November to Remember

You might think that moving in with her aunt, uncle and cousins might prevent Berlyn from getting the "real" college experience.  You'd be wrong.  Berlyn and I realized she has crazy roommates just like any "worldly" college dorm.  Roommates who:

• Never clean up after themselves
• Drink all the milk
• Are awake at unreasonable hours
• NEVER unload the dishes
• Claim all the desserts are "theirs"
• Have no respect for your stuff
• Always pick their favorite shows and hog the TV
• Give away their kisses waaay too freely
• Pass out on the couch
• Have public melt downs
• Soil themselves
• Poop in the shower
• Play their annoying music (the wheels on the bus go round and round!)
• There was even a pregnancy scare!  (don't worry, I just had the stomach flu, whewph!)

Berlyn got rear-ended twice - at the SAME intersection!  Luckily only one time was there damage, but she was able to get it popped back into place.  Still, what a bummer!  I was so proud of her for taking a test right after one of the accidents. 

We went to IHOP, the girls ate so much food!  Berlyn wanted to try a grow pill like the girls in the bathtub!  haha!  She's having all sorts of new experiences here!  When on their daddy-daughter date, Siena and Jake saw a super bright rainbow - it was even a double rainbow!  

Berlyn and I went to Target.  We ran into Sister Missionaries from UofM campus (this is their closest Target).  We went up and chatted with them for a few minutes.  They asked if our car is the one that had the BYU sticker on the back (yes!)  They said they saw it when they pulled into the parking lot and they said "a BYU sticker!! That's not something you see everyday!"

Skye officially joined nursery on November 6th!!!  She does ok, but there is a large group.  After the new year there will only be a 5 kids in the younger nursery class, so I think she will do better.  I loved these pictures of the twirls sharing an umbrella.  And I usually lay out all the outfits Sunday morning.  One Sunday I put out their clothes then realized I had a denim jacket and chevron skirt to match!

Family trip to IKEA. The older girls did great in the child play area.

On the 50th day of school Scarlett got to wear 1950s clothing.  I found a cute skirt on Amazon and a 3/4 length, tight-fitting cardigan of mine for her to wear.  It worked perfect!  I can't believe she's already wearing my clothes!  I styled her pony tail with a very puffy top, she told me "my hair looks like a Mayor's hair!"  haha!!!

I was telling Jake that something was 3 feet long. Scarlett told me "that's 36 inches!" Another day she told me "47+47 is 94! I LOVE MATH!" haha!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! Just so you remember that she's only 6 still... she told me "phtha phtha - that's 'thank you' in my spit spit language."

Siena explained that she and Jaide are twins, she told me "We are the same cause dad calls Jaide 'Siena' and calls me 'Jaide'."

Jaide is a deep thinker. She told me "I want to live in the house forever...I don't want to die." So sad!

My new visiting teaching companion has a masters in speech pathology. She's been helping the twirls! They can be hard to understand. Especially with L and Rs. It's interesting to me how identical their speech problems are. They say Berlyn as "Buh-win". The words "Looking" and "Working" sound the same. One day Siena asked me "Why are cars on 'oweph'?" I made her repeat it, but after repeating something once they get frustrated and embarrassed. So Jaide asked me the same question, with the same weird word. Finally Siena said "Why are cars on 'oweph' and not flying around in outer space?" Oh EARTH! Why are cars on earth?!?!!!

I love that we have such great friends here.  It makes all the difference!  I love listening to the girls' conversations as they play.  One day I was listening to the twirls and Amber come up with some puppy princess dress up game.  They are in a phase where they spend more time making up rules and scenarios then they do actually playing the game!  haha!

Thankful for the Indiana Seavers

James, Hailey and Juniper came to our house for Thanksgiving.  I know I've said this before, but we are just so excited that they live only 5 hours away now!  When they arrived I sent James to the basement to get the memory foam mattress topper.  I told the older girls to go with him to help him find it.  James asked Scarlett where it was, she said "I don't know what that is, we have our own plans" then they jumped on the trampoline.  hahaha!!!!  Finally I had to go help James find it.  It was just in the middle of the floor.  ‎James said he couldn't see it cause it blended in, Scarlett said, "no it doesn't, it's white and the floor is yellow white with speckles."  duh!

The girls loved watching James play video games.  He also brought games for them to try.  He even converted them to ‎Phineas and Ferb.  We have loved watching that show since they left, everyone in our family enjoys it!  yay!  Skye was so scared of James and his beard.  But by the end of the trip she warmed up to him!  

THANKSGIVING: The girls were playing a word game, saying things like "give me a B" [B], "give me a "T" [T]!  Scarlett then started spelling words: "Give me an E...N....N...🦃!"  haha!  I wonder what alphabet contains the letter "turkey"!

We were playing telephone-telephone around the table.  Siena came downstairs to join us.  She asked to start the round.  We went around the table and Hailey was the last one.  The phrase was "Baby Juniper is awake!"  haha!  We went around the table for Hailey to find out her baby was awake.

For Thanksgiving we put together a good little spread.  I asked all the adults what their favorite part of the meal was, then I put them in charge of that dish.  I made my mom's layered jello (in name colors, of course!)  Jaked smoked the turkey - it was the best turkey I've ever had!  I turned the girls' hair buns into little turkeys.  They picked feathers and clips for the eyes.

The older girls performed an original Thanksgiving anthem.  Don't miss the actions toward the end:

After Thanksgiving Jake took a turkey noodle casserole to work.  He said he was in line waiting for the microwave at work and there was a guy with turkey chili and another with turkey soup.  haha!

Here were some phrases I heard, that are hilarious out of context:

• ‎James: "What do you want me to lick, that's adult height, to prove it?"
• ‎Hailey to James: "Everything about you is the worst sometimes."

We had a lot of fun together in the evenings.  The girls had a glow stick bath, then after they were in bed the grownups played games.  We laughed sooo hard!  During Catch Phrase, someone said the clue "ballerinas have these."  James and I both at the same time said "TOES!"  hahahaha!!!  What?!  The answer was supposed to be pink tutu.  Then Berlyn said the clue "a baseball team."  Jake, James, and I all said "Orioles" at the same time!  What the what?!?!  How totally random!!!  We think that it was cause we were discussing the Oriole bird earlier that day, but still... crazy!

We all went to the swimming pool.  It was Junipers first time!  So fun!  Scarlett and Berlyn even went on the big twisty slide.  Jake and I got our allergy shots before we went to the pool.  My grass shot was so swollen and red by the time we went swimming.  While I was standing on the side of the pool, the manager came over and told me that some of the other guests were concerned that I had ringworm!  Oh no!  People were scared of me!!!  I reassured him that no one can catch allergies from me and it's just a reaction to my shot.  But how embarrassing that people thought I was swimming with a huge fungus on my arm!  (also, I thought it was hilarious that Scarlett convinced Berlyn to swim her around!  Those two had a great time in the "big kid" pool)

I realized that I never posted pictures from when they came to our house for the Rosie the Riveter event in October.  I like these photos of Skye and Juni getting acquainted...

Cousins!!!

Hanging out with the Seavers.  The photo in the middle was Skye letting James hold her.  She wouldn't lift her head or look at him the whole time, she just held onto his shoulder tightly until another grown up was close enough to hold her.  Baby steps.  We loved our time visiting with the Seavers and can't wait to see them again - hopefully soon!!!

Skye can walk, bounce, sing, and dance!

Skye has changed so much in the past few months.  I realized the other day that being so behind on my blog really makes a difference in Skye's life.  Many of these photos are from Sep/Oct/Nov so she has changed a TON during that time.  Hopefully this will catch you up a little.  Also, I included a bunch of videos cause I just couldn't narrow it down.  Too many cute videos to share.

I was trying to keep track of all the words she can say, but I can't keep up with her!  Here's the list that I started:

- help me - I want some - mom - dad - more? - night night - yes - no - uh oh - water (wawa) - yummy (ummy) - love you - bubble - bye - hi - thank you - poop - all done - Amen - want one - rainbow - chocolate milk - ‎where'd dad go - ‎Jaide - Siena - Scarlett - ‎ouch - ‎cracker - cheese - ‎Where'd Skye go? Here she is! - apple - yellow - green - blue - cold - some more - bounce - 

Skye is so musical.  Even at a young age she could drum to the beat.  But I have been surprised at how many songs she can sing - like knows the tune and the words.  Here are a few that she's learned, she goes through phases where she will sing them all the time.  I can tell what song is stuck in her head cause she's always singing to herself.  This week it's Mary's Lullaby.
- Twinkle Twinkle
- Happy Birthday
- Jingle Bells
- Firework by Katy Perry
- Handclap by Fitz and the Tantrums
- ‎Rio Movie Song
- Old MacDonald
- Mary's Lullaby
- Elena of Avalor

Skye had a yeast infection that took forever to clear so I had to give her baking soda soaks.  The photo with her crying is because I forced her to wear shoes - how rude!  The photo on the bottom is when I found her figuring out the button game on her own.

Skye playing with her doll and rocking it:

Skye sings Old MacDonald:

Skye takes a few steps, then the twirls showed me they could walk too:

Skye learns to ride the radio flyer:

Skye makes the best faces.  She loves to smile and she makes a great surprised face!

Skye's surprised face - cracks me up every time!

I had all the girls with me during Skye's 18 month checkup.  I was rushing out the door, but was happy to find out that they were all buckled.  We got to the doctor and I grabbed the stroller from the back of the car.  It wasn't until then that the Twirls told me they didn't remember to put their shoes on!  Seriously!?  Yep!  So I put them in the stroller and pushed them into the building sans footwear.  Mom of the year!  Then Skye got shots, such a sad day.  The next morning we woke up and there was a bundle of tied up balloons that had landed on our front porch.  It was like a little manna from heaven for our sad little vaccinated girl.  Once I got the balloons untangled and dried off they still flew!  Skye at 18 months:

• Height: 2 ft 6.75 in (16%)
• Weight: 23 lb 14 oz (65%)
• Head Circumference:  45.5 cm (28%)

Skye plays peek a boo:

Skye being a little ham!  She likes to help throw away trash... but her version of the job is to just put her trash in any cupboard, they are all child locked so she just slips her little hand in and "throws away" the trash.  haha!

Skye singing Happy Birthday:

Skye looking in the mirror at her own reflection and making faces at herself:

Skye showing us how she can "bounce":

Skye dancing with her sisters:

Halloween: GO stick FIGURE

I love that my girls are still interested in doing family costumes.  This year I thought for sure that we would be doing Trolls.  I had already planned a King Gristle costume for Jake.  But as October rolled around the girls decided that they wanted to do something "scary".  So I looked online and came across EL Wire.  I have been wanting to use it for a few years now.  "Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated as EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it."  I decided it would be fun to be stick figures.  The girls LOVED that idea!

I went to Kohls and found black hoodies for all the kids.  I bought a TON of safety pins.  I spent several nights safety pinning EL wire into designs on all our outfits.  It was a lot of work, but turned out to not be that expensive.  But man my fingers and wrists were sore from all those silly safety pins.

We went to the ward Halloween party.  When I made the costumes I thought it would be fun to make them all a little different.  I added a bow tie to Jake's white design.  Berlyn got orange glasses.  All 4 little got skirts in their name colors.  The older girls wore their rainbow fiber optic pigtails.  Skye has a little tiny baby curl on top of her head.  And I put a pink hair flip on the side of my head where my pink hair is.

We had a dance party.  The funny part was when we were dancing we didn't have music!  haha!  I told everyone to just dance and I would add music to it later on youtube!  The poor little YW I had recording our dance party must have thought we were crazy!  haha!  

I was excited for the outdoor trunk or treat cause we would have looked amazing.  Unfortunately it rained that day so we had to do our trunk or treat inside.  Bummer!  But still fun.  The YW were in charge of the party, so I put together the invite.  The girls wanted to wear makeup to be "scawee."  I debated about it, but decided what the heck.  They never get to wear makeup.  I found this cool eyeliner that looks like a sharpie marker.  The girls thought it was so fun to have cat eyes and black lips.  I just used the eyeliner on their lips so it would stay on better than lipstick.  The funny part was that the liner lasted like 2 showers, so they looked all emo for the next 2 days.  My favorite was the picture of the older girls on the way home from the party, they were so tired watching a movie - like little zombies.

On Halloween the Furnesses came over for dinner and trick or treating.  The weather wasn't too bad so we decided to take Skye out with us.  Berlyn manned the door while the rest of us bundled up for the cold.  We don't get a lot of trick or treaters in our neighborhood so people usually give out little gift bags full of treats and toys.  This year we gave out toys from oriental trading that I bought for a sugar-free Halloween.  I was glad that the kids were excited to get the toys.  After the girls were done I took our costumes and hung them on the railing in the upstairs hallway.  I put them on flashing mode.  It looked really cool from outside.  The girls had fun passing out candy.  There were a few times I had to remind them to come inside and wait for people, instead of yelling out the door harassing passerbyers.  haha!  After the girls were in bed Berlyn helped me divide up the candy.  I split it into different bags: cheap candy the girls like, good chocolate candy that are "taxed", and the "nut sack" filled with allergy candy for Berlyn and Jake to keep away from the rest of us.

The week of Halloween the girls were allowed to wear costumes to ballet.  I didn't want them to play in their EL wire before we went trick or treating.  So I let them pick whatever costume they wanted.  They both wanted to be rainbows together.  Since it was actually Halloween that day I wore my big spider on my head and I found a Halloween baby scrub shirt for Skye in our baby clothes.

Scarlett wanted to be a peacock for ballet.  Her teacher let the girls come up with their own dance to a Halloween song, then at the end of class they performed it for us.

Here's the dance:

Scarlett was allowed to wear a costume to school.  I didn't think the EL wire would fare well on the playground so I asked her what she wanted to be.  I told her she could be any of our costumes or even dress as her teacher.  She loved that idea.  At pickup after school the teachers wear a safety vest, a name lanyard, a radio, and her teacher often wears a top knot. Jake had a safety vest that I pinned up for Scarlett and sent her to school as her teacher.  I got an email that morning from her teacher: "Scarlett's costume made my day!!!  I love it, so funny!!!  Students like Scarlett make my job easy and rewarding. Thank you for sharing your daughter with me this year."

Several of my friends teach Zumba.  They throw a big Halloween Zumba party every year.  People are encouraged to come dressed in costume for the gueling 90 minutes of dance aerobics.  I thought it would be funny to come dressed as my friend Summer, the Zumba instructor.  She was dressed as Snow White (the instructors were all Disney Princesses).  She LOVED my costume.  Jake made me check with her husband (our bishop) before the party to make sure she would think it was funny and it wouldn't hurt her feelings.  I hung out during the party with girls from my YWs.  It was long and sooo sweaty!  Especially with that long black wig!  But so much fun.  Each instructor did a few songs, it was interesting to see how different they all teach.  My friends are dressed as Snow White, Cinderella and Merida.  After one of them told me that I've got real moves.  haha!  I'm glad that's what they were thinking, cause I felt like a sweaty, red-faced, winded goofball!  They had a costume contest and I won for most creative!!!!  You bet that trophy's coming out every Halloween.  After the party I drove home, switched into normal, less-sweaty clothes then grabbed Berlyn and we went to Applebee's for a late-night snack with my Zumba friends.  It was a fun night!  I'm already thinking about what I'll wear next year ;-)

A few weeks after Halloween Jaide (who is a real deep thinker sometimes) asked me "Are there princesses in real life?"  I said yes, and asked her why she wanted to know.  "Remember when we saw the princess at the party at the church?"  She was talking about Dede.  Her Zumba costume for Cinderella actually has a full length skirt that goes with it.  She wore it to the ward Halloween party and looked AMAZING!!!  She truly looked like a princess.  And she sewed the costume herself!  I told her how impressed I was and she said that was high-praise coming from me (cause I'm always going all-out for Halloween).  (her daughter was dressed as Belle).  Ok, I stole a picture off her fb so you can see the costume.... she just looks so amazing!  And she made her hubby's prince charming outfit too!  Jake and her hubby are in a special category of amazing guys that want to make their Halloween-loving wives happy.  And look at the "glass slippers"!  Love it!