I knew she went down for a nap too easily...

The other day, I looked at the clock and realized Lexi was overdue for her nap. She was playing with some old stickers of mine, and so I just laid her down and let her keep the stickers, you know, to occupy her until she finally fell asleep. And she got in bed and didn't make a peep. Later that evening when she awoke, I noticed her shirt covered in stickers, but left it at that. Then it was bedtime and I pulled back the covers to this:

Oh well, it got me 4 hours of quiet time, so it was worth the cleanup :-)

Which girl is it?

Can you tell which one is Lexi and which one is Carissa*? Lexi is our little contortionist...it's amazing the things she fits into.

* I'm sure you can... I know you aren't that dumb. It's just a funny post.

Look Mom! A Dinosaur!

Yesterday, I was trying to get my hair done quickly for church with Eddie on speakerphone, while Carissa slept, and Lexi was occupied with her crayons and paper. Then Lexi calls my attention to her drawing with "Look Mom! A Dinosaur!" Still trying to get my hair done, I'm like "Oh, a dinosaur??" and went on about my business. Then I looked down and saw this:

My jaw dropped! I don't think she did it on purpose...but maybe she did? Do you see it? How about now?

So if she was some older kid, I'd be asking about where his arms or legs are, but considering she's 2 1/2 and was probably just scribbling, you gotta admit, that's impressive.

There's my bragging moment for the day.

And it's allowed.

It's my blog.

(Those darn Leavitt art genes... can't escape them!)

How to Decorate a Christmas tree with a Toddler

1. Separate the breakable ornaments from the non-breakable ornaments.

2. Give the non-breakable ornaments to the toddler to keep them occupied/distracted while you put up the breakable ones.

3. Intermittently, coerce the toddler to put up some of the non-breakable ornaments. Partially succeed.

4. Ask the toddler to "stand pretty" in front of the tree for a picture...with the intent to see how tall they are in comparison to avoid accidental knocking off of ornaments.

5. Then ask them to stand tall and reach the sky. Unsuccessfully. Chase them around the room and hold their arms up tall next to the tree.

6. Indicate "reaching height" with a ribbon.

7. Finish decorating tree's upper portion, making sure anything you don't want to be touched is above the ribbon.

8. Watch the toddler have a cow when she sees a pretty ornament that she cannot touch go out of reach.

9. Decorate below the ribbon with non-breakable items a.k.a. things the toddler can take off at will without being hugely reprimanded, or that her baby sister can pull off and stick in mouth without horrible side effects.

10. Admire the "split level" Christmas tree, and hope Grandma approves when she gets home.

Making Sugar Cookies!

Lexi had her friend, Ivy, come over and play at our place on Tuesday. One activity we did was make Christmas sugar cookies. Lexi loves to help me bake, so the girls were very willing to put the ingredients in for me and help with the cutting out, decorating, and of course, eating! :-)

I don't know what Lexi is doing here...

This is what happens when we attempt to cut out a shape multiple times in the same spot, and then finally succeeding :-)

Lexi enjoyed the frosting and sprinkles...

and Ivy enjoyed all of her cookies...and Lexi's ;-)

Meanwhile, Carissa sat and watch from below...

and reaping the benefits of two messy toddlers.

(She actually waited until I was cleaning them up later and I found she had pulled down the tablecloth and was trying to eat all the crumbs of cookies and icing... too bad I didn't get a photo of when she was caught red-handed)

Way to Go, Eddie!

Last week, Eddie officially graduated from Basic Military Training with the Air Force. I am so proud of him! The girls were excited to spend time with him again and we can't wait until we get to see him for Christmas when he comes home! It'll be nice to have him not have to leave every night by a certain time too; our time in Texas was alot like when we were engaged and had to say goodnight every night. Not the funnest thing.

He's now attending Technical School in Biloxi, Mississippi at Keesler AFB, but we get to talk to him quite frequently and video chat as well, so it's not as bad. He gets to spend a couple weeks at home for Christmas, and then we may not see him again until April, when his training school is complete. We are excited to go out and join him at where ever he gets sent. His job is pretty new, and so we'll probably stay stateside for the first few years while he learns the ropes and the program gets going really well. That's my hope, at least.

We had a fun drive down to Texas, though I will say, we probably won't take a long road trip again anytime soon. That was too much for the girls. Then they both got sick while we were there, which didn't make things any better. And the drivers down in San Antonio...CRAZY! My life hung by a thread each time I got behind the wheel. Those people don't know anything about courteous driving.

Here's my chance to brag about my wonderful husband:

*So not only did he graduate from Basic Training, which is hard enough for alot of people, but he was an Honors Graduate, which is only available to the top 10% of any graduating group in the Air Force.

*And only 3-4% of the entire U.S. his age even qualifies for the Air Force in the first place.

*Then his flight was the top performing in Physical Training. (which would explain how he's lost a couple inches around his middle)

*He's going into a new field that requires Top Security Clearance, Cyberspace something or other, which is pretty nifty. He basically got to hand pick his career with scores of 97 and 98's on his ASVAB test (in case you're wondering, the average score is in the 50's)

*At church, he stepped up to give blessings to fellow airmen/trainees during all of priesthood, and when requested later, no one else instantly volunteered. I was thinking in my head, "Bueller, Bueller..." He said that's normal. I love that my husband not only holds the priesthood, but honors it and uses it for the benefit of others! (A admirable quality he shares with my father)

*He became a role model for many other trainees in his flight, being on the older side (the cut off for active duty is 27 yrs. old) and probably the most mature. I can't even remember how many people asked, "Are you Thompson's wife?" "Oh, he's such a great guy!" Yes, yes he is! :-) Behold:

Exhibit A:

and Exhibit B:

He is such a great daddy. He makes so many sacrifices so that we can have all that we need and I can stay home with the girls. I never tell him enough how much I appreciate him. We love you Eddie!

Lexi's Prayer

Me: Dear Heavenly Father...

Lexi: Dear Father

Me: We're thankful for this food...

Lexi: Thanks for pizza

Me: Please bless it will be good for me...

Lexi: Thanks for the pizza

Me: (holding back laugh) Bless that I get a good nap today

Lexi: and nap today... with pizza

Me: Thankful for Grandma and Grandpa

Lexi: Thanks for Gramma Grampa

Me: and Mom and Dad

Lexi: Momma and Dad

Me: In the name of Jesus Christ...

(waiting)

Me: In the name of Jesus Christ

(more waiting)

Me: Amen?

Lexi: AMEN!!!!! Yea!!!

I bet you'll never guess what we had for lunch?

Aren't children precious???

The other day, I was busy getting Carissa situated for dinner and Lexi kept saying "Mom...Dear Father, Dear Father!!" because she was ready to eat and we hadn't said prayer yet. Guess she's learning because it never stopped her before. Yea!

Halloween Costumes

So I have two Halloween costumes that the girls were going to wear...a hot dog, which Lexi had worn her 1st Halloween, and a tiger costume Lexi got from Gram-Eni (Eddie's Mom)...so we were like "Sweet, Halloween will be easy this year!"

But who am I to make things easy?

Halloween is one of the times I get to be creative, especially when I have

2 cute little kids!

That, and I like to have them be unique when people see them... People remember Lexi as a hot dog because we dressed up like hot dog vendors and decorated our car like a hot dog stand... but would anyone have remembered had we NOT done that?

(and served root beer)

Most likely not.

Then we dressed up like Star Wars characters last year, but this was with outfits you couldn't buy at your local Halloween store...My mom and I toiled over our outfits to go with Lexi's Yoda costume (which we did buy) and decorated our car with Ed's variety of Star Wars stuff.

(and served root beer)

This year, with my partner in crime currently out of the picture, I needed these costumes to be unique...so here it is:

Take 2 adorable girls

Add white outfits,

white scarves,

White tights,

White hats,

White shoes,

White wings,

annddd... voila!

PAPER AIRPLANES!

(geez, don't look so excited Lexi...)

(Lexi was upset here because I made her stand up so I could get a picture of the back)

They were a hit at the ward party on Wednesday

(and we made root beer)

More pictures to come!

(I just did another post before this...be sure to take a peek below)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

So this year, we went to another pumpkin patch, this time at a farm. It had snowed pretty well up there the two days prior, so the road getting there was...shall we say, less desirable. Good thing I drove my Jeep instead of Mom's van. We drove up with some friends and met others there, and all in all, had a fun time. Most of the pictures didn't turn out, but Lexi really did have fun. She especially liked the farm animals.

This was the best shot we could get of me and the girls

Using a water pump

Lexi and her friend, Ivy, on the Hay ride

and them playing in the snow

riding the kiddie train

This is what they do whenever they see each other after not seeing each other for a while...I think it had been 10 minutes?

Cute little Carissa

Feed corn box

Pony ride!!

She didn't really know what to think about it.

Feeding the animals

Lexi and I on the hay ride

We had a lot of fun, but still haven't carved the pumpkins we got. Something keeps coming up, you know how life is :-)