Hannah's 20 Questions 7/26/2013

I decided to ask Hannah some of her favorites on the eve of her fourth birthday. Here is what she said:

1. What is your favorite color? Green and purple mixed together. (Although all year she's said pink non stop)

2. What is your favorite toy? Doll house and doll house toys.

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries 

4. What is your favorite tv show? My little Pony (though she also loves Doc McStuffins and Olivia) 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chicken nuggets. Specifically Dino Chicken Nuggets from Sam's club. She loves the "standing up one." (T-Rex) 

6. What is your favorite outfit? My new apple dress. 

7. What is your favorite game? Candy Land

8. What is your favorite snack? Mommies (?!?!) 

9. What is your favorite animal? Unicorn and Giraffe and anything tall.  

10. What is your favorite song? Families Together Forever. 

11. What is your favorite book? Do Not Open This Book 

12. Who is your best friend? Cora and Tayden

13. What is your favorite cereal? I like....I don't remember. I just love cereal. 

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play and say jokes to everyone and then they laugh at me. 

15. What is your favorite drink? Milk, water, and apple juice. 

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas! 

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Mickey and Minnie 

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? CPK

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A fire engine. (The answer to this changes every day).

Sisters

This month has been extremely hot and I've lost motivation to post weekly. Mostly we are just hanging around trying not to die of heat exhaustion. We've spent some time at the museum, water park, we've eaten out and watched lots of Redbox movies.

So even though I haven't been posting on our daily life, I don't want to miss the opportunity to talk about my girls and their relationship.

Hannah and Paige are best friends. They are so extremely loving to one another. Even though we don't go out to play with friends in this heat, they really enjoy each others company. They play perfectly together.

Hannah is the typical big sister. She's the boss of most of their playtime. She suggests the games, picks the toys, and has the best ideas. Paige is perfectly content to follow her big sister. She happily plays Hannah's games. For an almost four year old, Hannah is extremely fair to her sister, because she loves her. She always makes sure that Paige is happy and asks her, "Are you having fun Paige?" To her credit, she is always having fun. Paige is super laid back and doesn't mind being bossed around. Especially when Hannah is so loving about it.

When I was pregnant with Hannah, I secretly wanted a girl. I would have been happy with a boy, but in my heart I wanted a daughter. Then when I got pregnant with Paige I knew I wanted a girl and there was no secret about it. I wanted two daughters close in age who could take care of each other and love each other. I couldn't be happier having my two daughters that were very much wanted and hoped for, but I didn't imagine the pure love and friendship that would bless our whole family. They are so tender to each other. Hannah is a wonderful big sister and Paige is a wonderful little sister.

Not only do they play well together, they are concerned for each other. When Hannah is upset, Paige makes sure that I know about it, and that I'm doing something about it. When Paige is doing something dangerous, Hannah jumps in and becomes extremely protective. I was filling up their bath this morning and Hannah said, "That's enough water, Mom. If Paige drowns she will die." The water was up to their ankles...

Sure they have their moments of contention (daily). They tick each other off and start arguing, but I hardly ever have to intervene because they hate being mad or mean to each other.

I love these girls, I'm so glad they belong to us.

June Pictures

A Week(s) in the Life {June 17th-30th)

It's been a busy last couple of weeks and I'll try to summarize as best as I can.

Adam has been teaching Summer School (7th grade math) at Sierra Vista. It's been challenging for him, as the students are unmotivated and disrespectful. He's grateful to be in the elementary grades for sure. It's been nice that he's been able to work though, and he's enjoying the double pay and the shorter hours. Adam is extremely anxious to buy a van for our eventual family of three. I wanted to wait until I at least got pregnant but Adam just might get his way and buy a van early. We are mini van people. Adam took care of the girls all by himself while I was away at girls camp. He was pretty exhausted by the end of it and gained an appreciation for single parents, but they all had fun going to Pump it Up and McDonalds, out to frozen yogurt etc. He's a great dad and I didn't have to worry about their well being. I was also grateful to come home to a clean home and even shampooed carpets. He's the greatest.

I had a blast at girls camp and I can't believe it's over! It was such a spiritual experience helping the girls out and working with Lore Seager and many other wonderful ward and stake leaders. I was so wary of leaving my family but in the end it was a fantastic experience and I'm anxious to have another opportunity one day. Sheena, Cori, Chelsea, and Kasy Hastings cared for my girls while Adam was working and I was so grateful to them. They made it possible for me to fulfill my calling and I'm so glad they were so willing and loving of my kids. I also started querying agents for my book. So far I've sent out about ten. I don't expect any response for about 4-6 weeks but I'm feeling excited. My goal is to query about 100 agents and hope that at least one bites. I'm also working on two other projects: Women of Faith, which I hope to publish through an LDS outlet and Lights, Camera, Love: a bachelor type cheesy chick lit that I'm writing just for fun to be published through Amazon.com.

Hannah is growing up like crazy. She is so smart and wonderful. We went on a tour through California Pizza Kitchen where the girls got to make their own personal pizzas and then see the rest of the kitchen. She loved it. She loved hanging out with her friends while I was gone and she had a blast.

Paige seemed to grow up quickly while I was gone as well. She's now complaining when things are "not nice," or she tells me she wants to do things like "shadow puppets." She is such an angel and so sweet and patient with us. One thing I think I've failed to mention about Paige is her desire to attend nursery. For her first few weeks she really struggled and cry whenever we left but we persevered and now she is fine. She loves her nursery leader, Brother Hulet.

I think I'm all caught up...now time to post some pictures!