Natalie- Solo Musketeer

 

Natalie is so many things- full of energy, determination, full of imagination, poise and imitation. She is quick to laugh and be silly, loves to do anything that I wrinkle my nose at. She is determined to do everything her big sister does, and is so proud of herself when she can do the big kid things. She’s doing two preschools this month, and we’re trying to figure out kindergarten for next year.

 

 

She loves to make model walks and pause with her hand on her hip. She is always pretending she’s the host of a show, or selling a product, or teaching a class….any role that puts her in the position of knowledge and authority. She will hold onto huge words and use them terribly out of context “Mom, my toothbrush is crazy off it’s hinges…” or “Mom, you mop like a Roman Army…” Or “Leo, you’re so indefensible.” We laugh, which only drives her fascination with big words to new levels, to make us laugh.

Natalie is so dramatic it hurts. I’ll compliment Leo and immediately hear, in a strained semi sobbing voice “Mom, I wished you loved me too!” Or “Mom you make the best popcorn ever!” with a big kiss. Or “Mom, I’m grumpy because I’m just having a really tough day today.” ( After a day of playing and watching tv and absolutely nothing hard at all)  Or “Mom, I’m trying to be an ice princess but it’s so hard when you never take me ice skating” or my favorite, upon telling her to hurry up and put her pajamas on “I can’t Mom, I NEED to make all my dreams come true, and I never have enough time to wish upon stars….”  I love seeing the world through her black and white and pink sparkly view of it all.

 

Recently she attended a 3 musketeers party and absolutely loved it. Strong yet stylish (one of her favorite words), she’s always loved Barbie and the 3 musketeers. But after her friend’s party she knows moves and a sequence for fighting. And she has a real sword.

 

 

The 3 musketeers party was put on by a good friend- the girls decorated masks, learned some fencing and rules for play fighting, and played with ribbon streamers. They went home with a play sword and some other goodies. Kudos to my girl Alli for the great party and cute pictures. One girl with a sword in a princess dress is cute. But 8 of them? I can’t handle all the cuteness.

 

Hooray for strong and beautiful little girls!

Preschool–Paints, Libraries, Volcanos!

Recently for preschool we learned about letter P. So of course we had to paint!

We also took a trip to our down town Indy library.  The old part of the library is amazing, and pretty much Belle’s library from Beauty and the Beast. The new addition is amazing too. 

 

We went outside and had lunch in front of the war memorial.

Sarah found a column with a stair case in front of a tree- perfect for taking pictures. Jacob was so excited to be a creeper.

 

Yesterday we did V- we studied vegetables, cut pictures out of the newspaper ad, made a volcano, and did some colored vinegar onto baking soda. The kids loved it- I think we’ll do it next year after dyeing eggs.

Love our mini preschool days and all the fun stuff we do together. Hooray for preschool!

Tour of the Midwest- Stop Number 3- Michiana!

All of this driving, you might be wondering- who are these wonder kids in the car?

Um, there was lots of napping. And movies. Sometimes the girls wouldn’t tell us the movie was over and they’d press play again on the dvd player. Silly tv rabbits. Leo pretty much needs a companion to play and give him toys and food and que up iphone apps. After a brief stop in Kirtland we went to a sit down restaurant, had dinner while tag teaming taking Leo outside, and then went to the hotel. Our kids were so happy to have a swimming pool the next morning.

We traveled onward to our good friends in Elkhart. Our best friends from college still lives there, so we visited our friend’s mini farm and had some outdoor fun. Leo was in tractor and four wheeler heaven.

 

The girls loved the oxen. Natalie was having a fun time trying to brush them without getting an electric shock from the fence. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, so this was great training to how to deal with large animals.

We also dyed eggs and had a great time with our friend’s little girl.

The next morning I woke up to find three happy kids eating cocoa krispies. Leo’s newest obsession is milk and cereal. Can you spot Natalie’s crazy curly hair? It’s kind of ridiculous every morning. So if you see her and her hair looks a little crazy, but not quite like carrot top, you’ll know it could be a lot worse.

So fun to visit old friends, plan our dream homes, and spend time outside and on the farm. Hooray for Michiana!

Tour of the Midwest- Stop number 2- Kirtland!

Or more specifically, John Johnson’s  farm. Our church honors and reveres it’s founding fathers, and John Johnson gave a home and meeting place for Joseph Smith, our founding prophet,  in the early days of our church. The sweet senior missionaries gave us a tour and treated us like their long lost grandchildren.

Sophia and Natalie tried on the milk maid yokes. Let’s just say we won’t be starting a farm anytime soon. We’re weak city folk.

We saw a small room off the main room that was for pregnant women coming to give birth and stay for a few weeks.

The picture on the right is the original stain found underneath layers of paint during restoration. I’d never seen any stains like that before, it was beautiful.

 

Joseph Smith’s office, and the main room where Emma and Joseph would sleep.

 

 

Upstairs study where Joseph and Oliver had a significant vision of deity and the three degrees of glory.

 

Even though I’d heard the accounts of events of these rooms half a dozen times, there’s something significant about seeing the space and imagining the events right in front of you.

 

our family, outside on the front porch, where Joseph would preach.  

 

At the visitor’s center in Kirtland we saw an exhibit by Liz Lemon Swindle, of sketches of the Savior’s Life. They were amazing. I love that style of art, the attention to detail and the emotion comes off the canvas so strongly.

 

There was also a display of items that you could look at and touch from the Savior’s life- tools used in wood carpentry, hammer and nails like those used in the crucifixion, gauze and fishermen’s nets. The girls loved being able to see everything up close.

From the exhibit upstairs you could see the main street of Kirtland.

We also visited the temple, owned now by Church of Christ. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. I almost did anyways, but I couldn’t set a bad example for my girls. The inside was beautiful, and I would have bought a book of pictures, if the store was open past 4 pm.

 

Also, on our way to our friends house the night before, we stopped by the Columbus temple, so I could attend while John watched the kids. One of the main reasons I go to the temple is to feel peace and to feel closer to the Lord. It never dissapoints in calming my soul.

Hooray for Church History!