Back to School and Baby Sue

The girls started their school year and so far things are going great. From what I can tell, they seem to have excellent teachers and are enjoying their classrooms. The first day of school Franny came home from a letter from her teacher asking me to tell her about Franny in "a million words or less." I liked her immediately. Today Sophie's teacher said, "I'm sure you know how bright and what a delight Sophie is in the classroom." I hoped as much, but it's always nice to hear. It's been two weeks now and Sophie just wore a pair of shorts yesterday for the first time. She only wants to wear skirts or dresses.

As for Claire, I'm really enjoying the one on one time I have with her and I think she is, too. We go on a walk together every morning, then we come home and she watches Elmo (she calls it "Elwo") while I get organized and cleaned up for the day. She has become very attached to Sophie and Franny's dolls. She has about four baby dolls she carries around and she calls them all "Baby Sue." She started pushing them around in this triplet toy stroller we found at a garage sale this summer. It is the cutest thing! Today she wanted them to come with her to watch "Elwo." Here she is giving them both a hug-



And this is the face she makes when she talks about them. She scrunches her face up like she might cry and says, "OH! BABY SUE!!!"

You suck, July 14

I really hate that I have a day of the year that I can't be happy on. At least for the time being. It's just a day. Something really sad happened to me and my family four years ago on that day, but it's still just another summer day. As the day approached, I actually felt like it wasn't going to bother me this year. Then I woke up at 4:00 AM to Bobby's R2D2 notification message on his phone, and then Franny was up using the bathroom at 4:30, and that was it, I couldn't fall back asleep. Neither could Franny, as it seems, because she thought it would be a good idea to wake Claire up at 6:15. I'm finally drifting off when I hear Franny saying over the monitor, "Good morning, Claire! Time to wake up!" And I knew it was game over. The worst day of the year for me had started four hours earlier than usual. (My kids have been sleeping in until 8:00 AM ever since we got back from California and it's awesome!)

I told Bobby that day felt a little bit like walking into a brick wall when you're not paying attention. And then you're flat on your back looking up and that brick wall thinking, "Man, I should have seen this coming." I also feel like summer betrayed me by taking my Mom in July. Summer is supposed to be happy and carefree! Something like this should have happened in January or February. I can't say this around Bobby or Franny because their birthdays both fall during this time, but those are my least favorite months. So cold, so quiet- a perfect time to wear sweats all day and no makeup and bake a lot of treats and do nothing.

This year July 14 started off kind of rough, but it got better. I took one of my pie crusts out of the freezer, rolled it out and filled it with raspberries and peaches and then put a crumb topping on it. Delicious! It felt to good to bake.
Then Claire went down for a nap and I put a movie on for the girls and gave them instructions not to wake Mommy up for anything less than an emergency. And not a bathroom emergency. Franny did come in once to tell me that Sophie pinched her but not before I got a good hour of sleep in, and I was satisfied with that. It made such a difference. Then we spent the afternoon outside eating popsicles and visiting with our neighbors Lydia and Amanda while the girls played in our inflatable pool.
The day just got better and better. After that we ate calzones for dinner- those really hit the spot- and off to Sophie's last T-ball game of the season. This was her first year and she did so well! I was so proud. This was our first time participating in a sports team of any kind. It was all very new to me because I never played sports of any kind growing up, aside from P.E. "I'm not very athletic." I felt a little nervous and awkward the first few games, but by the end, I felt pretty comfortable. I think for sure we'll do it again next year. Sophie payed close attention and chased after every ball and caught more than her share. We were very impressed. And by the end of the season we noticed she was hitting the ball much farther than at the beginning.
I am hoping that at as the years pass, it will get a little easier to face July 14. My cousin told me that they call the day his father passed away "Happy Deathday." He said because his Dad was such a fun happy guy, it made sense to get together for a party even if he couldn't be there physically. I hope I get there sooner rather than later. I know my mother would prefer that.
Raspberry Peach Pie with Crumb Topping
from Equal Opportunity Kitchen

For the Filling:

6-7 ripe, but firm white or yellow peaches, washed and chopped with skins on. (You can also remove the skins (if desired) by blanching the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds and then putting them in an ice bath. The skin should peel off.)

1 pint raspberries

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup brown sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit and your taste)

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

For the filling I chopped up 6 or 7 peaches. Toss them with a pint of raspberries and the lemon juice.

Combine the brown sugar with the cornstarch, salt and ground ginger in a small bowl. You want to mix all of these ingredients until they are well combined before sprinkling over the fruit.

Crumble Top

3/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Walnuts (optional – I didn’t add this)
1/2 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Butter (cold)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

I just mixed the ingredients together with a fork and spread it evenly on top of the filling. Actually, I had too much crumble, so I only used about 2-3 of the crumble mixture for the pie.

I then put the pie in the oven at 350 F for about one hour. Serve with ice cream.

Dance Recital 2011

I took a picture of Franny at her dance recital the other night and she said, "Maybe you should put that on your website." I thought it was so cute that she would think to suggest that. Then of course I felt guilty since it's been nearly two months since I've posted anything. It was a really fun night. Bobby brought flowers for the girls and Franny's school teacher came and gave her a flower, too! We hired a babysitter for Claire and I'm so glad we did. What a busy baby! It was nice to just be able to sit and enjoy the show without having to worry about entertaining a restless new walker on my lap.

Here are a few pictures we took that night. After the performance, we took the girls out for ice cream. They looked so pretty and danced so well! Sophie's little preschool class did a dance called "The Ladybug Club." It was so adorable. She has so many little friends in that class and they were adorable, too!



Here are the girls' individual and class pictures. I think they turned out great!

(Sophie right before dance class)

Sophie: "Mom, who am I going to marry?"

Me: "You probably haven't met the boy you're going to marry yet Sophie. I met your dad when I was 18 years old."

Sophie: "Mom, there are 3 boys I want to marry: Jason, Scott, and Carson. Mom, which one am I going to choose?"

Me: "Well honey, you probably don't know the boy you are going to marry yet. You probably won't meet him until your older."

Sophie: "Zoe G. and I both want to marry Scott... I have an idea! Zoe G. can marry Scott first and then they can get a divorce and then Scott can marry me."

The conversation ended there. I was speechless. All I could do was bite on my lip and try not to laugh. I love the things that come out of her mouth.

Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms

I am tired of most of my recipes. This happens every now and then. So I've been searching for new ones and I have been having great luck on bonappetit.com. This recipe was a big hit with my family, which was shocking because I have a few mushroom-haters. But they are surprisingly easy to pick around with the tortellinis and crumbled sausage. Although, while I was preparing this last night it occurred to me that this is not the most affordable meal when you consider the tortellinis (I used the three cheese variety), sausage, fennel, and mushrooms. Especially if you don't have fennel seeds on hand. But I definitely thought it was worth it. We'll be having this again for sure.

Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, halved through core, thinly sliced lengthwise (about 3 cups), fronds chopped
• 1 pound spicy Italian sausages, casings removed, sausage coarsely crumbled
• 1 8-ounce package sliced fresh crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
• 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth
• 1 16-ounce package dried tortellini with pesto filling or fresh tortellini with 3-cheese filling
• 1 5-ounce package fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional (for serving)

• Test-Kitchen Tip

  To crush the fennel seeds, enclose the seeds in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, then pound them with a meat mallet or a small heavy skillet.

Preparation

• Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel bulb, sausage, and mushrooms; sauté until sausage is brown and cooked through and fennel is almost tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add garlic and fennel seeds; stir 1 minute. Stir in cream, then 1 cup broth; boil until liquid is reduced and very slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook tortellini in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain tortellini; return to same pot.
• Add sausage mixture to tortellini in pot. Toss over medium heat until blended. Add spinach; toss gently until spinach wilts. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese; add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten if dry. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds, and serve, passing additional cheese.

Poor Claire didn't get to have any. But she seemed pretty happy with her carrots.

Soap-a-doap's 4th birthday!

Sophie turned four! I can't believe it. She has grown up so much this year. She told me a few times that she's ready to start 3rd grade! She doesn't want to bother with the other grades I guess. She's so smart and so beautiful. She and I have a lot of fun together at home and it's hard for me to imagine sending her to Kindergarten next year! But there will be no holding this child back. She is actually spelling words and even doing some simple reading. The other day we were in the kitchen and she asked, "Mom, what happens if you don't go to college?" She and I have talked some about going away to college and I can tell she thinks about it a fair amount. I thought it would be fun to walk around on my old college campus when we were in Utah a couple of weeks ago and so close to BYU. It was way too cold so we drove around it instead. The girls didn't seem too interested as I pointed out the building I had all my classes in, or the bridge you walk on to get to the Marriott Center, but now I think Sophie was listening and taking it all in. She loves to help take care of Claire and other little kids when we're around them. She also has a baby doll named Leela who is practically part of the family. Last night she said, "Mom, you're the best mom ever because you bought this outfit for Leela." I thought to myself, "Sweet! That's all it takes?" She has a great sense of humor and is always trying to make us laugh. Especially during dinner when I'm trying to get her to eat!

We had Sophie's birthday party at a hair salon here in our home town. Our friend Lydia did this for her birthday and we thought it was a hoot! She was so excited about it and has been talking about it ever since. The girls come in and one of the hair academy students does their hair up, then paints their nails, then puts a little bit of makeup on. It was so fun to watch the little girls excitement as they got all dolled up! I made cupcakes for the girls and tried to make them look like the Pinkalicious cupcakes from the book. I loved the way they turned out.

These are not the droids you're looking for.

We were watching Star Wars together a lot as a family together a while back. At first Sophie wasn't really into it. One time she got really upset when one of the characters she liked died, and she ran up the stairs, crying, "I don't like Star Wars. I like DORA!" She's come around. Franny had "show and tell" a month ago at school and brought her Darth Vader figurine. She asked me if she could be Darth Vader for Halloween and I said no. Franny decided she wanted to be Princess Leia for Halloween. Then Sophie decided she wanted to be the same thing. We sort of made the suggestion that she be Queen Amidala and she loved the idea of dressing up as Franny's Star Wars mom. So I guess all this is to say that we are now officially Star Wars nerds.

The girls were really excited about their costumes. It was a different story when I was applying Sophie's face makeup, though. She was crying, "I change my mind! I change my mind." She didn't like the way it felt on her skin, I guess. But I think it totally made the costume! So I sort of insisted. We were hoping Franny might want to use her costume next year, but then I washed and dried a load of whites with a black crayon and destroyed it (along with many other articles of white clothing. Super lame.)

We had a fun Halloween weekend, despite Bobby having a busy call weekend. We kind of lucked out because even though he worked a lot, he was still able to join us for most of our Halloween activities. We hit the SAA trunk-or-treat Saturday morning, then we stopped at Hyvee for some trick-or-treating and then on the way to the church Halloween party we stopped and trick-or-treated at our neighbor's dad's house. He likes to give the kids he knows giant candy bars. He gave my girls the biggest candy bars I have ever seen in my life! The girls were so excited.

It was a nice change to not be running around all day on Halloween, since usually it's a two-day affair for us. On Sunday we had our traditional chili dinner and the girls actually passed out candy to a few trick-or-treaters, which I think they kind of liked. Then we all curled up and watched Harry Potter. It was a great Halloween.

Left, left, I had a good home and I left.

Wednesday afternoons are busy for us. Franny has theater group on a college campus and Sophie has her dance lessons. When I picked her up from dance she held up her right hand and said that Miss Melody said it was her left. Now I'm sure Melody knows her right from her left- I just think Sophie got a little confused. I set her straight by telling her to hold of her left hand and point her thumb out and her pointer finger up. "See, it looks like an L, for left!" She held up her right hand and did the same thing and said, "YEAH! And this one is a gun!"

Baby Claire at three months old.

This should give you a good idea of why I haven't been blogging much lately. It's hard to get anything done with this sweet little thing around. I'm definitely not taking enough pictures of Claire. I have a higher standard now that all my friends have SLR's and I see what they can do with theirs. Problem is, I still have your average point and shoot variety so I just don't bother. It's really sad. Please, like Claire is going to care if her baby photos are "blah blah blah..." (I don't know photography jargon.) Anyway, what I have been doing is taking lots of video. So please enjoy these short clips of Miss Claire if you'd like:

I'm starting to really get used to having Franny and Sophie home with me all day. I was actually kind of nervous when Franny finished summer school at the end of June. She's been going to school in July since she turned three years old. Having three kids at home all day at first was pretty intense. We were having a lot of fun, of course- going to the pool, the library, playing with friends, etc.- but I was just so tired. But now that it's been a couple of weeks, we've all adjusted to being around each other more and we've hit a good rhythm. I'm sure it will be hard to send them back in a month. A month! Summer goes so fast. I'm glad I feel that way. Of course it will be nice to have some peace and quiet in the afternoons and time to do the things that I like to do, but I've really enjoyed planning our days, feeding them, helping them do a little homework each day... We've had a good time. I still feel like I'm way too tired too fast even though I'm getting a decent amount of sleep.

Here are some fun Franny and Sophie stories:

Franny loves bugs. Well, she loves to kill bugs. With her bare hands. Yesterday morning Melissa was watching my girls and she asked Franny to kill a bug. She watched Franny walk over to a big beetle-looking thing, thinking she would just step on it, but she picked it up and smashed it between her fingers, crunching the life out of the poor thing. Yesterday afternoon, Franny walked in and said, "Mom? MOM!!! A bee stung me!"
Me: "WHAT?!" (I've never been stung by a bee before.)
Bobby: "Wait a minute, were you trying to hold the bee?"
Franny: "I was holding it, and it STUNG ME!"

Franny was saying prayers and told Heavenly Father who was in her family. She told him our names as well. Then she told him, "I don't have a cat. I don't have a dog. And I don't have a unicorn." The next night she asked for a baby brother who likes to be tickled.

Sophie has been dabbling in the art of deception. One day I said, "Sophie, sometimes you don't tell the truth." She looked at me coyly and said, "Well, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't." A few days later, Franny asked if she could have fruit snacks AND a fruit roll-up. I said no, and Sophie walked off. When she came back she said, "Dad said I could have both." I scolded her for going to her father after I said no and Bobby walked in and said, "I told her no, too." What the?! She's three years old. I'm so screwed.

The other night the girls were asking about my Mom again. How she died and why she died. Bobby answered for me and started bearing testimony of Jesus Christ and his resurrection and that because of his sacrifice, we would be able to see Grandma again. Sophie said, "And the deer." I had to duck my head to hide the giggles. Franny recounted the story of when we hit the deer with our car. Sophie piped in with, "And the deer died." Bobby said, "Yes and do you know why? Because force equals mass times acceleration..." and I had to leave at that point because I couldn't stifle the giggles anymore. One minute he's bearing his testimony, and the next minute he's giving a physics lesson. Hilarious.

Maybe she's born with it.

Today is Franny's last full day home before her half day summer school starts for the month of June. We had just finished eating lunch and the baby had just fallen asleep in her swing when Franny said, "Let's go on a walk." I wasn't thrilled about waking up the baby, but I knew the kids would enjoy being outside. I woke Claire up, put her in her stroller and went outside to meet the girls. Franny said the neighbors had set up their pool and then she said, "I was just kidding. I don't want to go on a walk anymore." Ha! I laughed at her and made her go around the block with me once anyway. I told her I didn't wake Claire up for nothing! So we made it around once and Franny and Sophie ran straight for the neighbor's pool. When I caught up to them, I found the two of them in their [brand new] clothes splashing around in an inflatable pool with two inches of water, already soaking wet. Awesome.

Earlier this morning, I was putting on my makeup when Sophie joined me in the bathroom. Sometimes she likes to take one of my powder brushes and put her makeup on too. Today she had her baby doll with her and was applying the makeup to the doll as well. She was asking me what all the different brushes were for. Then she picked up the mascara and asked what it was for. I said it was for your eyes and I was sure she would just pretend to put it on instead of unscrewing the tube. I was wrong. I looked down when I heard her say, "I like this mom. I like this on my eyes." At first I was like, "SOPHIE!! No! You can't play with that." Then I guided her to the mirror and told her to look at what she had done to herself. She burst into tears when she saw her reflection. Then I couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't real happy with me for taking this picture. I knew I'd be sorry if I didn't take a picture of the first time one of my kids got into my makeup.

Claire started sleeping through the night last Thursday night. She slept through the night five nights in a row, until last night when she woke up every THREE hours! I'm so hoping it's just a fluke and she wasn't teasing me before. It's got to be her just trying to increase my milk supply, right? I mean I know that sleeping through the night is more than most can expect when babies are only 7 1/2 weeks old, but I was starting to get used to the extra sleep and it just seems too cruel to take it away at this point! :) She's also cooing now. I love that so much.

I'm confused because I ate too many snacks.

My talented sis-in-law Jen took this picture, as if there was any question that this could possibly be a picture I could take. It's way beyond my abilities.

I've had a few emails, comments, phone calls, etc., from sweet people wondering how we're doing, possibly due to my lack of posts on this blog. I'm overwhelmed and I don't know where to start. I have blog posts I want to write about Claire, Franny, Bobby, and Sophie. I want to write about Bobby's mom's visit, and how wonderful it was to have her here. About all my friends here who helped us right after the baby came and my friends who sent all sorts of wonderful gifts (including cinnamon bears from Utah!) I have recipes for BBQ and homemade yogurt that I want to share (two separate posts- that would be a strange flavor combination). I want to write about Claire's baby blessing and how I felt like my mom was with me all day, and how nice it was to have some of Bobby's family there with us. But you know how it goes... if I get a spare minute, I spend it with the children, or cooking dinner, doing laundry, yard-work, or exercising. Record-keeping falls by the wayside.

We are all doing well. Some of us are still trying to adjust to the change. And by some of us, I mean Franny. She seems to love baby Claire, but I think she's angry with me. It all started about two weeks after the baby was born, almost like she realized that the new baby (i.e. disruption in her life) was a permanent change. So we're working hard on that. Meanwhile Claire is a remarkably easy baby to care for. Wouldn't mind one less feeding at night, but that would probably be asking for too much. Aside from being a little over-sensitive, Sophie has been her usual sweet and sassy self.

Here are my favorite things the two of them have said lately:

Sophie has been learning about feelings at school lately. She said, "Mom, are you excited or confused?"
Me: "I'm excited. What about you?"
Sophie: "I'm confused."
Me: "Why are you confused?"
Sophie: "Because I ate too many snacks."

My favorite thing Franny said is an example of her recent attitude. She came home really tired after a fun day at our local state park, where they hiked and played all day. She called this field trip her "camping trip."

She was sitting next to me on the couch and said, "Ask me how was my camping trip?"
Me: "How was your camping trip."
Pause.
Franny: "I don't want to tell you."

Sheesh.

Three Girls

At least once a week now I hear myself saying to Bobby: "We have three kids!" It's been nearly a month since I posted. Taking a little break I guess, but the list of things I want to get written down is getting long so I better start catching up. By the way, we're still loving Miss Claire- some of us a little too much- and everyday there is more of her to love.

"Sorry about the drama, we just hit a deer with our car."

Franny has been in need of some pretty serious dental work for quite a while now. Actually last summer was when we first became aware that she needed to have some cavities filled. She had to have a crown put on, a tooth removed, a spacer put in and three cavities filled. We were referred to a pediatric dentist in Columbia and made the drive down early Friday morning. Bobby scooped the girls out of the car and put them in the van hoping they would just go to sleep. Instead they had a lot of questions. Sophie wanted to know why we were going to the dentist at night time?

About a half an hour into our trip we saw the sun beginning to rise and we were talking about the pretty colors and the horizon, etc. I realized I had forgotten to tell Franny's teacher she wouldn't be at school that day so I picked up my cell phone to leave them a message. (It was only about 6:45 AM.) Here's an idea of what that message sounded like:

"Hi, this is Katherine. My daughter Franny won't be at school today because she's having some dental work done in Columbia. Would you please let her teacher know she won't be there... Bobby, Bobby- there's a deer. Right there. Deer, deer, deer.... AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! [Thud] Oh my gosh! Oh! Sorry about the drama, we just hit a deer with our car." Click.

Isn't that the funniest phone message ever? If I were working in that office, that message would have totally made my day. Seriously, I am such a spaz.

So anyway, back to the deer. Poor stupid deer. I saw the deer start running across the lanes of the highway from a pretty far distance. We had quite a bit of time to react, but as Bobby adjusted his speed with his breaks so that he could avoid killing a large and panicked animal, the deer adjusted her (we think it was a doe anyway) speed to match ours and was actually aiming for us. We felt like there was nothing we could do. The deer leaped at our car and hit the beam that separates the windshield from the driver's window. We're afraid that if our car was a second faster than where we were, he would have slammed through the window right into Bobby! While we recognize that "lucky" would have been not to hit any deer at all, we do feel very lucky that the none of us were hurt and the damage to the car was minimal.

Another fortunate thing for us was that a road worker pulled up about two cars behind us, turned on his hazards, and told Bobby he would move the deer for us. (The deer was still alive but struggling.) So Bobby got back in the car and we drove the rest of the way to see the dentist. So the morning started off pretty weird.

Franny had to be put under anesthesia again for the dental procedure. (She was just recently put under for a tonsillectomy that I have been meaning to blog about here. I'll get to it.) She did a lot better when she came out of it this time. They made her a little cocktail with Verced and something else to help calm her before separating her from us and putting her out. She's pretty cute when she's high. She said, "I loovveee you Moooommm...." with very slurred speech. She was stroking my hair and my face and looking up at me with a goofy smile. It was pretty cute. She was really annoyed with the spacer in her mouth at first, but she seems to have gotten used to it.

Later than night Bobby and I were in the office watching "The Office" when the girls came in. All of the sudden my calendar alerted me that our town's Daddy-Daughter dance was starting in 15 minutes. Bobby was pretty excited to take Franny, but she couldn't decide if she wanted to go. One minute she did, the next minute she didn't. It was a little frustrating, but we knew she must be tired. But Sophie said she did want to go, so the two of them went. I snapped this picture before they left:

I could tell it meant a lot to Sophie to have that one on one time with Daddy. They were walking out to the car and Sophie said to Bobby, "Are we going on a date?" She was exhausted from waking up so early, so they weren't gone too long, but from what I hear there was plenty of Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift to dance to- just what Sophie loves. I have to say I was really grateful all day for Bobby- for coming with us to help with Franny's dental procedure and then that night for taking Sophie out at the last minute, before he had even had a chance to eat dinner. He was kicking back and relaxing in comfortable clothes, but as soon as he realized that Sophie really wanted to go he had a shirt and tie on in about five minutes. I just really like him a lot.

Spring Break in Springfield

We spent a couple of days during Spring Break in Springfield, IL. Bobby and I have been wanting to check out the Abraham Lincoln sites as well as a Frank Lloyd Wright home there. So we went for it and we are so happy we did! Our first stop was the Lincoln home. Abraham Lincoln and his family lived there for seventeen years before moving to the White House and I believe it was the only home they ever owned. It was really cool to walk around his neighborhood and inside his home and get a good look at what the interior of his house may have looked like.

Our girls are a lot of fun to travel with. They love being on the go and it makes family trips a total blast. Thank goodness for that! We wondered if we were crazy to plan a not-so-kid-friendly vacation, but they did great. We were sure to break things up with a couple of trips to candy stores, time in the hotel pool, and some kid-friendly restaurants.

Another "must-see" for us in Springfield was the Dana-Thomas house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. I saw the Robie house in Chicago last year and that is the only other FLW site I've had the opportunity to see. This one was really impressive because it still holds so much of the home's original furniture. I just can't get over how far ahead of his time Frank Lloyd Wright was. Bobby and I were trying to imagine what he would come up with if his career were starting now. I can tell you one thing- he would totally have his own show on HGTV. And I would watch it. There was a bowling lane in the basement. It was freaking awesome.

We also went to the Lincoln Presidential museum. Admission was a little pricey but totally worth it. I was really impressed and learned a lot about our former president. I got a little teary-eyed watching a perplexed Franny look at one exhibit where an auctioneer was standing next to a small boy who's parents were being sold into slavery and separated leaving the boy alone. I held my breath and waited for the question I knew was coming about what kind of scene was being depicted here. It's hard to explain things like assassination and slavery to such small children. But please, how long do I think I can shield my babies from the less than pleasant things in life? Anyway, that was something I hadn't really prepared myself for when we decided to take a trip to Springfield. Sophie was really upset when she found that "Hamalon Lincoln" died. She told a stranger in our hotel's elevator like it happened yesterday.

I like how Franny is holding little Willie Lincoln's hand in this picture.

They weren't all smiles and cheerful the entire time. Although I think this picture of Sophie was staged. These were both taken in "Mary's Attic"- which was a children's room where you could play with a large doll house designed to look like Abraham Lincoln's Springfield home. You could dress up in period clothes, play games the Lincoln kids may have played, and pretend to cook in a play kitchen.

The last thing we did was visit the Lincoln tomb. The building is has some structural problems so we weren't able to go on top. But we were able to go inside and see where Lincoln, his wife, three of his sons, and his only grandson are buried.

This is Franny rubbing Lincoln's nose for good luck.

Here's a cute picture of Bobby and the girls in front of a temporary tomb where they kept Abraham Lincoln's body before he was moved to the larger building above. And here's a picture of the girls sitting on the steps of the Old State Capitol building.

And guess who lost another tooth!

That kid.

Sophie is so hilarious. That kid loves to make us laugh. And if she does get a laugh, you can bet you're going to hear that joke at least a dozen more times.

The other day Bobby and I were hanging out in our room and Sophie walked in and slammed the door. Hard. It was startling. I said:

"Sophie! Why did you do that?"

Sophie: "I just slammed the door really hard."

Me: "What makes you think you can do that?"

Sophie: "Because I'm so awesome."

It's hard to argue with that logic.



Last week for Family Home Evening we taught the girls about tithing. They recently started receiving an allowance and they are really excited about money and their new piggy banks, so we thought it would be a good time for that particular lesson. Bobby asked the girls:

"Why does Heavenly Father need our money?"

Sophie: "Because he wants to put it in his piggy bank."


And here she is very comfortable at the BBQ restaurant we ate at on our recent trip to Springfield, IL. This kid knows how to have a good time.