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.

Jessie, the "Cowgirlish" Cowgirl

Elise had a little preschool show/parade for Halloween this morning, so she got to wear her costume to school. We put her costume on and she said, "Mom, how do I look?" I said, "you look beautiful." She looked at me dead serious and said, "No I do not look beautiful! I am Jessie the Great, and I look cowgirlish!" She is such a nut sometimes. Steven wants nothing to do with his costume, and refused to wear it to our Ward Halloween party, so he may just be Steven for Halloween. We'll see what happens with that one.

Elise, looking oh so "cowgirlish."

Modeling her favorite red boots for the camera:

Singing Halloween songs with her preschool. Posing with her class in their costumes:

The costume parade:

Halloween Procrastination

For weeks now (or maybe even months) I keep thinking I need to start the kiddos' Halloween costumes, but I have been feeling a bit on the lazy side, and so each day I end up telling myself I'll have time for that later. This morning I thought to myself, "I still have two weeks until Halloween, I'll start it on Monday." And then it dawned on me.... only one week until our Ward Halloween Party. Yikes! How did that happen? So, no more putting it off. I planned to spend about 4 hours working on it today and to get Steven's vest and shirt done. I did the vest with no problems, and then realized I didn't have interfacing and didn't want to run to the store, so the shirt is just not happening today. So, change of plans. I decided to work on Elise's jeans instead. I thought they would be quick and sew up in an hour or so. Four or five hours later, here is where I am:

The vest is done, although a little on the small side. Oh well, we'll make it work. The jeans are only half done, and I have used the seam ripper more than I care to recall. They have not turned out to be as simple a project as I had imagined, and I now definitely need a break. Steven is napping, Elise is eating a snack, and I am going to hop in the shower and get dressed. Yes, that's right, it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my jammies. That is what comes of procrastination I guess.

But on the bright side, Elise couldn't be more excited about her "Jesse pants with black polka dots." She is a funny girl. By the way, did I mention that Elise was snacking? Well, I should have said napping. I just noticed things were a little quiet in the kitchen and that Elise's usual incessant jibber jabber had stopped (she even talks to herself when no one else is around). So, I walked in the kitchen to check on her and here is what I found:

Yep, she actually laid down and went to sleep on the kitchen bench in the middle of her snack. I guess it must have been a long morning for my little helper, too.

'

Utah Vacation... in pictures

We took a quick trip to Utah over the past weekend, and it was fun to go back and visit. It has been 8 years since I have lived there... time sure flies! We got to visit with Jason and Becky, and Elise got to play with cousins. We also got to see some other friends and family that either live there or were visiting. Sorry this is a long post. It is mostly because I think I'm getting senile. If I don't write something down, I don't remember it. Our kids decided that they could have fun playing in the cold weather too. Good thing there are parks everywhere! They go a long way in warming Elise and Steven up to a place.

We saw all the changing leaves. It was very pretty. This is what it is like to have an actual Fall season!Steven had his first encounter with snow, and decided he was just not a fan. He refused to step on it. If he was walking and came to a patch of snow, he would just freeze and wait for someone to pick him up and carry him over it.We visited the "This is the Place" Monument.

Dad read all the plaques while Mom chased Steven in circles and Elise picked all the dandelions and blew them to make wishes.

Finally the kids got tired of waiting for Dad to finish, and so they chased eachother across the plaques Dad was trying to read. Dad was not happy. Mom was too tired of chasing them in circles to care. We spent WAY too much time in the car driving around, and Steven's only defenses were screaming or sleeping. We all preferred the sleeping.

We visited the Salt Lake Temple, where my kids refused to pose for a picture together. This was the best I could get.All Elise wanted to do was dance on the "stage." What a nut.

Dad got some quality time with his biggest fan, Steven.

We all rode the ski lift up to the top of Sundance, against my better judgement. The whole time I kept picturing Steven jumping off, but Chris assured me he wouldn't let him do that, and told me I had too much of my mother in me. Yes, sometimes I worry a bit too much, but I think a two year old falling off a ski lift may be a legitimate concern.Elise and Dad had a snowball fight at the top of Sundance. There wasn't much snow, but it amused Elise anyway.Steven, once again, wanted nothing to do with touching the snow. Chris and the kids looking out over the edge. Yikes!Chris and Elise took off on a hike up the side of the mountain, leaving Steven behind. Steven was not pleased. He tried to take off after them, but his mean mom wouldn't let him get too far.
Steven actually even took a few steps on the snow trying to catch Dad and Elise up the side of the hill. Just a few though. Once he realized what he'd done, he turned around immediately and stepped off the snow. Then he just stood there staring up the hill at them, but refused to cross the snow.

Steven is such a Daddy's boy, he forgave Chris when they got back down the hill and wanted to snuggle him.We rode the ski lift back down the hill, which was even scarier. Looking down, it seemed much steeper. Luckily, we all survived.