Valentines Tea Party

A couple of days ago we had a Valentines tea party, and it turned out to be SO fun.  We invited a bunch of Haley and Abby's friends and they came all dressed up and ready with their best manors.  We had lots of heart shaped food and fun tea cups.

The girls each got a piece of construction paper to decorate as a place mat.

Haley and Auntie Melissa

 

Auntie Laura helped Seth decorate! 

Uncle Nate (declared "the royal prince" by the girls) decorated with the princesses!

After everyone had a place mat and had picked a tea cup, we gathered them onto the couch for a special Valentine story.

(from left to right) Laurel, Abby, Ocean, Selah, Grace, Selva, Aubrey, Maizie, and Haley

back row: Hannah, Josh, Uncle Nate

I was the story reader!

Laurel and Abby, obviously captivated by my amazing delivery of "Giving My Heart To God"!

Selva, Aubrey, Maizie and Haley listening up, all squished together!

After the story, the tea party began.  The girls did amazingly well being polite and sitting nicely together at the tables.  I heard a lot of "please pass the" and "may I please have"!

  

Check out the way "the royal prince" is holding his cup...not his first tea party!

Look for pictures of this on the blog next year, because it was SO fun it will surely be a tradition:)

Old McDonald...kind of!

My Climber

We like to call Seth a little goat, because he always wants to climb to the top of anything he can manage. I have found him on top of the tank of the toilet before (he pushed a stool over to help him get up)! He has taken to carrying around the stool from the girls' bathroom! Today, he figured out how to climb onto the rocking chair in his room, and the chair and ottoman in our living room. Check him out:

If this kid makes it to kindergarten without any broken bones, all glory to God!

Growing Up

Seth is growing up so very much right now. Yesterday he yelled "no" for the first time (oh, dear...here we go)! He's trying to say so many words. I was sort of hoping he would be a bit slow to start talking, since there is already A LOT of talking in my world! Oh well. He also really wants to do what his sisters do.
He only wants to brush his teeth on the stool at the sink, just like the girls! And he's very pleased with himself when he does!

He also really loves to give the girls hugs. In the morning, when we go in their room to get them, he wants to hug them so badly, which sometimes they aren't quite ready for! Oh, here's an adorable moment; the other day when we went to pick the girls up from preschool all the kids where sitting in a big circle playing a game. Seth squirmed to get down, and when I put him down he ran across the room, through the middle of the circle, right to Abby with a big hug. It was just so cute.

Way To Go Haley

I was so proud of Haley today. The girls started ballet class in September, and, towards the end of December, the teacher asked if I could separate the girls (as in, put them in different classes). Today was the first day of Haley's new class and she was very apprehensive. She kept telling me she didn't want to go, and, of course, I don't want to force her to do it if she really doesn't want to, but I was pretty sure she'd enjoy it (she always had fun before). Plus, I think it's so good for her self esteem to do things she's afraid of doing. Anyway, I had to walk her in and put her hand in the teacher's hand, but, she did it. She participated and had fun and was very proud. Hooray, Haley:)

Rainy Day

At the girls' preschool they really let the kids enjoy the rain and mud on rainy days. So, today, when I picked them up, I went straight to their cubby to get the zippies of muddy clothes I knew would be in there. When I picked up the bag with Abby's clothes, I had to laugh because it was SO heavy. Her clothes were sopping wet. Laura was with me and said that Abby probably laid down in a puddle. Sure enough, teacher Johnny told us that she had grabbed a boogy board and was "surfing" in the puddles. It sounded like she really entertained the teachers! Also, they frequently do face-painting at school, and apparently they let the kids do their own today. Haley gave herself a mustache, and Abby's was so wild, it was almost painful for me to look directly at her!

The Wagon

Here's a good reason to have three kids: