The movie party

Since I knew Chris would be out of town thurs, fri, and Saturday night, and things tend to get boring without him, I thought it would be fun for Abigail to invite Elle over for a movie night. 

So all week they've been so excited and talking non stop about the "movie party on Friday night with popcorn and candy and treats!"  Abigail has been telling anyone with two ears. It's kind of funny for her to randomly walk up to an older man and say "Elle is coming over to my house Friday night. We're going to have a movie party and watch lots of shows!  And we're going to eat popcorn and candy and treats too!"  I love it. 

Anyways, it was a hit. Elle came over for a few hours and while they looked like this for about 30 minutes...

The rest of the time was mostly playing house with blankets and jumping on couch cushions. And pretending there were snakes on the sidewalk?!  

And twice I walked in to find Brady with a full mouth and two fists full of mini Oreos. Abigail was confused why didn't want her to share with him. "But it's okay because they're really tiny!"  Ha yes. And they're also scattered across my floor and have a wonderfully high sugar content. Maybe that's why Brady was up so late? 

And for the first time that I can recall, she totally pulled an Abigail and didn't want to go home. Her mom called and talked to her on the phone and Elle kept saying she didn't want to go home. And when Jodi came at 8:30 or so, Elle just ran upstairs to the playroom with Abigail to keep playing. So Jodi and I just hung out and talked and she didn't get Elle out until 9:45 I think. Not until after Elle taught Abigail how to adorn herself with underwear. 

And I out Brady to bed at 7:20 but for whatever reason (I have a few guesses) he woke up at 8, refreshed from his power nap. I didn't get him to end until 11. It was... Challenging. 

Luckily he's super cute. Especially when he asks Jodi to put Abigail's bunny slippers on his feet. 

It was a great night. 

Friday

Abigail and Brady are BFF these days and it's amazing.

Also, both kids wore pjs all day. But multiple different ones. We're not lazy about changing clothes so much as we just prefer the very utmost comfort possible. Maybe I should get fleece foodies too...

video: john 3:16

as i mentioned before, abigail was assigned to give the scripture and prayer in primary on sunday.  since honey and i were kind of slackers about it, we didn't start practicing with abigail until friday night... i think.  so when sunday rolled around, she had it mostly memorized, but not all of the way.  so for whatever reason, sunday, we kept working on it with her.  and in the days following.  well, she got it down pat, and we taught her 2 nephi 2:25, which she has about 90%.  it is surprisingly fun and addicting.  i think christopher and i were both shocked about that.  as soon as she mastered john 3:16, we were instantly brainstorming all the scripture mastery verses and articles of faith we could teach her.  and i want to teach her the young women theme too.  kids learn so fast, the sky's the limit on what we can plant in that little brain.

does this redeem me just a little bit from "crap" and ummm, everything else she's learned from me in her little lifetime?  

and because it's just that adorable, here it is again...

also, thanks again for the bluetooth, mom!  i used it three times today!

and abigail used it once...  obviously.

Thursday

I think the kids slept in til 10. 

Chick fil a with my friend shaylee.

Green smoothies for dinner because I don't even cook dinner when my husband is home and most certainly not when he's out of town. 

My laundry room. Just because.

Our family scripture devotional thought. Texted to Christopher so he wouldn't be left out.

And kids in bed by 8. Just how we like it. 

Wednesday

We played.

Abigail and Elle played together the entire day. We had Elle over for a play date in the morning from 10:30 to 1:30. Brady was napping while the girls were playing so i went through a big box of childhood stuff. Not surprisingly, after three hours, the girls wanted to keep playing so Jodi actually just picked them both up and took them to her house. I got Brady up, fed him, and took him to Walmart with me to get our shopping done. When I went by to pick Abigail up, the girls still wanted to play so I left her there. Jodi actually dropped her off around 5:30 I think. After Chris had already gotten home from work!  Easiest parenting day ever. 

Honey asked me if I left any food in the store or if I brought it all home with me.

I sorted stuff and put it in plastic totes. I need to put stuff in scrapbooks or binders or something but that's a big project for a very future date. 

I was 100% surprised too see this. My fifth grade (I think) self wanted to get married in the salt lake temple!  So weird to me since I only ever remember thinking of getting married in the Atlanta temple. I mean, why would I get married anywhere else?!  But fifth grade self must have anticipated all of the reasons that led me to getting married in the salt lake temple. Equal parts creepy and cool.

Also, shout out to these people. Because they're still my best friends. L

Okay, maybe I should at least just take pictures of some of the treasures I found. Some of them are seriously epic. 

Peter Pan friend date

First, hallelujah that my honey did some google video research and completed a few repairs around the house like our broken stair banister (for 2.5 years I've been worried a kid would fall to their death... But not anymore!), our clogged ice maker, and my personal favorite, our kitchen faucet handle that kept coming off. It feels like Christmas I tell ya! 

Saturday morning my mil called to say that she had an extra ticket to Peter Pan and asked if Abigail would like to invite her BFF, Elle. Looking back, I should have let Abigail call and in it's but I guess I wanted to make sure it was okay with Elle's mom first. All day Saturday, both girls were super excited and Elle kept telling her family she was going on a date.

We left Brady home with a babysitter, picked up Elle, and headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner with Chris's family. Let me just say, for the last ten years or so I've had it in my head that outback has the best steaks around (not including places like Ruth's Chris that I've never been to and can't rate) but I've eaten there several times this month (I know we've been eating out a disgusting amount) and compared to Texas roadhouse, I think it doesn't even compare. They are both good but now that I'm eating at both restaurants so frequently, it's just really obvious how much I prefer Texas Roadhouse. The steaks, the bread (and honey butter!) and sides. Good thing since we will be out of our outback cards soon and on to using up the roadhouse cards. And that concludes the random rant of outback vs. Texas Roadhouse. Texas Roadhouse wins. 

We all had a blast and the girls were great except that they spent a whole lot of time playing under the table. Abigail ate her whole hotdog. I'm pretty sure hotdogs are her favorite food. Especially because they are so rarely served to her. ; )

The play was good, not spectacular, but it was fun and the girls enjoyed it. Peter Pan was a woman. She could totally pass as a guy until she sang. Which made things even weirder because I kept going back and forth on that in my head always being convinced that she's a guy, girl, guy, girl, and on and on.  

And at the end of the night they were completely exhausted. Abigail fell asleep in the car and was so glad when I tucked her into bed. 

And on a 100% random note, when I was dropping Elle off, Jodi told me she saw a post I was tagged in for grandma's birthday and she knows my cousin, star. They were friends in college and used to go up to my family's cabin in Utah!  So crazy!  I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Mormon world is so small. 

Sorry Brady

Dear Brady, 

I'm sorry that, as your mother, I am unable to do a better job of keeping you safe and healthy. I know it seems like you have blood emerging from your face daily. It's because you do. Thankfully, you comfort easily. Probably because you have such a sweet sister that says "I'm going to five Brady a hug and kisses and tell him sorry he fell down and got hurt."  Those words have strong medicinal properties. The hugs and kisses do to. Anyways, I'll go ahead and look on amazon to see if I can't find you a helmet with a full face mask. And maybe even just full hockey goalie gear because that sounds even more comprehensive. But I'm not paying for overnight shipping so in the meantime, just be a little more careful, okay? 

Xoxo

Mom

Sunday

Amazingly, we were on time for church. Only because they started late but oh well, I'll take it. I somehow woke up both kids at 8:45 and managed to scoot myself in the pew next to Chris by 9:02. Divine intervention?

Abigail and Elle aren't in the same sunbeam class (there are two) so they tackle each other with hugs whenever they catch a glimpse of the other.

I always ask them to stand still and

hold hands. I'm not sure why, but that somehow translates to "hold hands and jump."  Maybe I should have posted one of the out takes instead.

Abigail did John 3:16 and it was even less than what you would expect from a soft spoken three year old. They don't have a podium or microphone yet... because it's being ordered, so she was barely audible. But the worst part was that she wouldn't repeat the words I told her to.  She had it enough memorized that she just would continue on from what I said. So I would whisper "for God so loved the world" and then Abigail would say "that he gave his only gotten son" and basically it was just kind of terrible. We can only go up from here then, right?!

After church, we pigged out on leftover ribs and Texas Roadhouse and then it was nap time. I was the only one that didn't nap. These two settled in for some snuggling and fell fast asleep. It was precious.

And Abigail woke up with some crazy

Bed head that just can not be justified by pictures.

And I told her if she kept her diaper dry for nap time, I would give her 15 cents (since that's roughly the price of a diaper) and it melted my heart how excited she was to put her money on her pooh bear bank. Maybe I can convince her that monetary rewards are better than candy?

And then we spent our evening discussing family goals and habits we hope to accomplish in 2014. Honey endured it well. 

But seriously...

I love it. 

primary video

normally, when i ask abigail what she learned at church, her response includes something like "i don't know" or "pretzels."  so i wasn't really expecting much on the way home from church when i asked her about her lesson.  

well, she surprised me.

persistence pays off.  also, is this not the most adorable thing ever?!

Lost again

Tuesday, we went to the avs game. 

Brady got on the big screen. 

Abigail was semi into the game. 

And then with just a few minutes left, she narced out. 

And then stayed asleep the whole way to the car and the drive home and getting her pjs on and me tucking her into bed. 

Brady slept in the car, woke when I got him ready for bed, but then fell immediately asleep in his crib. These kids were worn out. 

Also, the avs lost again (they're lost every ame I've been to this season. Which is crazy because they're doing really well this year. Next time! 

Brady cleans up?

More and more I'm seeing little things Brady does that seem like cleaning up of sorts. Like if if we are out and I give him Cheerios when he doesn't want anymore, he puts them back in the ziploc bag. The other day he was playing by his favorite drawer and I couldn't help but notice that he'd cleaned up his hat and shoes. 

It's a whole lot of precious going on.