Betty graduates from Kindergarden

I'm sorry I wasn't able to get more pictures. I got there early and grabbed an isle seat about halfway back...but then about 20 parents stood right in the front of the isle the WHOLE time (If anyone reading this ever has a question about doing this...it's rude. Either get down lower or take the picture and go back to your own seat)...so this was the best I got as she was walking up the isle.

The program was lovely and the kids sang and danced to several songs then got their certificates. After, they had a party in their room with cake and all kinds of goodies. Her teacher said she is more then ready to start first grade and we are going to keep reading and practicing through the summer. I'm so pleased with her progress this year. She is growing to be such a nice, sweet, smart girl.

Katie turns two

For this picture you have to imagine her popping her two pointer fingers up and saying "TWO" in her cute little voice. It's pretty darn sweet :)

So, what is katie like as a two year old? She is a handful! She has more attitude then any one person should have...particularly in such a little package. It's more attitude then can be contained. Even when she is completely still and quiet (....like when she's sleeping, as that is the only time she is still or quiet) her little body exudes attitude. It's really very endearing. She also get's a strong stubborn streak...I was talking about this with...Beth or Lydia. Sorry I can't remember which one..but they were saying how that side of the family is so stubborn and Katie has it too. Iwas saying that it's interesting because, Chris and Katie both have stubbornness in a way I wouldn't expect...they don't have to be stubborn for very long because they have the gift(? is that the right word?) of persuasion. Either of them can just charm what they want out of anyone! I think I'm going to make him deal with telling her no to things when she gets to be a teenager. Serve him right :)

Her words are so fun, too. These are some Katie words we love:

Fun = Mun
Funny = Munny
Aimee = meemee
Tickle = giggle
pickle = giggle
seagull = giggle
Get up = gup
come on = mon

"no" is her favorite word right now. No matter what you say, she will respond "no" before anything else. "is it ninight time?" "no", do you want lunch? "no", would you like candy? "no....uh hu!" (she won't say yes, it's always "uh hu!")

We had two parties for her and got to use the tiki lounge for both. It was a lovely time, and so nice to have space to have people over and not be so squished in like our old place.

Fun with Aimee

Don't you just LOVE this kid???!!! I mean, how can you not? She is all about fun and "cool" on her own terms.

Spring Dresses

Grandma H. sent new spring dresses for the girls, and they LOVE them! See how cute they are. Aimee and Betty loved to twirl in them, but Katie couldn't twirl fast enough to make her's lift up...so she helped it along :)

I think I need to have Uncle Grady just follow my kids around with a camera all the time...They look all cute and sweet and lovable in all these pictures (not that they aren't those things in real life...but after telling them to quiet down and go to sleep 4 or 10 times, it's hard to remember those qualities...)

Banana?

I guess banana is hard to say lol.

Funny...

So, Mia has been hanging out at our house today. At lunch, both little girls wanted an apple so I just handed each of them one and told them to sit at the table with them...they were mostly good at that, but I did have to keep reminding them to take the apples back to the table. As we were winding down lunch stuff, I checked diapers (as they were walking around with their apples again...) Katie needed a change, Mia did not. So, I say "Mia, take the apple to the table...(they both head to the table) Katie, lay down for a diaper change. (they both turn to the carpet)" lol let's try this again..."Mia, sit at the table (both turn to the table)...Katie, lay down (both head to the carpet)" Silly girls...so, the third time..."Mia, apple at the table please" (they both walk to the table and I grab Katie and lay her down for a diaper change) And of course "Good listening girls!" lol

Cute kids

No pictures in this post...just updates on what the kids are up to and some cute stuff they do...

Aimee is doing great. She is always so happy and loves life so much. She is doing great in school...she is reading and doing her math near the top of her class. She loves to go out and play with friends and is turning into a real social butterfly.

Betty is constantly wanting to be in charge, which can sometimes make her a great helper (and sometimes put her right in the way of what I'm trying to get done...) We were going for a drive the other day and it was getting late and Katie was grumping about being in her seat, so Betty stepped in and sang all the verses of "hush little baby"...I don't even know where she learned it all, but she did a great job, then sang it again and by the time she was done, Katie was relaxed and falling asleep. Betty is also doing great in school and loves her teacher and her class.

Katie is learning a ton right now and is in a really fun stage. She's learned several signs for words, which is nice because when we teach her a new concept, like "sorry", she can get the hand sign pretty quick and then work on the word as she goes. My favorite that she uses a lot right now is "please". The sign is an open palm in a circular motion on your chest. It's so cute to see her do it because she pokes her tummy way out when she does it...like she want's to make sure you can see it. When she is upset like she doesn't want to nap and is crying she will look at you with the saddest eyes and do the sign and say "Meeeeeeeeee!" (her version of please) It's the sweetest thing ever and takes a ton of willpower not to give in to whatever she wants lol. We usually encorage her to say please when she wants something. Today I asked if she could "ask nicely", so I got the please sign with "Niiiiii" lol (her attempt at "nice")

More fun Katie "talking" stories...

I'd had a bear of a day so we decided on happy meals for dinner. On our way to the drive though the other two girls were jabbering with what they wanted, and Katie started adding her order over the top of them with loud "jabber jabber jabber Frefries, jabber jaber jaber kin (chiken), jabber jabber jabber" lol

Favorite word she says right now "Money" (which means "funny")..Its the best after she's been laughing cause it comes out as a little sigh. She's also stated saying "Mon" for "fun"

Chris' Birthday party

Sunday we had a birthday party for Chris. It wasn't anything fancy...we had his sisters' and their families over for Zuppa. We were a little packed in this small space, but it was so nice to have everyone together. I don't think we do it often enough!

Lydia and Beth were noticing how much Betty and Laurel look alike. They really do! and we thought we'd show everyone how beautiful they are.

Just so you can see Katie

She seems to be getting bigger and more grown up all the time, so I thought I'd post a quick video to show off some of her new skills :) Some of her signs are a little off, like doing "food" when she says "more"("Moe-e" lol, so cute!)...but since she usually is only asking for more food, we know what she means :)

It's that time of year again...

Resolutions!

Everyone else is doing it, so I figured I might as well write down and make my resolutions for this year public as well :) Then I'll feel more accountable or something :p

So, this next year...

Our family is going to work on reading the Book of Mormon. I've created a scripture wall where we are trying to create visuals for each chapter to hang up. We are also keeping a reading chart where we can put stickers to see how well we're doing, and we have a monthly goal written down with a reward for finishing it...this month, it's to get though first Nephi and we'll have a root beer float party at the end.

I want to do (finish) something at least once a week that makes me smile. This week, I'm going to work on this little flock of birds. I made one to see how it would turn out the other day. At first I thought I should have enlarged the pattern, but once I got it stuffed, I fell in love! The one little guy I have makes me smile HUGE! I'm excited to see what a flock on a branch over the computer desks will do. I have a small list of sewing and art projects that I'm really excited about, and I want to feel like I'm getting through them this year instead of continuing to add to them...I'm tired of feeling like I'll smile someday...I'm going to start creating my smiles on a more regular basis. Plus I'd like to get my craft blog going and I hope this will help me breath some life into it.

I'm going to be better about keeping the house cleaner....at least clean enough that I feel we can function in it. I've never been very good at keeping a clean house, and I don't see that changing overnight...or even over the course of the year. But I'd like to focus on doing better...things like keeping the kitchen clean enough that I can cook in it without needing to clean part of it first, and making sure that the clothes we need are at least clean and dry when we need them. I know that may not seem like a huge goal, but it will be a big improvement on my stress level if I can stay on top of it better then I have.

I'm going to work on being more patient with my kids. I'm going to focus on answering their questions better instead of saying "*sigh* don't worry about it". I'm going to tell them "later" much less often. And I'm going to take the opportunity to stop whatever I'm doing to let them show me what they are doing every time they ask.

I'm going to find a way to be more active. Last year I tried to start running...but I can't start with the hills around our house, so it felt like a big production to get out and go to the park to run...a 30 min run would turn into an hour and half of my time, and it fizzled out pretty quick. Right now, I'm walking Betty to and from school daily, and that helps, but I'd like to get some more exercise. I'd really like to get an elliptical, but we'll have to see if we can fit it into our tax return budget. So, right now, the exercise goal is in the planning stages, but I'll do whatever I can to make it happen.

So that is my list of goals for this year. I hope to keep on top of them.