Coming Down

Mabel loves slides. Big slides. Little slides. All slides. Here she is going down the small slide at the McWane Center (Emmeline was playing in the water area). If you listen carefully, you can hear her sweet little giggle at the end of the clip.

Book of Mormon Stories--song

Emmeline and Mabel singing Book of Mormon Stories. We love to sing all sorts of songs together. Anything with hand actions is fine by Mabel.

Playing in the Water

In this video the girls and I are at the McWane Science Center. The girls love to play in the water. Emmeline especially could play in the water for hours without getting bored or distracted. We love the McWane Center!! (Feb. 2009)

Swimming Lessons

Here is a video of Emmeline during her third swimming lesson. She started swimming lessons at the beginning of February and has really been enjoying them.

Winter Wonderland 2009

It doesn't happen vary often, but it snowed here in Birmingham Alabama on Sunday March 1. It was so fun. It had been snowing through the night so when we all woke up there was quite a layer on the grass. Emmeline looked out the window and excitedly exclaimed, "Winter finally came!!" I thought it was so cute. I didnt counter that spring was supposed to be starting.

Because no one here is prepared to drive anywhere in the snow, church was cancelled. (Growing up in Utah-where they were hesitant to cancel school unless people were literally blocked in their homes by the snow-I wasnt sure you could cancel church. lol) We enjoyed the morning playing in the snow and Emmeline got to make her first snowman. I was so glad that it snowed on a weekend day so that Brett could be home to play with the girls in the snow. After playing we went inside and enjoyed hot apple cider and scones.mmmmmm. What a fun day!!








The very next day all of the snow was melted. Except for our little snowman who held on for another couple of days before completely disappearing.

Primary Pals

Emmeline has loved being in primary this year. It is so fun for me to have her in Sharing Time/Singing Time with me. I love watching her sing, learn and interact with the other children and her teachers. I am so proud of the great little girl she is becoming. Emmeline is enjoying learning the songs and I will often hear her yelling/singing the lyrics in the home throughout the week. She loves Families Can Be Together Forever and the new song they just started learning, My Eternal Family. Here are some pics of Emmeline participating in primary.

Happy Valentines 2009

We began our Valentines celebrations on Thursday Feb 12 with a little Valentine party for our playgroup. (As luck would have it, it was our turn to babysit this weekend.) Each of the kids brought valentines to give to each other and we made little valentine bags to put the treats in. The kids had fun decorating their bags with hearts and passing out their prepared valentines. However, I think their favorite part was eating their treats. Juliana and Hadley both gave out suckers with their valentines. Mabel was a sticky mess (actually all of the kids were. . but especially Mabel). I think they had a good time though.

On Friday our ward hosted a Valentines dinner with babysitting for the kidos. It was really nice. The activities committee had put together a video showing then and now pictures of couple from when they got married to now. That was fun to watch, especially some of the older couples in the ward. It was fun to see what they looked like when they were young. The only complaint that I had was that there was not any dancing. I did pull Brett behind the stage where we were out of sight but still close enough to the music that we could dance for a minute. I know I am a sucker like that. Brett is a very good sport to put up with me!!

(THEN)









(NOW)

On Saturday--Valentines Day, Brett asked if we could run some errands to get him some new shoes. When we got to the store he surprised me by saying that we were really shoe shopping for me. He bought me a new pair of Crock flip flops, which are my favorite. They are so comfy and last for so long. Then we took the girls to lunch at Johnny Carinos (which I had been wanting to try for some time.) We all really enjoyed our food and had a great time. In the evening, after naps were over, we took the girls to the dollar theater. We watched Madagascar 2 on the "super giant t.v.." Emmeline really liked it, Mabel mostly liked it. It was about 15 minutes too long for her. However, the popcorn did keep her entertained for a good portion of the film. It was fun to go out with Brett and the girls and celebrate the holiday. I love them all so much!!!

Swimming Lessons

This month Emmeline started her first swimming lessons. There are three other kids in her class, a little girl named Patricia, a little boy named Sam, and her best friend Juliana. As long as Juliana and Emmeline don't sit together, they do pretty good in class. (They have a tendency to get talking and playing around if they are sitting next to each other :) ) Emmeline's teacher is Miss Katie. Emmeline really enjoys her swimming lessons. Some of her favorite "games" are: throwing the toy fish and having to swim and get it, and pushing the ball into the hoolahoop. I thought that I would use the time of her swimming lessons to read but no--the lessons are too much fun to watch. Also, Mabel decided that if she can't actually go to the swimming lessons, she wants to at least watch them herself. She is so funny. She wants to join Em's swim class so badly. She likes to take a towel up to the observation deck and when the lessons are over she runs to the door to greet the swimmers. In a couple of years little Mabel--then it will be your turn!!

January 2009 Picture Review

Here are some pics of our adventures in January.

The Big Top--2009

After the totally awesome time we had at the circus last year, we decided we had to go again this year. We were not disappointed. This year the theme was Magic and the magic words were Zing Zang Zoom. The ringmaster was a magician who did a lot of really neat magic tricks like sawing someone in half, having things disappear and reappear, you know, all the cool tricks that are in any really good magic show. And of course we enjoyed all the things you expect to see at the circus: tigers, acrobats, clowns and of course elephants. Emmeline loved the animals and she enjoyed the clowns jumping around. We brought our own little glow necklaces and bracelets so we could still glow but not go broke. That was fun. We did splurge on some popcorn. . . unfortunately we had just started eating when the entire bucket got spilled on the floor. I suppose it was for the best--at least the best for my hips. Overall we had a great time and can't wait until next January when the circus will come back to town!!



Brett, Emmeline and Mabel trying on costumes before the show began.

YMCA--More Then Just a Funny Song

This month we joined the Birmingham YMCA. It is awesome!! They have a nursery where Emmeline and Mabel can play while I work out and read. That was one of the big selling points. . .so I could get more reading time for my classes. The problem is that the group workouts are so much fun. . .I'm not reading as much as I need to. So far my favorite classes are BodyJam, BodyCombat (Kickboxing), and BodyPump (weights to music). I've also enjoyed some step and yoga type classes. The girls enjoy playing in the nursery with all of the neat toys and always seem excited to be there. We have also enjoyed using the pool as a family. That was the other selling point. . .the pool access. So far we have only used the indoor pool, but in the summer there is a little outdoor pool that looks really neat. Mabel and Emmeline love splashing around in the pool and jumping off the side into mom or dads arms. The YMCA has a financial aid program which made the cost doable for us. So far we have loved every minute of it and are very excited to be part of the YMCA family!! :)