Miriam is 3

We knew we'd be in Washington, D.C. on Miriam's birthday, so we threw her a family party before we left. On Monday, March 25, we invited the grandparents over for dinner, presents and cake.

When I asked Miriam what she wanted for her birthday dinner, her response was, "Chips!" I asked her, "What kind of chips?" She replied, "Cheesy chips!" So I let her pick out some chips (Cheetos), and she decided she wanted pizza to go along with her cheesy chips. (I also served fruit and veggies to try and counter all the cheesiness, lest you think I'm a bad mom.)

Strawberries, grapes, Cheetos, cheese pizza and snap peas make for a good birthday dinner.

After everyone had the chance to eat, we let the birthday girl open her presents. Bekah and Ana had sweetly made birthday cards and wrapped up some little old toys of theirs to give to their sister. Miriam was thrilled with everything she received.

Miriam reacts to the Princess Cadence she received from her mom and dad while Seth, Ana and Bekah watch. This little girl LOVES My Little Pony.

Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and let her blow out all three of her candles.

Miriam with the Barney cake she requested months prior to her birthday. When I started looking for ideas to make her cake, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work that went into most of the Barney cakes I found. Then I saw one similar to this and tried to recreate it. I wasn't sure it turned out so well, but when I showed it to her, she screamed, "Barney!" I figured if Miriam could recognize it, we were doing well.

Blowing out the candles. She got them all in one try.

Bekah threw some homemade confetti after the candles were out.

One cute 3-year-old.

To see more birthday photos, click here.

Q&A with 3-year-old Miriam

What's your favorite color? Blue and pink and red. And pink. And green.

Food? Barney cake!

Movie? Barney.

Book? Ponies.

Who is your best friend? Mommy.

What do you like to do for fun? Play with my princesses from my Barney cake!

Who is your favorite princess? Miriam. And Ariel.

Who loves you? You, Ana and Bekah. Daddy. I. I love me. That's the end.

Silly girls

Random pictures, different days, common theme: our girls are silly.

 While lying on our bed, Gwendolen grabbed one of our throw pillows and lost to it in a wrestling match.

When Seth and I went in Bekah's room to check on her before we went to bed, we found that she had given herself a gold star.

Miriam put a tutu on her head and was dancing around saying, "I'm a grandpa!"

Miri-ism #13

Today after our Saturday chores, Miriam and I were playing Barbies (a favorite pastime of hers). Miri had a Barbie with yellow hair; Andrea had a Ken doll.

Andrea: What is your name?
Miri: Be-duh (translation: "Bekah")
Andrea: What is my name?
Miri: (Sounds like:) Yes.
Andrea: Yes?
Miri: (Sounds like:) Yes.
Andrea: Yes?
Miri: (Sounds like:) Yes.
Andrea: (Doesn't know if Miriam is confirming the name or trying to say something else.) Wait ... Seth?
Miri: (Sounds like and actually is:) Yes.

busted

Andrea's out playing volleyball with some friends, and I'm holding down the fort here. The kids are in bed, so I decide to help myself to a bowl of
Neapolitan. As I'm dishing it up, Bekah comes upstairs to get a stuffed animal she "can't go to sleep without" and catches me in the act.

Bekah: Wait, what are you doing?
Seth: I'm getting a bowl of ice cream.
Bekah: Ice cream? Why do you get ice cream?
Seth: Um... Because I'm 30 years old and I can have ice cream if I want it.
Bekah: But, Dad, that's not fair! Seriously!
Seth: Look, you can have ice cream tomorrow for desert, Ok?
Bekah: Fine, but... seriously, Dad! Ice cream? At this hour? It's the middle of the night!
Seth: Bekah, it's like 8:45. It's not the middle of the night. Stop lecturing me.
Bekah: Fine. But I'm telling Ana.

Sheesh, a guy can't eat a bowl of ice cream without getting the third degree from his own kid.

Baby magic trick

Question: How does a baby go from this before her nap ...

 

... to this when I go to wake her up from her nap?

Answer: It doesn't matter. As long as this girl has her thumb, she's happy.

Winter cabin trip

Just like in years past, we loaded up the snow clothes and kids for a quick winter retreat to Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks' cabin in Island Park (March 8-10). This time, however, we took an extra occupant with us. Grandpa Dennis was on his own trip to sunny Nevada, so we asked Grandma Susan to come with us to the cabin.

Not that she needed to, but she definitely earned her keep. She took care of Winnie while I napped Saturday morning, and she stayed with Winnie at the cabin Saturday afternoon while we took the girls out on a walk to find a good sledding hill. (And, yet again, I forgot to bring my real camera.)

Seth pulling Miriam in the sled while Bekah pulls her own sled and Analee walks alongside.

Bekah found a short, steep hill to sled down.

When the girls got tired of walking, this is how they coped: Seth pulled Miriam and Bekah in the bigger sled, and Bekah held onto the rope of the little sled that Analee was riding in. It's a good thing Seth is such a tough guy to pull all three girls.

Usually when we stay in Island Park for a weekend, we just attend church up there. But with Seth's ward clerk duties and our 1 p.m. church, we figured we could drive home in our pajamas Sunday morning and get ready in time for our own sacrament meeting. It's a good thing I was browsing Facebook after we got home and while I was feeding Winnie, because I read a friend's status that mentioned daylight savings. Even though we knew about it ahead of time, we had both forgotten that we would be losing an hour. Luckily, we (read: "I." Seth had already showered, and I had already gotten all the girls dressed and their hair done.) were able to pack our church bags and be ready in time.

Library carnival

Have I ever raved about our public library? If I haven't, it's because I spend all my time internally raving about it. It's INCREDIBLE. Not only does our library have everything you'd expect (books, magazines, movies, study rooms, comfy couches, nice librarians), but it also has so much more (story times for different age groups, a summer reading program, summer story times for older children that include Greek myths and Shakespeare, and a winter reading program AND CARNIVAL).

Although we've participated in story times since Rebekah was a toddler and in the summer reading program for a couple of years, this was our first time signing up for the winter reading program. We spent a couple of months reading books that teach about or depict different time periods (this year's winter reading program theme was "Trespassing Time"), and we earned admittance and tickets to the carnival.

Not having attended a previous winter reading program carnival, I didn't really know what to expect when I took our girls there on Friday evening. (Seth was out of town getting all sorts of tests done in preparation for donating bone marrow. I think his experience warrants a post of its own, and I think the donor ought to write it. ;-)) They shut down the ENTIRE LIBRARY early that evening and set up stations throughout the building. They had everything you'd expect at a school carnival (duck pond, fishing hole, ring toss, snacks, etc.) and some things we don't have at ours (karaoke--my girls sang a 3-minute rendition of "Old MacDonald"--photo op stations, crafts).

I was dumb and forgot my real camera, so all I have to show for our two hours of carnivaling is cell phone pics.

 Analee, Miriam and Rebekah at the Old West photo op.

 Miriam (wearing the crown she made) at the explorer photo op.

 Analee the explorer.

 Miriam getting bit by a crocodile.

 Analee looks a little worried having her hand in the mouth of a croc.

 Bekah is alarmed.

 My girls, the pirates.

 We tried putting a pirate hat on Winnie, but it kept falling over her face ... so we gave her a sword to hold.

 Analee the pirate.

 Our girls don't know much about the fashion of yesteryear. They assumed this was a "Ken and Barbie" photo op.

 And they had no idea what was going on in this one.

 "Mom, why does this man have long hair?"

 The cupcake Miriam won in the cake walk. It only took her seven tries to finally get her number called.

Analee (wearing the crown she made) and Miriam showing me a little 'tude while wearing the sunglasses they won at the dolphin ring toss.

Art projects

Back in January (that's how bad I am at updating this), I took the big girls to the art museum for their special family day. We spent a little time looking at the art on display, a lot of time in the kids' room (it's spectacular ... if any families in the area haven't yet had the chance to explore the museum, I'd recommend it JUST for the kids' room), and some time making art projects.

 I did the wax scratching in Miriam's; she did all the painting.

Analee's project.

Bekah was upset at how hers turned out.

Bekah's donation

Rebekah used to have super-long hair.

Two-year-old Rebekah in January 2008.

Then she got into the habit of sucking on her hair, which caused snarls, which caused trauma when it came time to brush her hair. So we chopped it off, and she had it short for quite a while.

Four-year-old Rebekah in March 2010.

When she promised she had kicked the hair-sucking habit, we allowed her to grow her hair out again. It took her a year or so, but her long, golden locks returned. However, the battle over brushing resumed, and when I suggested that a haircut would make washing and brushing easier, Rebekah decided to chop away. We rushed her to the salon, and she was able to donate eight inches of her corn-silk hair.

 Bekah's long hair before the cut. 

After the cut and holding her donated pigtails.

Before the stylist started hacking, Rebekah told her how she'd like to look after the haircut.

Rebekah: Do you know what American Girls are?
Stylist: Yes.
Rebekah: Do you know who Kit is?
Stylist: I'm not familiar with that one.
Rebekah: I want to look like Kit.
Andrea: She wants a chin-length bob.

(Here's Kit, for comparison's sake.)

I'll admit, I kind of miss Bekah's long hair. I FINALLY figured out how to French braid someone else's hair, and I was having a fun time doing new things with it. And on Sundays when I'd get out the little curling iron and curl her golden mane ... goodness. Her hair was gorgeous. 

But every other day of the week when she wouldn't let me touch her hair, it didn't look nearly as put-together or lovely. I'll admit ... with her new cut, it's much quicker and easier to do her hair, and she can finally wash and rinse it on her own. As for snarls, they're pretty much nonexistent. It's a trade-off, but with a headstrong second grader, it's for the best.

Miri-ism #12

Miriam understands the gist of the phrase, but muddles it.


Miri: Goodbye, alligator.

Miri-ism #11

Miriam was making some funny noises.

Andrea: Miri, what are you doing?
Miri: I'm hicking up.

Ana the artist

 

Artist: Analee Grover

Title: The Octopus

Date: 4 March 2013

Medium: Play-Doh

Q: What inspired you to create this piece of art? 
A: Nothing. And the material I made it with is Play-Doh. It's all Play-Doh.
Q: Why did you choose to make an octopus? 
A: Because it would be cool.
Q: Do you like octopuses? 
A: Yeah ... they're my favorite kind of water animal.
Q: What makes your octopus special? 
A: Because it's all out of Play-Doh.
Q: What are the orange things? 
A: They're BUBBLES!
Q: Is there anything else we should know about it? 
A: Uh-uh. (Shrugs shoulders.)

Thumbs up

All my girls have been very short-lived thumb suckers. Being the fourth daughter in the family, Winnie's working hard to be remembered for something, so she's taken on the roll of long-term thumb sucker.

She still likes her pacifier, but if the kid is ever feeling tired, she just starts shoving her hands into her mouth until she finds the part she wants. It seems like she favors her right hand so far. 

I have no objections to her being a thumb sucker as long as it doesn't become a problem sometime down the line (the dentist had to threaten to cut my thumb off when I was 5 and still sucking).

Caught with her thumb in her mouth.

Stylin'

Yes, that's my child wearing a fuzzy brown backpack, a Tinkerbell bow, skull sunglasses, fringey hair and a purple hat. Why do you ask?

And guess who dressed the baby in the fluffy headband? See above.

Smart aleck

I'm totally blaming this on Seth's genes ... after all, I was a teacher's pet, not a class clown.

The other day, Rebekah brought home some typical papers from school with something atypical at the top. Make sure you look closely. Here's the conversation that followed:

In case it's too hard to read, in Rebekah's writing it says, "Name on it." In Mrs. Funke's writing it says, "Rebekah."

Andrea: Rebekah, what did you write on your paper?
Bekah: "Name on it."
Andrea: And why did you write "name on it" on your paper?
Bekah: Because Mrs. Funke handed me a paper and told me to write my name on it.