Officially 3

I think Naomi had a pretty good birthday yesterday. She is quite excited to be three. Yesterday when Grandpa and Nana called to wish her a happy birthday, Grandpa asked her how old she is now. She held up three fingers and said, "I'm this much!" All of her presents were pink, hearts, or princesses so she was thrilled! She even had a pink heart cake

and got to help decorate it.

Don't worry... she didn't eat all of these sprinkles.

Sprinkles anyone?

We went grocery shopping yesterday and I bought that little bottle of rainbow sprinkles you see above. "So why is it empty?" you might ask. Well, somehow, it did not get put away with all the other groceries. This morning I was busy folding some laundry downstairs and when I came back upstairs there was Ellen and Noah playing nicely but no Naomi. I quickly checked down the hallway to the girls room and saw that their door was closed, which it never is, and it was quiet...too quiet. I opened the door and there sat Naomi in the middle of her floor with this empty bottle next to her and sprinkles all over the floor, the carpeted floor! Not the entire bottle, because she had actually eaten most of them, but it doesn't take very many sprinkles to make a mess. She knew she was in trouble, but I just couldn't be mad at her. It is her birthday and what 3 year old can resist a bottle full of sprinkles? I did have her go get the little vacuum and clean up the floor, and she did a pretty good job. Oh, Naomi! What will you come up with next?

Ball!

Noah loves balls. He has for quite a long time. Ball is his newest word, however, and so he seems to enjoy playing with balls even more now. Whenever he throws a ball he says "ball" as he is throwing and then when it stops he says, "wow!"

This afternoon we had peas for lunch and Noah discovered yet another kind of ball. I heard Noah say ball and looked up just in time to see a pea go rolling across the table. Luckily he had already eaten most of them before he decided they could be used as balls. It was so hard not to laugh!

Naomi

Naomi's 3rd birthday will be this Wednesday the 18th of February. I can and can't believe that three years have gone by. The name Naomi means pleasant and our Naomi does fill that name very well. She is so happy and sweet and a pleasure to be around.

This was the day Naomi came home from the hospital.



This is Naomi at one month old.

Today's Stories

We had such fun reading stories this afternoon that Ellen and I had to sit down and blog about it. The first one we read was Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, by Richard Scarry. We love this book. There are so many things you can do with it. Today we looked for Goldbug on each page (that is what we usually do) and we talked about all the fun silly cars. Ellen's favorite was the cheese car filled with mice. Mine was the pickle truck.

We also read two stories out of the March issue of the Friend. (To read it online click HERE then click on the March issue.) One is called Sunday Stations and the other is called Emergency Day Drill. Today was about the 5th time we have read both of them. The kids really like the ideas in both stories, especially the Sunday Stations idea. I told them I'd have to think on it. The kids in the story are a little older and can do more things on their own. Does anyone have any ideas for a "station" that Naomi or Ellen could do?

Not too much going on...

Nothing big has been going on around here. Just pretty normal life. We're getting ready for lots of things. The kids have all been cutting out lots of hearts to give for Valentine's Day. These are Stephen's.

We've also been getting ready for the Ward Talent Show, which will be next week. We're doing "I'm My Own Grandpa" as a family. We'll see how it goes. We've also been thinking about the school district's science fair. Stephen is going to do "How much does a 10 pound fish weigh in the water?" Annie is still thinking about it. Other than all that, we've just been working and playing and reading. Noah loves to read stories now too and brings me books quite a few times during the day. He also really likes to build with mega blocks. Ellen built the little house in this picture, but Noah added the tall skinny tower.

And then there were four...

Tooth Fairy Encounters

I've been meaning to tell the rest of the tooth fairy story for a few days now. After missing the first night the tooth fairy did make it the next night. (Thank you Jane for your comment! Anne was quite pleased to hear that the tooth fairy was so busy that night.) Anne woke up in the morning and promptly checked under her pillow and found her dollar. She excitedly showed me and then told me, "Mom! The tooth fairy came and I felt her arm!" Then she ran and told James the same thing. Anne sleeps with her blanket over her head so James asked her if she looked to see the tooth fairy. Anne said that she wanted to but didn't. WHEW!!! Annie is still excited about her close encounter, but I'm sure the tooth fairy will be a little more cautious from now on.

Fun at the "Play Mall"

The other day Ellen, Naomi, Noah and I went to the "play mall" to play with some friends. The kids call it the "play mall." It is just an indoor playground in the East Side Marketplace which is a funny mix between a shopping mall and an office building. It is set up like a regular mall and has a couple of restaurants, a movie theater, an optometrist's office, an Edward Jones office, a ceramics shop, the DMV, and a few other random things. Odd place that it is, we always have lots of fun there, and it's nice and warm.

My Adventures and Pursuits

I'm posting today to announce a new blog. A blog for me. It's called Adventures and Pursuits. For a long explanation as to why I decided to do this read this post. Please don't feel obligated to read it, I just wanted to put it out there in case any one has any interest.