A Morning with Raleigh & Madeline

Raleigh asked us this morning, "If you eat a neutron or electron plain, will it taste gross??"  I would love to know how you would respond to that one! 

Rikki & Kevin were visiting on Friday, and I warned them to watch out for Kensington because she hadn't taken a bath for two days.  Madeline added, "She's going to be moldy when she grows up!" 

You can see the "food faces" that the girls made last Sunday for a snack.  Somehow that always helps them to eat more healthy foods during the day.  Madeline didn't finish her beans at dinner, so Raleigh kindly bagged and labeled them for her.  These are just some of the things going on at our house!

Some Morning Quotes

Howzabout some family quotes for today?

I was slicing an apple for the girls to munch on, and I said, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."  Raleigh looked thoughtful and said, "Uh . . . Mom.  I don't think that's true because you have to go to the doctor for regular checkups."  

Yesterday, I knew Raleigh had a good quote coming when she sighed really loudly and said, "I miss 2008."  I was like, "Why, Raleigh?"  She said, "I miss 2008 because '8' is curvy, and I love curvy things."  I never would have guessed!

Oh, yeah!!  My mom called me last night, too, laughing hysterically, saying that she HAD to tell me what just happened.  She said that she had tried calling our house, and some guy answered the phone.  She was like, "Is this Dallas?"  And the guy was like, "No, this is Utah."  She was doing one of her usual late-night-laugh-so-hard-you-cry-and-then-cough-hard-and-sneeze-twice routines.  Or is it the other way around?  Anyway, it made my day!!  

I found my first real inspiration for a kids room I would like to do for the girls.  Love the color.  Love the life in it!  Love it.

S-N-O-W

Yeah, so I should've used my new camera trick in Picture #1 up there.  Oh well.  But can you believe all of this snow??  Our car has gotten stuck TOO many times this year.  I think this is the first year we've EVER gotten stuck in the snow after being married.  I think it is an omen telling us, "GET OUT OF UTAH!!"  

Speaking of omens, I read The Alchemist a couple of days ago.  Read it in one night.  It's one of those kinds of books.  It's very good, if you haven't read it.  I'd give a quick review here, but I am about blogged out for one night.  Just know that is worth reading, and I have thought about it many times the past couple of days.  Lots of symbolism.  Many themes and parallels worth analyzing.  But very simple and straightforward.  I recommend it.

OH!  And how can I forget the quotes of the evening.  Just classic.  Here goes:

Raleigh is such a girlie-girl.  (And so is her sister.  But back to Raleigh.)  The other night I bent down to give her a goodnight kiss and hug after tucking her little tush in bed, and she started jingling my dangly earrings and said, (imagine, if you will, the sweetest, girliest tone you can muster), "Oh, Mom!  I want my ears pierced SO BAD!  I just love your earrings!  I love the jingle crackle they make when I touch them and they are so DECORATIVE!  I really think they are becoming quite the FASHION, don't you think?  I mean EVERYONE wears them!"  

WOW.

Then tonight at bedtime (which seems to be a quotable time of day), Raleigh got a little hungry, so I cut up some thin apple slices for her to munch on in bed while she was reading.  I went back to check on her and asked her how her apples were coming.  In the same girlie tone, she said, "Oh, Mom!  I can barely eat them!  They are just so BEAUTIFUL!  It's like I can hardly eat them, I just want to make a necklace out of them!"

WOW.

Then there's Madeline.  We've been trying to help her to be more sincere in her prayers, and lately she has truly been saying what's in her heart.  Tonight it was, "Thank you for the green begetables because they will help me not to be blind when I am old."  HA HA!  Who do you think has been spreading the propaganda about healthy begetables at OUR HOUSE?!!  Except after she was done (anal as I am), I praised her for being sincere and thankful for her green vegetables, and then I went on to remind her that it is actually orange vegetables that provide the necessary beta carotene and vitamin A we need to fight degenerative eye disease in our later years.  WOW.  I know, I'm a little intense sometimes.  But it sure was cute!

A Little Camera Trick from Dionne

Okay, I found this little camera trick online somewhere, tried it out myself, and now that I know it works, I am sharing it with you!  We just got a new camera recently and one of the features that we love is the optional flash.  No technicalities involved- just pop it up, or snap it down, depending on your preference.  I usually always leave it down because the image quality from the natural lighting is so much better.  But that's not my tip.  (Unless you found that useful.)

So here's my little tutorial:

This is how Kensington looked when I was sitting beneath her looking out the window.  (You gotta love the no-pants-long-socks-look!  I love having a third child because I never care if she has a "complete look" about her, and these half-done outfits are just scrumptious, in my opinion.  Except when we go out, of course.  Back off tangent.)

THIS (below) is what the camera wants to say I was looking at.  NOT SO.  So how do I capture the good lighting when the direct sunlight is blaring right in through the window and wants to darken my subject??  (Here comes the fun part!)  

1. Point your camera AWAY from your subject (and the window) on a nearby object that is not being GLARED upon- like your pants, or in this case, the couch.

2. Hold the button down halfway, as if you are focusing the picture.

3. Keep your finger held halfway down, and then point it back at your subject.  DO NOT LET GO!!

4. Push the button all the way down.  

5. SNAPSHOT!!

Voila!!  I find that extraordinarily helpful.  I hope you do, too.

After the Buffet . . .

While we were in SLC, we thought it would be nice to take the girls inside the LDS Conference Center since they've never been.  We loved all the cute old people working there as missionary tour guides!  Dionne was in heaven.  They catered the tour to children per our request, and we learned some interesting things about the Conference Center.

The Conference Center is the largest assembly hall in America.  It seats 21,000 people: 7,000 on each floor.  Here you can see the decorations from the Christmas Devotional that were left on display through the holiday.  We were there on the day they began taking the decorations down, and it was amazing how quickly they worked!  Everything on the stage, including the TABERNACLE ORGAN can come offstage.  The organ slides back behind the wall if needed, and all of the seats can be taken out if there is a performance where a full stage is needed.  Also, the organ in the Conference Center has (I think she said) 7,000 pipes, whereas, the tabernacle organ has 20,000.  Unbelievable!  In putting in the organ for the Conference Center, they didn't want to upstage the tabernacle organ because it is the premier organ.  Interesting.

I want to live in this little Christmas villa!  I would be Mrs. Claus, and Dallas would be Santa!!

Beautiful.  That is natural light coming in from the skylights up above.  I can't remember how many there are, but it seems like she said there were 70 of them.  And they close off during performances and Conference sessions.  

This is how we all felt after we were finished with our two-hour brunch and one-hour tour.

Who Doesn't LOVE a Good Breakfast??

I have heard it said that when your kids ask you to do an activity this year that you did last year, what you have on your hands is a TRADITION!  (Think Fiddler on the Roof.  By the way, have any of you ever seen Jonathan Clarke do that impression?  It is hilarious.)  So our latest and greatest tradition is going out to breakfast close to New Year's at the Little America Hotel in SLC.  The buffet has a great selection, the dining area has the right amount of class, and it is family-friendly enough for our little breakfast-lovers.  And we love to look around the lobby for a bit after we are finished.

Here's our precious girl stuffing her face with lots of oranges (ORaNGeS??  At a breakfast buffet??), pancakes, bacon, and strawberries.

Raleigh is such her father's daughter when it comes to eating.  She ate LOTS and LOTS of fruit.  And bacon.  

If you know how much Dionne loves old people, then you know how much she wanted to break through the glass and pinch this Santa's little cheeks and take him home with her!

And Choobers wanted to take this dog home.  This was the least-blurry shot we could get with all of that hugging and smooching and running around she was doing for this dog!

Christmas Pictures Continued

Amid all the chaos and abundance of treasures on Christmas morning, Kensington's favorite finds were the ribbons and clementines.  And that rhymes.

I think I love clementines as much as she does.

Did I mention to anyone that I bought Dallas a tabletop fooseball set??  We love fooseball!!  And this was the best-kept Christmas secret because it was the biggest present under (behind) the tree, and he had no idea that it was coming.  He thought it was going to be a bookshelf.  ha ha  If anyone wants to come and play us, we will officially kick your trash- that's how good we are.  Just kidding.  Sort of.

Mama and the Choober-Luvs.

Dionne got a few different books this year (which always makes a great Christmas), and this one is from MOM.  

More Pics from Christmas

Dallas was thrilled that Kensington LOVED the little piggy he bought her for Christmas.  He was most excited for THIS present because she loves animals so much.  The little piglet looks so real and cute, and its snout and hind legs move when you turn it on.  She carried it around and fed him.  They looked like little piggy twinners.

If you know Raleigh well, you know that she LOVES buses.  She wants so badly to ride the bus to school- if only she really knew how stinky and dirty they really are!  But whenever she plays with her Polly Pockets or other little dolls, they are always loading up onto a bus.  Over Christmastime, we had a miniature sleigh for the girls to play with, and she would line all of the little manger scene characters up in a line waiting for the "bus" sleigh and give them all rides.  We have like four sets of nativities that we let the girls play with each year, and so far the sleigh-bus was the biggest hit.  Here's a picture of Raleigh opening another thoughtful gift from her Daddy: a BUS!  It's the second in her collection. 

Two anxious sisters on Christmas Eve, ready to spread the "Reindeer Dust" given to Madeline at preschool.  It is a hearty concoction of oats and glitter that lure Santa and his team to your house on Christmas Eve!

 

Here are the girls out in the yard spreading the Reindeer Dust.  I love this picture of them helping each other.  It really is a joy to have daughters who love each other.  Notice the beautiful luminaires lining the street- so beautiful.

There's our angelic little Raleigh-Kroggies singing in the back row at the school Christmas Sing-In!  She got put in the "tall row."  Poor girl.

Nate . . .

Check out this cool poster I made out of your face!!

Mom, These are for You!

My mom made these gorgeous heirloom dresses and outfits for the girls this Christmas.  Aren't they adorable?  If you saw them up close, you could see all the detail and finishing she added.  I am in love with the dresses (and the girls who are wearing them!)  And, yes, they are FREEZING in this picture!  But we had to catch some good lighting!  (The indoor shots below just don't do the dresses any justice.)

Madeline is doing her typical "one foot placed lightly on the other" pose.  I don't know where she got that!

Sweet sweet Raleigh playing with some new toys in the windowsill.

Big sis and little sis.

Ours Was Great, How Was Yours?

A Note to Ed 'n Marie

Hey, you guys!  We hereby relinquish the top honors we received in Ed and Marie's Wedding Mystery to Lisa Matthews, and will gladly take honorable mention in her place.  She did all the sleuthing- we just documented it.  (And what's the deal?  We tried "ednmarie.com" as a possible wedding website yesterday morning, but you must not have launched it yet . . .)  You guys must be having a blast!  We are so excited to meet you in London next summer for the festivities!  (Now if we could just get Dallas to board a plane . . . )

P.S.- Thanks for viewing our blog while you were in Europe- it made our map look really cool!!

P.P.S.- Mom, will you watch our kids for a week next summer??  ha ha

P.P.P.S.- Jess & Dannii (our lil' world travellers)- will you meet us in London next summer and then show us around Paris??  he he

Locked inside Our Snow Cave

Marie & Ed,

We are excited for whatever news you have to tell tomorrow!!  We think (with a little help) that we have narrowed down some clues about your impending wedding.  Here goes:

Clue #1:

"Endowments" in the Boston, Massachusetts LDS Temple

Clue #2:

"The London Temple, London, England, United Kingdom"- which is on West Park Road

(for the marriage ceremony, we are guessing?  but when??  tell us, tell us!  tell us before you tell anyone else!!  ha ha)

Clue #3:

"Banquet"

Somewhere on the Durham campus??

We wish we could figure the 8-letter website at the end of your list of clues, but you didn't give us any letters.  Do we have to buy a vowel, or what??  We are so excited for you guys!

Who Wants to Be My Blogging Buddy?

So Lindsey sent me this funny comment about how she can't believe that she's not on my LIST OF FRIENDS . . . ooops.  So I may as well throw this out there: I know that there are some secret viewers of my blog that I don't know about (as well as friends who made comments and wanted me to add them, but they are far enough back on the postings that I haven't taken the time to find them.)  If I haven't added you, can you please make a comment on here?  (ie- Bryn, Laura, Angela, Delores, etc.)  I don't have your blog on here!  Plus, maybe you read my blog, and I don't know you . . . I'll still add you!  Unless you still enjoy spying on me . . .

Fresh Decor

These are the decorations I made with the magnolia leaves and holly my dad sent me.  Nothing like fresh greenery!!  I gave the wreath a little haircut after this picture was taken to even it out a little.  Thanks, DAD!!

The Snowsuit Video

Little Miss Kensington got a new snowsuit.  As you can see, there's still a little room to grow!  She's a cute little squirt.

"Tuesday," or, "The Day That Raleigh Ran Away," or, "The Day Dionne Lost Her Cookies"

Ah, yes.  You can see by the title that today was eventful.  And we've had such a good weekend, too.  You would think we'd have a good TUESDAY!!  Well, it starts like this:

I've had a row of cutely-bagged mint chocolate fudge square cookies from Costco (that are absolutely divine, in my opinion) sitting on the counter to hand out to friends and family and people who have come over.  Kind of for the holidays and stuff.  Obviously.  You may have even received some from us.  Anyway, there have been two bags left on the counter that I've been eyeing the past couple of days, hoping in my heart of hearts that no one would come over so that I could eat them myself.  (HA HA!  Don't even THINK about coming over right now- I love my chocolate more than I love you!!  Just kidding.)  It's just been my secret wish, that's all.  But today ruined it for me.

To make the story short, Raleigh RAN AWAY FROM SCHOOL all the way home today (in a blizzard, no doubt) because of a misunderstanding with her teacher.  Luckily, I was home, but we had quite the afternoon trying to repair a little kid's emotions and our relationship with her teacher and the front office staff.  

So the cookies on the counter??  Gone.  We had to give them away as a peace offering.  Gladly, it worked.

But I couldn't help but smile as I chided her about RUNNING AWAY FROM SCHOOL: she told me, "But Mom, halfway home, I stopped and prayed to Heavenly Father that he would keep me safe.  And he DID!"  Sheesh, kid.

Hibernating of Sorts

With all the snow packing us inside our cozy little home, we have spent more time in and less time out.  I love it, though.  When my "plans" don't materialize because of the weather, I am forced to be spontaneous and relax a little.  Our hibernation began on Saturday with Dallas working a 15-hour shift, and I was at home with the girls on a FREEZING COLD day.  The blizzard blew in, and the girls and I decided to take it easy at home.

I helped them get their "'sponsibilities" done first thing, and after that they put on a gymnastics performance for me.  Miss Choobers was in her own world looking at books while they literally bounced off the walls and furniture. 

 

Then I agreed to play dress up with them.  I have to admit that I have never actually played dress-up with them.  If they ask me to play with them, I usually ask, "Can I just watch you play?"  Probably because their dress-ups don't fit me, and I have never put forth any effort to come up with a creative costume for myself.  Plus, I have a hard time breaking out of my "mode" to pretend with the girls.  Especially Raleigh.  Because when she pretends, she wants so badly for the ENTIRE family to participate, she pulls out mountains of props, and it lasts for at least a couple of hours.  It is a full-on PRODUCTION.  And I tend to be such a control freak that I begin telling her our STOP time before we've even STARTED.  

I know, I can really be lame like that.  (Mom, I know you are thinking, "That's exactly how you were, Dionne!"  Yes, it has truly come back to bite me.  Do you remember when I dressed you up in my ballet costumes, David and Jess??  he he.)

We rummaged through the dress-ups and found a costume for me that I had forgotten about.  It's this rhinestoney-pearly-OOOOGLY dress that you would find your great grandmother wearing on a cruise ship.  And you won't find me posting a picture of it here.  The reason I own it is because I had to wear it for a performance at a Regional Girls Camp.  (Huh, another thing to add to my list of reasons why I hated Girls Camp.)  So I put on this outfit, (and maybe it was the snow outside and I was feeling a little RELAXED), but I really got into Raleigh's little production.  

Kensington wore a fairy skirt and crown and fed her little bunny a bottle on the rocking chair while us thespians performed.  

Madeline had on a yellow froofy number.

Raleigh was dressed as a WITCH.  

She had me act out "Christmas morning" complete with her own script and choreography.  And the more I got into it with her, the more I could see how much fun it was.  We were crazy and loud, and we finally stopped when I started getting dizzy.  The fun part was teasing Raleigh and getting more into it than she really wanted me to.  Or acting like I didn't understand my part or the directions she was giving me.  I think it is so fun to tease kids.  I think it's one of the best ways to bond- I don't know why.  It's like jokes they can actually understand.  Now I'm reminding myself of my dad. 

  

"I Love Lucy" was on after theatre class, so the four of us got back into our comfy clothes and vegged in front of the t.v. for awhile.  The girls had never seen "I Love Lucy," and it was hilarious to see Raleigh and Madeline actually understand the humor in it.  I laughed myself to tears at the show AND at them.  The girls got a big kick out of Lucy.  Who doesn't?

When the show was over, I thought about maybe braving the weather and taking the girls shopping, but before we got out the door, Willard came over to play.  He is the cutest boy.  He's Raleigh's age and in her class at school.  He came in his snow pants, snow boots, snow gloves, and parka.  It took him a good ten minutes just to get out of his warm things and off of the rug at our front door.  (I say "front door" as if we had other doors in our place.  Ha ha!)  So we broke out some kitchen goodies and made some little festive winter treats together.  I couldn't believe what a cool mom I was.  We made snowmen out of marshmallows, pretzels, and gumdrops, etc., and then we made little reindeer faces out of Nutter Butters, pretzels, chocolate chips, and gumdrops.  

By the time the kids had a chance to play without me following them around trying to entertain them, the snow had finally stopped.  So at 4:00 pm, we finally got out of the house to shop and had a GRAND time.  I love to shop with the girls because, well, they love to shop, too!  

On Sunday we felt like we were still living in a snow cave, so we broke out our aprons and made some sugar cookies.  When I was young I remember my mom making these candy cane-shaped cookies that actually had red and white twisted frosting to make them look authentic.  But they were made out of this not-so-great-tasting dough.  (Sorry, Southern Living, it's your one bad recipe.)  So we decided to make some out of sugar cookie dough.  What made it even more fun was the way the girls got into it.  They could maneuver the dough fairly well and made some pretty cute candy cane cookies.  Notice how intent they are.

 

Then Dallas's (sorry, I just HAVE to add the "s" after the apostrophe even though it isn't grammatically correct because it drives me a little crazy) parents came over, and we enjoyed visiting with them while the girls ran around the house like maniacs on their little sugar-high.  What is it about the holidays and snow and sugar cookies that makes us all so giddy?

I think it's the abundance of memories-in-the-making.  We had such a great time together.  But MONDAY!  Now Monday was a good day.  And TUESDAY!  Tuesday was memorable, that's for sure.  I'll think my next post will be about Tuesday . . .

A Special Dance for You

Better Than the Ice Cream Truck

My Kind of Music Video

My Dad Loves Me!

I got this cool package in the mail today from GEORGIA!!  It was stuffed with magnolia leaves, holly sprigs, and some other unidentifiable plant.  There were even a few pine needles that accidentally made their way inside the box.  Ahh.  Georgia.  sniffle.  I think I will make some cool Christmas creation out of this greenery.  Thanks, Dad!  I love you!

More Pictures with Santa

This tongue never stays inside Choobie's mouth anymore.  She uses it to concentrate.