I fear it's just the beginning

As a young adult, I would see scraggaly looking kids and think, "I would never let my kids out of the house like that," or "why can't they just wash their kid's face?," or "does it really take that long to put on clean clothes?" Well to all those mothers that I have ever judged, I would just like to say, "I had absolutely no idea...I"m so sorry." I usually remember to wash hands after meals or activities, but their faces are another story. I usually don't notice that they have crusted milk around their mouth or who knows what wiped all over their cheeks, until they have been presented to the public. The best part about it is, half the time I don't even wash it off. Lately, however, Kate has been into dressing herself, and she and I never seem to agree on what matches. Not that I'm a fashion icon by any means, but I have learned a thing or two about stripes and polkadots, and different shades of pink. Kate however, very logically, debates that stripes go with stripes and pinks go with pinks...so there you go, debate over.

Kara on the other hand comes out every 10 minutes with no clothes on. She then continues to complain that she's cold but still refuses to put clothes on. I just don't know what to do with her. At least those scraggaly kids in the stores had clothes on.

Holiday family time

So, Thanksgiving has has helped remind me of all the things I'm thankful for (which I think should happen every month, not because it has now made me look 12mo. pregnant, but because I LOVE the family time). Right up at the top of my thankful list is my Savior, the Gospel, and of course, my family. I could have never imagined that being a mom and wife would be so fulfilling. Don't get me wrong, I tell my kids weekly that they belong in a zoo that's where I'm going to drop them off, but those moments don't last forever. The snuggles, laughs and playtime, however, do last a lifetime. Instead of shopping on Friday, we headed to the Sacramento Zoo (as a field trip only) and Fairy Tale Town. The girls loved the zoo. Now that Kara can identify most of the animals, she had a blast yelling at them, and telling them what they were. After, we hurried through Fairytale Town because of the crowds, and all the invisible snot and germs covering the toys (not my favorite place), we headed home to put up decorations. As we put up the tree and the decorations, I could see the magic of Chrismas in their little faces. It was just as it should have been.

Kate's favorite animals are the monkeys and the Giraffes. Kara likes anything that moves.

Fun at Fairytale Town.

It's fun when the Christmas decorations are bigger than your kid.

Making room for baby sister

Last week we found out that we are having a girl. Both Mike and I are very excited, while words can't express how ecstatic Kate is. I'm sure Mike would like a boy somewhere down the line, but we both feel extremely blessed just to have what looks like a perfectly healthy baby (especially with our history of miscarriages). Our little girls have brought more joy to our lives that we thought imaginable and are so excited to welcome in another one (red headed or not...we still don't know where the red comes from). Kara has decided so graciously to give up her crib. While I would like to keep her in there until she is three (those of you who know Kara know exactly why), she has proven that she will not be held hostage any longer. We figure we need to transition before she breaks her neck.

She says she's "riding the horsie."

Halloween

Kate with her little friends at her halloween party.

Kate and Kara ready for the festivities.


Lily, Henry, Kate and Kara. Once we actually got outside to trick-or-treat, Kate wouldn't let go of my hands.
Oh, the treasures!

Kara's just happy to be part of it all.

So the girls had a fun filled week full of halloween festivities. Besides wearing their costumes around the house all week long, Kate had a little halloween party/parade with her joy school and then on Friday night we joined with some friends Henry and Lily for trick-or-treating. Good thing for Henry and Lily who were all pumped up and ran to every house. Without their enthusiasm I think Mike and I would have had to hold the girls' treat baskets for them. After about two houses, Kara got the jist of it. In fact, she even decided she didn't just want candy, but wanted to stay with them for the night. We had to pry her out of a few houses. Needless to say, they had a great time. Kate came home, dumped out her treasures and started organizing her goods (that's thanks to her daddy's DNA). Kate wanted to savor everything and Kara just wanted the blue suckers, which she had about ten of (who invented blue suckers anyway?).

Weekend Fun

The girls just think their daddy is the best. He came home from work on friday with a butterfly kite for them to fly. Needless to say, they were ecstatic. Here's a picture of the kite (I couldn't get a picture of the kite and the kids together). Mike teaching Kate how to fly a kite.
Running with the kite. Kara is determined that her age and size will not slow her down. She's determined to do EVERYTHING everyone else does.
Getting ready for our ward's Harvest Festival. Kara has been wearing her ladybug costume around for weeks.
Playing games at the harvest festival. They had a blast.

Is it family night yet?

Kate lives for family night. Who would have ever known that setting one night per week aside to completely focus on the family would bring so much joy to such young kids. We spend a lot of time playing with our girls, but something makes family night different. Kate likes routines. And when I say routines I mean that we play hide-and-seek EVERY family night and we have rice krispy treats EVERY family night and we sing the same songs EVERY family night. For some it might get old, but for a 3 and 1 year old it gets better every time. Sometimes we play outside, have a dance session with dad jamming out on the guitar, go out for treats, make crafts, and just about anything that anyone feels like doing. The girls have more fun playing a silly game with Mike (that he made up seconds before), than they do going to the zoo, or any other activity for that matter. It's amazing how the simplest things bring so much joy.

Who needs a pool? They enjoy this more than going to the pool itself. Like I said...it's the simple things.
"My turn Kate...scoot over."
One of Kara's favorite hiding spots. She usually jumps out like a Jack-in-the box and gives her self away.
And of course, they would read all night long if they could.

Or maybe just look at pictures.

Apple Hill

Fun at the pumpkin patch. We actually didn't get one here because the pumpkins were half their size.
The infamous apple fritters. It would be pointless to go to apple hill and not get a fritter.
The pony rides that Kara was chomping at the bit to go on (but was too small) and Kate just watched from a distance with her hands over her ears. Go figure.
Daddy, Kate and Kara playing with the fish in the pond.

So we took our annual Apple Hill trip with the family (well this is actually only our second year). This is one of our favorite places to go in the fall because the girls get to enjoy chilly weather, petting farms, ponds, pony rides, pumpkin patches, and GREAT apple fritters and caramel apples. Mike enjoys the day off from work most of all, and this year we were actually snowed on. Yeah, didn't plan for that one. This is Kara's first year of actually understanding a holiday (well somewhat) and she is obsessed with pumpkins. Everywhere we go she's yelling at the pumpkins, or more like yelling to the pumpkins (she's still a mystery to us). Needless to say we had a really fun time, and yes Jonna, you did miss out.