Making Weight

Analeigh has discovered a revolutionary new tool in the fight against weight loss - butter! With just a few handfuls a day, the doctors will never wonder if she is gaining an adequate amount of weight for her age - they'll know!

Omaha!

We had a long day today as we traveled to the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple in Omaha. While Liz was working in the temple, Ben took the kids across the street to the visitors center, dedicated to the pioneers' experiences in traveling westward.



David and Analeigh got to dress up in pioneer clothing while a sister missionary took us around the building. As Analeigh was not a big fan of her bonnet, we could not get a picture of her with it. But David loved his hat and vest and wore it proudly the whole time.



David got to push a handcart and he and his sister had the entire staff wrapped around their fingers - especially when David said "Bye, bye, missionaries," at the end of the tour.



We also toured the cemetery next to the temple. David and Analeigh were a bit lively for the burial grounds, but should be excused, as they were strapped into a car for five hours.





For the same reasons, neither child was particularly interested in sitting patiently during a photo in front of the temple:



When Liz later finished in the temple, Ben handed the kids off to her and went inside himself. Liz then took the kids to a nearby Hobby Lobby because of a fantastic sale she couldn't pass up. When she was done she picked Ben up and we started home.

We should mention that we also brought Mike Nelson along with us on our trip, as he will be baptized as a member of the Church tomorrow. Mike reports having a great time touring the visitors center. David loved talking to Mike the entire drive, pointing out various landmarks (like trucks, tractors, and airplanes) and asking, "you see the airplane, Mike?" over and over until Mike confirmed he saw it too. Mike was a good sport.

We stopped by a nearby Cracker Barrel for dinner before heading home (arguably one of the coolest restaurants in the world). There Ben and Mike engaged in a rousing back and forth game of checkers, in which Ben was eventually victorious.



We also bought ten candy sticks for a dollar. Ben's family used to do this during their summer vacations traveling out west (as everyone could pick their own flavor and everyone ended up happy). This also reminded Ben that sometimes he and his brother would suck them down to a sharp point and jab each other with them during the drive - their parents must have been very patient!

Teddy Bears

Liz recently had an urge to sew a few teddy bears with movable heads, arms, and legs - so she did. The heads ended up too wobbly, so Liz had to sew them again to prevent them from being movable. Either way, the kids love playing with them. Now Liz just needs to sew clothes on them so that we can encourage our children to be modest.

Finding Nemo

We went to the zoo today. Normally we keep Analeigh buckled in to the stroller since she has a tendency to run off to anywhere except where she is supposed to be. However, Analeigh was allowed out of the stroller for a short time today since we were enclosed in the aquarium building. She absolutely loved being able to get up close to the fish - though she may have been tapping the glass more than the zoo staff might appreciate.

Dancing the Night Away

Analeigh loves dancing to music. While watching tonight's finale of America's Got Talent, there were many opportunities for her to dance along to all the singing. Since her dancing consists primarily of twirling, she became rather dizzy - as you can see below.

"I Eat Best Friends!"

Yesterday evening Ben had to work supervising a visit for a co-worker who was having a wedding shower. Liz was invited to the shower and therefore had to take David and Analeigh. Later in the evening, David ran into the house and told his daddy, quite excitedly, "I eat best friends!"

Not knowing David to have a cannibalistic side, Ben looked to Liz for clarification. Apparently there were cream cheese mints at the wedding shower. Some were like the ones you see below. Others were heart-shaped. For reasons unknown to us, David decided the heart-shaped ones were called "best friends" and decided the round ones must go by the same name as well. Thus, when he brought some extra round ones home, he asked to be allowed to eat more best friends. This behavior has continued today - though fortunately he has yet to eat any people so far.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'!

When David first learned to crawl, we were so happy. When he learned to walk, we were ecstatic. Now, he has graduated to a new mode of movement: rolling! Needless to say, we're just beside ourselves with pride.

Career Options

We plan to be open minded about allowing our children to pursue whatever career they desire to pursue as adults. But Analeigh's current tendencies toward becoming a table dancer will need to be restrained!

Trying To Be Like Brother

Analeigh makes every effort to follow her brother in anything fun he is doing. If he is crawling on the table, she gets up on the table. If he is eating on the floor, then she wants to eat on the floor. If he is riding on a toy, then she wants to ride on a toy. Sure, it may drive David crazy in the future, but for now it is quite adorable.

Hooray for Parades!

This morning we drove up to Hoisington to attend the Labor Day parade. We had to promise David that there would be fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances there, as well as candy, before he was willing to get in the van to go.

Sadly, we did not get in a great location, so David was left to fend for himself for candy against much larger children.



Occasionally he needed a pep talk from his dad in order to keep pressing forward. Luckily, David is still cute enough to attract the attention of candy thrower-outers, and therefore ended up with a decent haul.



David got to see the mascots from Barton County Community College, home of the cougars. Thus, there was a male cougar and a female cougar, which he gave high-fives to. Since we've never identified cougars for him before (unlike lions, tigers, and bears), David labeled the male cougar as a bear and the female cougar as a monkey. We also ran into the Easter Bunny, who claimed to be out of candy, but still gave David a hug anyway!



Overall we had a great time at the parade. We saw firetrucks, ambulances, old tractors, classic cars, bagpipers, miniature ponies, and an animatronic version of the Hoisington Cardinal mascot that pooped out what appeared to be shaving cream (you're welcome to click for a larger version to judge for yourself). We look forward to next year when David will be older, bigger, and better able to fend for himself in the candy hunt.

Uh-Oh!

As we try to teach Analeigh to use words like a big girl, sometimes the words we want to teach don't seem to sink in. Instead, the more strange words stick with her - like "Uh-Oh!" - which just happens to be Analeigh's new word. She is quite happy to repeat it whenever we say it - which is limited to when she or David are in trouble - something she does not seem to comprehend at this point! The difficulty is that she is so cute when she says "Uh-Oh!" that it makes it very difficult to punish her for whatever she was doing at the time.

Eating on the Floor

In order to promote diversity in our home, we occasionally choose to remember our brothers and sisters in third world countries by eating on the floor.

Actually, only David and Analeigh eat on the floor... and it isn't because we're promoting diversity - it is because they just don't want to stay in their seats. Oh well, as long as their eating, that is what really matters. We'll work on manners some other day!