Marielle's Bible

Here at family housing we have a little gem called the Swap Shop. It's an empty apartment you can drop off your discards and pick out what you like...for free. Think Thrift shop minus the cash register. Marielle and I love bringing home goodies so I try to restrain myself from going more than once a week. To illustrate, last week as we left home to go shopping for Marielle's tennis shoes, she was surprised as we veered toward the parking lot and asked, "aren't we going to the swap shop?" On one such visit to the swap shop Marielle found a jumbo sized coloring book. Some of the pages were colored, but many still blank so we grabbed it. She affectionately calls it "my bible" due to it's large size. The other night when we called her for family home evening she ran to the back and said "I need to get my bible!" She brought it out and after opening song and prayer very solemnly told us a scripture story about Elmo. It was cute, but long, and Dad eventually had to cut her off. I taught the lesson that night and recounted Joseph Smith's first vision. It was cool to see her start to understand. After I finished the story she even asked, "what church did he go to?" I love teaching the gospel in such simplicity. It really brings the spirit into our home. I don't have a picture of her bible, so a bible sized pumpkin will have to do.

Jenna

Mom's still trying the Anne Geddes thing...

Marielle Turned Three (Again)!

This year Marielle scored an extended birthday. It was practically a birthday season since she got a themed party in Houston, then two months of birthday limbo where she thought she was three because she already had a party, but was really still two since her birthday hadn't come yet. Well the limbo is over and she can confidently put up her three fingers now that October 23rd has passed. Her first party was Under the Sea. We aimed to downplay the princess theme, but still keep Marielle happy with Ariel in the mix. We had such a fun party with her little friends in Houston.
Yum! We made seaweed and fish cake.

We took pictures at home to stall a very excited birthday girl.

We had dinner.

We found Ariel's treasures in the woods.

We danced with seaweed streamers to Under the Sea.

We hovered over presents. :)

We had a blast!

Then on her birthday DAY we had more fun:

We had "M" pancakes in a birthday tent built by Marielle and Dad.

We went to the pumpkin patch.

We ran like crazy in our new princess tennis shoes (Note: Mom,Dad and Jenna did not get new shoes).

We had a birthday dinner. (Marielle's request? Chicken and corn. Nice.)

We ended our day with presents and cake and ice cream.
Seriously, I want to turn three next year. Marielle's birthday rocked.

What to do, what to do...

Here's my Halloween dilemma:

Should I make Jenna wear this (bought for a buck when I was convinced I'd be birthing a boy)

Or splurge and buy this ($17)


What do I do? Does Jenna's natural cuteness overpower the hot dog? Is the peapod costume that much cuter? How important is it really to stick to your budget? Seriously people, I need advice!

Oh, and Jenna was blessed on Sunday. Here's the real cuteness:

A Tribute to Jenn

Marielle and Jenna have some pretty cute cousins who live down in Orange County. Their mom put up a post titled "Is There Anything Cuter than Matching Jammies?" And now as a mom of two, I submit that there is not.

(Name the comedian?)

Lest You Think Our Life Here is Too Cushy...

Even Jenna has to help bring in the groceries!