Amos 3:7

Yesterday Ethie gave his first talk in primary!  It was supposed to be about how prophets speak for God and since two of Ethan's favorite prophets are Noah and Jonah, he wanted to talk about them.  So James helped him write a talk that he could read all by himself!  He can read most common words these days, and James drew pictures to help him remember the bigger words. 

Of course, he wasn't shy about gtting up there and he was pretty excited.  He did such a good job!!!

It was kind of a cold, drizzly weekend, but we still had fun getting outside a little bit after church.  The favorite game is for James and Lilah to chase Ethie.  They both love it! 

3 apples up on top

Yesterday Ethie went to a Dr. Seuss party at Marietta Martial Arts where he takes karate.  The kids were supposed to dress up like their favorite character, so we got out all his Dr. Seuss books and he picked his favorite!  He really loves the book Ten Apples Up on Top so he decided to dress like the dog in the book.  We could only make three apples actually stay up on top, but you get the idea... :)

Also, check out the cool missing front tooth!!! 

Happy Sunday

I just love Sundays.  It's awesome that there's a day that's all about doing good things and hanging out together.  Yesterday was a little crazy cause I had to go early to church to accompany the choir and we stayed after church so I could play the piano at a baptism (which was in Portuguese, ha)!  I like playing the piano, so I'm glad people ask me.  But it means James gets kid duty, which he's awesome at!!!  He got both kids dressed and fed and to church and even packed a lunch to eat before the baptism.  We are so lucky to have him :)   

And then we got to go to Carrollton for dinner!  I love Mom's yummy homecooked meals on Sunday and just relaxing, playing games, talking, not having to cook or do anything, etc.  Plus Aunt Nettie and Uncle Jeff were visiting, so it was fun to see them!  Nettie sereneded us on the piano, Mom cuddled with Lilah-girl, we played guesstures at Ethie's request, ate a little fondue, and Ethie and Uncle Jeff bonded over Ipad games, so thanks to Jeff for keeping Ethie busy much of the day :)  Yay for Sunday!

   

A real family now

Yes, that's how we feel after making our first major purchase together and buying a car we can all fit in (comfortably)!  The trusty Civic coupe, which has gotten me 60,000 miles in the last two years between Carrollton and Atlanta and everywhere else, bit the dust last week.  It needed several repairs, so we decided it was time for an upgrade.  We test-drove a few and fell in love with this 2008 Toyota Matrix.

  James especially likes the extra headroom and stick shift, I like the extra room everywhere and the pretty blue, Ethie likes that he has his own window and door now, and Lilah doesn't care.  It also gets good gas mileage and will be a great family car for us! 

Family ho nu nee nee fondue

Yes, Ethan still calls it that (instead of "Family Home Evening").  He even corrected James the other day on the proper pronunciation.  Anyway, we did a little chocolate fondue for treat last week, which is one of our favorite things to do, as you can tell from the kids' faces! (Right before bathtime)

Fon-due or fon-due-not.  There is no fon-try.  (As Scotty would say :)

Dim sum good

Whew!  It's been a crazy week!  So I'm gonna play catch-up a little bit.

Last Sunday, Dad, Jeanette, and Scotty came up our way and we joined them for some dim sum at the Oriental Pearl.  It was fun and delicious!  Ethie liked looking at the dragons all over the restaurant and playing "try to make me smile" with Scotty, Lilah enjoyed trying new foods (the custard filling was her favorite), James expanded his culinary horizons with some glazed duck, and I especially liked the nice company.  We like us some dim sum!

 

 

We went back to the house to play a little Just Dance for kids (Ethie has moves!), celebrate Jeanette's birthday, and hang out with Lilah on the floor.  Thank you for the visit!

 

 

Project #2

For Christmas, I bought Lilah a binky blankey.  It's basically a piece of cloth that attaches to her binky so she can hold onto it and also so we can find the darn binky.  I have a love/hate relationship with that thing.  Anyway, I didn't like the binky always clipped on her clothes, so I thought this was a great idea.  And she liked it too! 

Then I started figuring out how to sew and I couldn't believe I paid ten bucks for a little square thing.  I could do that!  It took me a little practice, but I added some taggies to it and super soft cuddly fabric on the back and Lilah likes it!!  I made a couple boy ones for a friend's baby shower also.  Yay for saving money and having fun!

I think I could get totally addicted to sewing.