Tuesday, October 16, 2012

THREE

Scarlett turned THREE years old last Friday.  Throughout the day she kept exclaiming, "This is the best day ever!"  So I think I can say it was a successful birthday.
We spent the morning of her actual birthday prepping for her party that would be held the following day.  I asked Scarlett what kind of party she wanted, and she just kept telling me she wanted candy, so I turned that in to Scarlett's Sweet Shoppe, and ran with it.  We filled lots of mason jars with yummy sweet treats.
She took her role of jar filler very seriously.
We asked where she wanted to go for lunch on her birthday, she thoughtfully replied "New York!"  So off to New York Pizza Kitchen we went.
Attempting a photo...
Not quite successful, but good enough.




 
 Sydney loved the fresh bread they brought out.  And enjoyed, even more, the pizza I let her eat.
  
 Such a terrible picture, but it's all we got.
After lunch we went home and baked 88 mini cupcakes and decorated them with our good friend Kelly.  Thank goodness she came to help- I would have been frosting for hours!
I also made a birthday cake for that evening.  I left while Scarlett was adding the sprinkles, and when I came back... something had happened to the cake.  I asked what happened, and Scarlett told me she didn't know.  I asked, "how did that happen to the cake?"  To which she replied, "I don't know.  It did it all by itself."
 She got very upset during questioning.  We talked about telling lies after that.
 Later that evening we had a delicious macaroni and cheese dinner, as per the birthday girl's request.  We celebrated with Grandma and Granddad, and the Hisermans.
When Scarlett opened her gift from the Hisermans, it was a fairy dress up dress, and she got so upset.  She kept saying, "I didn't want that!"  After a minute, I realized what was happening, and when I explained to her that this was just for dressing up, and not her Halloween costume, she got very excited about it.  (She chose her Halloween costume about a month ago.  No way was she switching now!)
 She wears her heels daily.
Best little friends.
 Happy as can be eating her yummy cake. 

Happy birthday to my sassy, sweet, smart, independent, loyal little love.  Mommy loves you, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.
I've been jotting down the cute things Scarlett has been saying over the last few months, and I do not want to forget any one of them.
*We have been looking at houses on and off for the last year.  A little while ago, we decided to re-do one of our rental properties in Chicago, so that put our own plan to purchase a home on hold.  Scarlett heard Rob and I talking one day about wanting to wait until we refinance that property, so we can get the cash back that we put in to it, before buying a house.  We joked that we just don't have enough cash to buy a house.  I still watch the market in Napa to see what is listed, and one day I was pulling up the mls website on the iPad  and Scarlett said, "Why you lookin' at houses?  We can't buy one.  Daddy don't have any cash right now."  I laughed and asked her what we were going to do about it.  "I know! Let's get a new Daddy! One with lots of cash!"
*Referring to her baby dolls (after asking me to babysit them), "Them are my sugars.  I'll call you and see how my babies are doing."
*We were reading a book one night about animals.  I noticed that several were from Africa (in the book it tells you a fact or two, and then also where they come from).  I thought I should ask if Scarlett noticed where most of the animals came from, but then I thought that might be a difficult question for such a little kid.  As soon as I dismissed the idea, Scarlett asked "How come all these animals come from Africa?"  Smarty.
*When we put her to bed at night, I stay in Scarlett's room after we turn out the lights and sing a song to her.  She lately has been asking me to lay my head on her chest.  While I sing, she plays with my hair, and always whispers, "you're a good Mom."
*Scarlett and I were telling my Mom about our Sweet Shoppe theme for Scarlett's birthday, and all the little details, and my Mom kept saying things like we didn't need to have a big party.  She made a few comments along those lines, Mom's not a huge birthday party fan, and Scarlett finally looked at her and said, "Well, Grandma, you don't have to come to my birthday party."
 *After a morning of shushing Scarlett, she looked at me sadly, "I'm sorry.  My voice is just not quiet."
*When I make one of her favorite meals she will tell me "this is a really good dinner, Mom, thank you."  But her most recent comment, "Mom, I'm really enjoying this dinner tonight", is my favorite.
*After leaving a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago, Scarlett said "Today was a really good day, Mom."
*Scarlett has become quite the picky eater, but we have strict rules about trying the food, and eating our vegetables.  She threw an incredible fit over her veggies one night, and was extremely exhausted, so we told her she could choose to eat, or go to bed.  She chose bed.  When we tucked her in, she sobbed "my heart is broken."  And was asleep before we could walk out the door.
*I was in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast, and the girls were in the living room when I heard "Come read with me Sydney (picking up her children's Book of Mormon).  God loves us.  Jesus loves us.  God and Jesus love us.  They is our best friends."  If they know nothing else, I am glad they know this.
*Scarlett told me her tummy hurt, so I suggested she try to go potty.  When I went to check on her, she was sitting on the toilet, curled over, tummy obviously really hurting, and she said, "I can't handle this all by myself!"
*Sydney thinks her big sister is the best- she laughs at everything Scarlett does.  Scar loves this, and really hams it up.  One day, she was tickling Sydney's tummy, they were both giggling uncontrollably when I heard Scarlett yell "she's the funnest baby of the whole world!"

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Happy 30th, Fuller!

On August 16, Rob turned the big 3-0.  He was very gracious about it.
We got back from our trip to Tahoe just a few days before his birthday, which was on a Thursday- and since he had taken a few days off, he was seeing patients late that evening.  When he finally got home, we fed him a yummy dinner, showered him with presents, and ate strawberry shortcake.  Hooray!
On Saturday, I told Rob that our good friends were having a pool party and BBQ.  Little did he know that those friends were actually out of town, but were generous enough to allow me to use their wonderful backyard for a little surprise party.
I got him good.  I had been planning it for a while.  Almost slipped telling him things about it here and there, but ultimately, kept it to myself, and surprised the "old man".  We had a small gathering, but we had a great time.


Happy birthday, my dear.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Lake Tahoe, August 2012

We spent a wonderful extra long weekend in Lake Tahoe back in August.  Swimming at the pool, lounging in the sun, reading good books, eating delicious food.  We drove up Friday, Ashley and Kyle flew in from Utah that morning, and we got to spend some good quality time with my entire family.
I love my parents.
We headed to the  beach Sunday afternoon and rented kayaks.  While Ashley, Kyle, Rob, Scarlett and myself were out on the lake, Sydney played with Grandma and Granddad.



This trip was when we discovered just how much Sydney loved the camera.


Scarlett was brave hopping in the kayak- after a few minutes she transferred to our kayak.

I loved being on the lake.  Tahoe is freezing, but so refreshing and beautiful.  When I was growing up, my great aunt and uncle owned a house right on the water.  I miss being on the lake when we go on our trips now.  It was a sentimental kayak experience for me.
Sunday night was the last night we would all be together, so we celebrated Mom's birthday a day early with a wonderful sunset dinner.
I pulled out the camera to snap some shots of the whole group, but Sydney squawked and squealed until I focused on her for a little bit.




My mom is so pretty.  And can you believe she is 52?!  


I love my sassy girl.
And my other little sassafras. 




And this guy, of course.
We spent Monday at the pool, and then before taking Ashley and Kyle to the airport we grabbed some dinner.
Scarlett adores her Aunt Ashley.  She drove with them to the airport, fell asleep on the drive there, they woke her up to say goodbye, but she was still a little out of it (a Fuller trademark), so when she finally realized Ashley and Kyle were gone she started crying.  She had to call Ashley to calm down.  So sweet.
Tuesday morning we spent as much time in the sun and at the pool as we could before we needed to head home.  Scarlett is a little fish.  With only one swim lesson this summer, she can swim a decent distance on her own, and she can hold her breath a remarkable amount of time.


My other little fish.  Sydney LOVES the water.  My girls are so similar, it's kind of astounding sometimes.






Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Father's Day 2012

We celebrated Father's Day (yes, in June) by spending part of the weekend in Sacramento.  We had a BBQ lunch, enjoyed the pool, and got to spend time with all the wonderful Dads in my life; My Grandpa, my Dad, and of course, my husband.
Granddad is Scarlett's favorite swimming  buddy.  They spent a good amount of time playing "rescue".  Granddad would swim out...
 And Scarlett would tow him back to safety.

Also on the agenda was a lot of water basketball.  (I am embarrassed to admit we played HORSE, and I lost. Dad and I both lost to Mom).
 
 Seeing as though I have been the world's worst picture taker lately, it is not surprising that I didn't take a single picture on the actual day we celebrated my girls' Dad, nor did I take a single picture of the father of my children.  But let it be known, Rob Fuller is the best Dad a kid could ask for.  And certainly the best Dad that I could ask for.  He is always thinking of ways to make my life easier- even getting up to feed Sydney (since she is a nocturnal eater) from time to time, even though he has to be up much earlier than I do in the morning.  The girls love you.  And I love you, Fuller.

These random shots of Sydney were taken sometime... in June?  I caught her sucking her toes after her bath- but alas, I was too slow with the camera.  Little stinker's a cutie.