Goings on in our world...

Grandma requested some pics and stories everyday, and since I mainly write this for myself and her, I am only too happy to oblige. Those who do not adore my kids as much as we do (but how could you not, they are great!) may just need to skip the overload...

Here is what we did last week:

Braelyn was invited to a girl's only tea party. Each of the guests brought a little tin that we filled with snowman cookies. When we got to the Cork's house there wasn't anyway home. I thought I must have mixed up the day so I called Kevin and he called their Dad. Kevin assumed I was at the wrong house which was very frustrating to me because I have been to their house before and picked up their daughter to babysit. Kevin kept asking me to describe what I could see and where I was. I was certain that I was in the right place but started to feel a little like I was going crazy. While this was going on, Dana the mom, got a hold of Kevin and told him they were just running late doing pick up at preschool. I was just glad I hadn't lost my mind. Braelyn had a great time and here she is in her cute dress and fuzzy boots:

Friday night I got tickets for Braelyn and I to see "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The Ballet" We got dressed in matching black turtle necks and I let her wear a necklace. We left really early but I had a hard time finding a parking spot because they were having a festival downtown and it was raining, then when we got to the theater there was a choir singing carols in front so we couldn't get in. We just stood right next to them staring while they finished the song, then the guys at the end didn't want to move to to let us in. It was very strange. We were so early we had a long wait in the crowded lobby and then we had to kind of push to get in, but we got seats right near the front. A family from our ward scooted in next to us, and they had their grandson with them. When he saw Braelyn he said, "I want to sit by her." The boys tend to like her, she already has the flirting down. Once the show finally started it was really kind of terrible but Braelyn sat still the whole time and has been doing some of the dance moves since. We stopped for some dessert on the way home and Braelyn wanted to sit at the bar. They were out of pie so we ordered breakfast instead. The waitress was a short lady and when she came to talk to us Braelyn just stared and after she walked away Braelyn said, "That was not a grown-up woman, she was a little one like me!" She was enthralled with her the entire night and would stare down the counter at her and say, "That is such a cute little woman!" She was excited because she thought Dad would be asleep when we got home because we had gone out at nighttime.

Saturday morning we all headed over to the kid's clinic they have at Lowes. They were making gingerbread houses and they gave the kids an apron and goggles to wear. Brae got all suited up and it was so cute when she would try and hammer the nails in. She and I were on a team and Kevin and Berkley were on a team and we raced to see who could get it done first. I actually let Braelyn help me and Kevin sent Berkley to pull everything out of my purse so they won. Braelyn loved putting the stickers on, and the house had a hinged roof you could open so we showed Berkley she could put her binky in it, and she stuck it in there and carried it around. I was hoping that could be the final resting place for her pacifiers but she took it out once we got home. Braelyn loved building this, and I had so much fun watching her try and use the tools. She wore her apron and goggles to the other stores we went to that day.

Later when we were at Wal-mart they had Santa there. Braelyn talked with him for awhile then we forced Berkley to take some pictures, and she actually stopped crying after a few seconds. We had seen Santa at the mall when we were shopping on Black Friday but didn't stop that day, but have talked a lot of going back there, so I was wondering what Braelyn thought of this other Santa. I asked her if it was the real Santa she had talked to at Wal-mart that day. She said, "No." I asked her how she knew it wasn't the real Santa and she said, "That man smelled like Papa." I asked if they smelt good and she answered, "Yeah, your dad smells good." I wonder what the real Santa smells like?

Berkley tends to share the OCD that runs in our family and the recent obsession has been closing doors. She often closes herself into a room and can't get out so we have to follow the whining to let her out of wherever she is stuck. This drives Braelyn crazy when she shuts her door so the battles have ensued and most of the time Berkley wins. My doorknobs are all very sticky at this point. Once all the doors had been shut she took a break to watch me paint my toenails. I never get nail polish out with her so she was very fascinated with the bottle. I gave her an old bottle that had been dried shut and that I have to use the pliers to get open now. You can guess the end of this story. It is amazing how much strength a determined toddler has. I screamed when I realized what she had done and that scared her then I thrust her at Kevin so I could try and save the rug. Kevin scrubbed and scrubbed her but she is still a nice shade of bright pink, good thing she insists on being naked most of the time. My rug is okay, it is a red rug so I think it will just look a little worn in the spot. My pants will probably not make it. And the nail polish will be behind lock and key again.