All Things Girl

Weekly Happenings: This past week didn’t really hold anything out of the ordinary for us. We’re mostly just working on getting back into the swing of normal life, which I think we’ve pretty much accomplished.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been switching back and forth between rainy and overcast with the sun showing its face every once in a while. I’m going to be honest: it kind of drives me crazy. I’m not saying that I’m ready for summer (I don’t know if I’m ever ready, haha), but seeing the sun some more would be nice.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s busy at work and busy with his calling at church. Add in responsibilities around home and you’ve got a good picture of what his life is like right now. He’s also still fighting the cedar pollen. He even took a couple sick days this week so that he could get some much needed rest.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I almost forgot that at the beginning of the week, I was blindsided by quite a nasty stomach bug/flu. It landed me in bed as soon as it hit (I was glad Paul was already home, even though I felt bad that he needed to take over since he wasn’t feeling good, either). I had some pretty crazy dreams while I had the fever, too. I wish I could remember them! Luckily it was gone in about twelve hours, leaving me exhausted. Paul took the next day off so that we could both rest. I’ve also been challenged by Abigail’s requests for me to make her hair like a princess (Heaven help me). Luckily she’s seemed to like my attempts.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: School, video games, Legos, reading fun books (a friend of ours was very generous and got him the complete collection of Roald Dahl books as a belated Christmas gift which he’s been devouring one-by-one).

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Her imagination is in full force. I stepped into the pantry to grab something and I hear (from the other side of the door): *knocking* “Elsa? Ellllsa…do you wanna build a snooooowmaaaaan?” (have I mentioned she still loves Frozen?). I opened up the door to see her down on the ground, trying to peek under the door. One other funny exchange happened when I was trying to understand which show she wanted to watch:

A: Lego?
M: Lego what?
A: Yes.
M: No, Lego what?
A: Lego boy!
M: What’s a Lego boy?
A: Yes!
M: No, what are you talking about?
A: Lego…mobee?
M: OH! Lego Movie?
A: Yeeeessss!!!

This Week in Pictures:

She asked to play with the pitcher and then came up to me telling me all about her chef’s hat. 😀
It’s hard to see in this picture but not only did she insist that Elsa come on the walk with us, but she also wanted me to tuck Elsa under the “seat belt” so she could be safe, too.
First she wanted butterflies in her hair…
…then she asked specifically for “princess hair” so I swapped out the butterfly ponytail holder for a rosette barrette and some pink butterfly clips.
Luckily that was good enough to be considered “princess hair”. *whew!*
 

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Weekly Happenings: We spent the majority of this past week getting back into our routine. It was a bit…interesting trying to to get the kids (and myself) back onto Central Time (bedtime felt like it came too soon and it felt like we were waking up in the middle of the night). We also worked on getting the Christmas decorations down since January snuck up on us while we were on vacation. Abigail was rather dismayed to see all the fun Christmas decorations disappear, but luckily she got over it relatively quickly (playing with her new toys and watching Frozen helped immensely).

The Weekly Weather: It’s been mild for the most part: cold mornings warming up to cool afternoons. We did have quite the thunderstorm move through last night, but luckily all the rumblings died down before it got too late.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been fighting mountain cedar pollen since we’ve gotten home (we all have, but it seems to hit him the worst). Today he’s been busy getting the neighborhood Christmas decorations taken down.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mostly my regular weekly stuff of ferrying kids around and trying to get my brain back in Texas. 😉

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s happy to get back to school and back to seeing his friends. He is also enjoying sneaking in playing his new video games whenever he can squeeze it in.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She had her three-year check-up. She is 31 pounds and 37 inches tall. She didn’t need to get any immunizations, but she did need to get her flu shot. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry or even fuss. She looked a bit shocked when she got poked, but the nurse was so quick with it that we had her laughing with silly faces before she could decide to cry. She earned a toy from Target for her braveness (an Elsa doll, of course). One cute story: she was snuggling me after having had to be woken up (she fell asleep while waiting for Joseph in the school parking lot) when my piano student and her mom came through the door. They said hello and she said said, “I Ag-gi-gail. This my mom.” Her vocabulary and socializing skills are just exploding right now. She also still enjoys watching Frozen and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure at least once a day. 😀

This Week in Pictures:

She really gets into the songs and sings along as best she can.
Joseph discovered a recipe for pizza roll-ups in his latest edition of The Friend (church magazine geared towards kids) and wanted to try them. They’re basically pepperoni and half a cheese stick rolled up in a refrigerated crescent roll, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with Italian seasoning, and baked. Joseph came up with the idea of spreading a bit of marinara sauce on the roll before adding the pepperoni and cheese and I think that improved the end result immensely. We also made a plain cheese version.
A new quote for January.
I needed something to go in the spot where my Grinch picture had been hanging and I found this fun sign at Hobby Lobby. I think it’s perfect for where we’ve got it because it’s right where people are coming and going all of the time. It’s also something I remember my dad saying to us on occasion (it’s a lyric from a song that’s in Guys and Dolls, which came out in 1950).
I needed a new filler for my large vase and fell in love with these fake succulents.
I like that it adds green but is still neutral.
I heard her saying, “Look, Mom! I Olaf!”, so I looked over and saw this. I suppose the pointy carrot DOES look like a snowman’s nose.
With her new best bud, Elsa.
She looks like a unicorn-obsessed celebrity who’s upset with the paparazzi for taking her picture.
 

What We’ve Been Up To

We had a wonderful vacation to California. The past two weeks have been full of celebrating (both Abigail’s birthday and Christmas), fun (a couple of theme parks), and family. It was so great! So…get ready for a TON of pictures…oh, and I threw in a couple pictures from today since it was Abigail’s first day in Primary as a Sunbeam (the youngest class in the children’s Sunday School organization at church). 😀

Getting a picture of this one is tough.
I asked her to smile and got this as a result, haha.
I asked for a happy face and got this. 🙂
Grandma’s house has a lot of good napping places.
Abigail’s cake.
Her brother makes a good chair.
This is Abigail’s cousin who is almost a full year older than her.
They have a fun relationship, for sure!
Sometimes it was rough getting them (mainly Abigail) to share toys, but they made it work.
Uncle Jason, Luna, and Abigail.
Lighting the candles.
She loved getting sung to!
Blowing out the candles.
She got some board games from my brother Aaron and his family.
Opening up a present from Uncle Jason, Aunt Saira, and Luna.
A book and a Mickey Mouse clubhouse!
She got a Fisher Price Little People school house from us.
Joseph loved cousin time!
Even though Abigail had a bed made up on the floor (with a cushy foam pad to sleep on), she still insisted on sleeping in Joseph’s bed a couple of times.
Knott’s Berry Farm.
They both loved this plane.
This is probably Joseph’s favorite ride.
Going for a balloon ride.
Girl selfie!
Swings!
Sitting next to Sally.
This was a fun ride, too.
Contrary to the look on his face, he really likes this ride, haha.
Roller coaster!
Up in the Ferris wheel.
Riding the carousel.
I love this silly boy!
Giving her doll a ride on her shoulders like she’s getting a ride on Daddy’s shoulders.
Santa filled our stockings!
Seeing the stockings.
Checking out the goods.
She was excited to see that Santa brought her more water coloring books.
The tree!
Christmas fun.
Checking out a new book.
Unwrapping her big present (a Minnie Mouse toy box).
I think he was just a little excited to get this Nintendo Switch, haha.
Rocking his festive shirt.
Checking out the new toy box once Daddy put it together.
Sporting her holiday shirt and her new unicorn slippers.
Playing with her new pots, pans, and play food.
Figuring out that the toy box can double as a seat.
My new boots!
Paul surprised me with a set of leather earrings. I love them!
Christmas fun is exhausting!
One thing I love about visiting my mom: snow-capped (or in this case, snow-drenched, since the snow came down really low this time) mountains in the distance.
Playing cars with Uncle Dave.
Uncle Dave is also a great person to build things with.
At Castle Park (a small amusement park/mini golf).
Funnel cake!
He loved the rides there.
Another swing ride.
In this ride that has a sort of a sail.
Paul said Joseph had a ton of fun making this thing tilt way over, haha.
More cousin fun!
Abigail had a great time with her “girl cousin” who very patiently played games with her.
Some dear friends met up with us for lunch and brought gifts for the kids. Joseph got a cool LEGO set.
Abigail got some Frozen characters (she is currently obsessed with the first movie…it will be fun when she can see the second one).
Paul’s brother drove up to the mountains and brought some snow back down with him. Many snowballs were thrown, haha.
Playing in Grandma’s back yard.
I love the peak of snow back there.
Helping Uncle Dave with some yard work.
There was an old stump left over from the apple tree my dad cut down a couple years before he died, so Dave took out the stump and let Joseph help him.
Paul pulling Abigail in the wagon.
She was delighted to see a “just her size” wheelbarrow.
Joseph pulling Abigail and her doll.
She was insistent that Marcie got to ride, too.
Paul pulling both the kids (and Marcie, of course).
She’s found another good napping spot.
Wrapping paper tubes make good communication devices.
Yet another nap…
Another trip to Castle Park.
The winter passes made sense to get since they could go just twice to make it cheaper than buying two separate days worth of tickets. I think they ended up going three times.
Pretty sunset!
Out to lunch with some more awesome friends.
Hey look, we’re all looking at the camera!
At the park near my mom’s house.
I loved this turtle when I was little!
That’s my elementary school in the background.
Swings!
She wanted her puppy backpack on and then she was pretending to be a puppy.
Joseph would toss the “stick” and she’d retrieve it.
Then he’d give her a treat (a goldfish cracker).
One last Castle Park outing.
This is a fun thing for Paul and Joseph to do together to get some extra dad and son time.
Her first day as a Sunbeam! I think she did fine (at least there were no reports otherwise, haha).
A nativity from our dear friends. It was made in Bethlehem and if you twist the star, it plays Silent Night. 🙂