Abby likes to watch her sisters through the screen while they are playing outside. She's fallen halfway out the door (because she started pushing on the screen and it wasn't latched) twice. Thankfully she didn't hit her head either time...just laid there hanging halfway outside and halfway inside as I ran to pick her up.
Claire said after Bert had left for work one morning, "But I miss Daddy. But he is my bess priend." ("best friend")
We recently discovered that Emily is under the impression that everyone kisses for the first time at their wedding. And we haven't corrected her yet.
Hannah to me after I fixed her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and peeled her apple: "Mama, you're the best cooker ever."
Happy child!
Emily got up one night and said she couldn't go to sleep because she kept thinking about really scary things. We asked her what kind of things and she said when she closes her eyes she is "being chased by a huge giant letter 'A'!" #firstgradeprobs
Claire had fallen asleep in the car and I had woken her up which put her in a bit of a foul mood. She said something, which I couldn't hear, so I asked her what she said and she said "My not talking to anybody, my talking to jus me!!" Ha!
I liked this picture that our friend Anne took of the girls before Awana one Wednesday night.
The day after Anne took this picture we were driving home from picking Emily up from school and Hannah said "Emily, when I grow up I will be juuuust like you."
Bert's parents bought this shirt for Claire last summer and it is her absolute favorite piece of clothing and has been for awhile. She calls it her "monk-key shirt" and gets very annoyed if you tell her it has a bear on it and not a monkey. Ha! She would wear it every day if I didn't have to wash it but she easily wears it every other day.
I took the big girls to Kohl's one afternoon to buy some shoes for Hannah and we decided to stop by McDonald's for an ice cream treat on our way.
Me (from across the room): "Claire, finish the pear on your plate."
Claire (looking very offended): "I already did. It's already in my teeth."
Emily's teacher picked her to participate in her elementary school's "Author's Spotlight." This takes place each quarter and one child is chosen from each class. They write a short story on anything they choose and then read it to all the family and friends in attendance. Emily's story was titled "Why I love first grade." A few of the things she talked about in her story were meeting new friends, her teacher, fun math lessons, and "doing cheerleading" on the playground." She ended the story with "I hope first grade never ends!" It was precious. She was nervous to talk in front of that many people, but she did such a great job and we were so proud of her!
Each child's story was supposed to be 1 minute and most all of them were, but Abby and I had to leave halfway through the program (Hannah was at her school) b/c it was past time for Abby's morning nap. Bert and Claire stayed until the end though and got a picture with our little author.
One afternoon the girls were all playing together and Hannah walked up to me and said "lets pretend that you are our mommy and daddy's our daddy." Easy enough.
This girl is all the time pulling up on or chewing on something....or sometimes both.
Claire's favorite food is marshmallows and she leaves out the "r" when pronouncing the word.
Hannah had a "Fancy Nancy" day at preschool about a week ago. They were supposed to dress "fancy." They could wear dress up clothes or church clothes or anything in between as long as they felt fancy. She picked out her outfit from head to toe. She even decided on the placement of her bow. Her high heels were a smidge big, but she didn't mind.
We had meatloaf one night last week and it reminded me of the first time I made it. We had been married about a month or so and I was so excited about the yummy meal I was going to make for my new hubby. I got home from work, browned my beef, and was about to put in the other ingredients when I realized something wasn't right. I called my mom and she of course told me I wasn't supposed to brown my beef. I remember crying and saying "Well that recipe definitely should have said "don't brown the beef." Ha!
When I fold laundry (which is often) Hannah's stack is the tallest 8 out of 10 times. That girl likes to change clothes. I try to get her to put clothes that have only been worn a few minutes/hours back in her drawer, but obviously I'm failing at that.
Hannah, Claire, Abby, Emily
For a while now Hannah has gotten up once a night (in the middle of the night) to go to the bathroom and then she always wants her Daddy to carry her back to bed. One night a month or so ago she got up 3 times. The first time she went to the bathroom, the second time she woke us up to say she was hot, the third time she came in, tapped Bert on the shoulder said "It's hard being a 4-year-old" and then went straight back to bed.
It was this night that spurred me to make a bedtime chart for her. Every morning she gets a sticker if she stays in her bed all night and after 8 stickers she gets to go to the store and pick out a small prize. Over the last 2 or 3 weeks she's only gotten up 3 nights and only once each night. I have no idea why I didn't make a bedtime chart for her sooner.
Abby has started liking playing at the kitchen.
Claire calls "gloves", "globs". And I love it.
One morning I had been in the office nursing Abs and we walked out just before 7 to find this. I thought they looked sweet all watching an early morning show together, laying in the same position.
Last week I was reading Hannah's Cubbies lesson with her and Claire and the lesson asked "Do you obey your parents at bed time?" Hannah said "I do" then Claire said "I don't!!!" At least she's aware.
This past Sunday Bert was voted in (with a unanimous vote) as the new senior pastor at Mountain Creek. We've loved serving this church for the last 4-1/2 years and we're so thankful for the opportunity to continue serving here. We're excited about Bert's new role! We love our church and our city and we're thankful to be exactly where we are.
The morning of our church's vote we told Emily about it because we thought she would probably hear people talking about it that morning. Bert left for church early and while I was getting the girls ready Emily came up to me and said "Mommy, do kids get to vote?" I told her that maybe some older kids but not kids her age. She thought for a second and then said "Okay, well tell Daddy I vote yes!"
One afternoon I was in the playroom watching Abby play on the floor, and Claire wanted to climb on my lap. Hannah decided after a minute she wanted on my lap too, so we had some snuggle/tickle time. I love these sweet babies so much. This picture makes me smile.
It's hard to believe it's already November! I'm enjoying the beautiful leaves and trees and looking forward to all the holiday fun coming soon!!
