Topham Times

Topham Times

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Dancing with Princesses, part two



The littlest princess.

Princess Savannah insisted that I also dance with Panda, who was wearing "his" wedding dress and, oddly enough, rabbit ears.
A drooling, slobbery, but incredibly cute, princess.

Dancing with My Princesses






The girls played "dress-up" a couple days ago and were dancing around the living room in their princess outfits. So I surprised them by coming out of the bedroom dressed in my Prince Philip costume (which I wore for Halloween). We had a good time dancing. Savannah even dressed panda up in "his" wedding dress, complete with a black tutu underneath.


Katie, meanwhile, dressed up Colette's "duckie."


Here some photos of the event.


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Redecorating the Kitchen

Ever gotten the impulse to make a change?

Ever just tired of the same old same old?

Ever just want so badly to make things finally the way you have always wanted to?
That impulse hit our home yesterday morning.

The place, the kitchen.
The tool, pudding paint (chosen by the kids)

It went from white, white, and more white to pink, green, and purple splashed on the floor and cupboards.

Now the time comes when, after using pudding to redecorate, you have to clean up, which the girls were more than happy to help with. It was almost as much fun as the project itself.

So we are back again to a white white, and more white kitchen but it had some fun color for a few hours.








Monday, March 14, 2011

Day 10: The Party


This is the first day back with Dale. We are having our welcome home party and enjoying time together. This is a picture of the girls racing by jumping onto the paper in front of them. Then they wait till the paper in back is moved to the front and jump again.


This is a great shot of Leila hiting the balloon. We were trying not to let it fall. The girls were really getting into it and running each other over in the process.

This is Colette playing pin the stem on the clover. Everyone is really good at it because everyone got it in the right spot. I guess I need to spin them around more.



And what is a party without cake. This is chocolate cake made in the crock pot. We didn't do any frosting but I bet it would be good with raspberry sauce drizzled on top. Yum.
Well that concludes the daily account of how we tried to survive without Dale. We are all very glad to have him back home. Please check again for your regular program posts by Dale.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Day 8: Preparations

We spent a lot of this day just getting ready for Daddy to come home. The girls wanted to give him a great big Welcome Home Party. However, he didn't get home until about 10:30 pm so we decorated today and we partyed Sunday afternoon. As you can see we went all out. Hung up hearts so he would know we loved him, made a sign and blew up 15 blue balloons, his favorite color.





Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 7: Continued







I forgot to attach the picture of Colette in her booster seat smiling for the camera.



Day 7: Mostly ups

Today we all had a bit of the slows. Last night I was up just about every hour with a different girl helping them with one thing or another. So no one really slept well. The girls helped me make eggs puffs, a new recipe I've wanted to try. Its basically pureed squash, eggs, egg whites, and flour, with a few other ingredients. You divide it into 4 mugs and bake. They were pretty good. When we were doing the squash, the girls asked me what it was. I said squash. Savannah asked me if it was the kind she liked, meaning zucchini. I said no, but its a kind she has had before. I was nervous that they wouldn't even try it since they knew it had squash in it, but Savannah declared afterwards that it had everything she liked in it and she wanted more.

While the girls were finishing up the last of their breakfast, I was in their room getting the booster seat down when I heard this huge crash. Savannah rushed into the room to tell me there was glass everywhere. Upon investigation I learned that Leila tried to give Savannah a spoon, but Savannah didn't want it so she "tossed" it back to her. I guess Leila decided she didn't want it either because she "tossed" it in another direction and shattered some dishes. Nice. The glass was all over the table and floor (another reason to strongly dislike carpet in the dining room), glass in the butter, glass just everywhere. I had to keep all the girls in their room so I could get it all cleaned up before anyone got hurt.

The big news from today is that Colette is no longer using a high chair but now uses a booster seat. The last couple of days it seems like she hasn't been eating very well, especially in her high chair. This morning after breakfast, she climbed up into Dale's chair and started eating food she could reach off of her tray. She did great and ate well to boot. So we broke out the booster seat and got everything set up so that at lunch time she could join the family at the table. And again she was much happier and ate well. I guess she just wanted to be with all of us girls.

I asked the girls what they wanted to be when they grow up. Savannah announced that she wanted to be a mommy. I asked why and she said because she has lots of babies. So I mentioned that it sounded like she was already a Mom, and she said "Mom, I am not an Adult Mommy." Oh, now I understand, I think. So I asked her if she wanted to do anything else in addition to being a Mommy and she said yes, she was going to feed her babies chunks of food. What kind you might ask? Pizza, was the big answer from both girls, as by now Leila had joined in the conversation. They also agreed that they were going to sing to their babies "I am a Child of God" and "dashing through the snow" ("Jingle Bells"). Savannah also mentioned that she was going to give her babies naps. So I asked if she thought that some day they wouldn't take naps. She said probably not until they are 900 because they are pretty grumpy now.

Well we just have to survive one more night and one day until Dale arrives. I can't wait. I hope he got lots of sleep when he was in Utah, because I would love a nap!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 6: Uneventful...Nice

This is a picture of the girls sitting on their eggs as I mentioned in my last post. I just forgot to add the picture. Today, the chicks from yesterday's quiet time have hatched. The popular names so far are Wiggles/Squirmy/Grover Grover/ and Fat. When I heard Fat, I mentioned that that wasn't a very pleasant name. Maybe plump or snuggly or squishy would be a little kinder, and Savannah told me that the name is fat because he is fatter than the other 3 chicks (by the way Dale, they are using the chicks we got each other that first Easter we were dating) and everyone is made differently. So that is his name. I wonder to myself, when she becomes a Mom, will she be that literal with her own kids' names? I'm glad she didn't name me.




We spent the morning at the library. We go to story time each week and check out stories afterwards. It was a nice day and good chance to get a walk in. Then after quiet time we went to the park (the picture is Colette in the swing) and then visit taught a lady who lives by the park. Then we came home and went to bed.




Not too eventful today. Sometimes that is the best.

Day 5: Black and White/Really Good or Really Bad

The day started off with a visit to the local fire station where we were given a tour. We saw four different trucks, and were shown all over. I don't have the pictures for it so I'll tell you more later, but let's just say that Savannah and Leila were scared, but Colette had the time of her life.

We are reading the book "The Trumpet of the Swan" by E.B. White while we eat lunch. Its about a swan named Louis and how he overcomes the obstacle of not having a voice. The book starts out with the mom and dad finding a pond and building a nest, then talks about the laying and hatching of those eggs. We have been reading it for about 5 days. On the first day I explained to them what the book was about and then started reading it. Today Leila asked me where Louis was. We had not read anything about a Louis and the picture I was showing her didn't have anything to do with a Louis so I thought Leila was mixing up something else with the story. (When we read "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" after reading "Charlotte's Webb" she often asked me where Charlotte was.) Then like a ton of bricks it dawned on me that a week ago I had told her the story was about Louis but we have not talked about it since, and she was wondering where in the world he was. A lot of the time I don't think Leila is paying attention, but she still picks up on a lot of things that I don't, or that I easily forget about.

The book has made an impression on them because after lunch they have quiet time together and I got this picture of them sitting on their "nests" keeping their eggs warm and reading stories to each other so they wouldn't get bored while waiting for the chicks to hatch.

Colette had a doctor's appointment today and all is well. She is 25% for weight, coming in at 21 pounds, and 50% for height, coming in at 31 inches. She is growing up. No longer a baby, even though her sisters call her the baby.

After the appointment, we came home, ate dinner, delivered dinner to a lady who is having lots of health problems, returned home, and went to bed.

A good day all in all.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 4:

Day 4:
The morning was busy with play dates for Savannah and Colette while Leila and I went to a nursery party that was held so all the nursery kids could get to know each other better. Leila did leave my side, but didn't really associate with others. I guess baby steps. At least she didn't sit on my lap the entire time. In the afternoon we dressed up in our leprechaun outfits and paid visits to friends. We recited the following poem:

I'm a little leprechaun
Dressed in green
The littlest girl
That you ever did see.
If you catch me, so I'm told,
I'll give you all my gold.
Then we would tell them we didn't have any gold, but we did have rainbow cupcakes and would also like to help them out with whatever they needed help with, sort of a service project. The following pictures are of the girls right before we left home. We ate dinner in between visits like a pinic in the car. It was a lot of fun.

Savannah told me the best part of her day was hanging out at the Anderson house. She also told me the worst part of her day was waking up multiple times at night to help one of her dolls.








Day 3: Its only 11 a.m., too early for bed time, mmm....


Well, Today was well....difficult to say the least. We spent all day trying to accomplish one thing: Family Home Evening. Let's just say there were so many interruptions and problems that we didn't even get through the planned activity. The kids still want to do it, so we will try again tomorrow. We did manage to make rainbow cupcakes. An interesting task. Layering different colored cake mix on top of each other. It took us 30 minutes just to get the cake mix into the cupcake tins. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 2: Nice and Peaceful

Day two has gone well. The morning was spent in church, then we came home to lunch and quiet time. Leila and Colette took naps and Savannah enjoyed some peace looking at stories. Then we got ready and off to the Rhiens we went to spend the afternoon and evening together. It was nice being with good friends. Then returned home where Savannah and Colette both fell asleep in the car. A little tricky carrying both girls into the house while Leila walked, we managed to get everyone in bed, including Mom.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Day Number 1: We must be Strong







The next several days of posts may not seem very exciting, but Dale has just left for another research trip to Utah and I thought a daily post would be the best way to let him see a glimpse into our days without him.

Although the morning started off teary eyed as none of us wanted to part ways, Day 1 has gone fairly well. We went out to breakfast, came home and took a bath, read scriptures, and had movie night at 11 in the morning. We watched a Dora show, an Angelina show (about a mouse that dances), and the first couple of minutes of a Veggie Tale before we got ready for quiet time. My sister, Melissa, sent the girls these mosaic art pictures that she thought the girls would enjoy making. The pictures are of them holding up their finished products and one of Colette and what she did while the girls crafted. The project entertained them for over an hour and only about 1/8 of the leftover squares were spread from one end of the house to another, including in each of the girls' hair. Then we cleaned their room and right at the end I fell to the floor with pain in my heart. Dr. Mama Dude (Leila) and Dr. Fixer (Savannah) rushed to my aid with their doctor's supplies and repeatedly told me I was all good. Everything sounded good. Then they gave me a pillow, covered me with every one of their blankets, and read me a couple of stories off their shelves. Colette also helped me by shoving a heart checker in my eye and force feeding me pretend food by spoon. Once the stories were all done I felt much better and we went off to make dinner, read scriptures, and get ready for bed. All in all a good day.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

An Interview with Savannah

This evening after her sisters went to bed, Savannah and I had another chance to talk.

Me: "Savannah, what is your favorite thing to do?"

Savannah: "Unwrap presents!"

Me: "What do you like most about yourself?"

Savannah: (pulling on her bangs) "This. I like my hair because it's so so long, longer than my sisters' hair. And it's red. It's pretty, so I like it the most."

Me: "Who is your favorite boy?"

Savannah: "Umm, Aiden I guess, but I don't really know."

Me: "Who is your favorite girl?"

Savannah: "Me!" A pause. Then, "It's hard to choose. I really like myself 'cause I'm so pretty, but so are my sisters. They are pretty, too. It would be hard to choose between them, so I would probably just say me."


Am I raising a confident, well-adjusted child, or a narcissistic one?