January

In October during Red Ribbon Week which was the week of Halloween, the school had a coloring contest.  The theme was I'd rather _______ than do drugs.  Mia was very intent on winning so she chose I'd rather play with my friends than do drugs and drew a picture of herself playing with friends.  Chloe entered as well but I don't remember what she chose.  Tyler decided on I'd rather play with a black widow spider than do drugs.  He didn't actually write on it at all though.  It just had a drawing of a black spider.  He turned it in and I didn't think much of it.  While I was at a doctor's appointment, Lance's Mom was here and she got a call from the school letting us know Tyler was one of the three kindergartener winners!  He was super excited.  Mia was not happy when she found out he won and she didn't.  Her exact words were, "All of that work for nothing!"  The prize for the kids who won was a donut, a Monster's University cup with some candy, a bag of certificates for free items at local restaurants as well as the opportunity to go through a fire truck, ambulance and police car.  I had Isaac with me when we attended his rewards ceremony so he and Tyler had a great time going in and out of the vehicles. 

 

In December Tyler lost his first tooth.  It came out on Christmas Eve.  The tooth fairy and Santa Claus both made it to our house.  His second tooth came out on January 1st.  We left to go to my sister's house on the 2nd.  After we got there, his sisters were asking if the tooth fairy came.  When he told them no, I was pretty surprised.  I asked him if he was sure and he insisted the tooth fairy didn't come.  Of course I knew the tooth fairy had come, but it was frustrating to not be able to prove it!   When we came home Sunday, I made sure to go help him find his reward from the tooth fairy. 

 

Gabe loves cheese.  Whenever he sees cheese, he wants some.  I was making quesadillas for dinner one night when he snatched the chunk of cheese off of the counter while my back was turned!  He was so proud of himself as he ran off to devour his prize.

 

Gabe is quickly picking up new words.  He loves to play peek-a-boo and he says "oo-a-oo".  It's pretty adorable.  He also loves to turn in circles and get himself dizzy until he falls over, then he gets up and does it again. 

 

At church in December, the primary (the classes for the kids) had the nursery kids who would be coming into primary in January (those who had turned three) come in and they would sing Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam with them.  Whenever they say sunbeam, they jump.  Since Isaac refuses to stay in nursery by himself, I was always with him with Gabe.  After just a couple of weeks, Gabe was imitating the jumping while trying to say sunbeam.  It's just so cute.

 

 Mia has been doing gymnastics and has improved quickly.

 

 

She's naturally very flexible and loves to show everyone her cartwheels and splits and everything else.

 

After visiting Costco one day, I put the box of milk on the counter and pulled out one to put it in the fridge.  Unfortunately, I pulled out the one that was resting on the counter and watched the other gallon fall to the floor which ruptured nicely then gushed all over.  It made quite the mess.

 

I wasn't planning to get Mia and Chloe a white dress for their baptism until Mia made it clear they needed one.  It's kind of an unwritten tradition that girls wear a white dress on their baptism day which happens after they turn 8.  They have white jumpsuits at the church that they wear during the actual baptism.  I didn't think they'd really wear it much after that, so I was just going to get them a new regular dress.  After I looked a little at what was out there as far as white dresses go, I decided to make one.  I got a pattern and some fabric, but ended up only using the pattern for the sizing.  I did everything different than the pattern.  I'd been pinning things on pinterest and put a few of those things together.  I did a tulip sleeve and a pintuck technique on the front, neither of which I had done before.  I had to do one sleeve over and over which got frustrating, but I made it through!  I think it turned out pretty good and it fit both girls.  (They were baptized on different days so I didn't need two, thank goodness.)

 

This is right after I washed it.  I should have ironed the bottom before I took this picture, but I was feeling lazy. 

 

After school one day Chloe told me all about Martin Luther King Jr.  She asked me, "Do you know who Martin Luther King Jr is?" Of course I said, "Yes."  "Did you know he was named after his dad, that's why they had to call him Jr?" Yes. "He was named Michael for the first few years of his life."  I did not know that.  "Do you know what he did?"  What?  "Back in those times, there were light-skinned people and dark skinned people and the light-skinned people used to boss around the dark-skinned people and tell them what to do."  I was thinking, "Ok, that's pretty close."  Then she went on to say "Mia and Madi are light-skinned and I'm dark-skinned.  If we lived back then, I think they would boss me around."  I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.  I guess it's pretty obvious we live in a very monochromatic area.  There are a few kids at their school who are much darker than she is, but apparently not enough. 

Tyler was at the top of the stairs one day and he said, "Mom, look."  Gabe was hugging him around the legs and patting him. Later Chloe was sitting at the bottom of the stairs.  Gabe sat behind her and patted her head then went into the bathroom and got a brush.  He came back and sat behind her and "brushed" her hair. He's a very loving boy. 

Mia, Chloe and I went to a wedding reception for a friend.  They wanted to write on the card, so I let them.  Mia wrote, "I hope your cake is good."  Chloe wrote, "I hope you don't fight with each other."  It made me laugh, so I hope the bride and groom did too!