful evening.

We each took about 2 million pictures.

And even found someone to take pictures of us.

I heart DC.

After our blossoms we went to dinner at Shake Shack, another favorite. Two favorites in one day = heaven.

It was a fabulous girls trip. This group has never had a bad girls trip though, so there's that.

Day 2 to come. 

Mid week

I finally felt well enough to wake up early and at least go for a walk. The sky and sunrise were gorgeous.

Frankie was the star student the other day and we loved how all the kids wrote about how she has a sister in collij and kollidge. Lexi and I laughed and laughed, so precious!

On Tuesday we went to Mccombs to celebrate Maggie's 13th birthday. There were several other families there and the food was super yummy. We love our Mccombs.

Wednesday was picture day! We got up early and showered and did hair. They were ready!

I told Addie to move her head up and she gave me this look before she aquiesced.

There we go!

That night Frankie had her first tap/ballet class. I messed up the times and we got there an hour early (Addie's Thursday time) so we quickly ran to target for leotards and other "essentials." One of our favorite places.

She loved her class! And it was so fun because Lorraine gets to be one of her teachers. She had already texted Chris and told her how cute Frankie is, so she's excited too.

Tom and Bon posted their gender reveal which I let the girls watch on our way home. It's a boy! 4 boys, so crazy! We talked about name ideas - Addie likes Hank or Tom jr, Frankie likes Francis, and Delaney is partial to Cupcake. I think they are all solid choices. Frankie wanted me to snap this shot of the sunset as we drive into the lg to send to Uncle Tom for a congratulations.

When we got home we found our cookies and canvas paints had arrived! We are so excited!

I've been busy planning the fall fundraiser, a wine and design type event but for kids and with cookies. For two years that I've been PTA treasurer I've been very firm on my "no extra anything" stance. But this was my idea and I want it to go well. So I volunteered to co-chair it. It's been crazy busy with beginning of year treasurer duties on top of trying to figure out a new, huge event. Registrations are slowly trickling in and I am keeping fingers and toes crossed that everything goes well!

And I thought this was hilarious! And so true.

Love this. Love Mrs. G. Love positivity.

Routine Monday

Another installment in my "sleeping kids series." It's one of my favs.

I'm thinking of taking a sleeping picture of each one every night for a month and actually making a silly book for them. Maybe let them caption each picture. It will be fun and cute.

My sillies sleep without blankets most of the time. Summer only, of course, but what is protecting them from the bad guys when they don't even cover with a sheet? Crazy girls.

We had our first official day of piano today. Not like the unofficial start date last week when i flubbed it and sent them with daddy on the wrong day.

I like this picture because there is Frankie enjoying the fruit of her labors, (ring pop) and Addie in the background working hard for hers. It was actually really nice because Matt was home to keep Delaney, and while one played, I did homework with the other one. Nice.

When we got home we were immediately summoned outside for a surprise.

Baby bug learned how to ride a bicycle. With no training wheels! Matt has long been singing the praises of balance bikes, but it is pretty amazing to me that this 4 year old who has never ridden a bike with training wheels just picked up bike riding one afternoon. I'm pretty impressed.

Sisters had to ride along for support.

Frankie on Addie's old bike, Delaney on Frankies. They said Frankie had the grandma bike and lanes the baby one.

Addie had to ride too. She was looking at me to see if I'd make her put her helmet on. She wore the helmet.

Lexi and Cade had lunch with grandpa during their visit to Cade's family in Oregon. Gramps approves! We shall see.

This is what our scripture time looks like.

Yup, that's a bag on her head.

And more Class Dojo fun. Little budding readers!

Today was also a kid swap day. I cleaned my messy kitchen and spent some time rs'ing and pta'ing. And that was pretty much it. Not feeling super accomplished, but it was all necessary, so it's nice that I was able to get it done.