- She has this rock collection. Because we are such fabulous parents (who can't say no), it has moved with us two times. Now, in our defense, we were on this awful moving streak for a while and the collection started with only a few rocks. When we moved to this place, Abby got a small box to put her favorite rocks in. Turns out they all fit. We have slowly added more rocks over the last year, but she still has a pretty nice collection of rocks she has deemed as special even though most of us wouldn't even notice them. And, being Abby, she has special names for each one and notices when one is misplaced or missing. I digress. The other day she was going through her rock collection and sighed, "I'm just obsessed with nature!"
- We ate some yummy cheesy potato wedges for dinner the other night. I was trying to be sneaky and get the kids to eat potatoes because they aren't usually lovers of potatoes. I had both Abby and Sam put all the toppings in a baggie, throw in the potato wedges, and shake and toss that bag around until our little chefs declared them perfect. So when we were sitting down, all nicely chatting about our day, and Abby asked what we were eating, I thought I had lost my battle of the potato. So I told her, "Potato wedges. You know, what you helped toss in the bag." "Oh," she replied, "That sounds like potato wedgies." We laughed the whole night.
We asked Sam to go get his pajamas on for bed. He got a pair of my jeans, put them on backwards, and tried really hard to convince us he was ready for bed.
Sam:
*Disclaimer: It isn't that Sam is the most loved child, he just is at the stage of being hysterical most of the day. As a result, I keep very close records of what he says because, frankly, when he's not being funny, I need to remember that those moments of pull-your-hair-out frustration are rare in comparison.
- One of the sweetest experiences of my being a parent is listening to my children pray. I love to hear them as they sincerely express gratitude for their blessings and ask for help. Occasionally, I have to hold in laughter mid-prayer. Tonight in our family prayer at bedtime, Sam prayed for Santa. Tonight was one of those hold-in-laughter nights.
- We have been reading the Book of Mormon as a family each night before bed. The one we have has some great illustrations and pictures, which has been great for teaching our kids (thanks, Mom and Dad!). A few nights ago, Roy pointed out a picture of a white-bearded Lehi and continued reading the story. Sam burst in mid-sentence with, "That's not Lehi--that's Santa!" Are you sensing a theme?
- Roy was recently telling the kids the story of Samuel the Lamanite (a Book of Mormon prophet). For those not familiar with the story, Samuel is teaching the people while on the city wall and many of the people were throwing rocks and shooting arrows at him. Our Sam interrupted Roy's retelling of the story and insisted on finishing. We were really proud as he was spot-on with the retelling...until he got to the part about people throwing missiles at Samuel.
- We were eating Cheetos at lunch the other day (awesome mom points right there) when Sam held up a Cheeto and said, "Oooh, it's a ghost!" in a spooky voice. All the sudden, he took a big bite and giggled, "I'm eating the ghost's bottom!"
Lydia:
- Lydia doesn't say a whole lot yet, but she is certainly funny. If Sam is within reaching distance, she reaches for him. Somehow she can always manage to pull his very-short hair. She waves at herself in the mirror and waves to us as we walk into and out of a room. She adores Abby and always has a smile ready for anyone who happens to look at her.
- As with so many young children, Lydia is extremely interested in technology. She grabs for my phone whenever she can. I love that she will hold it up to her face and say, "Hi da" every time.
- Lydia is 10 months old, but she doesn't crawl more than a few inches. She scoots on her bottom with this awkward-looking leg formation and can spin to get whatever she wants. She is really interested in walking and squirms to be put on the ground holding our hands so she can practice. She pulls herself up to stand when she can get herself close enough to big objects. Unfortunately she doesn't have the best luck in picking stable objects--so far she's gone for toys with wheels and a play table that turned out to be a little tippy.
We feel incredibly blessed to have such happy kids. Life really is beautiful!
