Ring in the New

Nothing new here except new viruses. We have been sick since the day after Christmas and counting. I started the New Year by crawling to the barn in a snowstorm to teach an impromptu riding lesson. When the rider didn't show up, I actually got to ride by myself in the most beautiful snowstorm. A tiny piece of heaven... should have known there was nowhere to go but down! Grace is finally well, but Hattie has RSV this week and David and I finally caught our share. We're just hoping to get better and stay better for our ski trip coming up in about a week!

We've been meaning to do our 2007 top ten list. Still haven't had a chance to do it yet because we've been too busy wiping noses and filling prescriptions. But, I have 5 minutes today (totally should be doing something else) and I thought I would write down a few things that the kids are doing (besides coughing and sneezing) these days before I forget them:

Harriet is:
*wanting to do everything Grace does exactly the way Grace does
*trying to dress herself
*successfully undressing herself at the most inopportune moments (like when we're late to leave to go somewhere!)
*refusing to wear socks, but demanding shoes
*hating to have her diaper changed
*despising to have her teeth brushed
*kicking so hard in the tub, that I think she could kick herself across a swimming pool with no problem.
*throwing a fit at the sight of her carseat
*not wanting to eat anything except candy
*trying to talk, but still 95% eh, eh, eh...
*getting little OCD things going on - like her naptime and bedtime routine that has to be just so or she will launch herself out of her crib until you get it right.
*playing with baby dolls
*playing with trains
*drawing
*laughing at everything
*loving her doggies
*learning to say sorry (she doesn't say sorry, but softly pats the person who needs a sorry)
*wanting to talk on the phone
*wanting to carry a purse or a backpack
*still wearing her pink crocs (what will we do when they don't fit!)
*throwing everything on the floor when she is done with it at the table - plate, utensils, food, cups. The dogs get hit sometimes, but they must think it's worth the bonk on the head from the sippy cup to stay there and wait for the pasta to fall.
*driving us crazy and melting our hearts at the same time

Grace is:
*being driven crazy by Hattie
*loving having someone who can play with her (sometimes)
*starting to pick up little traits at school from her friends - not always good
*loving school
*loving dance
*still playing with trains
*still not doing her hair
*choosing her own clothes - not always good choices for the weather
*able to get dressed all by herself, but doesn't want to half the time
*getting a huge vocabulary
*reading entire books
*adding and subtracting
*counting to 100 by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's
*writing everything she can think of
*asking us how to spell every word she can think of
*writing lots of notes to Velvet, Shadow, Rudolf, and her friends
*paying close attention to North, South, East, and West when we are driving. She watches the compass in my car. She wishes that we had a Mount Olympus nearby so that you could tell which way was East. East is her favorite direction because that's where Mount Olympus is in SLC.
*desperately wanting to take the training wheels off her new bike
*telling us she already knows how to ski (has never been)
*eating nothing for days and then eating every 20 minutes for days
*telling jokes
*talking more on the phone when I can trick her
*wishing for spring and summer, but appreciating winter
*planning her 5th birthday party

Conversations with Grace this week:

Mom: Grace, get in the car.
nothing
Mom: get in the car
nothing
Mom: Grace, get in the car.
Grace: Just a minute, I'm watching the fluffy gray clouds float by with the wind (on an overcast day when you can barely tell that the clouds are moving). Isn't it beautiful mom?

Grace: Mom, I think I see a red and white light in the sky. Yes! It's Rudolf!

Grace: I can't wait for Kindergarten. They will have monkey bars. You know, just the way I have been dreaming about. It will be amazing.