November 2013: some random turkey tid bits

November was filled with lots of random, busy, fun, and more fun. looking through my November pictures, i loved noticing that most of my reel was pictures of Alice doing gymnastics. Alice has been patiently watching every single gymnastics class of Ellie's for the past 2 years. she constantly asks me, is it almost my turn? am i big enough to do gyn-astics yet? well, this month was finally her month! her first lesson was hilarious. she just talked and talked and talked the whole time. like she'd been there doing it for her whole life (well, she practically has!).  i think watching her do gymnastics is one of my new very favorite things.

 

i mean, three year olds in leotards?? i die!!

  

we also got to hang with some of our favorite friends - the Blodgetts just moved to Brentwood this year, and it's been so much fun having them closer. our kids play so well together! and i love that they've known each other since they were born. destined to be friends for life. 

we love getting to go to Stake Conference up at Temple Hill. it's the best! especially since we have so many awesome friends within the Stake. after conference is always a big party with our favorite people. i love the Bay Area a TON - and a lot of that is because of the awesome people we are surrounded by.

during our turn to host Joy School this month, we talked about the letter "H." i had the kids all wear their favorite hats....they were so cute!

we also had Hot Chocolate and frosted some sugar cookies that were in the shape of an H word. i can't remember what that H word was, so i'll let your imagination be your guide.

i'm loving these adorable stories and illustrations that Ellie is coming up with these days! basically she is supposed to write one sentence, and dictate a story to go along with it for me to write. she's cute.

 

and really is making significant improvements on the violin! she can even read some notes now, and knows all the variations of Twinkle Twinkle. she's very proud of herself! and she should be. i love watching her play, and know i will love listening eventually (said in the most loving way possible).

Gammy came into town for a week! i haven't been feeling too great this pregnancy. in fact, i've been sick a lot. so having her help here was so wonderful! she came and prettied up my yard and cooked us meals and showered the girls and me with a whole lotta love. nothing like Gammy time. we love her so!

the girls got to have a sleepover one night at Gammy's hotel. they had so much fun! they got to order room service and swim at the hotel pool and watch as much disney junior as they wanted. i can't tell you how many times they've asked if they could stay at Gammy's hotel sometime again. 

we are in a babysitting co-op with some friends. i almost posted a less blurry picture than this- but i feel that this really captures the essence of what co-op is. it is madness people. PURE MADNESS.

i think one of the biggest blessings to me this year has been seeing the friendship of Ellie and Alice blossom and grow. they've had to deal with a lot, watching their parents be fragmented versions of themselves, and learning how to overcome some serious stuff. they've experienced their own grief and sorrow, and seen us be pretty vulnerable and broken down. and in the midst of it all, they've clung together. sure, they fight, but they love each other so much and that makes me so so happy.

and they show me they love me left and right. i'm really loving all these hand-written notes i find in every corner of the house these days. kindergartner Ellie is my favorite.

and little indian/rain gear/nakey Alice is pretty swell too.

as the end of the month came upon us, we took a spontaneous trip out to Palo Alto to visit the American Girl store. we had never been before; but we started receiving the catalog randomly a few months ago, and of course it made the girls DESPERATE for a doll. (i mean, how could you NOT want one of those gorgeous dolls!?) after a lot of discussion about them, and then picking up my jaw from the floor when i realized how much these thangs cost, i decided we had better go check it out at the store to make sure this was what they really wanted for Christmas. we didn't want Santa bringing this chunk of pocket change if they really didn't even like it.

well, visiting that store with two litttle girly girls is like financial suicide, my friends! of COURSE they wanted one of those dolls when we got there! heck, they wanted 9 of those dolls! and their outfits and kingdoms and crowns and books and undies and other crazy crap that they sell. holy hannah, that store was incredible, and these two lil ladies of mine were in heaven.

 and then the end of November was here, and we were ready for a week full of fun at Gammy + Pops' house for the holiday. so much to be grateful for.

xoxo

january glimpses

 usually i am twiddling my thumbs and throwing darts at a target with 'January' in the center because i just want it to go away already...and yet here i am, tapping my head wondering how in the world it's february 9th!

in between all the dr. visits and medical talk, we had a great month -- probably my favorite January ever. nothing major happened. we just enjoyed each other. little moments. yummy food. smiles. little happies all around. here are some glimpses:

our good friend Dale had a birthday -- and so we celebrated with him, his cute fam & some friends over at San Francisco Creamery. M + Dale took on the "kitchen sink" challenge... which entailed eating that whole crate of ice cream in 30 minutes or less (and then you'd get it free...otherwise, you owe 'em forty bucks. you heard me! FORTY BUCKS!). anyway, it was an epic failure, but a hilarious epic failure. the best start ever to a usually bleak month. (my friend Elyse posted lots more pics of the adventure over on her blog here).

 Ellie graduated from Sunbeams and is now in the CTR 4 class! i can't even begin to tell you how thrilled she is to have her very own CTR Ring :: Alice is obsessed with this married-veil-tiara thing. one morning, she came to my side of the bed with it already on :: one of the girls' favorite things is to hang on the pull-up bar with daddy's help. wish i loved the pull-up bar as much as they do

our house is seriously one constant dance-party these days. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

our cold Saturday mornings were mostly filled with donuts, hot chocolate, and cozy snuggles with our favorite furry friends. oh yes, and the disney channel. heaven bless the disney channel.

 Alice had an embarrassing / hilarious potty moment this month which i posted on instagram (side note: i am being the most slacker-parent ever when it comes to potty training this time. can you be 1/2 way potty trained? poor Alice needs her mother to be whipped into shape!). basically we were in target and i could tell she had to go #2 -- so we rushed into a verrrry crowded bathroom and we had the following conversation: Alice (very loudly, might i add- she speaks only one volume-- LOUD): 

"the poopy isn't coming! why the poopy isn't coming??" i encouraged her as quietly as i possibly could. then all of a sudden there was silence.....and then a huge gasp of excitement and a yell, "the poopy came! i just closed my eyes and it came!" sometimes you just have to laugh, you know? ::

the next day, Ellie had her own embarrassing moment on our play structure. she was scooting across the deck to get onto the slide and yelped out of pain. she asked if something was stuck, and we noticed her tights were ripped and saw a little, tiny fleck of wood. after like 10 tough yanks and lots of screams/wails, i got those tweezers to finally pull that almost-2-inch sucker out of her poor lil tush. she was laughing and crying at the same time. being a parent is nuts sometimes, wouldn't you agree?

one day this month, i filled up for just over $3 a gallon! i was pretty dang stoked about it. though...now that i think about it, it kind of ticks me off that i was so excited about it.....but it ticks me off even more that i just drove by a gas station today that was charging over $4 a gallon. i hate buying gas so bad. 

i love this picture so much. so that's why it's extra big. i love these three people!! (duh). we played lots of hide and seek and had lots of tickle fights this month. the girls are at such fun ages for that sorta thing. and boy do they love their daddy.

Ellie is enjoying so many things in her little life right now. one place that i have noticed huge improvements is in gymnastics. she is so cute on the bars and jumping from the tramp into the pit. i admit, i kind of live vicariously through her because i love gymnastics so much. but she loves it, too -- especially since she has tons of her favorite little people to share it with.

 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we took the girls to the outlets to do a lil shopping. these little girls are definitely some sassy-sidekicks! and boy do they love to accessorize. :: Alice is currently obsessed with her sunnies. she wears them all the time -- it always cracks me up when i see her casually wearing them around the house...and it's nighttime.

 Ellie and Alice spend most days glued to each other's hips. it makes me so happy to see them loving each other so much and playing with each other so well :: Alice decided that she didn't want to nap anymore for almost the whole month of January. after about 20 minutes in her crib, she'd scream her head off till i'd come back, and i'd find her undressed and with that ticked off look on her face. she is so-very-two. :: daddy decided since she wasn't napping anyway, it would be a good time to convert Alice's crib into a bed. she fell out the first night and was pretty traumatized -- but hasn't missed a nap since. weirdest kid ever.

 the girls sure love their little friends -- especially when they get to have a pizza/movie/ice cream party with each other! :: i can't wait to debut a little thing that M and i have been scheming/working on....it's just for fun, but involves a home-made movie set and our funny girls. i love all the fun we have together :: our friends, the Heymans had an unfortunate run-in with a skunk in January...somehow it got into their crawl-space of their house and they then spent the month trying to get rid of it with cages and other crazy schemes. a skunk living under their house! so nuts. M and i thought the whole thing was super hilarious -- and even played a little prank on them by putting that raccoon stuffed animal in one of their cages. i'm glad they're such good sports...because it seriously has given us lots and lots of laughs.

when we went outlet shopping over MLK day, we found these adorable white cords for Ellie for $2 -- she promised me that she'd wear them if i bought them (and i figured $2 was worth the risk)...and after a morning of sweetening her up with her favorite breakfast (blueberry muffins), she totally made good on her deal and wore pants. miracle, i tell you! :: many of our Saturdays were filled with trips to Home Depot, as there always is some sort of project going on at the Chapman home :: Alice is currently obsessed with bras. mine are always missing because she tries them on and hides them in obscure places. in this particular ocassion, she was frustrated that her lil Ariel doll's bra/bikini top wouldn't fit her. when i walked in and saw her without her shirt on (and that she was so upset), i asked her, "why did you take your shirt off?" she said, "de-cause, i wanted to wear DIS shirt." (she threw the bra at me). she continued, "but it no fit me! i sad." such a funny, funny kid.

 on the last day of January, i had that dr appointment that i told you about in my last post. sometimes when i'm having a yucky day, i like to run away from it all and do something fun and spontaneous. in this case, we ran away to hang out with the giraffes and monkeys (and a couple of friends too). it was a perfect zoo day -- not crowded, animals were out and about, and weather was lovely. oh, and i even wore my animal print shoes. do you think that sorta stuff offends the animals? anyway. we had a beautiful day -- and honestly it was a perfect end to a crazy month.

xoxo