And Just Like That...

... our trip and the year is over!  Things done today that are not of note, laundry.  Things of note, I took book pictures.  I haven't written a fun story for my niece or nephews in a long time.  It has been time to write a new story for a while, but I have been completely uninspired.  Kate inspired me not long ago insisting that she was the queen of everything.  Now all I have to do is put the story together, you know during all my free time?!

The missionaries came to dinner.  We had a little New Years Party (and found out that it was Elder Fish's birthday, and he was being transferred).  We put the kids to bed and watched a movie.  And Isaac like the young adult that he is rang in the new year with friends.

This is one picture from the book photo shoot.  The girls were very cute and for the most part very willing to pose exactly the way I wanted them to!

Happy New Year!

The last of the funnies for 2013

September
Alice: (throwing a fit) But I don't want to!
Alice: (stops, seeing her teapot) Oh, my teapot.
Alice: (looks at me) I'm going to pour tea all over your face!
Me(Ken): Alice!
Alice: I mean... in a cup, and then give to you to drink.
Alice: Hahaha. My teapot (walks off, looking at the teapot).

Kate is so excited for her first day of school tomorrow. Tonight as she was having a snack before bed we had the following conversation.
Kate: Will they have a bear cave at my school?
Me: No. Why do you think that?
Kate: I thought that in my head.
Me: Oh. I don't think they will have a bear cave at your school.
Kate: I thought that the teacher would say all the girls can go in the nice bear cave and all the boys can go in the bad bear cave.

Alice has a thing for her uncles. She regularly asks for her Uncle Joaquín S Molina and her Uncle Matthew Bates. And she named one of her dolls Uncle Jonathan Bacon.

Kate learned how to write Mom last week. I found Mom doodled in one of my notebooks and it made me Mom happy!

October
On the way home from school today Kate said "Mom, every time I oinked Tristan tried to kiss me."

Alice: Daddy, what will happen if you die?
Me(Ken): Oh, Alice, you wouldn't get to see me anymore.
Alice: No, I'd get a New Daddy. A purple one, no, green. I'd get a new green daddy.


November
Alice is currently marching around singing (to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell), Fiona pulls my hair, Fiona pulls my hair, hi-ho the derry-o Fiona pulls my hair.

Alice: Dad, you're going to get locked in jail and never. see. me. again... No, actually, I'm going to locked in jail too. That way we can be together.

December
Ken McCartney is saying Ho Ho Ho, and pretending to be Santa.
Alice: I don't like that noise.
Ken: But that's what Santa says, ho ho ho.
Alice: I don't like that noise, I'm going to kick you in the head Santa.
(Oh dear... perhaps we shouldn't go see Santa this week.)

A conversation I had with Kate tonight:
Kate: Mom, I feel sorry for you and Ken. (She refers to her father as Ken was she is talking about him as he relates to me.)
Me: Why?
Kate: Because you have three kids, that is so exhausting.
Me: Sometimes it's exhausting but it's also lots of fun.
Kate: There should be two kids in a family because there are two parents.
I didn't think to point out that there would be no Fiona if we only had two kids, Kate loves Fiona. I do think it's funny that she's already figured out that Ken and I are out numbered. I wonder when she uses this new insight to her advantage? EEK!

Me: Alice can you go wake up Daddy.
Alice: No I tried, you go wake him up.

Alice: Will you read the story again?
Me: No not right now, I want to clean up the toys.
Alice: Oh, who's coming over?
(You know you don't clean up enough when...)

Kate: Alice, snow comes from a snow cloud. The snow cloud squeezes out the snow and that is where the snow comes from.
Alice: Oh that's where snow comes from?
Kate: Yes, that's where snow comes from.

Kate: I want to turn Alice into a book and read her. I'm a witch.
Alice: I'm not a book!
 
So far Fiona likes to eat paper and drink water out of a sippy cup. Introducing solids is going really well.

A conversation with Kate while putting her to bed while staying in Connecticut.
Kate: Mom, do you know my dreams?
Me: No. Tell me about your dreams.
Kate: I dream that I am grown up, and I dream about eating cheesies.  Mom, can I eat cheesies?
Me: Tomorrow you can have some cheesies for a snack.
Kate: (In a grand voice) Tomorrow the first dream will come true.  When can I ride a bike?

After clinking the cups Kate is waiting for her new years toast. So I put bread in the toaster! Happy New Year everyone!

(Me is Wendy, unless it says otherwise!)

A few good things

Today was a silly kind of day.  I let myself get upset that there's a winter storm coming and we have to leave early.  Instead of just being grateful for being in Connecticut I started to get bugged and maybe a little grumpy.  I thought, uh-oh, I'm recreating Connecticut November 2011 - the worst trip ever... better not. 

In the afternoon Suzanne and I went on another trip to the grocery store - this time without any children.  And in the evening, we adults went to a movie - The Hobbit, with Fiona of course.  Isaac the incredible was the babysitter, for five children.  And incredibly, all five children were asleep when we got home from watching the movie.  INCREDIBLE!!!!  The baby, the movie, the company, the  babysitter... ALL INCREDIBLE!  Today was a pretty great day after all.

This was yesterday, but Fiona is just too cute!

 

 Cousins snuggled up watching a movie.

 And more about this tomorrow... I hope!

Gingerbread

I used to decorate Easter Eggs with Suzanne's boys every year on March Break.  Didn't matter whether Easter was in March or not, it was what we did.  Then I went and had a baby and everything changed!  We didn't get around to making the Gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve like I had thought maybe we would.  I decided instead that it would be fun to bring the candy and cutouts with us to Connecticut. 

I have never made Gingerbread houses before.  If I do this again I would really only change one thing.  I would glue (with the icing of course) the houses together and have them set well in advance of letting the little people near them.  It was Sunday afternoon, all of the adults disappeared completely and I was left with five wildly excited children with eyes for candy!  I wanted some decorum.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I wanted some cute posed shots.  Instead there were lopsided houses that kept falling down and kids that were a little too excited about smashing them!  But really the point was to have fun, and fun was had!

Now if only we can go to Connecticut every year around Christmas, we've got a new tradition!  Oh and cousins are just generally awesome.  And cute!

Elevensies

Sometimes you don't know what you want until you end up with what you don't want!

Eleven.  Life is such a blur right now; three little people that are constantly going, going, going.  Ken and I do not go out very often.  I count it a good week if we can sit together and watch a tv show - that's right, "a" show.  Being in Connecticut for our anniversary means that we have free babysitting.  But being in Connecticut also means that we don't know where to go or what to do.  The plan was to go to dinner and leave ALL three little people with my sister and her husband, and of course all of their kids.  Suzanne suggested we make reservations, and suggested a few different places, but I didn't know what I felt like.

We had a great day at the Science Center.  Came back, hung out, put the baby down for a nap and then we kind of took our time getting out the door.  We hit the dinner rush and we didn't have a reservation.  We walked into every restaurant in this cute little shopping area and every single place had at least a 45 minute wait.  I suggested we walk to the Japanese place and hoped the wait wouldn't be as long.  It wasn't.

The hostess asked if we were "okay" with a half booth in the back.  This should have been a sign that it wasn't okay and that we didn't want it.  Instead we said sure and we were seated almost immediately.  The front of the restaurant was very nice.  The back, I called it the "ugly" room.  It was really quite tragic.  (Tragic in the pathetic "first world" kind of way that isn't tragic at all.  Thinking about it in those terms makes me want to delete this whole silly post before I even finish it... but I digress!)

To top it off we were seated beside a family with three small children.  The mess that their three small children created was staggering.  Thankfully they were finishing up and left quite quickly after we were seated.  The food came fairly quickly and it was fine.  We had a nice time.  We did.  BUT.

It occurred to me while I was having the night I didn't want, that I wished I'd put a little more effort into having the night I really did want.  It was a special night and I wanted it to be truly special.  I love my sweet Ken so much.  I am still thankful for him and who he is everyday.  (I still mostly smile when I throw out his garbage and pick up his socks...)  I love him so much.  So much. Next year, I will make plans!

I'm grateful for my sister and her family.  I'm grateful that we had a few hours out.  I'm grateful that Ken is mine forever and ever.  I'm so grateful for our little family.  Here's to ELEVEN amazing years, and a million more!

Connecticut Science Center

We arrived in Connecticut on Thursday night, around 9:30 I think?  All the kids (minus Isaac who was at a sleepover) and Suzanne and Matthew were up and gave us a very happy welcome!  Kate and Alice were awesome travellers.  The baby... she did well all things considering!  We had quiet day yesterday, hanging out, enjoying each others company.  Isaac came home and Matthew and Joey left to go up to Vermont. 

Today, it was time to do something!  Suzanne got Isaac all organized to go to the temple and then we left and travelled the short distance to Hartford to the Connecticut Science Center.  It was awesome!  It was busy, but we never felt overwhelmed, or at least I didn't!  The kids all had so much fun and us adults too.  We (Ken, Suzanne and I) took many, many pictures.  I want to post them all!