Girls Night Out

Charles went camping with the scouts last weekend.

We took advantage of the girls night and went out and had some fun.

Something I would normally never do.

I love a schedule, and don't veer from bedtime often. But tonight I saw there was a movie in the park playing not to far from us, showing Toy Story 3.

So we packed up a blanket, chairs and a little Chick-fil-a, and had fun with it.

Abi was pretty bummed about Daddy going "night-night at camping."

I felt like I had something to prove, we miss Daddy when he is gone...

But Mom lets me have chocolate milk and stay up late

watching movies and eating chicken nuggets.

Bed time was a piece of cake.

The were sleeping like babies as soon as they got in their beds.

Poor Babies... they go through a lot.

Abigail has twin babies as part of her doll house family.

They go through a lot.

What's that? ... Oh, you'll have to excuse me.

Abigail says I better come get some dinner before Ellie gobbles it all up.

A call with Santa

This morning, I was having Abigail pick out some things she wants for Christmas. She was very set on a lunchbox and a backpack... or so I thought. After her talk with Santa, I may need to get her a watch too, I guess.

A few minutes after we were picking stuff out, I was listening to a message on my phone, and Abigail thought she had caught me talking to Santa. I told her she would have to make the call to him herself.

Lucky for us, he had an opening in his schedule.

Santa Call from Heather Himmer on Vimeo.

Thanks Uncle Brad, for fitting us in withe the big man.

Abigail Vs. The Cricket.

This morning, Abigail ran and jumped on the couch- Terrified.

I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was trying to

go upstairs and she saw something scary.

For about 5 minutes she followed me around saying,

"Mommy, I want to show you the scary thing!"

So she took me to the stairs where I screamed over a stupid cricket.

What can I say... It was a scary thing.

We talked about what we could do to get it out.

I refused to go get it with a napkin, which was Abigail's idea.

I suggested a broom, and she hopped to it.

Abigail vs the Cricket from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Abigail vs the Cricket- take 2 from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Afternoon Snack

We have been trying to make better eating choices around here lately.

Not just for me to lose weight, but just to help us be healthier as a family.

I'm trying all kinds of stuff to get Abigail on board with it.

She will eat fruit all day long, and she gets vegetables pretty well, because I hide them in other things. But she doesn't like eating just plain veggies, other than a few favorites.

We tried ants on a log this week, she wasn't too sure what to think though.

A little celery.

A little organic nut butter.

A few raisins.

And a subject to photograph that doesn't wiggle or run away.

I stand corrected. They will still run away if you aren't quick enough.

Whoops.

Charles wanted a haircut.

He had been asking for a while.

So at ten o'clock, I got out the clippers, and got after it.

I was a little tired.

I may or may not have put the wrong guard on the clippers.

He may not have much hair, but he is a good sport.

It is a good summer cut to start off the fall with, right?

The Moments I Want to Remember

Our girls get along so well.

The never fight.

Abigail loves sharing everything with Ellie.

Abigail never gets jealous, or possessive.

.... insert reality....

As Ellie gets older, the sister relationship gets gradually closer to a love/hate.

Abigail really does love Ellie. She says it all the time.

Abigail really does not love sharing all of her toys with Ellie.

She also says that all the time.

I think it really bothers her that Ellie puts them in her mouth.

She is getting better and better about sharing, but it is a learning experience.

Toys are still a sore spot a lot of times, but they are having fun playing together- especially when no toys are involved.

The other day, Abigail wanted to play doctor and have Ellie do a check up.
Abigail thought it was so funny that Ellie was "checking her" when she was on the floor.

Her bedside manner isn't anything to brag about...

But she knows her stuff.

Cat Nap

Sundays can be a napping challenge. Ellie normally takes her first nap about 9am.

Our church starts at 9 am.

See the problem?

She fights through all 3 hours of church without falling asleep. Usually as soon as we put her in her carseat, and start the car, she is out. The problem is, then we get home, and she wakes up and her 10 minute car nap replaces her 2.5 hour morning nap.

Last week, I thought we were going to get her from the car to her bed, without her waking up. It is such a rare thing, that I grabbed my camera to snag a picture of her sleeping on her Daddy's shoulder. Just before I turned on the camera, she started to open her eyes.

Then, she was wide awake and ready to play.

Those two pictures were taken about 3 seconds apart.

That little stinker sure is cute.

Full of hope

We started this football season full of hope for our Alma Matter.

You can see how excited the girls are for the opening game against Ole Miss.

3 games into it... we aren't so hopeful.

But we are still just as cute on game day.

Follow-up

Today we went to the Dentist.

The first thing Abigail said to the hygienist was,

"Guess what! Did you know JESUS is our BROTHER?"

A Sunday Picnic

It is "cooling off" around here.

We are embracing the weather in the 90's rather than the 100's.

We took advantage of the good weather.

Sunday Picnic Checklist:

Bicycle ride or walk to the desired picnic spot

Lots of water

Some yummy fruit

Peanut butter and banana sandwich

And of course, it wouldn't be a picnic without an enormous

quilt with lots of room for Ellie to crawl around.

This Little Girl of Ours

I love teaching Abigail things these days. She loves learning new things and gets so excited when something clicks. I just had a funny conversation with her. It was one of those nights that I left a few things out of the routine, in an attempt to expedite the bedtime process. An hour later... all the things that I left out, have been requested, and completed, and she is finally going to bed.

I thought I had her down a few minutes ago, but she called me back up, and giggling, said "Mommy, we forgot to read Book of Mormon! That's so silly, huh Mommy? Let's laugh."

So we read scriptures, which is always filled with a million questions. I encourage her asking questions... but seriously.

Anyway, she saw the picture of Jesus and the questions started. First, she noticed that he had curly hair, like her. She was pretty excited about that.

Then more questions, "Is Jesus our Father?"

No, Jesus is our brother.

She got this shocked look on her face and said, "Mommy- I didn't know I had a brother! Ellie didn't know either! I want to tell my friends."

So then I explained that He isn't just her brother, He is my brother, and Daddy's and everyone's brother.

Another shocker- "You mean He is my friend's brother, and my friend's mother's brother?"

Yes, that is what I mean.

Gasp- "Wow... I want to read another story about my brother."

Birthday Boy

I had some grandios ideas for some cute pictures for my dad's birthday.

I made these little signs for the girls to hold.

That didn't work out quite as planned- not quite the picture I had in my head..

We did pretty good until we got to the shot together, holding the "Pops" sign.

It went downhill fast.

Abi saw these little bows by the wrapping paper and wanted her and Ellie to be Pops' presents.

I guess we will keep it simple.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Helper

Abigail loves when I let her help me with whatever I am doing. She loved helping me make "french fries" (butternut squash, sliced, seasoned, and baked, YUM).

I couldn't help but think of the old Shake n' Bake commercials.

Phew.

It is bedtime at our house... and not a minute too soon.

Today was a doozy.

Picking Flowers

When Abigail goes in the back yard alone, every couple of minutes we hear a little knock on the door. Normally she is standing at the door, with some sort of treasure for us.

Sometimes its grass, rocks, bubbles... whatever she can find.

She never stops at one.

Every couple of minutes she will knock at the door with another surprise,

often handing it over with a, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy."

Due to our weeds a' plenty- she found some real treasures this weekend.

I love those chubby little hands.

She picked flowers for all of her friends.

Naming them one by one as she picked the flowers.

My Dance Girl

I got this idea a few weeks ago on a friends blog and we started doing it.

I got a jar and some "warm fuzzies."

When she does something good, she gets to put a warm fuzzy in her jar.

Since we had such a big jar, we were pretty liberal with the warm fuzzies.

She got one pretty much any time she did what we asked her to.

Abigail worked hard for about 3 weeks to fill her jar of warm fuzzies. (I was really surprised how many it took to fill the jar, next up, smaller jar)

Much worse than a time out- if she was naughty, she lost a warm fuzzy.

Today she put her last warm fuzzy in the jar, and then got her reward.

Ballet Class.

She loved every minute of it.

This is going to be a fun addition to our little lives.

Big Sister

Abi still loves to "hold" Ellie.

It doesn't last long. I hope Ellie doesn't out weigh Abigail soon...

They are already sharing clothes. Yikes.

More sprinklers

I have really loved the heat this summer.

... but with nearly 80 days of 100+ degree heat?

Enough is enough.

We try to make the best of it though.

I tried to go out undetected, when we looked out the window to check on her, she was standing in the middle of the sprinkler glazed over... cooling off.

Of course as soon as she saw me with the camera, she hammed it up for me.

Princesses for a Day

One of Abigail's best buddies has a birthday on Monday.

We got invited along for a special treat today with the birthday girl.

The girls got their toe nails painted, and got hair cuts (Abigail's first!)

These two are so fun to watch. I can't wait to see the pictures from Jaidyn's mama's camera too, I know she got some good ones! Thanks for the treat, and Happy Birthday Miss J!