Our trip to the dentist

Kayla and Melissa had their first dentist appointments today! I know, I know... we are late (with no excuse) but I am happy to report they have perfect, cavity free teeth. Both girls did really well! We went to a pediatric office and everyone there was wonderful. They explained everything to the girls, showed them all of their funny tools, took x-rays of Melissa's teeth, etc. Kayla even behaved so well that she was able to have some fluoride put on her teeth. Personally, I think they enjoyed the attention! After they were done they received balloons, a treat from the treat basket, and a goody bag with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and stickers. Talk about two happy girls! They really spoil them there. When we got home they brushed their teeth right away and are already asking to brush again! Success!

Adam, you will be happy to know that Melissa picked a "disc" so she could disc golf with you when we come next! (It is a small Frisbee, but it looks like your mini-discs!)

When I grow up...

Melissa and I just had this conversation:

"Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a doctor. Nope. I want to be a dinosaur. Hmmm.... actually, I am having a hard time deciding. I don't know what to be when I grow up. How about this. How about if YOU be the doctor and I be the dinosaur. Then, when we get tired of doing that, we can switch."

I said, "Melissa, you can be both when you grow up if you want to. You can be a dinosaur AND a doctor."

She liked that idea and asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I said, "I decided a LONG time ago that I want to be a mommy when I grow up. I am pretty grown, so, I think I will just keep being a mommy."

She laughed and laughed and said, "That is the BEST idea ever! Maybe that is what I will do too!" and ran off to play!

Love. It.

Kayla's silly day

Today has been the silliest day. The girls have been goof balls! I have really been paying attention to the way Kayla sings songs today and these are the words she sings to some of her favorites... "I am a child of God, and so I need some grapes! Help me to understand His will before it grows too late. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me. Help me find your wage. Teach me all that I need to know. Before it grows too late." And the second verse she says at the end, "With parents kind of dear." ...and her all time favorite... "Baa baa black sheep, has you any wool. Yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags full. One for the monster and one for the dame and one for the little boy who gives me a pain!" I love it! Kayla is having some issues with controlling her emotions today and each time she has been frustrated with Melissa she has yelled, "Poop Melissa!" To her, this is the worst thing she could possibly say because she knows how we feel about "potty mouth!" I don't normally consider the word poop to be potty mouth, but I overheard a conversation that Melissa and Kayla had one day where Melissa explained to Kayla that potty words were words for things that we do in the potty.... like poop and pee and pick our noses. (what???) So, from that day on, poop has been a potty mouth word. When she has been truly upset with Melissa today she said, "Poop Melissa! I mean that! Poop!" Oh, where did we go wrong??

Good Listening Ears

I just HAD to post the pictures from tonight's Family Home Evening!! We have had a really hard time listening lately and I decided to make these big "listening" ears for the girls to play with while we played a listening game. It was like Simon Says, but we called it "Good Listener Says." It was a blast!

Bear Caves and Dress Up

From the first time Melissa heard the song, "Going on a Bear Hunt" she has been OBSESSED with bears and bear caves. In the beginning she was so scared of bears... she thought they were everywhere. Over time she has learned to love bears and decided to make one of the boxes from the bunk beds into a bear cave for her and Kayla. They even added hieroglyphics with crayons on the cave walls! I think for Christmas this year we will just purchase boxes in a variety of sizes and leave them to their imaginations! The last picture is one of the girls playing dress up. No story there... I am just SO happy that they can play by themselves for a bit so that I can get some things done around the house! This photo was after I cleaned the upstairs bathrooms, all 3 bedrooms and cleaned a few carpets. They look tired, but not tired of each other yet! Yippee for dress up time!

Valentine Cards

I forgot to post the pictures of the REALLY cute Valentines that my mom and dad sent to the girls. They LOVE Kit Kat bars and Grandma brings them EVERY time she comes, so these cards were a fun treat when we checked the mail. Thanks Grandma and Poppa! We love you!

Making Biscuits with Grandma

We spent some time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Bobby yesterday and the girls LOVED helping Grandma cook! It is what they do when we go there... they cook and bake and cook and bake and LOVE IT!!! This is a picture of the girls making some biscuits with Grandma. Evidently a bag of flour exploded because there was LITERALLY flour EVERYWHERE! Fun times! (*disclaimer* Mommy was not in the room and did not know that Kayla was making biscuits that close to all of the REALLY big, sharp knives... No children were harmed in the making of these biscuits.) Uncle Bobby flew in the night before and spoiled the girls with 3 new school workbooks with wipe-off pages. They LOVE doing schoolwork... he couldn't have picked better books! We are looking forward to his next visit.

New Bunk Beds

We FINALLY bought the girls bunk beds! Yippee! They no longer have mattresses on the floor!We found a really good deal on a super cute set of beds on Saturday, picked them up on Monday and then Christy and I put them together most of the afternoon on Tuesday. Ray came home just in time to attach all of the slats to support the mattresses and the girls slept in them Tuesday night! They LOVE them. Melissa is on the top bunk and isn't allowed to climb down unless Daddy or Mommy are in the room with her... hee hee... this means she hasn't been in our bed ALL week! ;) Kayla is a little scared to sleep in her bed and wakes up around midnight every night afraid of her new, low ceiling, but is giving the whole thing a pretty good effort. The first night they slept in them Kayla tried to talk to Melissa for about 30 minutes saying, "Melissa, are you up there? Melissa, is it dark up there? Melissa, are you asleep? Melissa, do you see that shadow? Melissa, are you up there? Melissa, why aren't you talking to me? Melissa, are you SURE you are up there?" ... and so on.. TOO CUTE! The following pictures are some of the girls "helping" us build the beds! I must admit... I REALLY like sleeping in my bed with JUST Ray! He doesn't kick me!

Fishing in the big pond

My girls NEED to go fishing again! They moved the furniture in the living room so that they could have a BIG pond. They found some ties and string to use as fishing poles and found really nice pretend worms. They then instructed me to be quiet so that they could catch the really big fish. Apparently BIG fish only eat when it is quiet. Melissa caught 10 fish and Kayla caught 5 fish. I would say it was a successful fishing trip! Notice they took their babies fishing too. When I asked Melissa if I could babysit for them she said, "No thank you. A good mommy always takes her baby fishing."

Blobby! (snow of 09)

It FINALLY snowed! People further north and out west may not agree... but for us here in the south... we are calling this slight dusting a "good snow," not enough to cause a lot of accidents, but just enough for the kids to play in it. Here are some pictures for Daddy-O to see since he missed all of the giggles and excitement. He leaves for work in the middle of the night (4:30) and usually misses any daytime fun. So, Daddy-O, just know that we missed you and the girls asked about you excessively. Melissa and Kayla were finally able to wear their snow boots and loved walking around once the snow started to "pile" up on the bottoms. They were about 6 inches taller! We made a baby snowman that the girls affectionately named "Blobby." We had a couple of good snowball fights and then Melissa announced that she "couldn't possibly stay out in the cold for even one more minute." So, we came in and drank some hot chocolate. (Cannery hot chocolate is the best!) We are hoping for one more "good" snow, but if not, at least Kayla is old enough to remember it this time.