Who Needs New Toys...

...just look what we can do with the old ones!!

You'll have to look closely to see just how off the wall the girls and I got creating this funny scene. Grace and Eve thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing!

Eve's Secret Personality

Eve's a lot like me in social situations. She's a little nervous in new settings, and tends to be pretty reserved around large groups of people, but once she does feel comfortable...watch out! People we meet in public would be surprised to find out that our shy little girl is quite the chatterbox at home! Here's what I mean:

Our Little Writer

Grace's new-found joy is in expressing herself with written words. She is our constant little letter writer. She writes letters to her Uncle on his mission, to her Grandparents near and far, to her teacher, to cousins, to classmates, to friends that have moved away, to her sister, and most frequently to Aaron and I. I will often find a note tucked under my pillow as I slip into bed, or be handed a folded-up piece of construction paper from a very proud-looking five-year-old. On Valentines day she made at least five cards for Aaron and I expressing how much she loves us. The best was when she came into our room early the morning after Valentines day with folded letters for each of us that said, "Dear Mom (Dad), It is past valinetine's day! Mom I love you. Love Grace." Apparently she wanted us to know we were loved even though the holiday was over! She also taped these notes around the house on Saturday morning to lead Aaron on a Treasure hunt:

"Dad go to my room"

"Dad go to the laundry"

"Dad o to the office"

"Dad go to the garage"

I love the invented spelling! My favorite is how she spelled garage (groj.) She also likes to write stories. Here is one she wrote the other day (Word for word...my translation is in in green:)

The Animlz
yb Grace Lewis
The Animals
by Grace Lewis

Once on a tim thre wuz a littl shep.
Once upon a time there was a little sheep.
Se wotid a littl haws.
She wanted a little house.
Sow the shep crod in.
So the sheep crawled in.
The Shep thot the Haws wuz cruftubl.
The sheep thought the house was comfortable.
The Shep liket the Haws.
The Sheep liked the house.
Ten tan wuz urnuthr shep soit.
Then there was another sheep who saw it.
he wutid to cume in the haws sow he crudin the house.
He wanted to come in the house, so he crawled in the house.
The shep shard, the hows
The sheep shared the house.
The haws wuz prite krftulbl.
The house was pretty comfortable.
Tay liket it. it wuz fun.
They liked it. It was fun.
Thu Ed.
The End

L.A. , A Baptism, and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Aaron, the girls and I had a fabulous weekend. We spent it together on a quick overnight to the L.A. area. The reason for our trip was to attend the baptism of our dear friend Lisa's grandson Robert. We hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and it was so much fun to get to know him...what a cute little boy! I just loved him. We hadn't seen Lisa since Eve was a baby, so it was great to be able to catch up with her too. She is an amazing person.

Another fun part of our trip was kind of spontaneous, but well worth it. After church on Sunday before embarking on our 5 1/2 hour journey home, we decided to take a trip down "memory lane." We stopped in Glendale, which is my hometown. I was born there and lived there until I was 18 and went away to college. Even though I've been back to visit a few times since getting married, I hadn't seen the house I grew up in in almost 9 years (because my parents no longer live there.) From the moment we got into town, I was pointing out things to the girls (Aaron had already heard it all!) "There's my elementary school"..."I had a friend who lived in that house"...and so on. I'm sure it was weird for them to imagine that Mommy had actually once been a little girl!

As we pulled in front of my childhood house, the situation felt surreal. Even though I could tell it was the same house, it looked different. It was painted a different color, the driveway and walkway were completely changed, and my favorite climbing tree was hidden behind years of overgrowth. It was hard to see a place that had once been mine, now belong to someone else. Even though it was raining, I got out of the car to get a closer look at an area by the house where my younger brother and I used to play a lot. It was a our little hideaway, and it was really special to me as a kid. As I walked closer to it with Grace's hand in mine, it appeared just as it had all those years ago. Not only did it look the same, but the fragrance of the trees and foliage instantly reminded me of the feelings I had there as a kid. I was caught off guard by the flood of memories and was overcome with emotion. I couldn't believe I was crying, but it was just such a special place to me. I explained to my little girls how their Uncle Jonny and I used to pretend we were rulers of a secret land, how we buried treasure in the dirt, and how our cat used to stand guard for us! It was a really neat experience.

After that we headed to the Los Angeles Temple were Aaron and I were married nine years ago. Now it was Aaron's turn to get emotional! We hadn't been there together since a year after we got married. As we walked around and remembered our special day and how blissful it all was, we couldn't help but smile as we watched our little ones skip around the delightful setting. Aaron pointed out the doors we first stepped out of as husband and wife, and the many photo spots we occupied. My favorite part was when we sat down on a white bench, and Aaron told the girls the story of how he proposed to me right in that very spot. He even got down on one knee to demonstrate the moment to them!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the car on our drive home. It was actually very pleasant, and we were even home in time for dinner. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend...I'm so grateful it all worked out!

One of our wedding day photo spots


Eve on "the bench"

Picture Book Mama

I absolutely love going to the library with my kids and picking out new books, and then bringing them home to read together. I love it because it's time with my kids, but I also just adore children's literature! So I created a children's book review blog to share all the literary treasures I come across in our reading adventures. Introducing:

picturebookmama.blogspot.com