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The faith of children

Last night the girls were getting ready for bed. I called and told them to get ready for family prayer. Sydney came into the living room, but I couldn't find Payton. I finally found her kneeling in the dark at Sydney's bed (where we usually have prayers.) At 18 months she already knows what we are suppose to do.

Sledding Fun

In the past few days we have gotten a lot of snow. We haven't really gotten any snow since Christmas so it was starting to melt and look awful. Now we have a winter wonderland. I love snow (Brian does not). On Saturday, Sydney and I went sledding with my sisters and their spouses. It was too cold to take Payton so Brian volunteered to keep her with him. (I think he liked having an excuse! j/k I know he would have loved to come with us.) Anyway, we had a great time. My youngest sister, Chelsey (in the blue coat) is due to have her first baby in March. You can't even tell! Lucky!!

"I look like Barbie"

Sydney loves to do make-up. She goes so wild with it that I don't very often let her get it out. But last week she talked me in to it. When she was finished she came up to me and said, "How do I look? I look like Barbie." Wow! I agreed and immediately took pictures.



When Brian got home Syd still had her make-up on. Brian walked through the door and stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw Sydney. He got a confused look on his face and said, "Syd, what's all over your face?" I quickly piped up from the kitchen, "She did her own make-up and she looks just like Barbie." Brian caught on (finally, good grief, Dad!) and told her she did a great job. Then, trying not to laugh, he came into the kitchen and burst out laughing. I'm just glad Sydney didn't know what we were laughing about!

Silly Sisters

Now that Payton is getting a little older, it is fun to watch Sydney and Payton have fun together. Usually they get along well. Only occasionally do we have tears. Sydney does get frustrated with Payton. One day Sydney came crying to me and said, "When will Payton be big? I want her to do what I want to do." I made the mistake of telling Sydney that Payton will probably never do just what she wants because Payton is her own person. Of course, that brought more tears! But usually these pictures are what I get to see every day!

Exactly what I said to do...

These pictures obviously have a story. One day a few weeks ago I went to Sam's Club and bought a big box of diapers. You know, the kind with close to 200 diapers in 4 separate tubes. I didn't have time to put the box of diapers away before Sydney got home from school . She volunteered to put the diapers away. I was glad for the help. I opened the box and gave Sydney the 4 plastic tubes of diapers. I asked her to put the diapers on the white shelves in Payton's closet. Syd came back a while later and proudly announced that she was done. I thanked her and went on with my day. A while later I needed to change Payton and went to get a diaper. This is what I saw:





Obviously Sydney had taken my instructions a little too literally. I did not mean for her to open all four tubes and stuff 200 diapers in the shelves. Oh well!

P.S. It has been nearly 3 weeks and I am still pulling diapers out of the shelves, a little mangled, but still usable!

Too Cute!

I have nothing to say about these pictures. They are just so typical of Payton. Cute, happy, and sitting at the table, but not eating!

TaVaci Performance

Just before Christmas Sydney's performance choir had a recital. The kids were so cute. They all have matching outfits and sang songs with fun choreography. For her first performance, we got Sydney flowers. She was so excited. She named her flowers and was very sad when they went away.

It's here!

Our new computer just arrived this morning. As soon as Brian gets everything transferred over we'll be up and running! Give me a couple days and I'll have some fun pictures on our blog. Here are some possible titles for a few of the pictures: "I look like Barbie" and "Sledding Fun"

A Guilty Conscience

Every day we have quiet time. This usually lasts from 12:30 to 1:30 or 2:00. During this time Payton takes a nap and sometimes I take a nap or read or whatever. It's kind of my 'alone time'. I love it. Anyway, Sydney can watch cartoons or play quietly in her room. Usually she's really good about quiet time. But just this week she has learned that quiet time means no one is watching her. Today I took a nap. I woke up to answer the phone and noticed that my bedroom door was closed. I never close my door because I want to be able to hear everything. I got up and opened my door and smelled popcorn. Sydney had popped herself a bag of popcorn. I don't mind her having a snack, but she knows that we do not have food during quiet time. Plus, I do not let her use the microwave without my supervision. When I confronted Sydney about it, she said that is why she closed my door, so I wouldn't know! Then she proceeded to tell me what else she had done. She said there was not much milk left in the gallon so she made herself a glass of strawberry milk. She was so proud of herself for pouring it in a cup, adding a scoop of strawberry mix and sitting at the table and drinking it. What a catch-22. I am proud of her independence, but I do not want her roaming the kitchen and snacking during quiet time. I explained that to her and hopefully her guilty conscience will keep her out of the kitchen. I gave her a consequence though for future reference. If she can't keep out of the kitchen, she will be on her bed for quiet time. Wow, I am a mean mom!!

Excuses, excuses...

I really do have a good excuse for slacking on my blog. We are having computer issues. Let me explain. First, our computer is old-- we got it before Sydney was born (almost 6 years ago)and it has a tiny amount of RAM and ROM. I got Brian a new digital camera for Christmas and we have taken a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, there is not enough memory on our C: Drive to install the programs for the camera. So all the cool pictures are on the camera. Luckily, our new computer with TONS of memory will be here shortly. So, give me a week or so and I WILL update this blog!

Here are a few funny things while you wait...
Sydney and Payton have "No" arguments. They both say 'no' over and over to each other.
Payton is refusing to give kisses. If we ask for hugs or kisses. She shakes her head and turns away. (SO SAD)
Sydney is done with winter. She asked the other day for "spring" toys to play with. She runs around our house in shorts and and a t-shirt with no socks. BRRRR!
Payton loves babies. One day we were babysitting and the baby started crying so Payton brought me her baby-doll bottle and tried to feed the real baby!
Sydney learned two new sayings at school that she repeats constantly: "Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy" and "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit" I love it!!