A Baby With Style

Natalya has wanted to paint her sister's toe nails since she was a week old. Well we finally did it. And I must say, they are the cutest little pink nails I have ever seen. As long as I was painting hers, I painted all of ours (except Branson's, of course).

It took some serious skill to paint the toes of a 14 month old. I had to pin her in her high chair, distract her with a treat, and dab her teeny nails with lightning speed. But I arose triumphant! And I think she liked them.

More Cotton Balls...

I was talking to my friend Meagan today and we agreed that we are growing and learning as mothers everyday. Sometime we do or say things that we're not totally proud of - and we learn from our mistakes and try to be better next time. In a way, we sound a lot like children!

Just yesterday I said somthing that I taught the kids not to say. Natalya told me that I needed a cotton ball jar so that she could take away a cotton ball for my naughty behavior. Meagan and I got to thinking... maybe WE should make ourselves a, "Cotton Ball Jar for Good Behavior." That way our children can learn to better appreciate our good works and reward us for the many ways we serve them. They can also help us to remember when we've lost sight of the patient, loving way we should conduct ourselves. When the kids fill their cotton ball jar, they get to choose a one-on-one date with the parent of their choice. But when I fill my cotton ball jar, I will choose a family activity that we can do together on a Saturday!

I hope that our kids learn to recognize not just mine but others' efforts to be kind and are quick to give compliments. I also hope that I will remember to practice what I preach! I already made myself a cotton ball jar. The kids were excited at the idea - in fact, they've already given me a cotton ball for my excellent sharing. :)

Trick or Treat!

We had such a busy Halloween this year! It felt like 3 days of Halloween. We had a school party, Brian's office trick-or-treating, a birthday costume party, our ward trunk-or-treat, and two other costume parties that we had to miss! Needless to say, our kids got a lot of use out of their costumes.

I got the kids' costumes several weeks in advance so they could play in them and enjoy the anticipation of the impending Halloween. This year Natalya had her heart set on being Fancy Nancy, the main character in the Fancy Nancy book series. She made such a fantastic Fancy Nancy! When I took Branson costume shopping, we found a firefighter uniform and fell in love. He started running around in circles saying, "Whoo-woo!!" like a fire truck siren. Sold. Branson would be a firefighter this year. So what would compliment a handsome fireman better than a cute fire dog?! I found a dalmation costume from Old Navy and it was perfect! All three of them loved their costumes and wore them about a bazillion times during October.

The best part of trick-or-treating was watching Irelynn get the hang of it! It didn't take her long - she caught on all too quickly. In fact, I think she made off with almost more candy than her big brother and sister! She's hilarious.

Brian's office invited all the firm's kids to trick-or-treat at the secretaries' stations. This was a perfect way to kick off Halloween. The kids had a great time and I think the secretaries did too - the Reeve children are VERY entertaining.





So when Irelynn discovers that people are handing out free candy in little buckets, our trip to Daddy's office got interesting.


Instead of choosing one piece of candy and moving on to the next station, Irelynn decides to make off with the whole bucket and charge down the hall without looking back! While we were left buckled over with laughter, Irelynn was halfway home with her loot. She's a crackup!

Branson was by far the most handsome firefighter I've ever seen.

Fancy Nancy is such a cute series. We own the first three hardback books and we have checked out most of the others from the library.

Natalya has perfect hair - and demeanor - to be Fancy Nancy.


This is her dress. Very fancy indeed!


I think she has the sunglass tilt down pat.

We visited with Grandma for a few minutes before trick-or-treating. The kids not only loved wearing their costumes, but acting their part too!

We had a very Happy Halloween. Branson keeps asking me if we can do Halloween over again. I hated to break it to him - but we're going to have to wait until next year...