Our favorite books right now

I thought it would be fun to keep a record each month of what our "favorites" are for the moment:

From the library this past month:
1) Erandi's Braids by Tomie DePaola... the girls love saying some of the Spanish words and translating them for me. They always remember that mi hija means "my daughter."

2) Down the Back of the Chair by Margaret Mahy, a New Zealand author. This book is hilarious, and is as much a favorite of Mommy and Daddy, as it is of the girls. If only we could find a diamond ring and a long, lost will of our Uncle Bill, down the back of our chairs. This is a classic that we will probably have to buy.

From preschool...
1) The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. The girls love the repetition on each page of the sounds the different pieces of clothing make. Great for improving memory... and perfect for Halloween time.

2) A House is a House For Me by Mary Ann Hoberman... I think the writing is so clever, while still being educational. So cute.

FHE: Bean Museum's Halloween Night

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we went to the Bean Museum (think stuffed animals) for the special Halloween program. The twins went dressed as fairies, and Gretters went dressed as a princess. Mommy dressed up like an over-heated pregnant woman, and Daddy dressed like a photographer. We went on a scavenger hunt to find Rosie the Tarantula, watched a spooky animal show, and went out for icecream afterwards with our friends the Uresks.

Bell poses with a ferocious wolf (could be a werewolf... we're not totally sure).

Princess Gretters

Lady the Blue Fairy gives Daddy the Photographer a big kiss.

Primary Program!

Sunday was our girls' first Primary Program. They did such a good job, clearly speaking their parts into the microphone and singing all the songs with enthusiasm. We are so proud of them!

Gretters has never enjoyed Sacrament Meeting, like she did watching all the kids up front. She was in such a good mood, we had to snap some pics of her eating her PB&J after church.

The last days of Autumn

I know Autumn is not officially over for a few weeks, but soon it will be too cold to go for walks without coats and hats and gloves. On Saturday, we picked apples in our neighbors' mini-orchard and played outside in the multi-colored leaves. We went for a walk and enjoyed feeling the sun on our faces.
Lady

Bell

Still the baby of the family...until February, anyway.

My three girls... oh, how I love them!

Someone is listening

Daddy: I can't believe that... holy cow!
Gretters: Cow! Mooooooooo

It's the little things...

After a long day, a sensitive husband could see that I was "done." As I was putting Miss G in the bath, he took me in his arms and said "I have a request... no, I have an order. Take the night off, and go get a pedicure." Of course, I protested at first, but truth was... I did need to get out. I finally used the gift certificate he gave me for Christmas and I have to say... I love smooth heels and a set of red toe nails. Thanks for sensing my needs, honey.

FHE: Ghosts and Spiders

For Family Home Evening we talked about the Holy Ghost and what kind of things we can do to keep him with us (service, praying, reading the scriptures, and keeping our room clean) and what kind of things make him scared and run away (yelling, fighting, messy rooms). We made a goal to not yell this week... which Mommy broke when someone broke a glass on the kitchen floor and Gretters ran straight for the glass. We made Halloween spider cookies and took them to a few of our friends.
Definitely NOT nutritious, but an easy craft/treat that the girls were really having fun making and taking to people. I'm grateful for creative people that come up with these ideas and make me look like a fun mom to my kids.

What Daddy Likes To Do

Daddy is wonderful with the girls, but sometimes a man has to get away... and luckily his two hobbies go hand-in-hand: he loves to go mountain biking and take pictures. I picked this one because the water looks very Halloween-ish, due to the slow shutter speed. We're luck we live in such a beautiful place that has lots of mountains for him to ride and shoot.

Another GIRL!

I've heard that some women intuitively know what they are having... I am NOT one of those women. Every time I've been pregnant I have thought it was a boy, and every time I have been wrong. This time is no exception. For my birthday, Dan wrapped a gender appropriate present, as I wanted to wait until my birthday to find out the gender. I thought for sure I was opening something blue and imagine my surprise when I opened a pair of pink booties and a pink hat. We love girls, and we are quickly becoming experts in all things little girls. We don't have a name picked out.. but we're working on it. We still have four months, or three, given my history. The twins asked me if we could still keep Gretters... I told them it wasn't an exchange program... you keep the ones you have and make room for another. They still want to know where their little brother is... wouldn't I like to know? I guess we're going to have to adopt a male pet to balance out all the estrogen in the house! We're excited for another sister to love and are grateful for what appears to be a healthy, active baby.