Smells Like Cabbage (6.25.11)

Time to backtrack.  Like, a year's worth!

I found myself with time on my hands this week.  Like, three times!  

It's been such a treat to have a little free time after the last busy...year.  I've been printing books with old blog posts and am loving how they turn out.  So don't want to miss out on 2011!  On to catching up...

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A new couple moved into our ward last summer and I would invite Chelsey along with us for the day if she was off work.  My girls adore her.  She took them for an afternoon after Bennett was born and Justin broke his ankle; hearts were won with a huge collection of nail polish!  She and her husband like to drive to Detroit to wander and explore.  We.  Don't.  She was surprised we only went there for Tiger's games, so we wandered with them one night to a carnival.

I love the next two photos.  Can you picture these two in about eleven years?  Cruising around together, Abbey focusing more on waving 'hi' than actually driving, Hayden happily lost in her own thoughts.  Scary :)

 

Not much more to say--just a fun summer night.

Wanderlust

Justin had a week off which means we have to get out of town!  He will go crazy.  So off to Chicago.

 

Cousin Jen lives in an adorable suburb of the city and I'm so glad we had the chance to spend a few days with her.  I love that girl.  She had the perfect insight and perspective on some struggles I've been wrestling with and was willing to stay up half the night discussing it :)

 We hit up a Jelly Belly factory.  Bonus: you can sample every single flavor.  Double bonus: even the Harry Potter gross flavors.  Abbey wouldn't go for it, but Hayden was up for a try:

 

Lately, Hayden is really into 'surprising' me with tasks she should do anyway (getting her shoes, coat, pj's on...)  It's awesome, actually.  She wanted to surprise me by brushing her teeth by herself and built a towel tower to reach the sink.  Love it.

Our day in the city was a bit of a bust.  Hayden got...car sick...two minutes before we parked.  She has the uncanny ability to hold it together until we pull up to our destination.  My main objectives for a Chicago trip would be to sit in on a taping of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and a visit to the Aquarium.  I knew the taping wasn't going to work out this trip so my excitement aimed at checking out those beluga whales and jelly fish and it. was. packed.  Chicago Public School spring break.  Great.  Two lines stretched halfway to the next museum and after 90 minutes and about 10 yards of line advancement, we cut our losses and hit up the American Girl store.  Big hit with the girls, of course. 

 

(abbey picking out doll shoes)

I'm not sure where I land on the American Doll thing.  I simultaneously felt annoyed at moms giving in to spoiled girls throwing tantrums because they couldn't get two $30 outfits, disappointed that Abbey noticed immediately that these dolls have better hair than hers, and totally enchanted with the sweetness and little details (you can buy your doll a violin and/or grand piano?  come on!)

Then it was off to shop for some church clothes for the boy, deep dish pizza for Justin, playgrounds off the Magnificent Mile for the girls..it turned into a nice day. 

Although it is exhausting to travel with kids, I'm glad Justin has the need to roam.

A Year of Bennett

I printed these out this week and we laughed that it doesn't look like he's changed that much.
(saw this idea on Emily's blog--Happy Birthday to Ms. Lucy, too!)

Happy Birthday, sweet boy. We are all CRAZY about you!

My Spring Chickens

Happy Easter!

People Gonna Come From Everywhere

Abbey and Hayden's preschool has sure made an impact on how I parent. I am thoroughly grateful to have those teachers involved in my children's lives. They have done years and years of research on the way children's minds learn and behavior modification. I know there are so many great parenting strategies out there, but their theory just sits so right in my gut. It is also invaluable to me to have someone that knowledgeable who actually knows MY kid--how my kid works, how she reacts, why some typical rewards just don't seem to motivate her. I am not greatly confident in my own parenting and often find myself stumped with these charges of mine. I will bring her teachers a scenario that is frustrating me and they'll have some great ideas on how to work with it. Love them.


They give the kids just the right amount of freedom to explore and become confident in their ability to create, solve problems, and act on their ideas. My Abbey is not for lacking in the confidence department--I'm hoping this will get her through middle school! But I'm still working on how to incorporate that into our home, where sometimes it's not easy to give them full control of the reins--it's a tricky tight rope. Which brings me to today. And a restaurant.



Both girls are really into cooking. I'm talking, like, they'll watch Betty Crocker cake demonstrations on youtube for as long as I'll let them. It's been a hard balance to let them do their thing and, you know...cut down on the food waste that was going on (sorry...nobody's going to be eating up the yogurt, milky, cracker, orange combo). {Side note for my own records: last month we were making cupcakes and had the batter separated in several frosting bags. As I got started Hayden said, "Squirt a little on the plate first to avoid air bubbles!" A few moments later, Abbey piped in with, "Now just twist with your left hand and guide it with your right!" Thank you, Lee-Hanson-with-Betty-Crocker for my back seat bakers :) }

Last summer, my friend came across some large boxes and thought the girls could have fun making a restaurant in our basement.

They spent all day drawing pictures to decorate the walls, lining up the appliances, and discussing the menu. I felt bad taking it down a few weeks later, and I think that guilt surfaced when last night Abbey started constructing major plans for opening another restaurant. She asked if some friends could come over and I couldn't think of a good reason why not!

So today some very sweet friends indulged my little girl's dreams.

They were both very concerned over what outfit looked like 'real' restaurant wear. This is eventually what they decided :) I caught this picture just as Hayden noticed their first customer pulling into the driveway.

Not one customer sent their food back to the kitchen or complained that their order was wrong. Success!

Not a Short Christmas Post

That's my family walking down main street at the most adorable Christmas village I've ever had the chance to stroll. This was a very special year for us. Since my parents are busy around the other side of the world, all my younger siblings headed my way. If you know me, you know I love house guests. Koryn called a few hours after I said goodbye to last of them at the airport this weekend because she knew I would be having a hard time with the 'empty' house. I would collect people if I could.

Anywho. Allison and Noah were the first to arrive. They brought some good tunes along which turned into a dance/karaoke party one night:

I think we only stopped because my dear friend, Sara, dropped off a gift for the girls. Fairy princess dress ups and toy puppies...she knows them well.

I mention this mostly because of the puppies: luckily Allison and Noah overheard the girls naming their pups. Edison Lund and Fluff Willow Folly. Names of dolls/imaginary friends/babies change pretty quick around here, so I'm glad they caught that :) They spent the rest of the evening introducing E Lund and F.W. Folly to the Nativity crew.

Then it was on to the Christmas village. There's a county park around here that moved about three dozen turn-of-the-century buildings (churches, general stores, school house, homes, stables, you name it) to create its own little village. I was amazed, it was magical. You buy tickets to go on a train that takes you past big lighted displays and Santa. For real. That dude was just hanging out in a field by his sleigh to wave to us.

They've also brought in a century old carousel and ferris wheel. This is kind-of one of those 'had to be there' stories, but I gotta write it down. We walked into the carousel and there was the worst, off tune, loud band playing Christmas music. Allison and I can be...a bit snotty about music. We could not stop laughing. Allison said, "We have to pull it together before we see this band face to face." I asked if it could be a recording then promptly said, "No. There's no way they recorded this then thought, 'Yeah! I think we got it! That's a wrap, folks.' " I was picturing a band of sweet old men playing on the other side of the carousel which made me feel awful every time a particularly bad note was played and we would crumple in laughter again.

Allison and I hopped on the ride with the girls, rounded the corner, and to our surprise, realized it wasn't a band! It was the carousel. So my best thought was that the pipes themselves are just as old and don't sound how they used to, you know? Well, by the time we realized that, we were giggling with relief that we hadn't been mercilessly laughing at sweet old people and then about peeing our pants with laughter that we seriously could not keep our equilibrium straight on this carousel! I'm not kidding you, that thing was FLYING. And if you stood in between the horses going up and down, it was all you could do to stay upright. We'd pull it together just as another sour note belted out and we would start all over again.

J took the girls out on the ferris wheel that was as delightfully terrifying as the carousel.

After singing carols with our fellow passengers on the train ride, the conductor made a point of mentioning Santa had ridden his way back to the village if we wanted to say hi. We mosied about, thinking there would be an enormous line. Something about waiting in line to see Santa takes away some of the magic to me--probably because you hurry and tell him what you want, they click an overpriced picture, then you get out of the way. So there was nothing sweeter than walking into a dimly lit, beautiful little home to find just Santa and Mrs Claus waiting to see the girls--I was half expecting to find him on a break. I don't know how it happened that we caught it with only one lady ahead of us.

Abbey has never been big on Santa and I don't tend to make a big deal about it. We'd seen him at the mall a few weeks ago so I asked her if she wanted to say hi and remind him. She just said, "No. He knows." Good enough. But Hayden ate it up. He was sweet and gave her plenty of time to chat about things other than toys. I loved this. I know some people don't like the Santa concept and I totally get that. But I'm glad we get this for a few years, there's so much goodness and innocence wrapped up in that hug.

On Christmas Eve, we picked up my two youngest siblings to complete the crowd. It was so fun to reintroduce myself to my little, tall brother, Collin. He has been on an LDS mission in North Carolina and I haven't seen him for three years. Megs kept our rears in check with some personal training all week and Collin graciously endured the kids' energy that was usually directed his way. These two have been ridiculously easy going their entire lives, they are so nice to have around and I had a few tears when they left.

We hope your Christmas season was wonderful as well. See you in 2012!