Ellie's Prayer

   We have a nightly family prayer together. Tonight was Brielle's turn. Ellie has always said prayers, but she talks so quickly and quietly you have to strain your ears just to get the gist of what she is saying. This night was different. When Ry asked her if she would like to say the prayer, she smiled, folded her arms and spoke loud and clear. The mystery of what she may have been saying in some of her prayers was revealed! Here is a brief recap.

   "Thank you for the grass, our washing machine, the car, our walls and cribs." Very sincerely, "Thank you for keeping us safe from the big bad wolf and for helping the bad guys to not get us. Please help Keiko's (our dogs) feelings to not get hurt when he wants a treat!" By this point Ry and I were smiling, but also amazed at her prayer and the amount of time invested into it.This had to be a record breaking moment for the longest prayer ever spoken by a two year old! Brielle continued by naming every relative she could think of and then sat there for and a moment and said,

     "And...that's all I got!" Ry and I looked at each other and held our breath, but Zoey didn't hesitate to burst out in laughter. That was the end of holding back. We all laughed our hearts out, including Brielle.

     Two days later Ellie said a prayer over the food and ended with her attention getting grand finale, " And......That's all I got!", but before I could chime in, Zoey burst out, "B-Elle, you so funny!"

This is Brielle pretending she is Zoey's baby! She's taking her nap in her doll's crib. The crib is literally 1ft. by 2 ft.! 

 Brielle is a sweetheart and her special gift in the family is peacemaker. I didn't know a child was capable of sharing, like I have witnessed on a daily basis. She truly cares more about her sisters than herself.  In fact, Daddy has to be careful when pretending to gobble up Zoey, because Brielle's mouth will literally drop open, gasp and begin pleading, "No Daddy. Don't eat Zoey. No!"  Zoey is lucky too, because Brielle has saved her a time or two from being left in the house. Rylie's school drive is only minutes away, yet I give Zoey at least twenty warnings, half an hour before we leave to please put her shoes on. Yet, it is Brielle's pleadings that always save her. I really need to find a new consequence that won't traumatize Brielle more than Zoey! Ellie also has a knack for puzzles, making up her own songs, and loves cuddles. My little tender heart is my best sleeper and according to dad is a natural wrestler! Ellie thanks for making our home a more peaceful,loving place.

      Last Sunday, during the passing of the sacrament, Brielle burst out in song. An Ellie original, that went something like this:

     "My Mommy, mumble.....mumble, Nice, mumble...." Second verse, loud and clear! "My Mommy is mean to me, when she puts me in time out. La lalala la laaa!"

     Yes, there was a lot of rubber necking, smiles, and comments throughout the remainder of church. Hey, I told you that I had a ruff week in my last post!

    Brielle has been placing the word "ever" at the end of most of her sentences. For example: "I don't want cheese on my taco shell, ever." or "Don't take that Rylie, ever."  When I ask,

     "Brielle can you please come here so mommy can do your hair?" Brielle's response is, "No, not,ever." Then she'll come up with something like this ten-barrett-Medusa-head, hair do!

Brielle, "My tummy hurts, momma."

Mom,"Oh no! Do you think it is saying,"I'm hungry"?"

Brielle lifts her church dress up, touches her belly button, and with a crinkled nose says,"no tummy talk, momma, my no tummy talk!"

      I love these independent quirks that come out in each girl's personality. I don't know if they'll last long, but I want to remember.

I almost burnt the house down

Seriously. Here's the proof.

The crock pot looks repairable, right?!

I was cooking rice and turned the stove off. Checked the rice, it needed more time so, I turned the burner back on and left. A few minutes later, Rylie said,
       "Mom, the food is burning!" I walked in the kitchen to find flames going up the side of the crock pot. The pot was still plugged in and when I had turned the rice burner back on, I accidentally turned on the burner where I had set the crock pot.
In my defense, the knobs are exactly opposite of my burners in Houston. Anyway, I was able to safely put the flames out and the blessing in all of this is; A. We are safe and B. I now know that the smoke detectors in this rental house do NOT work. I'll be calling the property management in the morning. The one good thing about renting is not having to be responsible for EVERYTHING.

Speaking of renting, all of us are enjoying Dallas. It has been a fun new change. We are still missing old friends. Ryan and I team teach in the most wild primary any L.D.S. ward has ever seen. Don't worry though, after today I think the children have a pretty good idea that there's two new sheriff's in the building. After Ryan rounded up the children hiding in the curtains, he looked at me and we almost had to laugh out loud. I have never had to do so much reverence regulating. If any of you have at least spent a day with our family, you know that we are no strangers to chaos! Anyway, back to renting, hopefully we will hear from Ryan's work in a few months if we should start house shopping here or somewhere else. Until then, we are just doing our best to enjoy the ride!

Tonight we have three little popcorn piggy's that seem quite content!

The Royal Line Up

Presenting their Royal Highnesses.......

Sleeping "BOOTY"

and

CINDERWELLWA

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

The first Rapunzel didn't think her hair was long enough, because she couldn't swing on it, so we got her the wig.

Trunk or Treating!

The girls loved to collect candy, but they enjoyed all of the costumes even more. It took us forever just to walk around one parking lot because they were so engrossed in their surroundings. But, then we came home....

The candy feast began!

The girls eached picked out what they wanted on their pumpkins this year and Momma and Daddy carved away! Actually they all did some carving on the backs of the pumpkins, but only the little artists can interpret their master pieces. Rylie did a lot of pumpkin seed scraping as well.

I particularly love the moving boxes in the back of this photo.

Below is Ry, working on his perfectly roasted pumpkin seeds, that tasted delicious!

I stuck with the sweets and helped the girls dip their apples in carmel. Ry, followed covering apples in chocolate and nuts!

Good memories with our three princesses!

Living in the Big "D"

Greetings everyone! We have been living in Dallas for a whopping two weeks now and it has been fabulous to be together as a family. It was difficult on all of us to say goodbye to our daddy for two weeks at a time, over an eight month time period, while he traveled for work. Now, it's on to a fresh start!

Dallas is the fourth city we have lived in, in a two year time period. On the plane ride here, Rylie started to violently throw up for the whole plane ride home and then continued on for the next twenty four hours. Poor girl! The experience created a de-ja-vu feeling, until I remembered our move from Huntington Beach. Yes, the exact same thing happened! I even remember that Brielle and Zoey started vomiting a few days later and Ry grabbed our giant blue tarp and spread it across the TV room floor while we each held a vomiting baby in our arms all night long. Aah memories. Anyway, we have found a great after hours pediatric care center,within minutes of our house. All three girls are positive for strep throat and have been on antibiotics for several days, and other than that we haven't seen a whole lot more of Dallas beyond our backyard! The weather is less humid than Houston, but still hot. I guess this is just a little note to let friends and family know we are alive and almost well. Love you all. We'll update soon!