Christmas Cookies

I'm catching up with my Christmas photos... now that the craziness is done!
We got to make Christmas cookies at Grandma Hopkins this year!
The girls actually did very well!





This is the new doll house that the girls got from Great Grandpa and Grandma Pylman and Hopkins! The girls love it! And... as an added bonus... room for 3 girls to play!

Christmas Program

The girls were able to participate in their first ever church Christmas program! They were very excited! Sophie sang nicely, and didn't mess around at all. Olivia danced like crazy! Evie was tired and didn't want to be up there. She didn't cry, but she hid her face a few times. Oh yes... there were some dress lifters as well! Ha! I always knew one of my girls would : )

PB & J

When I make a meal, it is what it is... If I am serving chicken nuggets, that's what they are getting. If I am serving lasagna, that's what they are getting. Sometimes I give them a choice of three things to eat for lunch - but we all decide on one thing, because I am not going to make 3 different things!

There is one exception to the rule... PB & J sandwiches. If that is on the menu for a meal, I let the girls pick how they want their sandwich made. This is how it usually rolls out...

Olivia - On soft bread, just peanut butter.
Evie - On crunchy toast, just peanut butter.
Sophie - On cruncy toast, peanut butter and strawberry jam.

That's right... all different. They rarely want to do things the same :)

I will not, however, cut off the crusts. If they don't eat all of the crust - fine. But I will not make extra work for myself by cutting it off. Plus, I want them to be used to sandwiches with crust on them. Sometimes they eat the whole thing crust and all.

Snow!

Oh yeah! The girls are excited about the snow! They couldn't wait to get out and play in it! The snowpants are on their third year... I think I'm stretching them a bit - literally! I may have to buy a couple new pair!

Barf Happens...

Yes we got the stomach flu over here... Perfect timing - between Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Okay... so the girls are all very different with the barfing. Evie got it on Friday night. She barfed in her bed and went back to sleep. The second time, she called for me... I cleaned her up, and put her in a sleeping bag on towels next to my bed. She would wake up and say "Uh-oh Mommy" and I knew she was going to barf - so the barf tub worked.

I got sick Saturday night at 5:00p. Luckily Brad come home from duck hunting at 6:00p! I was in bed until 1:00p the next day.

Sophie got it Sunday at 1:00p. She quickly figured out when she was going to barf and would say "Mommy" and point at the barf tub. Sophie, the poor girl, is sickly like me. She didn't stop barfing until I put her to bed at 8:00p or so. She looked like death!

We could tell at 5p Sunday that Olivia wasn't acting right... but when we asked her, she said "I'm okay." She insisted on supper, but we didn't think she would eat it. She was sitting in her seat backwards when she hurled all over the chair, slider door, and floor. Brad grabbed a tub, but she kept pushing it away saying she was done, as barf was still coming out of her mouth! Oh yes, she was stubborn like that all night! She wouldn't let us put a barf tub by her, or a towel on her lap. She kept insisting she was all done barfing, and wasn't going to anymore. Oh yes she did! I had to be quick and watch her signs closely to catch her... as she would NOT let me keep the tub by her. She barfed one more time after I put her to bed by me... but that was it.

No more barfing today. I have been doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, and Lysol-ing EVERYTHING!!!

Christmas Craziness

Oh we're in the Christmas mood around here! The tree is up... and the music is on!

Olivia Kay

Olivia says some of the funniest things...

Lately she is being really polite and she says "Thank-you Mommy" about everything! Also, when I come home from being away - even just grocery shopping- she greets me at the door saying "Mommy I missed you... I'm so glad you are here!" I am soaking it all in... because soon she will have words for me that are not so sweet.

A Long Time Coming...

Evie is my last hold-out for potty training. And this past week, I decided it was time!
Honestly, this was her trying to pee on the potty over a year ago! That's right Oct. 26th 2008!

This is Evie back in July peeing on the potty for me - but only when SHE wanted to!

So after a couple bad days of accidents - (Sorry about your carpet Kristin!) - She has got the pee thing down! Well, almost... I have to remind her to go every 1-2 hours. She doesn't think to go on her own quite yet... hopefully it's coming. And yes - we are still having poo issues. But it's progress!

Good thing she is so cute!

Happy Halloween!

From Three Crazy Candy Corns!!!! : )

Playing with Friends

The girls play with their friends Ashley and Will for a day.
Olivia and Ashley look at leaves, flowers, and wood through magnifying glasses.

Evie couldn't get enough of this activity!

Olivia inspecting closely.

The family went to Orchard Hills for a birthday party for Kayden. Sophie is on my lap, and Olivia sits next to me as we ride on a hayride.

The girls and I about to enter the corn maze : )

I forgot my camera this day, so no photos of the girls with their pumpkins. I have not been as good with my camera lately... thus my lacking in blog posts! I promise to have good photos of the girls in their Halloween costumes. Stay tuned!

Fall Festivities Have Begun

Brad and I went with our friends on our annual U.P. trip




While we were away Grandpa and Grandma H. watched the girls, and so did Gwen.
Gwen took the girls to see Jessie's horses!!! This was a request of Evie's for some time now!











Thank you Jessie & Sandy!

Gymnastics Class

For the girls' third birthdays we bought them gymnastics lessons... "Tumbling Tots" to be exact. The girls were very excited to go, but just as excited about these balloons that I found and blew up for them.


The photos I took are through a one-way mirror, so sorry about the clarity. They had a class of 6 three to four year olds. The instructor was very nice, and the girls seemed very comfortable with her very quickly. I loved just watching them interact without them knowing I was around. That doesn't happen very often!





At the end of class they got to go down into the "Big Gym" and play with the parachute!


We need to work on those back handsprings!