Monday, November 21, 2016

Just Around

They wore those fireman hats around EVERYWHERE until they finally got squished and I had them thrown away.
A nice little knight anole we watched for quite some time.



These two and their hand holding. It just makes me SOOOO happy inside!



Molly was throwing a fit about something and laying on the ground (again) so Ruthie, being the very very kindhearted person that she is, ran over and picked her up and lugged her over to the rest of us. What a sweet, sweet sister.

This is right beside our house. We walk past it every day to the park and check to see if the turtles are sunning themselves on the rocks or not.

Here's a zoomed-in pic. See those turtles?

Even holding hands while swinging. The best. Also--does any other moms out there get SO tired of pushing their kids on the swings? Ruth can keep herself going if she gets started out, but Will doesn't even try. So mostly I just say 'sorry man, go find something else to do then' so they came up with swinging like this. 



This is the park they built in our complex this summer. We didn't play on it forever because we were swimming instead, and the slides usually were burning hot. But now it is perfection! That's the back of our house you can see through the trees.

Ruthie must have felt bad that I wasn't pushing Molly. So she pushed her for quite some time. Like I said, sweetest sister ever.

And Ruthie wanted to use my camera to take pictures. Look! I'm alive and dressed and everything. haha.

Zoo Time

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago when we went to the zoo on a random Saturday. Sterling has been studying like crazy--we hear that doesn't ever let up during second year, so I'm TRYING to learn to roll with the punches and not just endure weekends without him, but somewhat enjoy them. I usually avoid the zoo on the weekends because it is Miami, and everything is busy on the weekends. But this particular day actually wasn't too bad, and it was really fun to have Ruthie along.



She has no fear. She always plays on the 'big kid' side inside of the little tiny area for babies, and you'd think she'd get run over by all the crazy 9-10 yr olds, but she definitely holds her own!

Gotta warm up on the waves!


Running through the water dripping off the fin.

HAAHAA

Those two. I just love how well they play together and I just LOVE that they get to be brother and sister forever and ever.
We saw lots of animals moving out and about, the tiger was walking around, the lion was pacing right in front of the little cave viewing area, the crocodile started swimming around right when we walked past, the hippo was taking a bath. It was all pretty exciting. Also--my kids walked almost the entire time all by themselves. All three of them. I pushed an empty stroller. I don't think that has happened since Ruth was born. It's starting to feel rather strange how old my kids are---does that ever change? Is it ever not weird that you have a kid as old as your kid is? It also meant they took really great naps and transferred easy from the van to their beds, so it was a perfect day.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday Afternoon (Molly-2 yrs)

Today was perfect. Sterling has been studying a LOT and I was pretty sick yesterday, so he felt bad that he hasn't been around. So after church today he had me take a nap while he made dinner (he grilled and made mashed potatoes AND gravy...it was divine) and then I slept AGAIN while he did dishes. When the kids woke up from their naps we headed out for a Sunday walk, and it was gorgeous. Also--that supermoon is amazing! Pretty much I was spoiled rotten. But considering Sterling is going to be MIA for the next week and a half, including all dinners, Ruth's preschool programs, doctors appointments for all of the kids, mowing the lawn, changing the oil, and most likely bedtime with me (thats what I miss the most)...I don't feel too bad. I'll be ready for another day of him cooking and doing dishes after these two weeks!!!
Will is getting so LANKY these days! 

I love those crazy pigtails.


I keep meaning to do a post of Molly, but all pictures I take look like below, and I get frustrated at my inability to catch a real smile, so I give up. So we'll just add some in on this post!

She's crazy. She still wakes up at the ridiculous time of 5am, which is still getting way too old. And I can't just stick her in front of the tv because she gets into everything. Like the other morning I didn't wake up immediately and came out to her sitting on the counter eating a pan of brownies by the fistful.

She won't leave bows in her hair and last time I did pig-tails she yanked one out with half her hair and it is noticeably shorter on that side now than the rest of her hair. So I only do pigtails at church when I know I can watch her like a hawk, haha. 
I don't know if she got it from Ruthie or came up with it all on her own, but she tells me all the time "I'n a PIN-CESS mom!" Except one time I told her she was a princess and she said "No! I Molly!" So, I guess depending on her mood. But mostly she is a princess and she only wants to wear dresses. Or her favorite rainbow shirt. Whenever we are home she immediately puts on dress-ups dresses and wears them all day long. She joined Ruth's class last week and was in HEAVEN. Instead of twirling around though, she 'hops'. She says "Hopping. Hop. Hop." as she jumps around the house all day long. She also thinks her little princess face can weasel anything out of anyone. She is incredibly polite, she always says please, but when she REALLY wants something she says "Peas-ee-peas" which is super adorable. She always says excuse me after burping, and says "t-ank you" when you get her something. 

On this particular walk, every time she saw a duck or a bike or anything she would yell "WOOOOOOOK!!!!!!" in this loud voice. Oh my goodness, her voice can really carry. Adorably though, she can sing the entire ABC song as well as several others: itsy, bitsy spider, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, most of I Am A Child of God, You Are My Sunshine, Popcorn Popping, etc. She loves to sit at the piano and sing. It is loud. But it is also really, really cute.



Ruth was dancing around to the Latin music blasting from a big party we were walking past. It was hilarious. And SHE definitely thought she was hilarious. Latin culture DEFINITELY knows how to party on Sundays--the park was PACKED. It's also really nice to see, because it was all families and little kids. Apparently Sunday afternoon is when they all come out of hiding in Miami.





Kayli I feel like I monkeyed with my camera and messed settings up--or maybe it got dropped? Everything seems to come out blurry these day! 


The kids love this park for the hill. It's probably the only hill we've ever seen in Miami. As we got to the top the sun was shining just magically. 



No filter. Look how buttery!



This is childhood perfection. It's kind of perfect that she has this ridiculous cheese face all the time now. I love her SOOOO much!


My favorite one.



Those eyelashes!



Rolling down the hill.


This is what I get when I try to get a picture of all three. Haahaa.
Few more things on Molly. People STILL comment all the time about her crazy climbing skills. She was climbing the base of a light post at church and someone went to grab her. I wasn't even concerned. My good friend Tricia said "I used to be nervous about Molly, but I've been around enough now to know she's got it covered." Pretty much. 
She's always bouncy and happy--she really is sooo happy. Sometimes ornery happy, haaha, she makes me laugh. But she ALWAYS is giving kisses and hugs. Tonight she was crying for daddy, so he came in to give her a hug and she kept saying "harder! harder!" for tighter squeezes, it was so adorable. Her kisses and snuggles are the best. Especially when she just wakes up from a nap and she just tucks herself onto my lap. 
She has the tiniest little wrists and knees and legs and I just love her so much. She LOVES babies and she LOVES Frozen, especially Elsa.