Bird Feeder

Kylie has started coming up with some fun crafts on her own. The other day she told me that she wanted to write a book. She folded over a piece of paper and asked me to help her spell the words. She wrote (all by herself), "Once upon a time there was a princess. She lived in a house. The end." She drew pictures on the front and inside. I was so proud of her imagination and desire to create something. That same day, she made a purse out of paper.

Today I decided to pull out all of the craft supplies for her and let her go crazy. She came up with this bird feeder all on her own. She was so proud of it and wanted to hang it in our tree right away. She also insisted on going to the store for bird seeds. She was so happy about her creation that I had to agree with her demands, and we headed to the pet store. While we were there, we got to play with some bunnies. I held a snake and Kylie touched it. And we saw some tarantulas that people can buy as pets. What!?! We came home with the bird seed and immediately put it in her feeder. Right before bed, she went to check out the feeder and all of the seed was gone. She brought it in for the night so that the wind wouldn't blow it away, but I am sure that it will be out on our tree again tomorrow.

I can't wait to see what she creates next!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Sadie turned 2 years old yesterday! I can't believe how fast she has grown up. She has been such a joy to our family and makes every day interesting!

Sadie (or Bug as we all call her) is a little monkey. When she is supposed to be sitting still, she can't help but climb all over everything, usually mommy. She is pretty obedient and actually loves to help clean. If she spills something, she will run for a towel and wipe it up, then replaces the towel. If she spills food while she is eating, she will take off her bib and wipe it up. She knows where everything goes and will help put things back where they go, especially if it is just randomly during the day. Not during clean up time, that is a whole different story.

Sadie loves her mommy and is attached to my hip, always! We are having a little drama right now because I am trying not to carry her so much. She is just too big and heavy and old for me to be lugging around. She absolutely does not like this idea and lets me know.

If she doesn't like something, she will throw monster tantrums and she is the most difficult child to persuade. I have to trick her a lot! To brush her teeth, I have to pretend that a doll is doing it. To change her diaper, I have to pretend that I am going to change Kylie's diaper. Sadie knows that Kylie doesn't wear a diaper and will immediately try to step in and correct the situation by letting me change her diaper instead. Miki has to pretend that he is going to get her, chase her, carry her, tickle her, or talk to her in order to get her to do what mommy says (she doesn't like his help so much, unless she has no other option/mommy isn't around).

Sadie will hug us all day long, gives kisses and says "please" and "thank you so much" all of the time. She is very polite and compassionate. If someone is hurt, she is the first one there to kiss them, hug them and make sure that they are okay.

She is such a spunky little girl that keeps us on our toes and brings so much love and laughter into our home. We love her and are so grateful that the Lord has given her to our care.

Happy Birthday Sadie Bug!

Here is Sadie at the hospital the day she was born. I love the looks on their faces!

Look at those beautiful eyes! Sadie-1 year old.

On her birthday, July 20, 2008, wearing her brand new Ariel swimming suit. She LOVES Ariel. Thanks family and friends for a great birthday! We missed you and love you all.

Circus Time

Miki and I took the girls to the circus over the 4th of July weekend We were able to have Martin and Christine go with us, and we met up with some friends. We were all so excited and thought that the kids would love the animals and human stunts. We happened to be on the very back row as far from the show as possible. It was still fun even though there was one stunt that was so high up that our overhanging ceiling made it impossible for us to see. I did have an idea of what was going on by watching their shadows.

About ten minutes into the show Kylie began to complain of a headache. We thought that the lights and sounds might be too much for her so she sat on Miki's lap. She then proceeded to FALL ASLEEP during the circus. I didn't know that that could be possible with all of that noise. Halfway through the show, we could tell that she had a fever and was completely miserable.

Sadie was having a blast, although she did drop her binkie at one time (typical Sadie behavior) and threw a small tantrum.

When the show was over, we piled in the car and headed home, and Kylie proceeded to throw up! She was so sick and threw up the next morning too. Exactly 24 hours later, she felt just fine and it was as if nothing had ever been wrong. She did say that she never wanted to go to the circus again because it made her sick.

Red Light Green Light

We are always trying to find positive ways to discipline our girls. Miki and I have tried so many different methods with Kylie and we have all been frustrated by them.
For Kylie, it takes too long for a reward or she just doesn't get it. For me, I get tired of having to give out candy and gifts for her good behavior or it is difficult to be consistent. For Miki, everything is just too complicated. Simple and to the point is better.
We want her to make good choices because it makes her feel good not because she will get a prize. So, Miki and I came up with our own discipline method and we love it!
We call it Red Light, Green Light.
I made a paper light that is red on one side and green on the other. It hangs on our fridge.
If she makes a bad choice (tantrums, fighting, whining, bad words, etc.) the light is turned to the red side. Then if she does something good (sharing, saying "Please", cleaning up without mommy having to ask over and over and over, etc. ) we turn it back to green.
When she wants to do something fun (ride her bike, watch tv, play on the computer, have a snack, play with friends, etc.) I ask her to tell me what color the light is on the fridge. If it is red she knows that she can't do the fun things until she can get the light green again. If it is green then I have the option of telling her "yes" to the fun thing.
Also, if she is bordering on getting a red light, I will let her know that her behavior is heading the wrong direction by telling her she has a yellow light (even though there isn't an actual yellow light).
This has worked so well! She will tell me that she is going to make sure that she gets a green light all day long. Although, there have been days when the light has been red more often than not. She is able to keep track of her discipline and it is simple and easy for Miki to see what is going on when he gets home from work. I can stay consistent with it and we can see that she understands her choices and the consequences.

Memories

My friend Farrah started this on her blog, and I thought it would be fun to see the things that people remember about our little family (the good, the bad, and the hilarious)!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Since this is our family blog, feel free to leave a memory about any of the four of us.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :)

I Can Be Reverent

Tonight's Family Home Evening topic was on being reverent. I did this lesson with my primary kids yesterday and had them each make a Family Home Evening packet to take home and do with their families.
So, tonight I used the packet with my family. The lesson had a game where I cut out pictures of different body parts (arms, feet, eyes, ears, and lips) and put them into a bag. The girls got to pick out one of the pictures and tell me how they could be reverent with that part of their body.
We had a good time and then the fun really began as they started putting the pictures on themselves. I thought this one of Kylie was great!
Sadie is putting the ears on her own ears.

And Kylie is pretending that these are her folded arms.

Birthday Pictures

Kylie turned 4 in May and Sadie turns 2 in July, so we try to get there birthday pictures done in June. That way I only have to make one trip. I took the girls to the Target Photo Studio and got these cute pictures. I think my girls are beautiful. I don't know where they get it from, probably (okay, definitely) from their beautiful father! We miss you daddy!!!