New Ideas

Merisa: Little, do you want to go for a walk?
The Little: No. I want to stay here an play with all of my new ideas.

New Since December

We had a wonderful Christmas--at some point I will post the pictures.

On January 2 my sister had her twins. She was only 25 weeks along, and one of the little guys didn't make it. I was able to go to Iowa to be with her for the funeral. I was so grateful to be able to spend time with her. The other little boy is having good days and bad days, but overall he is doing well.

The last week of January, Dale was part of a corporate lay off. Yipee. Fortunately, we got a decent severance package and I'm working with benefits. Right now we are focusing on getting him through school.

The first week of February, our computer got eaten by a virus. We have cleaned it and recovered a lot of the files. We are still struggling to get all of our software back on it. For some reason, there are several websites our service does not want us to access. For example, walmart.com, citicards.com, and quicken.intuit.com to name a few. Very frustrating.

Over all, life is good. We are pretty happy people. Sometimes, though, it feels like one rock after another is being aimed at you.

Complaining is done.

Grammar

The Little: The Princess is a girl. Mommy is a girl. Me is a girl.
Me(correcting her): I'm a girl.
The Little: Mommy, I already did you!

Christmas

In our house, we have been promoting Christmas as Jesus's birthday. Earlier this week, we recieved a package from Grandma Robbins. The Little asked what it was, and I told her it was a present for her from Grandma. She asked if we were going to open it. Dale said that we would open it on Jesus's birthday. The Little says, "So when Jesus comes to our house, we will open the present." Laughter ensued. Hey, if Uncle Allen comes to our house for his birthday, then why shouldn't Jesus come for his? I love the mind of a 3 year old!

Uncle Allen and soon to be Aunt Heather's Birthday Party

My little brother Allen and his fiancee Heather have birthdays that are 4 days apart. On the Saturday between the birthdays, they came up to our place for some hamburgers and cake! Fun time was had by all.

What a nice "blanket"!

Our Musical Child

For those people who know us will probably not be surprised to learn that the Little loves music. She loves to sing, dance, and play the piano. I thought this was cute.

Going to the Park

Since I started working full time again at the end of September, the Little and I have not gone on nearly as many outings. So, during the Thanksgiving weekend, we went to the park every day. Her favorite piece of playground equipment is, of course, the swing.



She also enjoys going down the slide and riding on the dinosaur.


While watching her go down the slide, I noticed a message that really made me feel that all was right with the world. I feel such peace knowing that Ellie and Shea are Best Friends Forever. :)

Daddy's Birthday

Dale's birthday was the beginning of November. For his birthday, I will sometimes make him a Red Velvet cake. This cake is a royal pain to make, so when I do make it, it is the only present he gets from me. It is his favorite cake--a very southern thing. Here's a picture of this year's cake.

Halloween

When I initially asked the Little what she wanted to be for Halloween, she said a pig. I was okay with that, and started researching how to do a home made pig costume. Her school does a Halloween parade where they walk around the block in their costumes, so it was important that she dress up. Anyway, a couple of days before Halloween, she said that she didn't want to be a pig, she wanted to be a puppy. So, we did a puppy costume instead of pig costume.
She was a little unsure of wearing her costume to school. However, when she saw all of the other kids wearing their costumes, she was okay with it.

Here is the Little in her Halloween parade.


The Little got to go trunk or treating with her Aunt Rebekah. They had a wonderful time. Rebekah was a gypsy.

First day of School

On September 22, 2008, the Little started preschool. It was a very exciting day. She loves learning about letters. She can now identify several. Of course, I took the obligatory "first day of school" picture.

The Little turns 3

We had a wonderful time yesterday celebrating the Little's birthday. Here are a couple of pictures to commemorate the event.


The Little helped make her cake and frost it. Of course, as you can see, frosting it was her favorite!

Here is the finished product. Dale got the decorations from the Dollar store and they were a hit!

Here is the Little right after blowing out the candles. She is, of course, wearing her new crown that is from her Grandma Robbins. She had so much fun.

Do you like my hat?

The Little decided yesterday that she wanted to wear her pants on her head. I thought it was worth a picture. Of course, she didn't smile until she had taken the pants off of her head.


Then, during her bath last night, she put the wash cloth on her head and wanted a picture.

This picture is from last week. Notice that both the Little and Baby are in their dresses and ready to get "married."

I'm a model, you know what I mean. . .

On Sunday, Dale completed a model that he had been working on for well over a year. He had done two smaller model's previous to this, so we decided to show them off a little.

This is the model that he just completed. Isn't it cool?

Getting Married

The Little had a very serious look on her face, her blanket on her head, and was walking across the room. I asked if she wanted to come sit on my lap, but she said, emphatically, that she was getting married. Here is her bridal outfit:

Kids do the funniest things!

The Little found my high school graduation cap and thought is was the coolest thing. Dale freaked out a little to see her wearing a graduation cap. If he had his way, she would always stay a baby.



The Little is now potty trained while she is awake. During naps and night time, we use pull ups. The other day, I told the Little to go and get a pull up for bedtime. She went and got a couple. The result is below:

Cinderella

Several weeks ago, the Little announced that she was Cinderella Robbins. As of this week, she is Cinderella, Dale is "Prince", and I am the Queen. It's pretty cute. For a few days, she hasn't called Dale anything but Prince and corrects anyone who refers to him otherwise.

Funny things 2 year olds say

Dale and the Little took the trash out to the western balcony in the late afternoon. From this balcony, you can see downtown Salt Lake City very well. The sun was beginning to think about setting.
The Little: My eyes are getting sunny.
________________________________

Dale and the Little were going for a walk and trying to find the Little's hat before leaving. It was MIA, so The Little said: I'll just wear my hair.

Wearing Feet

Dale and the Little were going to the basement the other day. Dale told the Little to go and get her sandles to wear and she said, "Can I wear my feet?"

This is my box

The other afternoon, the Little proudly showed me the box she had made. I have to say, I was pretty impressed.