Best of the Best Evers

I always sing at least one song to Kylee when I put her to bed at night (although it usually ends up being more like 5 unless she is too exhausted to last that long). The catch is that she has to have her head on her pillow before I will start singing (and if her head leaves the pillow the song stops until she lays back down). Some nights it's a smooth process to get her to settle down and other nights it is a real struggle. Well, the other night it was a real struggle. Kylee wouldn't lay her head down, but was still demanding songs and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get her to see the connection between the two. So, finally, after a few minutes I just said, "I'm sorry Kylee. I have to go. If you aren't going to lay down then I won't be able to sing," and I left the room and went downstairs. She immediately started crying and kept crying for a few minutes until I didn't hear her anymore.

Just when I thought she was drifting off I heard her sweet little voice call out, "Mom, I stopped crying. I'm ready for you to sing." How do you say no to that? I didn't.

Then she says, "Mom, Cody helped me stop crying. He helped me be happy."

I thanked Cody for being such a nice brother and gave them both kisses and sang a song. I left their room loving my kids about 20 times more than when I entered.

*******

And then there was today. We came home from church at 4:00 hungry and tired (especially the kids). I helped Kylee change out of her church clothes and asked Cody to do the same. As soon as he finished he could come down and eat a snack with us before dinner was ready. Well, he crumbled. He claimed he was too hungry to get the step stool out of the bathroom so that he could reach a shirt in his closet, that he had nothing to wear, and that he needed help. He was a mess, crying and refusing to get off his bed and do anything. Meanwhile the rest of us came downstairs, had a snack, got dinner ready, and invited Sara, Bob, and Duncan over to eat with us.

ONE and A HALF HOURS later Cody still hadn't budged. Talk about having a rough day. Poor kid. There we sat: Steve, Kylee, me, Sara, Bob, and Duncan at the table ready to pray and eat. As usual, Kylee asked to say the prayer. Right before the prayer we called up to Cody one more time to see if was ready to join us yet. Then Kylee said she wanted to go upstairs and help Cody be happy (like he had helped her just a few days before). Steve suggested she say the prayer and ask that Cody can be happy. Kylee said the prayer and then went upstairs. About 10 minutes later Cody and Kylee came downstairs. Bob and Sara told Cody they were happy to see him and they were glad he came downstairs.

He simply said, "Kylee helped me get dressed."

*****

There is nothing better for me than my kids helping each other. I wish I could say this was an every day occurrence for our family. Maybe someday. Until then I'll gladly take the bits I get here and there.

First Photograph

(13 1/2 weeks along)

We sure love pictures of our kids. Anyone who knows us knows that!

But, nothing beats the first photograph.

You aren't worried about the right lighting, getting the perfect smile, the background, or what their wearing (ha ha--or in this case that there aren't any clothes at all!) You don't have to fuss with the focus or try to get the color right either.

Nothing fancy. . .

. . . Just pure joy in a blurry black and white image! :)

Thanksgiving in DC (again!)

We went to DC again this year to spend Thanksgiving with Steve's Aunt Gwen, Uncle Brooks, and cousin Nikki. Sara, Bob, and Duncan came this year along with Steve's mom which made things even more fun!!

Here are just 27 of the reasons why we had so much fun...

#1 Toys!!

Aunt Gwen has the best toys according to Cody! And he got right to work playing with them as soon as we got there.

#2 Yummy food 24-7.

We caught Kylee in the pantry more than once!

#3 Hanging out with Uncle Wacko

#4 Using the leaf blower!!

#5 Making a fire in the backyard

#6 Hanging out by the fire

with Sara and Bob and Duncan

#7 S'mores!!

#8 Projects!

Cody's Gingerbread Village looked pretty awesome.

#9 Candy!!

I wonder if spilling the candy from the gingerbread houses was an accident or if it was her way of stuffing as much as she could in her mouth before anybody noticed. This girl has no shame when it comes to eating sugary treats off the floor--just look at that smile...it screams "sugar high!" What a funny little candy monster.

#10 Playing with the vacuum.

That is the nice way of saying Kylee and Cody made a big mess with the candy!

#11 Secret Ingredients!

Well, it's really no secret that there is sour cream in my Sour Cream Apple pie recipe.

See Kylee in the background? Yep, she's eating candy. I guess we didn't hide it well enough because now that I am looking back on all of our pictures I can see Kylee in the background eating candy in quite a few of them!!

#12 Cooking Lessons

Sara and I got a lesson on making Whipped Cream and I showed Gwen how to make our favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

#13 Sour Cream Apple Pie!!

#14 Going all out for a fancy Thanksgiving meal!

#15 watching a 3D movie in style

#16 More projects!

Cody liked making chocolate covered pretzels with Grandma Tammy too. The only thing missing in this picture is Kylee in the background licking the frosting.

#17 Backyard Zoo

Once again the kids loved watching all of the animals that come to visit and eat a treat: cardinals, blue jays, raccoons, squirrels, and cats.

#18 Touring the Pentagon

#19 Being Proud to be an American!

#20 Wearing Cheetah Girl aprons!

#21 Having fun with Nikki.

She told us our horoscopes and hosted dance parties (which Kylee is a big fan of now)

#22 Drinking fresh strawberry lemonade (thanks Steve!)

#23 Jumping in the leaves

#24 Sitting by the leaves, but not getting too close.

#25 Belly-flopping into the leaves.

#26 Hurdling the leaves (Wow Bob!)

#27 And taking family pictures in the leaves.

Thanks Reese's for a really fun weekend! You guys are always so fun to be with!

Cody Kicked His Habit!

We gave this giant roller coaster set to Cody on the condition that he had to stop sucking his thumb to be able to open the box and put it together. Well, he did it! We are so proud of Cody for being determined enough to kick his 5 year old habit. Steve and Cody had fun putting the roller coaster together (over a few days). It has over 1100 pieces!

Way to go Cody - we think you are so awesome!

Happy Halloween from Us! (2010)

Cody's friend had a Halloween Party last Thursday night. Cody was so excited to go! I have never seen him get his homework done so fast. This is right before we headed out the door.

On Friday his school put on a Halloween Costume Parade. It was pretty chilly, but Kylee and I had fun seeing all the cute costumes. Afterwards Cody had a little Halloween party in his classroom where he got lots of goodies.

On Saturday we had a Ward Trunk-or-Treat Party. Kylee had been waiting patiently for her chance to dress up all month. She talked about her owl costume all the time.

Harry Potter and Hedwig

Cody takes his magic very seriously.

Cody wanted to be sure that our giveaway candy was in a picture before we headed out the door.

We had a fun weekend! Hope you did too!

Happy Halloween from Harry and Hedwig!

Photo Fun at Ohiopyle

We had our first family outing since we moved back to PA. Steve has been insanely busy, but he finally had some time so we went to Ohiopyle. The fall is so beautiful here.

Cucumber Falls

Jumping on the rocks across the river. Cody must have done that 100 times.

Oops! Stepped in the water! :)

Don't worry he got over it pretty fast.

A lovely self-portrait.

Watching the kayaks.

For obvious reasons this one is our absolute favorite!