Like Father, Like Son . . . and Daughter

Last night, I got two reminders of how much the twins are like their father.

First, Anna tends to put things in her mouth. She had just been reprimanded for putting her big pencil in her mouth. Larkin took the pencil away from her. Five or so minutes later, I look over to see this:

Enough said.

Later on that evening, William walked over to Larkin, lifted up his shirt, and asked Larkin to scratch his back. Look the bliss on this kid's face.

Again, enough said. Just like his daddy.

The twins also show us that they take after their mom too. They were playing in our game room a few nights ago, and they were being very quiet - not always a good sign. Larkin went up to see what they were doing.

They had created a "book club." They were completely content, reclining in comfortable chairs, enjoying their books. Unlike some of my other traits that I'm sorry have been passed on to our kids (e.g., my OCD about certain things), I'm pleased that they have acquired my love for books.

We sure love these kids!

P.S. I want to add in this old story I have about how wonderful Larkin is. (Cue cheesy flashback.) Right after the twins were born, Larkin stayed in the hospital with us almost the whole time, leaving only to go to class when he absolutely couldn't skip it. I knew he was tired from sleeping only on the "fold-out chair" in my hospital room. One day, a nurse came into our room and asked if she could bring us anything to drink, other than the water which she had been refilling like it was going out of style. She offered different kinds of pop and juice, and Larkin asked for Sprite (normal for him) and cranberry juice. When he asked for that, I thought, "That's interesting. Larkin doesn't normally like cranberry juice." He took a big gulp of his drink and then pulled a disgusted face. "Yuck! Why did I ask for cranberry juice? I don't even like cranberry juice!" That's when I knew exactly how tired he was. The amazing man continued to sleep in the hospital with us, though, until we were finally able to go home - where we wouldn't get an unbroken night's sleep for months and months. We love our Daddy SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so grateful that the twins are like him, even in these small ways.

Eric and Emma's Wedding

We drove up to Idaho back in November for Eric and Emma's wedding, and we stayed through Thanksgiving. It was SUCH A GREAT TRIP! Even though the twins battled the stomach flu on the drive out, we had a wonderful time, once they got feeling better. They played with Grandma, Grandpa, cousins, aunts, and uncles. We loved spending a week with most of the Le Sueur family who had traveled from all over.

We didn't take any pictures of the trip (because we're good like that), but thankfully, Lincoln and Melissa did. I stole these pictures from them.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Will and Anna are soaking up everything about Christmas this year. They're coming up with questions we never expected.
Will: How can Santa come to our house? We don't have a chimney! (Who knew that he knew what a chimney was?)
Anna: (on leaving the ward Christmas party after speaking to Santa) Where are his reindeer? I don't see them!

So we're having lots of fun this month. We've played games, made crafts, sung carols, made LOTS of Christmas treats, delivered goodies to friends, and lots more. For pictures, see Le Sueur Street.

Santa Claus made a stop at our ward Christmas party, and the twins got to talk to him. Anna was brave and sat right up on his lap to tell him that she wanted a dollhouse.

Will was less brave but very determined. It reminded me a lot of the scene in A Christmas Story in which Ralphie freezes when Santa asks what he would like. After agreeing to a football, he comes to his senses.

That's kind of how it was with Will. He didn't speak at first, but then, very quietly, he said, "IwantaThomastheTankEnginetrackwherethebridgegetssorumbly!" (Translation: "I want a Thomas the Tank Engine track where the bridge gets so rumbly.") He was so proud of himself afterwards for talking to Santa!

I want to get a video of the twins telling the nativity story. It's so stinkin' cute when they say that the first few innkeepers told Mary and Joseph (while shrugging their shoulders), "There's no room for you." In case I can't catch that, just remember that Will and Anna know that Baby Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas. And hearing them sing "Away in a Manger" makes me tear up. Every single time.

Dog Food

Will woke up from his nap a few minutes ago and was sitting at the table, doing a puzzle. All of a sudden, he stopped and jumped off of the chair.

“Hey! We were supposed to eat dog food after naptime!”

Context: I made puppy chow yesterday, and Will asked for some for breakfast. I told him that maybe we could eat some after naptime instead of for breakfast.

I couldn't stop laughing. Will didn't quite understand what was so funny, as he patiently waited for his dog food.

Twins Turn Three

Long story made short: The twins had a birthday . . .

. . . and are now the two most adorable three-year-olds ever. EVER.

Carving Pumpkins

Will and Anna picked out pumpkins for us this year and were SO EXCITED to carve them! We ended up carving only the big pumpkin and drawing faces on the two little ones, but after experiencing the work involved with the actual "carving" part of pumpkin carving, they were more than happy to just draw on the smaller two.

Step One: Help Daddy choose what kind of face to carve

(They opted for "spooky.")

Step Two: Pick out the seeds from the goop


Step Three: Entertain yourself while Daddy does the labor

Step Four: Run away in fear from the finished jack-0-lantern

Can you see why they were content to choose "happy," drawn-on faces for their personal pumpkins?

*On an unrelated note, due to my many dentist visits in the past month resulting in an emergency root canal, Anna now takes her baby doll to "the dentist" when her baby is sick. I hope I haven't instilled a fear of the dentist in them.

Partyin' for Daddy's Birthday

Larkin's birthday was last week, and the twins were SO EXCITED to have his birthday party. They helped me wrap his presents, put up his birthday banner, make his birthday cupcakes, and they wore his party hats all day long. They called him at work all day and wished him "happy birthday" over and over and over again. Once he came home from work, they bombarded him with hugs and kisses and wrestling and tickles and lots more birthday wishes. It was so much fun for me to see them so eager to celebrate Larkin. He's such an amazing daddy, and we love him VERY SO MUCH (as Will says)!

After dinner, cake, and presents, we played a little game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This was the twins' first time playing, and they loved it!

This last video was a birthday gift to Daddy. He loves to hear the kids sing Primary songs, and lately, Anna's favorite is "I Am a Child of God." This video shows typical Will/Anna behavior - Anna hamming it up for the audience, Will trying to keep order (e.g., telling Anna to sing louder and then telling her to keep her hands down). I don't know what prompted the laughter at the end of the video, but it makes the rest of it just that much better.