Like mother, like daughter

Frejya got her pig for the fair this past weekend. It definitely is bringing back lots of memories of my childhood. It's crazy to me that she's even old enough to be showing, though.

The whole family tagged along on the trip to Turlock to pick out the pig. Gabriel definitely got a kick out of seeing all the pigs.

And the coolest part of course was that we got to wear awesome boot covers.

Gabriel sure does love to dress up. This is what he looks like most mornings when I'm getting ready for work. He definitely keeps us laughing.

Winter Wonderland

Things have been so crazy around here lately that I hadn't even thought about my blog in a very long time (I blame my job and if you know what I do, you'll understand too). So allow me to show you a quick recap of our past month for you.

Thanksgiving was spent with my family this year which meant we packed up the car and drove to Mary's house. As per tradition, we got there early on Thursday to help with the cooking and then stayed the night so that we could have a mini-vacation and spend some time with Mary and Chris (and Iris and Jack too, of course). We have always gone to a movie together the day after Thanksgiving but this year we decided to step it up a notch. So we booted everyone up and went ice skating. Even Iris and Gabriel put skates on and got out there on the ice. Gabriel wasn't a big fan. He actually really wanted to be on the ice, but really wanted to be held while out there. I am by no means an ice skating pro, so this definitely did not happen (I have a hard enough time keeping myself upright, no way am I going to try it while holding 30 pounds on one hip!). Frejya, though, absolutely loved it.

After skating, we decided to go to a movie like always. The men stayed home with the little ones and Mary and I took Frejya and Maisy to the movies. We decided to watch Breaking Dawn while Maisy and Frejya watched The Muppets. Great idea in theory, but it meant I spent the entire length of the movie wondering if they actually made it into their theater and were doing ok. Not a very relaxing time at the theater for me.

And in the weeks since Thanksgiving we have been keeping ourselves busy with all sorts of other things. Gabriel thinks it's hilarious to stick his fingers in his ears and then talk really loudly.

He also learned how to get out of his crib and is now sleeping in a toddler bed. The first day there was no napping to be done in the afternoon and so he fell asleep on the couch later in the day. Cute now, but really wasn't cute at the time. And he actually still only really goes to bed for Gabe. For some reason when I walk away from him in his room he follows me out, but if Gabe puts him in there he'll stay put.

Frejya got a dog as an early Christmas present. I've never been a fan of chihuahuas, but so far Hugo has been a fun addition to the family. And Tekota is definitely happy to have a playmate.

And now it's Christmastime already. It's going to be a super busy week, but this is my favorite time of year. Can't wait to spend the weekend with family and friends.

Fishing with Daddy

Is there anything better?

Lessons in life

Frejya has been learning some valuable life lessons as of late. She is fully capable of driving my car which I think is pretty incredible. I still make her sit on my lap so that I can take over if necessary, but she uses the pedals and steers all on her own. And she's really good at not starting or stopping too fast.  She really has a knack for this driving thing already (and obviously we're only driving on private property where this is allowed).

She also learned how to do laundry this weekend. She had a pretty good idea from helping me out over the years, but she now knows exactly what settings to use, how much soap to use, etc. And her learning this chore is really going to help me out a lot I think. Plus she loves that she gets to keep any money she finds as she's doing this. 

And the last very important life lesson we accomplished this weekend was public speaking. She's really no stranger to public speaking but this was her first time being liturgist at church and she did an amazing job. She decided to do most of the readings all by herself and she really nailed it. Everyone at church was very impressed with how well she can read and how well she understood what she was reading. She made the gospel lesson exciting because she actually understood that it was a story, not just a statement to read. She definitely reads with good inflection. I don't know that I've ever been prouder.

 

And just one more thing: Frejya got straight A's on her report card. It's her first report card with real letter grades and she is super excited about it. And we are so proud!

Brownies are yummy

Gabriel discovered this weekend that brownies are awesome. He also learned how to say the word awesome. He doesn't say it when he talks about brownies, though. He says it after he jumps off my bed onto a big pile of pillows. This is probably his very favorite activity these days. And probably the least safe of all the things he does on a daily basis. So I'm not going to post pictures of it, but will instead post some of him enjoying the brownie mix after Frejya made us all brownies Saturday night. And maybe you'll notice that he's up at the sink in these pictures. He also discovered how to push a chair across the kitchen and turn on the water in the sink this weekend.

Another awesome thing that happened this weekend is that we got Iris (again!) for a few hours. Oh how I love me some time with Iris! She and Gabriel are both getting to a bit of a bullying age and don't share toys very well. For the most part Iris ends up as top dog and Gabriel ends up crying. But then there are other times when they play together perfectly well.

And finally I would like to share Frejya's jack-o-lantern with you all. She carved it all by herself this year. Exciting stuff!

Now with better pictures

My friend Kim took much better pictures of my little ones than I did. So now you can see them more clearly. And in case you were wondering, yes I was bothered by how mature the batgirl costume was. Frejya's legs are way too long for her to wear something like that.

To the rescue!!

My kids went as superheroes for Halloween this year. Spiderman and Batgirl. And somehow I didn't end up with a single picture of just the two of them. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am very disappointed.

Gabriel thought trick or treating was the greatest thing ever. He got the concept of it right away and followed all the big kids from house to house. He didn't quite understand that he was only given candy once per house, though. He would just drop the candy into his bag and hold out his hand for more. And of course he was just so cute that people would give him several handfuls. So we have way too much candy at our house now.

 

And this is what he looked like after trick or treating. Can you say candy coma?