Texts

I've been having a great time collecting the funny things the kids have said the last few days and texting them to Roy.  Here's a short collection:

• Abby: "I used to be a famous bottom dancer."
• Sam watching a motocross video & Abby comes to watch & says, "Ummm I don't get it" at the same time Sam says "cool!!!"
• Sam just came up to me and said, "Hi Mommy!  I'm a prophet!
• 
• Sam has been calling Abby "sweetie" lately.  I overheard this conversation: "Come on, sweetie.  Follow me!"  Abby: "I AM NOT YOUR SWEETIE!"  Sam: "Yes you are, sweetie!"
• While watching an Ice Age short, Abby said, "Ahhh, the glory of nuts!"
• With a very serious look on his face, Sam just said, "I'm not scared of panda bears anymore!"
• Abby just got mad at Sam and yelled, "Samuel David the Lamanite!"

Here, There, and Everywhere

We had a couple really, really hot weeks recently.  Thank goodness we have air conditioning, fun toys, and kids who get along remarkably well!  Abby and Sam are obsessed with Lydia...if she's awake, she is in on the fun.  And Lydia loves all the attention and often begins squawking if she wants their attention.  Oh, how quickly babies learn!

Lydia is starting to be interested in playing with toys.  She has a butterfly hanging from her car seat  handle and she talks to it, bats it around, and smiles when she sees it.  We've only found one other toy she likes as much as her butterfly friend.  It's not this microphone, though.  I had to take this picture because the kids were doing performances with it and Lydia got a turn.  She was extra vocal that day so this echo microphone made her even noisier.  She got surprised every time her shriek echoed back to her. :)

We decided to take a long weekend and enjoy the 4th of July in Williamsburg with Grandma and Baba Z.  We started the (hot) morning by enjoying the parade in Yorktown.  We perched the strollers and lawn chairs at the top of the hill.  Grandma even got quoted in the Daily Press (start at the 5th paragraph).  She's famous!

Please notice how patriotic the kids are.  I thought it was adorable!

While in Williamsburg, we enjoyed lots of indoor and wet time.  It was blazing HOT.  It was nice to be in different surroundings so the kids weren't going crazy in our house for the second week in a row.  We have some major outdoor kids and the change of scenery was perfect.  We had fun at the swimming pool, the sprinklers, playing Angry Birds on Roy's Kindle that has been commandeered by Sam, and playing at the Bouncy House.  On a side note, I've got to do a shout-out to my parents who gave Abby and Sam the Angry Birds shirts.  They match at least once a week.  Thanks!

And now for another update on my cute baby girl.  Lydia is growing so fast!  She hurdled over the new baby stage and now participates in conversations by squealing, rolls from back to tummy, holds her head up like a champ, and always tries to sit up instead of lounge on a lap.  She is quick to smile, cuddles when she's tired, has started laughing to get attention, and sleeps through the night.  Yep, she's the perfect baby alright.

Lydia's Baby Blessing

The day of Lydia's baby blessing was beautiful.  It was so nice to have lots of family and friends around as we celebrated the beginning of Lydia's life.  She is wearing the same dress that Abby and Freebairn cousins Brynne and Brylie wore for their baby blessings and the same hat that lots of family on my side wore,  including me, and has the blanket made for Grandma Z's baby blessing.  I love when we can add more history to the family story!

Look at that proud big sister!

I love our beautiful, peace-bringing angel baby!  We are incredibly grateful for our Lydia!

Ohhh

This is what happens almost every night after we put Sam in bed:

(from the top of the stairs)
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." 
"Yes, Sam?"
Then comes the excuse for getting up (water, lost car, something scary, etc).  We say to go back to bed.
"Ohhhh!"  (the whiny, that's not fair sort of oh)

Then the slow sliding down the stairs, thinking if he moves slowly we won't hear the bump of his body on each stair.
"Sam, what do you need?"
"Mommy lay down with you?"
"In a minute, buddy"
"Ohhhh!  I'm sad now!"

You gotta love and hate 2 and even feel both at the same time.

Happy Fathers Day, etc

We love you, Roy and Far Far and Baba Z!  Thanks for being great dads!                                                                                               (This DAD letter idea idea was stolen from Becky and I've been waiting for 2 years to use it.  Thank goodness for a creative sister!)

We blessed Lydia last weekend and it was so nice to have both sets of grandparents in town for the occasion.  The baby blessing will have it's own post filled with pictures, but here's a sneak peek of three generations on my side.

It's really lame that of the five full days my parents were here I took just one picture on my camera.  I'm so bad.  But we had a great time and visited Hidden Pond (aka "Turtle Park" in our family), the zoo, the sprayground, parks, watched "Rio", went shopping (Freebairn female tradition), and had a fun time.  

Please note that all my kids are wearing orange stripes.  Yes, we are that coordinated...or it was just a good day for orange. :)

And on a completely unrelated note, we wrapped up preschool for the year with our good friends.  It was such a fun group of preschoolers and their wild, crazy, fun younger brothers!  Abby was spoiled with great lessons, fun field trips, and a set time with friends each week.  She loved it.  Sam got to have fun playing with other boys and learn how to play with friends.  We wrapped up the school year with a trip to River Farm Garden one week and a swim time the next week.  I love River Farm!  Check out these cute kids!  

   

 Abby in her natural state, surrounded by friends. :)

 Sam in the mud.  Of course.

 Sweet Lydia.  How can you not fall immediately in love with that face?

Memorial Day Fun

We finally got a picture with all 5 of us in it!  Aren't we cute? :)

We kicked off summer by doing the traditional activities of beach, pool, and BBQ.  I loved it!  It's so nice to be able to spend time outside with family!

Okay, Sam is just looking so grown up these days.  Look at him! 

 Roy spent all his pool time helping one or two kids swim (or cart them around, as the case may be)

 Proof that Lydia did in fact join us for the weekend :)

On Tuesday we headed up to Baltimore and met up with two of my BYU roommates and their families.  It was so fun to see Steph and Lori again!  It's been way, way too long and it was fun to catch up, even in the sweltering heat.  Our kids got along, the two husbands in attendance got to chat, and it was so great to see each other again.  It's amazing how there are people in our lives where you are just like a family...that's how I feel about my group of BYU girls.  They are my sisters...it's always nice to have a few extra sisters around.

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

We had a nephew's third birthday party today that included a train ride.  I just had to share how cute the kids were on the ride! :)

As we were all attempting to eat dinner, it was chaos.  Five adults wrangling six kids and finishing dinner led to lots of "time for dinner"s.  Sam waited patiently at the table for several minutes before loudly saying, "AMEN!"  There were several doubled over adults.  Funny boy.