Stories and Songs by Clara

I've started doing something new with Clara at bedtime: I ask her what she did that day that was fun. We've been doing this off and on for the last couple of weeks. And for the last couple of weeks, whether or not I remember to ask, she tells me a variation of this story:

I went to the fry store.
There were kids there.
Nathan played.
I played.
Dad watched me.
Mommy watched me.
I ate chicken.

A couple of weeks ago we let them play at Carl's Jr.'s playground. It was a big hit, apparently. I guess she wishes she could do it every day.

The other night I decided to sing some songs at bedtime, and apparently she's a big fan of songs. I feel a little bad I didn't know. The sunbeam song is always popular, but I think her favorite is Happy Family. She asked for that one by name and got a big grin as I sang it. Yesterday we were sitting on the couch and as she played she sang it:

I love Daddy, yesiree.
I love Mommy, yesiree.
I love brother, yesiree.
I love baby, yesiree.

Her cadence was pretty monotone, increasing in pitch and volume at the yesiREE. She was having a great time.

Nathan also enjoys singing, but only if he's in the mood. He likes to make up his own songs as he plays. He loves singing time in Primary but never sings. But he'll request that one of us sing Book of Mormon stories and he'll do the actions.

Not to brag, but.

We had a great weekend at grandma and grandpa's. The first thing I noticed was the sweet clean smell of the desert. This is probably my favorite time of the year down there. It's so empty and peaceful. We had a nice relaxing weekend. Nathan decided it was his new house, and grandma and grandpa could go live in his old house if they wanted. Or they could stay, because you know, more grownups to play with him.

 Clara also loved the visit. She had none of the usual shyness around grandma and grandpa and treated them to a full display of her personality.

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 One day we walked up to the school to play. The weather was warm enough (for me at least) to go coatless and when we were bored outside, there was a gym full of equipment to play with inside. It turns out badminton is a pretty good workout at 33 weeks. Scooters and baseball and hockey = a good time.

 And then, of course, the slickrock. We could have spent hours on the slickrock. Nathan especially was enthralled. Just before this picture was taken he decided this incline was too steep and he needed to crawl carefully down, and was talking about needing a rope so he wouldn't fall off the cliff, and then along comes Clara, holding my hand, walking nonchalantly past him. It made me laugh.

This cliff is actually pretty steep. Nathan used the handholds carved years ago and went right up, though. It made Levi, who was taking the picture, a little nervous. He's old enough to be careful, but young enough to not be scared.

 Asleep on the way home.

Then, since sister got a picture, Nathan had to have one as well. The drive home turned out to be phenomenal. The kids slept until a little bit past Price. And then, for the rest of the drive, there was no whining. NO WHINING. Can you believe it? I couldn't. No movies, books, and only a couple of toys. A small snack in American Fork. I was pretty jazzed about it since the drive down had been so awful. Nathan's getting to be a trooper in the car. He'll just look at the scenery. But Clara is a whiner. She's two, what can I say?

What my kids do in the morning

 My kids love their new bedroom. I love it, too, since there are a whole bunch of interesting things between their beds and my bed. So I usually hear them playing downstairs for a while before they come upstairs and demand breakfast. I found these pictures on the camera and remembered a couple weeks ago Nathan handed me the camera as he asked for yogurt. It's always yogurt. They get offended if I offer them cereal, or even pancakes. Yogurt. Always. So enjoy the sampling. I deleted a few duplicates, so you're welcome.

A Day at IFA

 Really, it was more like 45 minutes at IFA. We heard they were having a kid's activity. And making free stick horses and racing them through a store sounded like a good idea Saturday morning. When we got home we had to make our costumes a little more appropriate. We only have one cowboy hat so Clara had to make do with "dandy's assy hat" (translated as dad's Australia hat. Sometimes she calls him dandy.)

I didn't get a hat, or a horse. Later Nathan wanted to head back to the store to make one for me.  I guess being a cowboy isn't as much fun without a posse.

 While we were playing cowboys, Levi was working on the penultimate (!) project for our laundry room. I just have some paint touch up work to do and then it's finished! We've been finishing up a bunch of projects lately and it's so satisfying. I'll try to post pictures soon.

Making progress

 A totally unrelated picture, but isn't she adorable?

 And now on with the progress we're making on various projects. Did you know that bunk beds are the coolest thing since ever?

 That's what they think. I decided baby gets its own room, so we've been transforming the catch-all junk room from downstairs into a new bedroom. And it's almost there. I'll post more later, because it's a pretty adorable room, if I do say so myself. And it's almost finished.

But they've been sleeping in their new beds for a few weeks. Clara can just barely climb into her bed by stretching as far as humanly possible. And she's only fallen out once. She's since learned to sleep closer to the wall. And Nathan handles the ladder in the dark like a pro.

So, new beds. It's pretty exciting. And when I get the quilts done for their new beds, they'll be in double heaven. They're getting close, thankfully. I'm nesting and I've got a million projects I want to get done. Eight more weeks.

More snow, please

 We've not had much chance to get out and play in the snow this winter. Sad.

 But it is nice that sand toys work just as well in the snow.

 Clara showing off her "mittens." Earlier in the winter I tried to put mittens on her and she refused, and now I can't find them. So I put a fluffy pair of socks on her hands. Which she loved, because they are pink. She found them in the laundry last week and said, "Look mom. Here's my mittens." She played outside for more than an hour with them on, so I count it a success.

Nathan was a diehard. He lasted more than two hours outside. He didn't want to come inside then either, but it was getting dark and dinnertime. And I was cold. I really need to get myself some decent winter clothes. How is that I don't own a good pair of snow boots? We'll have to fix this.