Sunday Family Fun

Sunday was a fun-filled family day. The girls often like to match, so we usually have their colors coordinated on Sunday if we can. This time, they even had matching hair. :)

When I was getting the girls ready, McKinley asked me if she would get to go up and sing in church. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by that question! I think that Primary Program last week was a big turning point for her. She even got excited about being asked to say the prayer in Primary next week -- something she would've dreaded a week ago.

Since Roy doesn't get home from work until after 10:00 most nights during the week, we try to make good use of our weekends as a family. We got together with some friends of ours (the Jarvis family) to carve pumpkins. McKinley really got into it! She helped hollow hers out and even carved some of the hair all by herself! She stuck to it for about an hour or so before she finally decided to go play with the other kids. I helped Sage with hers. She was more interested in looking at the final project than she was in the actual process.
Roy carved the pirate with an earring. When Sage looked at it all lit up, she said, "E-E", which translated means monkey. We laughed so hard. Roy thinks it must be that the earring looks like an ear. While I agree with that, I also think that the wide grin with the exposed teeth play a part. It was funny at any rate.

Roy took the kids to bed as wheelbarrows. Both of them loved it and did very well. I was impressed by their arm strength.

Chuck E. Cheese and Date Night

Our trip to Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday was a success. McKinley's friend, Michael (pictured), and his older brother came with us for the fun. Sage was terrified of the giant mouse and kept burying her face in my shoulder when we tried to take this picture, but she loved the rides and games.

Look out

Michael Jordan!

McKinley's tongue came out every time she threw the ball -- she even made some baskets.

Later Saturday night, Roy and I got to go out on a date -- a rare treat. We went to the Haunted World, which was an outdoor haunted woods-type thing. They went all out from costumes and make-up to props and even change in ground firmness! We hadn't been to a haunted house of any kind since before we were married and it was a lot of fun.

Firsts

Both girls have been busy with all kinds of firsts.

Sage filled her whole potty chart and we'll be going to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate today. I wish I could say she's fully potty trained, but she does a good job going in the potty when she wants to.

It will also be a trip to celebrate McKinley's participation in the Primary Program on Sunday. Hooray for both!

Sage got dressed in her pajamas all by herself Thursday night! She dresses herself frequently in pants, shirts, and dresses, but doesn't usually try these sleepers. She was determined and even got both arms in and zipped it up all by herself!

McKinley is very independent as well. She has tied her shoes in the past, but it hasn't been tight enough for me not to have to redo it. Thursday, however, she was determined and kept trying until she got it just right. Doesn't her shoe look impressively good? She was so excited to have done it so well and so was I. Apparently I was a little too excited and at first, she wasn't going to let me take a picture. She told me she doesn't like it when I get so excited when she does something new, so I guess I'll have to work on toning down my enthusiasm. Only after I agreed to work on staying calm, did she strike this adorable pose and let me take a picture.


Sage loves to play Operation, but usually just likes to make it buzz. This time, however, she used the pinchers to actually retrieve several of the pieces from the guy. She was such a careful little surgeon!

McKinley and Sage both love horses and love to ride around on pretend ones. McKinley uses this surgical tubing thing to jump rope and does it very well for her age, I might add. But in this picture, they were both mounted on their horse and were riding around the house on it having a great time! They were laughing so hard and took turns being in front.

Grateful

I had the unfortunate opportunity to attend the funeral of a four-month-old baby in my ward today. As sad as it was, it was very uplifting spiritually. It was also a good reminder of how lucky I am to have such beautiful, healthy children -- including the one I'm carrying now. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is such a blessing in our lives! I can't imagine what one would do in a situation like my friend's, if they didn't have the comforting knowledge of an eternal family.

On a much lighter note . . . McKinley participated in the Primary Program in church on Sunday for the very first time. She has been too scared to go up with the other kids all of the other times the Primary has sung and frankly didn't want to go still. We bribed her with a promised family activity wherever she wanted to go, but it wasn't enough. We got one of her friends to come and get her, hoping she would go willingly if she had her closest friend to go up with her. That helped some, but even then, she had to be handed off to her teacher (by her dad).

Once she was there, she did a great job. She held up a picture of the D.C. temple for her part, which had special meaning for me since that was the temple picture my parents gave me when I turned 8 and also my temple on my mission. She sang all the songs and did such a good job! Sage was busy moving around between Roy and me, but would occasionally stop and find McKinley, point her out, and wave enthusiastically with a big smile on her face. We were all so proud of McKinley for this great accomplishment -- especially knowing how hard it was for her to be in front of so many people! I have to admit it made me a bit teary . . . maybe it's because I'm pregnant. :)

Sage has been talking a lot lately. She still signs quite a bit, but her signs are usually accompanied by words now. She and McKinley are the best of friends and are often seen with their arms around each other, reading books together, or playing with their baby dolls. They are so cute together! This is a picture of them with their little cousin, Jackson (Roy's brother Richard's baby for those of you who don't know Jack). I can hardly wait to see how they'll be with their little brother. I'm sure they'll want to help a lot if they aren't too jealous of the time he takes away from them at the beginning. I'm sure they'll be great big sisters! :)

Thanks Sarah!

This is just to say thanks to my beautiful little sister who started this blog for me. Sarah, you're fabulous and we all love you!

Crystal

Hello everybody. This is McKinley and Sage. We thought mommy could use a push in the right direction, so we've taken it upon ourselves to create this blogspot for her. I love everybody and wanted the title of this post to be Crystal. ;) I have an obedience chart and I'm doing AWESOME!! I'm getting so big and my hair is really long. I'm getting good at winking and I like to go to my friends house and watch movies. Sage's favorite colors are pink and blue. She loves her baby dolls. Mommy looks like an alien because her tummy is big. She looks pretty and she's going to have 6 or 7 kids.

(Sage has informed us that their little brother is in her tummy...not her mommy's tummy...her tummy. Shocking news to all of us. ;) This was typed by my favorite Aunt, Sarah. She typed what I was saying for the most part.)