Quick catch up

So a lot has happened since I last posted. I wanted to post pictures of Jill's birthday and baptism in September but... my aunt took those photos and then her computer died and she has them saved to a disk but I haven't gotten any...
:( SO... pictures of that will follow.

Jillian was excited to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her 8th birthday, September 18th. We had my dad, my brother & his family, my aunt, my uncle, and Ben's parents here with us to celebrate. A TON of people showed up to the baptism, which was wonderful but unexpected. The program was short & sweet and Jill said she felt, "Awesome," after being baptized. :) Jill & Miranda sang with their Crain cousins, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me," and they did a great job. We had a little slideshow of pictures of Jillian from blessing day to baptism day that we played before the program began. It was to the music, "What Heaven Sees In You," and it set a nice tone for the baptism, I think. I was a bit emotional when one of the pictures flashed up and it was my mom cuddling Jill when she was about 4 years old and I glanced at my dad and we both had tears in our eyes. It is so sad that she had to miss this special day and so many others with the people she loved so much. Jill is still very tenderhearted when we speak of Grandma Nancy. It's hard not to cry when we talk about her because we miss her so much. I know she was watching over us though and saw everything. :) We actually went to my niece, Maren's baptism in Edmond, OK, the week before and I felt my mom's presence there too. She is definitely still a huge part of our lives.

So, my baby girl Jill is EIGHT! I'm so proud of her and, although sometimes I think she's turning into a tween, she's still a darling girl and I am happy to have her in our home! She is loving 2nd grade and her special ALPS class (Gifted & Talented), where she is bussed to another school on Fridays. They are doing really neat projects in there and learning about important character traits like perseverance, honesty, and cheerfulness. I love that part! :) They are learning about the medieval time period, learning how to play chess, sewing a banner with their self-designed coat of arms on it, and doing papier mache projects. Fun stuff! Her regular class is doing a radio show set in the 1940's World War II era and Jill is the stage manager and an interviewer of the talent on the show. They perform it for the school on November 22nd and I've been helping the kids learn their lines and gather props and even sewing things for the set. I spend about 2 hours up at the school every Monday and it is a blast! I swap sitting with a friend who volunteers at the school on Wednesdays, so that's been nice!

Jillian joined Chorus Abilene's Children's Chorus this Fall and had her first concert in October. Grandma & Grandpa Bryner came out for it and we had a fun time. She did really great and Ben could tell I was itching to get up there with the Adult Chorus but not right now. Maybe someday... The Primary Program was the next day, so the grandparents stayed over and saw that too. I played the piano for it, so I was SO grateful to have them there to watch Lucas as well!

Miranda is still loving school and seems to be doing better now at sleeping. She says she can't go to sleep at night (it'd help if she put her book down and closed her eyes!) and she's hard to get up in the morning. Instead of yelling at her to get moving, we've resorted to carrying her out of bed and dressing her! Yes, I'm serious. Not every morning is like that but many are and we find it's easier to get her going if she's upright and half-dressed and then she kind of wakes up and takes over. She does extremely well on all of her work, which the teacher is happy with, and she says she's just adorable, sweet, and well-behaved (which is always nice to hear!) but she's bringing home some bad behaviors that I'm sure she's picked up at school. She actually had to "move her clip" from green to red on Friday for choking a little boy in her class! Evidently they were playing and another girl pretend choked him and then he said, "Na na na na boo boo, you can't choke me!" (WHY he said that, I'll never know) and Miranda said, "Yes, I can." As she did it, the teacher saw her and she got in trouble. Mortified, I am. I made her make an "I'm sorry" card to give the boy on Monday and hopefully this is the end of her behavioral issues! Yes, I know kids get in trouble at school but honestly I never expected my girls to get a Red. Miranda was pretty mortified about that, as well, so here's hoping we never see it again!

Natalie is 4! We had a Trunk or Treat party at the church on Saturday and gathered way too much candy, so we stayed home on Halloween (didn't want to go on Sunday anyway and no one came to our door, so I guess a lot of people felt the same) and just enjoyed each other's company. It was a nice, peaceful day. The next day was my sweet Nat's birthday and as if we weren't sick from candy, we got to eat birthday cake and ice cream! ;) We went to Chuck E. Cheese's (tradition!) and had pizza and games. Then we came home for the cake & ice cream (rainbow cake with m&m's & marshmallows). I had made the same cake for Jill when she was 4 (I think) and Miranda when she was 2. Natalie liked the pictures she's seen and I think it's fun to make, so we made her one. Funny memory... when I made Miranda's, I wanted to keep it a surprise, so I wanted to hide it in case she came in the kitchen. My mom had the idea to hide it in the oven. A few hours later we wanted to make homemade pizza and my mom preheated the oven. Uh oh! The marshmallow clouds got a toasty light brown, the frosting started to run, and the m&m's were melting. I thought it was hilarious and my mom was so upset that she'd ruined my cake! Luckily I took pictures of it before she stuck it in the oven, so I had proof that it HAD looked good at one time! :) Natalie got a Radio Flyer Spring Horse for her birthday but I found it on Craigslist in my in-law's city, so we bought it a few months ago and they brought it out in September and she got it early. She LOVES that thing and she also got a pre-school workbook (she loves school just like her sisters), new markers (we go through them like crazy), and a Ty Girl doll to play with online just like her big sisters! She sure is a cute & sweet girl! Plus, our funniest child by far! ;)

Lucas is a moving machine! He started REALLY crawling on hands and knees and going quickly on October 16th. He was pulling up by the 23rd. That boy gets ANYWHERE he wants now and is pretty good at stopping when I say, "No!" He loves cords and trash cans but I'm trying to re-direct him constantly. :) He is so much happier now that he can move around and that's been so nice for me! He is a major mama's boy but is starting to warm up to other people now (thank goodness!). He is adorable and getting taller every day! He's stayed about the same weight for the past couple of months but is thinning out as he grows and is looking more like a little boy to me all the time. He & Natalie have a great friendship already and they enjoy their days together. He laughs so much these days and I still love every giggle.

I just transferred 285 pictures from my camera to my computer from the past 6 weeks. Whoa. I'm way behind. I'm guessing some of them are photo sessions Natalie has taken when I wasn't paying attention... :)

I went to Time Out For Women in October with some friends and had a great time. My awesome sis-in-law & their family watched my kids and I was able to enjoy time with friends and awesome speakers at the conference. Lately I have been busy with Jill's class radio show, going on field trips with Miranda's class (zoo & tee pee village), being room parent coordinator for the PTA, making Jill's Halloween costume (she was Hermione, so I sewed her a robe & crocheted a scarf), teaching joy school 2 days a week for Natalie and her friend, making cloth diapers for a friend, volunteering 2 hours a week at the Chorus Abilene office, and helping make food for a wedding reception. No, I'm not super mom like some people say. I definitely have a problem with overcommitting when it's so fun to help out everywhere. :) My house is not in tip-top shape and some things like hot dogs & chili and free-for-all in the fridge have been passing for family meals lately. I hope to find greater balance in life and spend more time at the park with my kids. :)

Ben is still busy being the Bishop. He's excited about being in 2nd place in his work Fantasy Football League and hopes to work his way up to 1st. :) He still likes to watch UFC fights and listen to music loudly while dancing with the kids! :) I miss him a lot but he's busy doing good things and who can begrudge that. I'm very proud of him and love him more every day. We'll celebrate 12 years this month! Crazy!

That's all for now!!! Check out this collage. Click to see the images bigger. It's faster to do this than post them all separately on here! ;)