Sweet Dreams, literally

Sometimes on preschool days, Elise is just so worn out that she can't even stay awake until 7:00. Today was one of those days. At 6:30 I told her that she and Steven could watch one episode of Dora and then they needed to go to bed. She wanted to watch Dora from my bed, so I let her. Well, she was asleep in my bed before Dora was half way over. I just went to move her into her own bed, and when I picked her up she was mumbling, "Those cookies are just really, REALLY good." She makes me laugh sometimes. I know she's got a major sweet tooth, but apparently she even dreams about sweets. She is quite a vivid dreamer, courtesy of her Father who occasionally walks and talks in his sleep as well :-). It certainly makes things more interesting when you never know what kind of "episodes" might be going on after dark.

10 Little Indians

Okay, it was actually more like 15 Little Indians, but whose counting? For Elise's Thanksgiving Program at preschool, each class made their own costumes. Her class were the Indians, another class was the pilgrims, and the youngest class were the Turkey's. They all turned out so cute. Too bad I somehow got out the door without my camera, and when I pulled out my cell phone to snap a picture the battery was dead. So, you will have to live with just a picture of Elise when she got home. Too cute! And please ignore the dirty face. She comes home from preschool that way nearly everyday. She must play hard while she is there.

Elise has actually become quite the little performer. She participated in her first Primary Program on Sunday and did a great job (other than waving at Mom everytime I made eye contact, so I had to stop looking at her). We will definitely be having a talk before the next time about "smiling" at mom to say hi, but not waving. She ended up with a long part because another Sunbeam wasn't going to be participating, and she still was able to memorize the whole thing. Her part was, "I lived with Heavenly Father before I came to earth. He loves me and has a plan for me. The family is ordained of God and is central to his plan." It amazes me how fast she was able to memorize this. Just a couple times through and she had it. She is one smart little cookie!

Sunday was actually an eventful day for us as it was my first day in the nursery. I am definitely excited to be the new Nursery Leader. I will miss the Young Women, but as I had been president for three years and served in Young Women for two years before that, it was a good time for me to be released, and definitely a cause for celebration in the Miller household (especially by Steven, who didn't really like to be left in Nursery without Mom anyway). This should definitely be a different adventure for me as I have worked with teenage girls for so long!

Fashion Sense?

It is hard to believe how fast Elise is growing up, and all of the new things she is learning so quickly. Lately we have been knocking heads a little because she often insists on picking out her own clothes and getting dressed all by herself. Not only does she not seem to understand or care about matching, but she also doesn't even seem to care if her shirt is on frontwards or backwards, so this can create a little friction. This past Saturday was a stay at home day. Since we weren't going anywhere I just let her pick out whatever she wanted and put it on herself. Don't you love the results? I particularly love how she picked out one orange sock to match her shirt and one pink striped sock to match her pants. And I'm pretty sure that the blue tennis shoes which she insisted on wearing on the wrong feet top it all off perfectly. Hopefully her sense of fashion improves with age!

Small Spaces

My kids have always liked fitting into small spaces. I have found both of them inside cupboards, under beds, and climbing into drawers countless times. The other day Steven climbed into a little tupperware box, and he was so proud that he had fit himself into it. It reminded me of a picture I took of Elise just before Steven was born. I walked into the room t find her sitting in a similar container. What really cracked me up was that she was really just sitting in the box chilling and watching Dora. Sometimes kids really do the funniest things! Of course, after Steven climbed in the box this time around, Elise had to check it out and see if she could still fit... and she does.

It's a Good Thing Someone Likes to Wear Woody's Costume...

Birthday Cake and Presents

We kept Steven's birthday kind of low key this year. We went to dinner at his favorite restaurant, Chili's (he loves the Skillet Queso). Then we came home and had birthday cake and opened presents. I figure when you are two, nothing beats cake and presents, so what else did he really need? Here are a few pictures.

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Happy Birthday, cute boy! It's amazing how the time has flown by!

Steven on the day he was born:

First birthday:

On his second birthday, lunching at In N Out with Mom:

Halloween

So as I could have predicted, little Grumpy refused to wear his Halloween costume I made him. There was something about the shirt he just hated, and he was not going to go near his boots. He finally conceded to wear his costume without the shirt or boots, but he just sort of looked like a pathetic attempt at a cowboy without the complete ensemble. Definitely not Woody. Chris says I'm never making Grumpy a costume again. We'll see. Maybe in a year or two he will appreciate it more. Here are a few fun pictures. In case you're not really familiar with the movie or can't recall, Chris is dressed up as Stinky Pete.