November 2015

Katelyn loves carrying around stuff from the pantry. Lately, it's been the crystal light. Then she actually cut one open, and now she doesn't carry it around anymore. But a cute memory...

Liam and Katelyn are each other's play mates most of the time. These cabinets in the kitchen are obviously made for hiding in. 

I teach piano to Andrew and Gracie, below, and Grace wanted to come to piano on her birthday because she loves it. That made my day! Cupcakes to celebrate.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have done my kitchen cabinets white. Then I find things like this on our table and I remember why I chose not to. Plus, I love dark wood.

Liam isn't napping anymore and so he has quiet time. He needs lots of activities to keep him busy. I love how much he is learning and grasps on to things quickly. 

We spent the bulk of one day in the front yard weeding and digging for all of the rocks that were buried or thrown... by Liam. I stopped caring after a couple of months of trying to get him to stop when we first moved in, but I think he's able to leave them alone now. He was more than willing to dig them up. Troy didn't want to get dirty, but he was actually sick, so that might have been it too.

We've had lots of rainy soccer days lately. But both boys absolutely love playing. So.. we go. 

At family night the other night, we were talking about reverence in sacrament meeting. The struggle is real people. So, Ben and I decided to show the kids how "not to act." We started to fight, but then Liam started screaming and came over and hit Ben. Liam is VERY protective of me and for some reason gets mad at Ben a lot. Ben likes to tease me or tickle and Liam does NOT like it. This time we were actually looking like we were mad, so I guess he couldn't take it. He flipped out. Ben had to hold him for awhile to calm him down. We tried to explain. Sweet little guy. 

Preschool in the ward is going well. We built walls for one of our activity.

Then the kids worked together and built "the Great Wall of China."

Holding hands to cross the street to Troy's soccer practice. Had to snap a pic.

Liam has the sweetest smiles. 

Katelyn is petite. With lots of head and hair. It's easier for her to take her shirts off by going over her waist, rather than over her head.

Troy got to be team captain on Saturday, shake hands with the other team and flip the coin. 

Troy likes to pretend like he's about to fight bad guys in every picture lately. 

Ben went to Utah for a very quick trip. He got to take Brayden through the temple and ordain him an Elder. He got his mission call to Yakima, Washington, spanish speaking. He leaves to the Mexico MTC in January. We are so excited for him and can't wait to be loyal writers!

The kids were so happy to have him home.

"Mom, we are having lunch, do you want to come eat wif us?"

It takes a while to walk home from the bus stop every day thanks to this little one. Troy's backpack is so heavy for her, but she loves it.

Another Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood reenactment. Love it. 

Halloween 2015

Liam : Power ranger      Katelyn : Ladybug Princess      Troy : Ironman 

Charlotte : Jenny (Jennae)   Ben : Forrest Gump

Ben got 2nd place for best costume at his work. This was all his idea. He pulled it off extremely well. Hahaha. I still laugh at this picture when I see it. Every. Time. Most people didn't recognize him. 

Cakewalk. Always the favorite.

Sister Mills, Troy's teacher is so fun about everything. She goes all out. Troy's lessons are amazing. 

The kids are experienced trick or treaters, they know what they are in for. Troy was really in character this year.

Daddy took them this year, while I handed out candy.

After...

This isn't Katelyn's costume, but I might have to get one for Christmas. She found "Essa's dress!!!!" at a friend's house. 

Friends and Acitivities

My new favorite recipe blog is melskitchencafe. I have loved pretty much everything I have made from her website. I think I've made the stuffed pasta shells three times already. I also saw how easy it was to make granola bars. Win.

I was watching two little girls the other day. I love this new family and hope we can convince them to hang out with us lots. I have to say that Katelyn and their little girl, who is one month older, are practically the same child. I felt like I was watching Katelyn's clone. Then one of the nursery leaders said the exact same thing at church without knowing what I had said. They have "strong" personalities in the cutest way.

Daniel Tiger is possibly my favorite show for the kids. They get so creative and act nice afterwards. Troy thinks he is too old for it, but I turn it on anyway. They decided to be robots one night while daddy was at young mens.

I have loved this double stroller. It is very smooth and as long as I keep the tires pumped up, it pushes pretty easily. I had to take a picture. For a second I thought I was seeing frost on the ground. Haha. No, it's just the dew. Texas has very beautiful moments. 

I volunteer at Troy's school once a week for Junior Achievement. This year we are talking about families, neighborhoods, jobs and businesses. I love seeing Troy's class and getting to know all of his classmates. It really helps when we talk about school. 

The Sommerfeldt's. We trade off babysitting quite a bit. These kids play so well. They've recently been writing a lot of "books." But I only take pictures when they are all watching a show, sitting still...

We go to play group once a week to different parks. There are a ton of different parks to go to. It's nice that Amy knows them all. Liam insisted on wearing a coat and Katelyn is more often than not, wearing her pink rain boots.