i am special

I was looking through Heidi's school folder and found this picture.  She said she had extra time and made it during class.  I thought it was so sweet!  This morning walking up the hill to school her friend caught up to us and they started talking.  I heard Heidi tell her friend, "My sister Caimbree is so cute.  She gets books and pretends to read a story.  It's the cutest thing ever."  It made me so happy to hear her saying such sweet things about her sister to her friend.  Then when I saw this in her folder, it made me even happier.  Yes, Heidi, you are special because you are a big sister...the BEST big sister ever!  Savanna and Caimbree look up to you and do everything you do because they love you so, so much.  You are one incredible, special little girl!

art show

 Heidi has such a great school and the special teachers are top notch!  I cannot believe what she brings home and talks about from her art class!  I am so glad she is learning so much in lots of different areas.  They had a special art show and her work was selected to be on display at a community art exhibit!  She was so excited!  Her friend Jacklyn and her friend Kautia were also selected and she was so happy to see them after school at a special celebration and award show.  Heidi has been very into art lately and has gotten really good at drawing.  She puts her best work and heart into everything she does and we are so proud of her for always doing her best!

letter journal

The other night Jeff and Heidi were playing a funny little game.  He would hide in our room and lock the door and she would slip silly notes under the door ("Open the door now or I will bite your butt dad."   "What if  I don't come out?"  "Then I will break the door down and get you out.") I know, it sounds a little violent haha, but it was hilarious.  This little game made me realize that Heidi can read everything we write and respond.  Her reading skills are shocking me and she reads every single thing she can get her hands on.  I would say she is probably reading at the same level as the average student in the second grade classes I used to teach.  I am so proud of her and I am so excited that she loves to read.

I decided I would get her a little notebook/journal and use it as a way to connect with her each day.  I set it on her bed one day and she was so excited when she saw it and wrote me back right away.  Then she raced it down to my room and stuck it on my pillow.  I was so excited to see her response!  When she came home today the first thing she did

was race to her room to see if I had written her back.  I am not sure how long she will want to do this, but I plan on writing notes to her whether she gets tired of writing me back or not!

saying goodnight to heidi

I look at Heidi sometimes and wonder what the heck has happened to my little baby.  How on earth is she growing and changing this fast??  She is getting taller and older looking every single day.  She is losing all of her baby teeth, she likes to be with her friends, and has no problem leaving her mom...which I never thought would happen when she was younger!  She still lets me give her a bath and she still wants me to put her to bed, but I am not sure how long she will let me hang onto these moments with her each night.  I am so glad that she still sleeps with Giraffy.  She got Giraffy when she was 2 from my best friend and has slept with him every night since she got him.  She also has her Build-a-Bear from grandma H and a unicorn on her bed, but all of the other stuffed animals she used to sleep with she leaves in her closet.  She used to play doctor with them non stop.  Now they don't get played with much.  

 After bath, we read whatever the latest chapter book is that we are reading.  Lately we have been reading Litttle House on the Prairie.  All three girls are really into them, although the younger two tend to get distracted with coloring or other things while they listen.  Not Heidi.  She has always been my little reader and could listen to stories for hours without hardly moving a muscle.  She has been that way since she was tiny!  I remember getting a huge stack of library books and she would want to read every single book at one time and never lose interest.  I love that she has such a voracious appetite for books.  I know that is why she does so well in school and is the reason her memory and vocabulary are so good.

After we read, we say family prayers and Heidi hops into bed.  She doesn't complain about being the first to bed...she has always been an early to bed/early to rise kind of gal.  She is also the one without a nap and up early for school.  She makes sure her alarm clock is set in the morning and likes

Jeff to give her eskimo and butterfly kisses.  She likes when he calls her his little princess.  She has me sing her two songs and the littles often climb on her bed for one last snuggle.  They absolutely adore their big sister.  Sometimes they annoy her by messing up her blankets and she gets mad.  Sometimes Savanna tries to close her blinds and digs in her nightstand.  It's hard to have little siblings, but she handles it well most of the time and she can't help but smile and laugh when the are smothering her with kisses at the end of the day.

I love my Heidi Bug so much and I am so, so glad she still wants me to sing her to sleep at the end of the day.

saying goodnight to savanna

Catching her kiss

 Bedtime is one of the rituals I will really miss as my babies grow and don't want to be sung to and read to and kissed goodnight anymore.  Savanna hasn't always been easy to put to bed.  She used to throw fits about the order her songs had to be in.  Sometimes she just wanted me to stay in her room forever, but yet, she didn't really want me there and the more tired she was, the more difficult she became.  Now mind you, she never got out of  bed or anything and really, it's not like it was awful, but she was definitely particular about the order of how things had to be done and how she needed to be tucked in and where her animals should be sleeping.  All 3 girls will only settle for me putting them to bed (unless I am not here for bedtime), but they want Jeff to give them a hug, a butterfly kiss, an eskimo kiss, and a regular kiss.

Savanna has gotten a lot more laid back about bedtime lately and lets me sing whatever I want to sing and doesn't insist on 32 songs each night.  Sometimes she likes me to tickle her back, but

 my favorite part of her bedtime ritual is that after I give her all of her hugs and kisses and tell her I love her 3 million times (because you can never say that enough in my book), she wants me to blow her a kiss.  She then catches it and you can hear her smack it on her face in the dark.  She will then blow me a kiss and she makes sure she can hear me smack it on my face or she won't let me close the door until another one is sent.  When I drop her off at preschool, I always look at her one last time in her seat before I leave and blow her a kiss and she does the same thing (Smacks her hand on her head to catch the kiss).  It melts my heart and makes me laugh every.single.time.  She often gets phrases and words mixed up and when she means to say she likes something very much, she says, "too much" so before I shut the door,  every single night the last thing I hear her say is, "I love you too much mom."  I love you too much, too my sweet, tender little Zanny Zoo.  You are so, so beautiful inside and out.  You have always, always had the biggest heart of gold.  You love everyone so fiercely and you are so

incredibly innocent.  I love you so much my heart could burst...I love you "too much", Savanna Marie.

polk house

 The temperatures dropped in the 40s today and since we couldn't go hiking, we decided it would be fun to see one of the historical sites we haven't made it to yet.  We went to James K. Polk house in Columbia.  It is a 201 year old house and we learned a lot!

 To be honest, I don't think I learned or have read as much about Polk and his presidency as I should have!  He had quite a presidency and did a lot during his term.  The home is actually his childhood home.  The girls enjoyed the tour and we were the only ones on the tour so we got to ask lots of questions and we learned a lot.  It was a great way to spend our Saturday!

bath time shenanigans

 You know, I really love this phase.  I have no doubt whatsoever, that this is the phase of life I will always look back on as my favorite.  My grandma and I used to talk about this phase of life and she told me how it was her favorite and how she knew it would be mine too.  The girls are at such fun ages.  Everything is funny and fun and exciting.  They are so innocent and trusting.  They love themselves and they love everyone in their lives.  They still fight over who gets to sit on my lap and hold my hand. They absolutely love me to read to them and they soak up every single new thing they are learning.  They love me in spite of all the things I am no doubt doing wrong even though one day they will probably let me know how much I ruined their life.  But right now, in this moment, they love me for me and they know they are my whole world and they quickly forgive all the things I am messing up.   They squabble with each other, but the love they have for each other is so amazing and I hope more than anything else, that as they grow, they will appreciate the things that make them different

from each other, and have the best relationships ever because having your siblings as your best friends is the best gift they could ever have!

Anyway, I got totally sidetracked from this post.  Earlier this week Savanna thought it would be hilarious to hide in the laundry hamper  when it was time for bath.  I knew she was in the bathroom because I could hear her giggling.  I assumed she was hiding behind the door.  I laughed my had off when she popped up out of the laundry basket!  Of course Caimbree then had to try it out and they laughed and laughed until they finally got in the tub!

unseasonably warm

This winter the weather has been so warm for the most part.  I am not sure if that means summer is going to be beastly, but it has been nice to be outside so much.  On Friday it was 80 degrees.  80 degrees!  In February!  We met up with friends and hit the trails at Montgomery Bell for a fun hike!  It's always a blast with lots of people!  I was so sad Heidi was at school, but at least I still have my other two home.  They had a great time with their friends and I love that they are building friendships!  We played at the park after the hike.  It was a pretty perfect morning!

president's day

 Due to a mass amount of illness plaguing our area, the girls got an extra long President's Day weekend...and I was definitely not complaining!  I keep thinking Heidi being in school all day will get easier, but it doesn't.   I especially notice on long breaks from school.  On Monday we went to Bowie Park in Fairview to play with some friends and go on a hike.  The hike was so fun with all those kids!!  Heidi and Savanna were little machines and ran the entire trail! It's always fun to hike with good friends!

skate night

 Every month Heidi's school has a skate night at the roller rink.  Jeff took Heidi and Savanna this time and they both had an absolute blast!  They were so much braver than the first time and that little Savanna was just zooming around like a pro with the little walkers they have!  I think we are going to have to start going every month because they absolutely love it!

more hiking

 We have really been enjoying having morning church again.  Sunday was the absolute perfect day...the weather was 73 degrees and sunny.  After church and naps we headed to Montgomery Bell for a hike.  We loved the trail we found and decided to hike it twice.  The girls were excited about he "rainbow" tree over the trail.  After standing under it, Savanna picked up a branch and said, "I will make my own little rainbow".  She put it over her head and bent it, and of course the branch broke and she had little pieces of stick everywhere in her hair.  I t was so funny.  She kept reminding us of what had happened multiple times on our hike.  Heidi stepped in dog poop at the end and was pretty upset, but by the time we got home and I had her shoes washed, she realized it was no big deal.  Funny girl.

another montgomery bell hike

We have had such wonderful weather!  It has been in the 60s and 70s for the past two or three weeks.  It doesn't feel like winter at all, and we are trying to take advantage of it!  I think these pictures were from a hike two weeks ago.  Savanna and Heidi kept holding hands and it was so cute.  Hiking together is one of my very favorite things to do.  Thank goodness there are so many accessible trails right in our town!

funny moments

 I haven't recorded any of the funny things the girls have said lately.  I need to be better about it because they are growing and changing so fast and before long I won't be able to remember the sound of their little voices or the funny things they say.

The other day we were at the grocery store and Caimbree very loudly kept saying "Daddy can't eat chili anymore because it makes him toot".

Tonight after dinner Caimbree tooted and right away said, "No more chili for me!"  Then she burst out laughing...and so did we.

Caimbree was in the living room and we were all in our bedroom.  Caimbree started crying.  We asked her what was wrong and she said, 'I need a sister!"

Whenever Caimbree is looking for Heidi or Savanna she calls for them by saying, "Sisters!  Where are you??!!"

Savanna was helping unload the dishwasher.  She pulled out both ice cream scoops and said, "These are my weights" and started lifting them just like she sees me life them in my workouts.

When Savanna was talking to Jeff's mom on the phone, Caimbree was crying in the background.  When Peggy asked her why Caimbree was screaming she said, "because she's two."   Pretty accurate.

I had a bloody nose and Caimbree was very concerned.  She grabbed my face in her hands and said, "Are you going to die?"

When Heidi sings "Sunshine in my pocket" from Trolls, she says, 'I've got that sunshine in my pocket, got that goo-so in my feet" instead of  "good soul".

Whenever Caimbree gets in trouble, she justifies the punishment so it doesn't seem so bad.  If we tell

 she is going to time out, she says, "Well, I will just come out" and she says it in such a matter of fact way.  She never acts phased by it.  If I tell her we will throw her binkies away she says, "Well I will just get them out of the trash."

Caimbree has a great memory, especially for songs, but she often has a few words wrong and they are usually very funny changes she makes:
"Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells me to read"
"I will go, I will do, the things the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way, he wants me to go play."

They are such funny girls and I hope I can remember them at these ages.  I already feel like I am forgetting how they were as babies and it makes me sad.  I blink and they are older!

school days

 Savanna and Caimbree have to be woken up so we can pick Heidi up from school on time.  Savanna doesn't take a nap every day and sometimes when she doesn't, she falls asleep in he van on the drive to get Heidi.  I feel bad that their naps get interrupted and some days they looks so peaceful it is hard to wake them!  They are troopers about it and are so excited to see Heidi they forget about being aroused out of their peaceful sleep!  Savanna is so cute because she almost always has her baby doll.  She takes such good care of it and tells me how her baby wakes up a little grumpy sometimes.  She is such a little nurturer.

Once we get home from school, sometimes we go to dance, but if it's not a dance day, the three girls head straight upstairs and start playing school.  My brother and his wife sent the girls these little chalkboards and Heidi uses to put the "Word of the Day".  I hear her telling the girls how to sit and how to raise their hands.  No matter where they go, even if they aren't in the thick of playing their game,

Heidi chooses a line leader.  It amazes me how they follow whatever Heidi tells them.  Sometimes Savanna gets a little fidgety and then there is squabbling and Savanna ends up hanging with me for awhile, but for the most part, they all seem to love playing school together.  It makes my mama...and teacher.....heart happy.

pajama week

 The dance studio has a pajama week the week of Valentine's Day.  It is so fun for the girls!  They get to have a little party and exchange valentines after their dance lesson.  Both Heidi and Savanna were so excited for this day and when they got home they were so cute and sat in a circle in the living room showing each other the cards they got.  Dance is definitely one of the highlights of the girl's weeks.  They absolutely love dancing and I cannot believe how good they are both getting!

feeling lots of love

 Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays.  It's just so fun to remind the people you love how much you love them!  The girls have been very excited about it for weeks!  They got a Valentine package with some new outfits from grandma H and they got cute little chalkboards in the mail from Uncle Michael and Aunt Gabby.  When it was finally Valentine's day they woke up to their very own tulips, love notes from mom and dad, and we spoiled them with the movie Trolls.  Really, we just needed an excuse to give it to them!  They were so excited!  Heidi has been dancing to the music from Trolls in her dance class for recital and she has been dying to see it.  Heidi and Savanna were so, so excited to go to school and dance for their little parties.  I love how exciting the holidays are right now at this phase.  They had fun days at school and dance and then we watched Trolls after dinner.  Heidi and Caimbree were so cute and they would jump up and dance any time music came on.  It was such a fun day!