Geriatric Matriarch Expires after Caribou Related Vehicular Homicide

This is one of the girls favorite Christmas songs. We can't hardly get through a meal without one of them breaking out into song. They sing it to just about anyone who comes to visit. For some reason Grandma Leslie finds their enthusiasm particularly alarming.

kitties

I saw this comic on the frequently fantastic xkcd.com. The remainder of the post has nothing do to with the comic whatsoever. Really. I'm serious.

Work Retreat

Just before Halloween we went on a retreat with my work. They invited the whole family and we got to spend the weekend hanging out. We went on a hayride, soaked in the hot tub, painted faces, went to Lagoon, slept and ate way too much. Fun to get away for a while.

I took Sydney on the white roller coaster at Lagoon. As we climbed the first hill she remarked that sometimes she gets scared of heights. She was too scared to scream the first drop but started to give an ear piercing shriek each hill after that. Halfway through she told me she wanted to get off. She told us that it was fun when it was over and "I NEVER want to do that again!"

Halloween!

Here are some fun pictures from our Halloween night. Sydney was a very scary vampire. With all her make-up on, we had a hard time recognizing her. She ran around hissing at everything, especially our cats. Brynn was a beautiful mermaid. She loved that I let her wear eye make-up and lip gloss. Very grown-up. This was really her first year trick-or-treating, because of some poorly timed illnesses in the past. The concept that people were giving her candy was fantastic to her. She was galloping and cheering between houses. Grandma Julie and Grandma Leslie went with them. They said she was hard to keep up with. Later on, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jon came to visit. We loved their costumes. They made the costumes themselves! Becca, Derek, and James also came to visit. James was the cutest little pea pod. We had quite the party!

New Haircuts

The girls' hair has been getting quite long and unruly lately. So we went to see our fabulous Aunt Ashley. She worked her magic on both Syd and Brynn, and this was the result! They are so cute! The girls love it because they are so styl'in, Shawn loves it because he can now call them "Naked Necks", and I love it because it takes all of three minutes to whip each head to perfection. Thanks Ash! We love you!

A Load in the Pants

So yesterday, Brynn was happily playing with her Little People toys. She came walking into the room, and as she walked, she was making this banging sound. I asked her "What is that sound?" She said, very matter-of-factly, "I wanted to move my animals so I put them up my pants." You can't really tell from the picture, but her pants were indeed bulging with all sorts of little animals.

So after she got to where she was going, we emptied out the pants (you can imagine what that required), and she was indeed carrying quite a, umm, load in her pants!

The Pumpkin Walk

Every year there is a local pumpkin walk in North Logan. People make scenes out of pumpkins, and them they display them at the park. My favorite scene this year was Sesame Street. The girls really liked the character cutouts. Some of them were hilarious. Afterwards we went to McDonalds and got an ice cream cone. I don't know which part was the biggest hit, the pumpkins or the ice cream, but we had a fun day!

Pedicures

Last night (Thursday night) we watched Survivor. Daddy was off at a meeting so I decided we should do something girly. So while we watched Survivor (we LOVE that show), I gave the girls foot rubs and painted their little toenails. They picked their own colors. As you can see, they were going for a multi-colored effect. And watching TV helped them sit still while I painted!

The Ladies of the House

So the girls and I were within 3 minutes of walking out the door to go to Sam's Club. (Mom, Shanna, and I were going on our annual Halloween candy run), when out of the bedroom comes these two ladies dressed to the nines. I had to laugh because of the way they were prancing around, so proud of their ensembles. So we took a quick picture, then we were off to the store. By the way the candy run was a huge success. We were all a little sick afterwards.

Halloween Decorations

We decorated for Halloween tonight during FHE. We don't have a lot of decorations really, but thought we'd post a few of our favorites.















The bugs still creep Syd and Brynn out pretty good. At least they'll reluctantly touch them this year. Last year they hated going to the grocery store because there was a large rubber spider on a display by the milk.


As for the ghost. He reacts to loud noises. So the girls love shouting (somehow even more than usual) to set him off. While Syd know exactly what he is, she still doesn't like going near him when he is howling.

Maiden (and only) Voyage

Sydney made a boat from a cardboard egg carton.


















Unfortunately, as you can see, the boat wasn't as water tight as she hoped.











Fortunately she was still smiling when she wadded it up.

Introducing Number 3

No name yet. No gender yet. But due in April.

First Day of Preschool for Brynn

Brynn had her first day of preschool last Wednesday and her second today. She kept trying to get Mindy to take her early because she couldn't wait. I know she is having fun but all I've been able to get out of her is that she had crackers for a snack last week and animal cookies today. The rest just seems to be a blur.

Ballerina Princesses

What more can I say?

Slip 'N Slide

Shawn's brother Bart and his wife Katie gave the girls a slip 'n slide for their birthdays. While their cousin Ian was up visiting, we pulled it out and they all had a blast.

Not the most aggresive bunch of slip 'n slidders I've seen, but they'll do.

Bike Rides

We went on a bike ride for FHE the other night. We went around the block. Brynn did really well. It was the first time she had been clear around the block. Syd wanted to just take off and leave us in the dust. Shawn and I had to pump up our bike tires because our bikes get ridden so much! (ha, ha)

Water Fight!

I came home from meetings yesterday to find Mindy and the girls soaking wet in the backyard. They'd been out in the backyard when Sydney "kind of on purpose" sprayed Mindy across her belly with the hose. Pretty soon they had two hoses and multiple buckets going and drenched each other completely. Luckily I was still in my Suit or they'd have drug me into the fray. It was all Sydney could do to resist though. Poor Brynn was purple and had a full body shiver going on, but that didn't dampen her smile. They all stripped down in the garage and headed in for warm baths / shower.

When the daddy is away the girls DO play!

Our Invalid

Our kitty, Jack, got into a fight and banged up his back leg pretty good. He wouldn't leave it alone to let it heal, so we had to put an Elizabethan hood on him. To say the least, he was not happy! But he has been getting lots of attention and babying, so I don't feel too bad for him. He is taking a nap in this picture.

Sydney's First Day of School

Syd had her first day of first grade yesterday. I think it was a success. She came home happy. The first thing she told me was that she got TWO recesses. Very cool. She also thought eating school lunch and riding the bus were great. She likes her teacher, which is good. Brynn is a little bit of a lost soul without her sister. She starts preschool after Labor Day.