she never stops

singing! We love it 98% of the time, but when she sings for 30-45 minutes after we put her to bed... not so great. So I decided to tape her singing some of her favorite Christmas songs to send to loved ones. Here was out first attempt. Maybe next time I won't have her sing in front of the tree or right after ballet. She gets a little distracted. :) Rick thinks it is hilarious listening to her try to hit the high notes. So to spread a little Christmas joy, here is Reagan:

ball game

I always forget that I have a video camera. Luckily my dad always reminds me that I should be taping this and taping that. One of the girls favorite games to play is a game where they race to empty their bucket of balls. I got the idea from Lindsay, and just tweaked it a little to fit my girls. It is a great way for them to burn off some energy and get some exercise. I normally put their buckets much further away, but modified it so I could catch it all on film. One of them is undefeated at this game, but I'll let you watch the video to figure out who...

thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this year. We hosted it at our house for my parents, molly and her family, and my aunt and uncle. Then my cousins joined us after dinner to plan out our black friday shopping. It was only my second turkey, but I think it was pretty good. It was exhausting preparing for it all, because Rick injured his knee wednesday night and was pretty much out of commission. We managed everything, though, and were only a half hour later than my projected dinner time. The girls wanted to try on their Christmas dresses (which Reagan did NOT want to take off). So I managed to get a shot of them, in case I forget when Christmas actually gets here.

The thanksgiving spread...


We set-up the tables in the living room so we could all eat together.

My little pilgrim girl

The kids watching a little backyardigans while we cleaned up from dinner.


My camera battery died, so this was the only shot I got of my Indian girl.


Jill brought these adorable treats!


Black friday was ex.haust.ing. My mom and my sis and I were champs, and got basically everything we needed. Starting at Toys R Us at 11 (opened at midnight), crashing at Molly's for 2 hours, then hitting Target at 4. Then numerous other stores before we met up with my Aunt and Uncle for some breakfast. I did nap for about an hour when my girls napped that day. Then we hit up the light parade here in town. The floats were pretty cool, but man was it cold! Here are some of the floats.

The girls danced while the choir performed at the ampitheatre.

We met Rudolph's girlfriend.

The girls thought the reindeers were awesome.

Now to get our Christmas tree!

it's about time

Well my wonderful husband let me get my Christmas present a little early, a new computer!! Hooray! My computer which I will be retiring after I get all my stuff off of it, deserves a nice rest. I bought it when I graduated from high school. So it is approximately 7.5 years old! It was officially declared dead 3 years ago, but miraculously came back to life a month later and has been functioning ever since. The screen cracked off from the computer shortly after that, and has been duct taped ever since. It is slower than slow, but I am so glad it lasted that long. I am, however, extremely excited to finally have a new computer. And on top of that, I finally bought a *cheap* new camera with my birthday money. I realized there are so many other things we need before I can shell out $600 on a nice one. But oh my goodness, this camera takes such better pictures than my last camera! Anyways, just wanted to let you all know my exciting news!!

grateful

My kids are absolutely wonderful. I wish I could say it is because of my stellar parenting skills, but it's not. I think the Lord just knew I needed extra good kids to offset the fact that they will be homeschooled and will just be home way more than other kids. I have just been noticing their wonderfulness more and more every time we do go out. They are just plain well-behaved. I don't get it, since I am sure I was a very obnoxious child. They sit nicely in church and share their books and toys. At the doctor's office they patiently allow the doctor to check them all out and never fuss until they get their shots. At Reagan's last CF appointment, we found out while we were there that she needed a chest x-ray and lab work right after the appointment. Did it bother her? No, not at all. She did cry when they were drawing her blood, but she stopped when they stopped and said "thank you." And Kennedy, well she just wants to be just like Reagan. So she is super polite too! She always says "thank you" and "your welcome." Reagan talks to her like she is a grown-up and wow, it helps! Kennedy speaks in complete sentences. Cindy told me that when we were setting up for Young Women yesterday I walked out of the gym and Kennedy said, "Cindy, where mama go?" Cindy told her I was just getting something and Kennedy said, "Oh, ok." She is such a big girl, I can't even believe it! And when she is saying something that I can't quite understand, I can just ask Reagan and she translates! Isn't that crazy?? She totally understands everything Kennedy says! Then there is Reagan's ballet class, where Kennedy sits in one of our laps the whole time and enjoys watching the girls dance. Then when class is over, she gets down and tries to mimick Reagan's movements. One girl at ballet was standing with her parents and didn't want to join in. When the teacher was taking roll and called her name she asked her to come join them. The girl shook her head, so Reagan started saying, "Sophie, come here. Come sit by me!" She didn't even know the girl, but wanted her to to join in the fun! She teaches me things everyday. Both girls will eat basically anything I give them. The other night they were racing to see who could eat the most broccoli out of the bowl. (It didn't even bother me that it was the serving bowl and that Rick and I got almost none.) When Kennedy poops she goes over to the basket of diapers, picks one out and lays on the floor to wait for me to change her. And when we get home from anywhere they both go push chairs up in front of the kitchen sink for us to wash hands. And now Kennedy loves to pray. When I ask whose turn it is she always says, "Kennedy's turn!" She can even say it mostly by herself. And when she finishes, Reagan always praises her for being so good and reverent! Sometimes I feel like I must live in a make-believe world because no one really acts this polite. How did I get blessed with two peace-makers? Reagan and Kennedy just ultimately want to make everyone happy. They talk to everyone everywhere we go (which is a little weird sometimes). I am so grateful for my precious girls who just radiate pure joy. Whenever I look at the daunting task ahead of me, I am reminded that they were prepared for this. They are sisters for a reason. I love, love, love them!

Kennedy watching Ballet with Grandma.
Seriously, could she be any happier?

Doesn't she look like a ballerina?
Kennedy trying to walk on her toes after class.
I am so blessed!

oh yeah

and there was halloween... That was the beginning to our no good, horrible week. But my mom did take a few pictures of the girls in costume trick-or-treating at the businesses in Williamston. Reagan was Uniqua (a backyardigan) and Kennedy was a giraffe (or a "draff" as Kennedy says).

It was freezing, but the kids had lots of fun. We went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, trick-or-treated with Austin, spent the afternoon with Susie and Jack, then trick-or-treated with Grandpa and Sunshine. It was a great day, even though it started with Kennedy falling down our stairs. Yes, all the way down. I'm still having nightmares.

In case you were wondering, here is everything that we enjoyed during the week of my birthday...

• Someone stole my phone.
• Kennedy fell down the stairs.
• I sliced my finger open making dinner.
• Rick's work computer got major viruses on it.
• Rick's car broke down.
• Tried putting a storm door on the house, but couldn't get a drill to fit the drill bits we spent $30+ on.
• Finally borrowed a drill and bits from our neighbor and then pinched my finger and got a nasty blood blister.
• Fixed Rick's car and it broke down again.
• Spent saturday afternoon sitting on the lawn at Burger King with the girls waiting for Rick's car to charge enough to get it home.
• Brand new alternator we bought was faulty.

But at least we had a few bright spots.

• Bob fixed the car for us for free, twice.
• Our neighbor let us borrow his tools.
• Kennedy wasn't injured after her fall.
• I had a nice birthday dinner with family, and had three birthday meals (stillwater, carrino's and red robin - yum!)
• It was nice weather while we sat outside Burger King.
• We went to the Temple yesterday with some great friends.

Whew. Now I'm ready for an easy week, hopefully.

ballet

One of Reagan's birthday presents was enrollment in a ballet class, along with all the ballet essentials (leotard, skirt, slippers, tights...) Her first class was yesterday and let me tell you that it is quite possible that she has never been happier! She was so giddy and excited and hyper! When we arrived she went and sat in the circle with the instructor and other girls while they waited for class to start. The instructor asked her "What's your name?" to which Reagan replied, "Hi! My name is Reagan Mackenzie Brooks!" The Instructor's response, "Um, wow. Okay." Yea, she never really stopped talking. She introduced herself to most of the girls and asked them is they were having so much fun at ballet. She pranced everywhere and would squeal in delight. Definitely my highlight from this horrid week (more on that later). So here are some videos for your enjoyment. The first is during warm-up (Reagan is on the far right). The second one is 'going on a bear hunt.'

Toward the end of the class, the instructor taught them first position, plié and sauté. In the room there was a hopscotch painted on the floor. Everytime the instructor would tell them to stand in first position Reagan would go stand on the one. She is a very literal child. Sorry the video is so long, Rick had a meeting so I had to tape part of it for him and I don't know how to edit it. Hope you enjoy it half as much as Reagan did!