Coming out of the funk....

Due to some busyness, along with a whole lot of sickness for our family, I have seriously had a blogger's block lately. I just don't want to sit down and do it! So, as usual, to get myself back in the mode, I re-read last November's blogs. And, I'm once again inspired. I LOVE reading over what we were doing this time last year...and the little stories I would have already forgotten completely.

So, here goes the first blog entry for November...and the month is half over. :) I have many updates and pictures from Pops' birthday celebration, Mark & Kendyll's camping trip, and other little things. But, I'll have to do those in pieces.

I'm starting with a couple of stories about my kids that will ease me back into November blogging.

1) Question: What do our exersaucer, our walker, our bumbo seat, and our stationary bouncer have in common? (Yes, they are all baby toys---but that's not the answer.) Answer: None of them can contain our sweet Abby Kate. :) The girl is Houdini. We just thought it was the malfunction of the bumbo seat. Apparently not. She knows how to wiggle her way out of any contraption we put her in. Needless to say, mommy and daddy are BUSY these days chasing this girl all over the house. She is on a mission and moves quickly most of the time.

Here she is a couple of weeks ago...before she learned to escape. (We took the picture because this is her funny way of using her paci too. She loves to put it backwards and bite on the ring handle.)

2) Carlie is making us laugh daily, as always. She is very into singing and dancing, as she always has been. But, she has a few favorites that she sings ALL DAY. The three favorites right now are "Oh Christmas Tree" apparently from Grandma's Barney video, "Our God is an Awesome God", and "Jesus Loves the Little Children". None of these are necessarily funny songs. They're just funny when Carlie makes up her own words in the places that she doesn't know the actual words.

3) This morning she made me laugh out loud with her response while playing babies. She LOVES her baby dolls and is constantly putting them down for naps all over the house. Wherever they are, you are not allowed to talk. So, she kept telling me to be quiet upstairs. So, I decided to play babies with her. I started rocking one of the babies and told Carlie that the little one had started crying. She looked at me with a serious look and said "Mommy, that baby is dead." I said "What?? Is she just asleep?" (thinking surely I heard her wrong!) "No, Mommy, that baby is dying. We won't ever see her again." I seriously had to hold back the shocked laughter. I said "Oh no, Carlie! That is so sad. Were they sick?" She said "No, they are just dying. They're not sick." I really still don't know where that came from, but she played that all morning. We prayed for the babies, and a few of them became alive again. So, I guess that was a little bit of good in the midst of some dreary circumstances in our playroom.

4) I wish I had some funny story about Kendyll to follow Carlie's and Abby Kate's. None are coming to me. The funniest predicament in her life lately has been what to be called for her Indian Princess name. It was quite the debate around here, but after a few stressful hours (for her, that is!), she came up with "Dancing Hibiscus", which suits her wonderfully. We tried out a few other action verbs like "running" or "jumping", but nothing really sums up Kendyll like "dancing". Mark, although he tried to resist at first, is officially our "Rainbow Warrior". Not only is that the mascot for his beloved Hawaii team, it is also the perfect description for his life as daddy of three girls. (I asked him if he got to tell the names at the campout, and his response was "Thankfully, no!" So, I guess he's still not loving being a rainbow lover.)

Other than that, Kendyll is her usual fun-loving self, having a blast celebrating the next holiday at our house. The girl loves holidays as much as I do, and it is always fun. We have been doing a daily Thanksgiving journal (thank you, Kristen, for such a great idea!) and she is the one that NEVER forgets to have our thankful time each day, and always enjoys writing everyone's lists in our little book. I find her reading it to herself at different times throughout the day. It is definitely a book she treasures, and we do too!

Okay, that is all I can do for now. I will be back with REALLY good updates for the grandparents on everything else from the last two weeks...including birthday pictures, Pops! I promise. :) Here are a few pictures to keep you busy until then. :)

All three girls playing together without prompting. That is always worthy of a picture.

Bubble bath fun is a constant source of entertainment at our house.

An unexpected picture of my three, at a cousin photo shoot with Jodi's sweet ones. Here's the whole gang together: