52 Weeks of Joy: Week 48

We wrote our letters to Santa this week. Thought we'd try to beat the last minute rush and give him some extra time to prepare our gifts. And the letters definitely brought Mom and Dad some joy. You'll like them too. We're taking them to the Children's Department at our library tomorrow before storytime. Santa has a mailbox there and the librarians will make sure he gets our letters. And he'll send us a letter back in the mail!

What's a Panoola?

Miriam turned three yesterday! She doesn't look anything like a baby anymore! And she doesn't think like one either, apparently. Yesterday morning she had her cup of milk and a cuddle with her Daddy, like normal. Then asked to play a game on his phone...

Miriam: It's too quiet. Can you turn it up?
Daddy: No, it's loud enough.
Miriam: It's my birthday...
(Mommy and Daddy are pretty shocked by this statement and laugh a little.)
Miriam: It's the Panoola of my birthday.
Mommy: What's a Panoola?
Miriam: That means you do what I want on my birthday.

Oh boy. Well, that didn't exactly happen. But she did have a pretty wonderful day!

Rainbow cupcakes, inside and out, per her request.

 Very delicious!
 

Then opening gifts.

While Miriam was busy playing with her presents, Vivian snuck off with a new book. Grandma and Grandpa were happy to read with her.

Happy Birthday, Squeaker!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day. We got to spend time with family! Our favorite thing! Here are a few pictures from our day. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

The girls explored Sarah's uncle's farm in the early afternoon. The weather was beautiful!

Tony and Vivian

Grandma and Vivian

 And we visited with the Wellman Family!

Lily and Aunt Maria

From left: Aunt Carolyn, Aunt Marilyn, Aunt Phyllis, and Grandma Wellman

Then the girls found the kittens. Which was pretty unfortunate for the kitties.

In the evening we went to Tim's parent's to celebrate Thanksgiving and a special birthday girl!

Tim's Grandma, who we all call Mema, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of her 39th birthday. 

And this winter she and her husband will celebrate 70 years of wedded bliss! Now that's something to be thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

52 Weeks of Joy: Week 47

We attempted to take a picture for our Christmas cards of the girls...we won't share the ultimate winner. But how about some bloopers? They'll give you joy. Also, these were taken the last day we had two two-year-olds in the house!

Screaming...

Cheesing...

Picking...

Goofing...

It's here!

Thanksgiving Week has finally arrived! This is Mommy's favorite holiday - no commercialism, fabulous meaning, delicious food, lots of family time. The perfect holiday. So we'll probably celebrate ALL WEEK instead of just one day. 

Today we made a Thankful Tree and added a few of the things we're thankful for; both girls did a great job! Mom was especially impressed with Miriam's cutting. She is able to hold the scissors correctly and maneuver them a little.

Vivian worked on her gluing (with the cap on).

Then we wrote what we're thankful for on our leaves and pasted them onto the tree. We'll add more leaves as the girls think of things they are thankful for during the week.

Some classic Vivian...

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Week!

52 weeks of Joy: Week 46

The girls are joyful because of their little friends...stuffed and imaginary. These pictures seem to capture how very real their buddies are. And how much joy they bring to Miriam and Vivian.

Miriam has lots of imaginary friends who live in our neighborhood and even siblings who live in the houses on some of our familiar drives (to the grocery, Grandma's house, church...). She also has made up places that she and her friends visit. Our favorite is Kanalas. It's a restaurant. So far we've gathered that they cook everything but specialize in breakfast and dessert. Which is a little funny because Miriam has never been a big breakfast eater and has been known to turn down dessert for more strawberries.

Vivian more consistently just loves her Puppy. Puppy should never be out of sight and is rarely out of mind. He's slept with Vivian for about a year and is being potty trained, too. He's been washed. But you'll recall that didn't go over very well. And he really should be thrown through another quick cycle soon, but we're just not sure we want that drama again.

So thanks to our friends who bring us joy.

I can do it myself

There's a book Mommy had growing up that our library maintains a copy of: I Can Do It Myself with the Muppets from Sesame Street. The girls love this book, especially Vivian. She can practically read it to herself. Recently, Miriam has learned how to do some big girl things all by herself. She's getting good at brushing her teeth. She tries to comb her hair. She wants to pour her own cereal. She can dress herself. This is her proudest accomplishment to date.

Not everything is perfect.

 And she really loves to pick out her own outfits.

But this is a skill that Mommy particularly appreciates with Baby #3 coming in about 20 weeks.
 

Proud Pink Person.

Now let's go find a hair barrette.

Life on a Timer

Vivian is potty training. They don't call it training for nothing.

We're over a week into it. We've already had two accident free days! Today, however, wasn't one of them. Two steps forward, one step back, this potty training business. 

Vivian wants to be just like Miriam. In that light, sitting on the potty is a pretty wonderful thing. But really, for a girl who seems about impossible to disciple, who is always pushing, always toeing the line, Vivian has been remarkably easy to potty train.

There are certainly times when she's busy and just doesn't have time to stop and sit on the potty. But it's been long enough and it's time for a potty break. So she grudgingly sits. And off she goes until the timer beeps again. We're almost to the point where we can forget the timer. Almost. Still training.

In other news, Vivian's S's sounds like F's. Her last name is Feer. She eats with a Foon. And every time she went potty the first few days, she got a Fartie. That's a Smartie for the lay person.

52 Weeks of Joy: Week 45

Every morning the girls wake up and start our day with a little joy. They are generally happy, warm, and cuddly. We snuggle with them on the couch or in our bed with a sippy cup of milk, which they suck down like hungry little calves. Still and sleepy. Joyful.

Two!

Vivian turned two on Saturday. Which means we now have two two-year-olds in the house. She simply asked for Elmo cupcakes and wasn't concerned about anything other than when her guests would arrive for the little birthday party. When they finally came for supper, both girls were so excited they ended up sneaking out the back door when Daddy went out to grill to run around and scream. With all the sugar they consumed, their energy levels stayed pretty high for the rest of the night.

Happy Birthday, little Mouse.

Halloween

Our little girls dressed up for Halloween this year as Purdue cheerleaders, making their Daddy very happy. We attended a Halloween party and Trick-or-Treated. It was VERY cold and Vivian didn't appreciate the weather at all. At one point she refused to continue walking if there wasn't a piece of candy between her lips. When Daddy suggested heading home, Miriam said, "Ok, Dad. You take Vivi home. I'll keep going." Clearly the candy was worth the miserably frozen fingers! 

A few pictures of the festivities! A donut eating contest...no hands allowed. First the kids.

Oops...caught with her hand on a donut!

 The girls were happy to finish theirs off the string.

Then the men took a turn. 

Tim, dressed and acting as Dwight from "The Office", won!

Family photo: Dwight, Dorothy, and two cheerleaders.

The cheerleaders before Trick-or-Treating. They were so excited to leave we could hardly get a picture of their faces.

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!