Annie had a Primary lesson about the Plan of Salvation that really touched her. Usually she can't remember much about her lessons, but this one sunk in. She was so excited about it that she asked if she could teach Family Night the next night with Daddy's help. Together they colored and cut out the symbols and put them on our felt board. Annie did a really good job. We feel blessed that she has great Primary teachers who really prepare and provide learning experiences for her on Sundays.
Tommy is obsessed with boxes and containers lately. He stacks them, transfers the contents from one to another, fills them up with random things just to see how much he can put in them. He especially likes getting inside of them to hide or "nap". I found these pictures on Daddy's phone. Silly boy.
We've been blessed with a ton of snow this year. It makes the winter more bearable for me. If it's going to be cold, at least everything is beautiful and white too - rather than gray and brown. The snow is not great for making snowmen but we tried really hard to build one anyway. Tommy wanted to name him Frosty. Annie wanted to name him Olaf. A neighbor's dog came and ate the nose a few minutes after we went inside. Tommy was so sad about the nose. We'll have to try again if we get another wet snow.
Joey is teething. Nothing has broken through yet but he is drooling and chewing on everything. His little hands are always so cold because he gets them so wet. I remember Lily was the same way. When Tommy was this age, we never left the house without our trusty banana teether. Now it is Joey's favorite accessory too. He gets excited to see it and chews and chews on it. I'm so glad we saved it. Best baby teether ever.
The girls and I got to have a Girls' Night Out on the 23rd. The BYU Folk Dance Company came to perform. The owners of Lily's clogging school were members of the team when they were students years ago and they are still involved with the team now. One of them choreographed an amazing African routine that was part of the program that night. Before the show I took the girls out for frozen yogurt. They loved it. Annie ate so fast she got a serious ice cream head ache. She tried fixing it by blowing on her hands and then rubbing her hands on the top of her head. It didn't work, but it made us laugh.
the girls took their own "selfie"
Annie trying to fix her ice cream head ache
The entrance to the frozen yogurt shop had a little garden with lighted bushes. The girls said it looked magical and wanted a picture. Unfortunately the camera lens on my brand new phone shattered so I can only take selfies. I wanted a picture of the shop with the garden and lights, oh well. We're hoping we can get the camera fixed soon. Until then, lots of selfies.Trying to get all of us in one shot was a bit tricky. A few nice people offered to take our picture but since the camera was broken we had to decline.
After the performance the girls found their favorite dancer, a red head, and we took a picture with her. This is what the pictures look like through the shattered lens. Lily and Annie loved the performance. I thought they would get tired of bored and want to leave at intermission. No way. It was an exciting program and was so beautifully done. Lily's favorites were an Indian (Eastern) style dance, a flamenco routine, and a Latvian dance with lots of jumping and spinning. Annie liked anything with pretty dresses. Her favorites were an Irish set with beautiful blue dresses and a mix of ballet and Irish step dancing and a Mexican dance with huge flowing white dresses. There was a meet and greet with the dancers after the show. Lily asked to stay so she could see the dancers. It is so wonderful to have BYU performers for her to look up to. Their language was clean and happy and they were so enthusiastic. They really made Lily feel special that night. She told me she wants to keep clogging so she can be on this team someday - atta girl!
Not only is Joey teething, he's also got a terrible cold. It started in his nose and quickly moved to his chest. He was not sleeping well or eating well most of this past week. But on Friday he started to improve and got his appetite back. Poor little dude. The lack of sleep was starting to wear me down so Jeremy has been helping with the early morning feedings. It has been great to share the burden a little. I don't know how single parents can function when they have to deal with things like this.
On Friday night the girls wanted a family movie night in a fort. We haven't done that for a while. After finishing baths, the girls helped us construct the fort and make popcorn. Then we snuggled down for the movie. Mommy and Daddy ended up on the floor with all the pillows and blankets. By 8:30 we were ready for bed but the kids still wanted to stay up. It was a fun way to stay warm together on a winter night.
Annie got her dance recital outfit this week. She was so excited for me to take a picture of it. She is such a doll. Can't wait for her first performance in a few weeks.
Tommy got a little jealous of all the attention Annie was getting, so he joined in the fun. We sure love our little man.
Jeremy and I are still going strong with our health and fitness challenge. I am down almost 8 pounds and Jeremy has lost 5. We're both making an effort to exercise more and make better food choices. We've got to be ready for Hawaii in 10 weeks!