New Pictures.... and Boogers

I'm finally "caught up" with our birthday and holiday posts and was wondering what I would post this week. I feel like our lives are generally uneventful and boring. Then a couple days ago, Abby came into my room all decked out in play jewelry, a princess dress, and a funky hat. I started taking pictures and this is what we ended up with:
Pretty girls! This week has been spent trying to get little girls to rest and recover from sickness. Leah was sick last week and now Abby's got it, too. It's like a cold with a mild, off-and-on fever. Oh. And boogers. Lots and lots of boogers.

It's interesting to me how my kids' personalities are manifest in the way they deal with sickness.

Leah gets very calm and resigned. She listens to her body and rests when she feels like she needs it. She lets you comfort and care for her and trusts me when I tell her she needs juice or a bath or medicine.

Abby, on the other hand, gets mad when she's sick. Last night she was up at 3:30 in the morning just screaming. I tried to hold and comfort her and she fought me. I tried calmly asking what was wrong and she just kept on screaming. I asked if I could put a cool washcloth on her forehead and she said yes... and then took it off and threw it. So I left her alone and she tossed and turned and cried and moaned until she was able to put herself to sleep.

That sounds about right.

Luckily, Leah is almost completely over this bug and Abby seems to be doing better today. I'm hopeful that this upcoming week will be sickness-free!

Bowling Night

The first week of February the girls and I spent an entire week at Grandma and Grandpa's house. One of the nights we were there Grandpa just mentioned something about going bowling. Leah came running over to me and said, "Can I go bowling with Grandpa? Please?!?" I said, "It's okay with me..." and she took off running to find her shoes and her coat. I looked at Grandpa and said, "Well, now you have to take her..." So Grandpa, Uncle Phill, Leah, Abby and I went bowling (Grandma was teaching Institute that night). We had a no-pun-intended ball! After bowling we finished up with hot fudge sundaes from McDonald's. It was a fun spur-of-the-moment night out!

Leah's jump of excitement after knocking down... five pins?

Leah Loo and Uncle Phill

Grandpa Scot, Abber Dabbers, and moi

Uncle Phill, getting ready to bowl like a monkey

Grandpa, getting ready to outdo Phill's monkey bowling

Abby, being Abby

Leah's Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Leah! I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old (the beginning of December, 2010)! For months Leah had been talking about and planning her birthday. I never really plan on anything until about a week or so before it happens because her ideas change. Originally she said she wanted a chicken cake but eventually she settled on owls.

We made these crazy little owl cupcake toppers out of chocolate truffles. They were delicious but VERY labor intensive!

Pre-party, helping Mom clean out the cake batter bowl.

Birdhouses: BEFORE

Birdhouses: AFTER

Truffle Owls

Leah making a wish

CUPCAKES!

So maybe I'm not a very good party-planner... or maybe I'm an AWESOME party planner. Either way, we finished about 20 minutes early so we popped popcorn and let the kids watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It gave me some time to clean up a little and get things together before the kids' parents showed up. I think it went well and Leah was happy with it and that's all that matters!