Pictures!

I just love this picture of Roy and Lydia teaming up to bring the scooter down the hill in our neighborhood.  Miss Lydia is turning into this very independent toddler.  She talks so much now and wow, does she have opinions!  She is so good with noticing when a family member is sad or in need of love and is the first one over to lean in and say, "Muah!"  She tries hard to copy both Abby and Sam and is fairly convinced that she is another big kid.  She also is rarely seen without having a baby (or a good substitute for a baby) in her hands, being pushed in a stroller, or at least within reach.

Sam really loves his gym class.  It's basically a PE class for 3 year olds.  It's been good for him to practice listening to adults and follow directions.  We have piles of funny stories and sayings from Sam.  He can frustrate me and yet I can't stay mad at him for long because he is so lovable.  He loves to grab my cheeks and say, "You. Be. Still." while he starts kissing my face, mostly aiming for the lips.  It makes me laugh quickly.  His prayers have also gotten very sweet and he has started to think about what he is praying for.  I just wish I knew what he was thinking when he prayed for Darth Vader last night.

 

Lydia and Sam have really been able to develop their friendship since Abby started school.  They pay a lot more attention to each other, even if it's not always the best kind of attention.  They have this funny game where they get as close to each other's faces as they can while making weird noises.  This picture looks a little strange, but I promise that's what they were playing!

I love the colors we get to see here in the Fall.  We've just begun our traditional Fall festivities of visiting a pumpkin patch and jumping in leaves:

Oh, we miss our long days with Abby!  Abby loves kindergarten so much!  She now knows everyone's names and can read each name in her class.  She knows stories and facts about each kid in her class and has several new best friends.  It's fun to be able to hear about what she does in music, PE, art, and library each week.  She also gets pulled out to do some advanced academics during the class rest time and she loves that.  She gets to go with one of her best buddies, Lance.  Abby is awesome and tells us stories about her day all afternoon and evening, not surprising since she is very chatty.    

Roy watches while the big kids pile leaves on each other and Lydia draws with chalk.

People I Love

Here are some pictures of these little people I have dedicated my life to.  I love them so much!

Sam is hanging like a monkey from the bars in his gym class.  You might have to squint to avoid the mirror's glare :)

Lydia is suddenly a toddler who loves being a little mommy.  This naptime, she had 4 babies in bed with her.

Painting project!

My girls.  I love them!

Oh, Sam.  I love this child. 

 Play-doh Angry Birds that Sam and I created one day during quiet time.

Lydia's new game is to open every drawer in the kitchen and then run away laughing.  (Please disregard the extra stuff laying around.  Amazingly, we aren't clean every second :)

Sam and Grandma reading "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat"

Abby's school picture that I am way too cheap to actually purchase.  Isn't she the cutest ever?

Two cute cuddlebugs.

Life Lately

I just have to brag a little about these cute, funny, smart kids:

• We listen to a few different stories on car rides.  Most days, the kids prefer listening to stories over music.  Lately, I have realized just how many times we have listened to the stories.  When we listen to "Cars", Lydia can accurately yell Lightening McQueen's line, "Mack! Maaaaack!"  When we listen to Dr. Seuss's ABC's, she says several of the extra-emphasized letters.
• We were walking and a shirtless runner ran by.  At full volume (of course), Sam asked, "Oh no!  What happened to his jammies?"  "Ummm, those are his running shorts," I answered.  "Oh," he replied. "What happened to his shirt?"  And of course this is the one time a runner isn't plugged in to some sort of device.  I just tried to pick up the pace and get as far away as possible.
• Sam was refusing to finish his dinner the other night.  I was showing him all his food and reminding him that he better eat his food if he wants strong muscles.  His smart aleck remark, "Just my bottom has strong muscles!"
• In Abby's class, the special helper for the day is called the Happy Apple.  Every day after school, Abby runs over and asks, "Guess who the Happy Apple was today?"  Every day leading up to today (it was finally her day), she would tell me who the Happy Apple and then say, "I'm so glad it was his/her turn!  He/She loved being the helper!"  While she was anxious for her own turn, she loved seeing her kindergarten friends so happy.  I'm so proud of her!

Sam attempting to share the iPhone.  Lydia attempting to maintain control. 

Dirt!  Even better: baseball dirt!

Smile!

Abby's walking-to-school buddies!

Sam doing an Angry Birds puzzle with preschool friend Ben!

How can you not smile with this cute face staring back at you?

Pictures and Stories

After we walk Abby to school in the mornings, Lydia and Sam are more than ready for a short stint at the park.  They are always so happy playing and are working on figuring out how to play just the two of them without their ring-leader in charge. :)

We went all together to a park on Saturday morning.  It was so fun to see them all three playing.  I'm such a sucker when I see the three happy together.  We've missed Abby during the school day so the time they have together is even sweeter.  Instead of playing, we had to start out in the dirt doing drawing together.  Funny kids.  Actually, the same thing happens on the way to and from school in the big garden patch at the front entrance.

Sam started preschool 2 weeks ago.  He was so happy to have a backpack and go to school.  Look at that smile!  My favorite Sam moment from a couple weeks ago was when he said, "You know what's a funny word?  Eviscerated!"  His mind is going to keep us entertained.

And never to be left out is Lydia, posing on her first day with only Mom.  That was weird not to have anyone really talking back to me :)  Don't get me wrong, Lydia's chatty, but it's a lot of back and forth to make sure I know what she's saying!  Actually, just to brag for a minute, Lydia has started singing a lot more lately.  Love it!

 Here's Sam's preschool crew.  We hosted B week and everyone wore blue and brought bears.  We are going to have a good time laughing and learning together this year!

Serious faces

Silly faces

Sam also started his sports class at our rec center this past week.  He had a great time, but when we asked him at the end what his favorite part was, he got sad and said he had no fun at all.  When pressed further, I discovered that he didn't have fun because the class was too short.  Thank goodness we have 9 more sessions!

More Pictures!

Happiness Embodied.

 Even the bribery of a cookie didn't produce a smile from Sam.  Stinker.

Sam's new favorite reptile: a blue-tailed skink.

 Not to ever be left out, Lydia had to pose with the snake.

Abby all ready for school.  We're glad she loves it, but we sure miss her!

Malaysia Trip in July

Michelle finally guilted me in to writing about my Malaysia trip I took this last July to attend the Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.  The pictures below represent the highlights of my trip.

And you thought the 'Cars 2's portrayal of the bathrooms in Japan were far fetched.  This was the bathroom in the airport.

Here was the view from my hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia which is on the island of Borneo.

On Sunday, I managed to find an LDS church to attend and in the branches over seas in predominantly Muslim countries where I grew up we met in other peoples' homes. I was surprised that in this Muslim country they had their own building.  I happened to luck out because the 3rd Sunday of every month (the Sunday I was there) was all in English.

I always love finding the local gag gift that tourists always buy.  Stuffed toad purses... now that is thinking outside the box.

A view from the airport towards the interior of the island to give you a better sense of what it looked like.