National Girl and Women in Sports Day

How many of you know what day February 14th was? Nope, not Valentine's day (Ok, that too), but National Girl and Women in Sports Day!
So, being the good dad that he is, Chad took Emily and they had a daddy-daughter date at the BYU event.
Emily got to do lots of fun things.
She golfed.
She imitated her Mom and high jumped and ran. (I think the hurdles were probably a safety hazard!)
She was so fast that Chad couldn't even take her picture! She was past him before he got it snapped.
She did the long jump.
And then built sand castles in the sand! (When you are 2, that's what sand is for, right?)
And she got to walk on the balance beam, at least 20 times according to her dad!
Then, the rest of us met them and we went to the BYU Women's basketball game.
Cole caught a t-shirt. It was a little big!
And Addy slept. I don't know how kids manage to sleep through basketball games with all of the yelling, whistles, and horns going off, but every one of my kids has figured it out!
Now you are informed and you too can celebrate this great day next year!

Let It Snow and Snow and Snow and Snow ...

Since Christmastime I think we have seen our grass for less than a week, total. Every time the snow melts and gives me hope, it snows again and again and again! At one point, Cole was getting to play on snow piles that were over 5 feet high. (Yes, that made me a little nervous, but then I decided I had probably done that same sort of thing when I was a kid and survived. So then I tried to relax and let him enjoy it. The key being tried!)
We watched the groundhog carefully, hoping that winter was over. (That and Cole talked about it at preschool, so he was really excited to see what the groundhog was going to do. My life was much less complicated before preschool!) But alas, we are still left to build snowmen for 6 more weeks! (I think Addy looks like a snowman in these pictures. So I included them here, along with the proud boys who dressed her up.)
Anyway, the kids loved the snow for the first few weeks (and thus so did I because they played outside a lot), but it has now gotten old to them and the cold doesn't help matters. So, instead, they like to play inside. And my living room constantly looks like this!
And then the tent wasn't enough of a fort, so they had to build a different one. Which made the living room even worse!!
The completed wall was effective enough to keep their sisters out. Until the girls found an unprotected hole in the back, which they took advantage of. This launched a whole new round of wall reinforcements!
Oh well! Spring will be here one day, I hope!

See Spot Run

Phrases like See Spot Run are being repeated a lot around our house right now because Cole is learning to read! Yeah for Cole! He is picking it up quite rapidly. I especially love the big grin he puts on when he gets done with a book. He is so proud of himself! We are very proud of him! (Even if reading books now is a little more slow and painful!)
Here is a video of him reading "Hog and Dog". Just a warning, it's pretty lengthy! But, maybe you can sit your kids in front of the computer screen and Cole can read to them also.



Now, Emily likes to try to "read" a book. She points to the pictures and names what they are or she tells me what is happening on that particular page. It's pretty cute!
And if we are creating prodigies in our first 2 children, then why not push the 3rd as well, right?!

Name that Tune

Emily has been singing this song a lot lately. When I actually stopped to listen to what she was singing, I started cracking up. I guess this is the church version (at least I know she has picked up something either in nursery or at home!)

The Secret Confessions of Addison Lacy

I have to make this quick. My mom fell asleep reading Emily a book, so I managed to sneak over while she was out. Really, who falls asleep in the middle of the day while reading a book? Especially to Emily who NEVER stops talking!! I guess maybe that means she doesn't get enough sleep at night or something. Oh well. Anyway, I've been wanting to make a confession, but my mom watches me like a hawk! (That or Cole is always on the computer.)
Here it is....
I am a thumbsucker!
There it's out! My parents are very much against it (because everyone tells them it is such a hard habit to break), so I knew that I would have to be the one to confess. They always pull my thumb out, especially my Dad. If you want to see a battle sometime, come to my house when I am tired and Dad is home. I put my thumb in, he pulls it out. I put my thumb back in, he pulls my thumb back out. Over and over. Sometimes when he pulls out my thumb and puts a pacifier in, I keep it in until he's not looking and then I spit it out and put my thumb back in. It's a pretty fun game!
My mom on the other hand just looks at me and says, "Addy take your thumb out of your mouth." And believe it or not, I look at her, give her a great big grin and actually take my thumb out. At least for a minute! (I want her to think I'm more obedient than my brother and sister.)
My Dad has also made such a big deal out of it that if Cole or Emily sees me with my thumb in my mouth, they sound the red alert. I can hear them now, "Addy has her thumb in her mouth!" Yelled at the top of their lungs. I will get my revenge on them one day!
There is however, one person who approves of my habit, but that's probably because he would approve of any legal habit I have!
Thanks for your support Grandpa! I miss you!

Kid-isms

After a rough Sunday (12:30 church is not ideal. It could be a long year!), I decided it was time to post some funny things my kids have done lately so I could be reminded that they really are cute!
One Saturday morning, I was sitting on the couch reading Emily books while Cole was watching TV. I looked up at one point and realized that he was flipping back and forth between at least two cartoons. I told him to pick a cartoon and stick with it. He told me if he did that, then he wouldn't know what was happening in the other one. I told him too bad, he had to pick one. He then asked if he could at least flip to the other one on commercials. I about fell off the couch laughing because he sounded just like his Dad does while watching sports on TV (flipping back and forth between multiple games, especially on commercials). Like father, like son I suppose.
Cole is currently into infomercials (which they show way too often on kid-friendly channels!) At least twice a day, he comes to tell me that we need to get the Snugglie or Bendaroos or the Hangers that triple your closet space or Blendy Pens or whatever other item they are promoting that day. Not only does he tell me what it is, but he also proceeds to list off all of the great qualities that the product has and why we should get it. Oh, my too smart boy!
There are all kinds of stories I could tell on Emily. She pretty much cracks me up every day. First of all, we were sitting in church one day and Emily pulled a book out of my bag and asked Chad to read it to her. Chad told her he was trying to listen and she needed to read it by herself. She looked at him with the saddest eyes and said, "But daddy, I 'tan't' read." Once again, I about fell down laughing.
Emily also likes to frequently tell me that the outfit she is wearing is cute. (Again, I'm not sure who's daughter she is. Her mother never dressed up like this!!)
Aunt Katie painted her fingernails and toenails when she was visiting a week ago (this picture is from a different painting session), and the very next morning, as soon as she got out of bed, Emily wanted her pj's off so she could make sure her toes were still painted. Even though it was a week ago, and the paint is mostly worn off, she still walks around asking people if they like her fingers and toes.
Addy, of course, does lots of cute things. When we were at my parent's house over the holidays, my dad showed her a very large stuffed reindeer. Every time she saw the reindeer after that, she started talking nonstop to it. (Oh great, yet another child who likes to talk!)

She is also very cute with her brother and sister. She loves when they come up to her and play with her. She frequently rewards them with giant smiles, which they love and which causes them to play with her more. I do have to admit that they are very cute when they interact with her!
This is Addy when Emily and her friend decided she needed some toys to play with. You can't really see her under all the toys, but you can see her little legs poking out the bottom. I think this was a day when she wasn't so fond of her sister!This was their finished product. At least she wasn't going to be bored?!
And, let's not forget the biggest kid of all in our family, although this is more in the "what were you thinking" department. The day after Christmas, Chad disappeared. I had heard him go into the garage, but I knew he had shorts and a t-shirt on, so I wasn't sure what he was doing out there. I open the door, and he is shoveling snow like this, which would have been fine if it was 45 or 50 degrees. However, I think it was less than 30 that day! Oh well, a wife tries. At least he was doing a good deed and shoveling, right?! I love him too!
Ok, I do love them all. And they are back to being cute again! (Of course that could just be because they are all asleep and the house is quiet, at least for a while.)

It's a Sad, Sad Day!!

After 2 weeks of fighting it and trying my hardest to avoid it, I have to admit defeat. Emily is no longer taking a daily nap. My 2 hours of semi-peace and quiet are no more. But, when I threaten her with everything I can possibly think of and she still climbs out of her bed and refuses to sleep, what is a mom to do?! And of course it happens about the time I was managing to get Addy down around the same time! Oh well, at least this means that she will go to bed earlier! (At least that is my hope and dream.)