Phat lip

On Monday afternoon before nap, I told Amity to go pick out some books from our entryway "library". Somehow en route to the books, there was a mishap with a toy shopping cart and loud crying ensued. Falling and crying is not that rare for Amity but lots of
blood in her mouth is. I called our neighbor across the street and asked if I could bring Amity over for him to take a look. He very graciously looked at her teeth and prescribed Tylenol, ice cream, and Popsicles.

Her lip has gradually become less swollen but her front teeth still look a bit precarious. She doesn't seem too upset anymore and we discovered why...she is hoping for the tooth fairy!

All aboard the potty train!

Last week was the first and only week in the foreseeable future where the girls and I didn't have any place to go for the entire week. It seemed like the perfect time to potty train little Miss Vivien! After the first two days, I was starting to think it had been a bad idea. But on day 3, also my 35th birthday, Vivien seemed to get it and had an accident-free day including pooping in the potty! Could I ask for anything better for my birthday???

Since then, we have had a handful of accidents but I think our success was mainly due to staying home for so many consecutive days, numerous prunes for breakfast :), M&Ms incentives, many renditions of "Zaccheus was wee little man", and V's generally easy going personality.

Way to go, big girl! We are so proud of you!

Adventures with cousins

On Monday, I kept the Connell kids while Becky attended a training. My goal was to wear them out before our 7+ hour drive to Plainview. We played inside, iced cupcakes, made forts, etc. and finally headed to the park around 1. After playing on the playground for awhile, we explored the empty skatepark and had fun sliding down the ramps. When the kids told me they were sufficiently worn out, we started walking home with the youngest two in the stroller. Within seconds of starting our walk, the rain started pouring. Several sweet people stopped their cars to offer us rides or umbrellas but we headed for a nearby friend's house who gave us a ride home.

It was a fun adventure and a foreshadowing of an adventurous foggy drive to Lolly and PopPop's house. Thankfully, we made it safely there at 11:30 pm after leaving our house at 3:00.

The turkey is a funny bird...

His head goes wobble, wobble.
And all he says is just one word...
Gobble, gobble, gobble!

At almost 35-years-old, I decided it was time that I learned to cook a turkey even though I may not be hosting Thanksgiving dinner. So, last
Sunday, with no special guests other than my family, we prepared our very own Thanksgiving feast. Dennis carved the turkey and we enjoyed sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, and rolls. Yumm-o! I LOVE Thanksgiving food!

Family Photos 2011

Our sweet and talented friend, Sarah, from Sarah Thompson Photography took our family pictures last Saturday at Prather Park. She is SO good with the girls and getting them to look at her AND smile. If only she would also coordinate our outfits and fix our hair, then picture taking would really be a stress-free event!

Chapel School Thanksgiving Feast

Last Wednesday was the first time for the Grover girls to experience the traditional Chapel School Thanksgiving feast. The expectation is that everyone dresses up as a pilgrim or Indian and we all contributed to the feast. The kids were supposed to bring something they are thankful for to show at show and tell time. Amity brought her pillow! We had a blast and are already looking forward to the Christmas party!

If you give a girl some scissors...

Thursday was an at-home day of catching up from working and being out of town. The girls played and I tackled my to-do list. One task was cutting coupons. Amity wanted to cut too and began cutting some of the scraps. I was surprised by how well she could cut on a line. I drew some shapes and she did a great job cutting around them. She said, "Mom, why don't we do this every day?" Of course, if you give a girl some scissors, she is probably going to ask for some glue and glitter! This is Amity's first cut and paste project. I have a feeling there will be many more to come!

It is a hard knock life...

for these girls! Some kids watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. Grover girls get to clean bathrooms! Amity has been begging me to use the "special wipes" that I use to clean the bathroom. I finally gave in today and made two little girls very happy as they merrily "cleaned" for at least 20 minutes. I just hope they feel so excited about cleaning ten years from now!

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

Yesterday, we went with Chapel School to Owens Farm in Richardson. As we drove up, Amity kept asking, "Where's is Owen?" I thought that was a great question!

The first activity on the farm was feeding the goats. Vivien wanted nothing to do with them and Amity just wanted to feed the babies.

Self-portraits on the hayride

Other photo opportunities were less joyful...

Everyone got to pick out a favorite pumpkin to take home. There was much deliberation and testing out of the pumpkins. Vivien loves using adjectives these days. She liked to pick them up and say, "It's heavy!"

She finally made her choice!

Another photo op gone awry. Why do I even try?

This one likes to cheese it up for the camera! She looked especially cute and preppy in the cardigan sweater she has been dying to wear in all of the 80+ degree days of Texas October. Yesterday was the first chilly day and it was perfect timing.

One of the many Chapel School traditions is Mrs. Cox telling the story of salvation with a pumpkin. She is so gifted at teaching children (and grown-ups, too)!

The kids ate pumpkin bars and Goldfish while listening.

Smelling the inside of the pumpkin!

What a fun fall day!