Baby Blues

There's something about these eyes that make me melt.  Each of my girls has them and although I love every little feature, their eyes take the cake.

Aunt Jeanie

This is Aunt Jeanie.  Really it's Aunt Jean, but we all call her Jeanie.  She is also the Aunt that we named Lucy Jean after.  She lives right across the street from us and owns the business right next door with her husband Uncle Kenny.  She has always been so kind to us and has always loved my girls but when Lucy was born and we told her that we used Jean after her, she has become an integral part of my our lives. 
Since Lucy's birth we have seen her almost everyday.  She stops in for a visit almost daily or catches us while we are outside and says she "had to come and see my girls."  She loves little Lucy and calls her "my baby." 
My girls have loved the attention.  She takes them all kinds of fun places like to get snow cones, to Lana's house (her daughter that lives in Gilbert but has a home here.), to her house for a visit and lots of other fun things.  She even played Grandma on Grandparents Day at school for Addie. Uncle Kenny has also loved spoiling them.  Last week I had to go to their shop so the girls and I walked over.  Uncle Kenny was sitting in a rolling chair when we got their and before I knew it he had both the girls rolling across the floor having a great time!  He is so kind to them and dotes on them constantly.
It has been a real treat to see her spoil my girls.  She has no grandchildren but has taken my girls in as if they were her own.  We sure love our Aunt Jeanie!

Our New Favorites

Like most kids, my girls love to read.  We spend lots of time reading their collection of books (I have banned our town library because of their Nazi guidelines.  Plus, I think they just hate me in particular.) and even picked out a few new ones at the Book Fair last week.  Walking into that library and seeing the rows and rows of Scholastic books was like a trip down memory lane.

While we were there I saw a Junie B. Jones book.  My little sister Annie used to read them and even had quit a collection so I knew they must be decent reading.  I've wanted to start chapter books with Addie but hadn't found the right ones.  Since I'm not a reader myself I knew what ever we read had to be something that would interest me as well.  Seeing that book made the light bulb in my head go off.  I quickly sent a text to my Mom and asked her to bring a few with her when she came for a visit over the weekend.

The next day she handed us this pile-

And recommenced two that we should start with.  Saturday night Addie and I laid in her bed to read a few chapters.  Before we knew it we found ourselves halfway through the book and laughing.

We started with Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy.  In this book Junie visits the beauty salon with her dad so he can get a haircut.  She decides she can be a "beauty shop guy" and after her parents tell her no way, she comes up with a sneaky plan.  She tells her parents she is going to take a nap and heads to her bedroom.  This is Addie's favorite part of the book:

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Hold on there a second," said Mother.  "I thought you hated naps."

"I do," I said.  "I do hate naps.  But today I worked at the beauty shop.  And that job got me all pooped out, I tell you."


After that, I closed my door.  And I got under my covers.

Mother peeked in at me.


I did a fake snore.


Then I waited and waited till she closed the door again.  


I stayed in bed till it was safe

Then  finally, I tippytoed to my desk.

And I opened the top drawer real quiet.

I searched my hands all around that thing.

Then all of the sudden my heart got very pumpy!

'Cause my hands felt what they were looking for!

And their name is my bestest shiny scissors!


Last night we started another book and couldn't believe how similar Addie and Junie are.  They are both in afternoon kindergarten, ride the bus to school, love hamburgers and spaghetti and meatballs and much more.  While we were talking about all of the comparisons Addie was quick to say "except I don't get into trouble." 

Maybe she doesn't get into trouble, but that Junie B. is giving Addie ideas.  After she left for school today I saw this on the couch.  This is not a setup.  This is exactly how I found it.

Lucy/Wucy/Luc/Lucinator/BooBoo/Peanut/Little Luc/Princess

I turned my head for a minute and when I turned back, I found her like this.  One of her sisters put her up to it.

I'm not sure Lucy even knows her real name!  This little gal gets called something new every minute of the day.  But it doesn't matter what we call her, she is spoiled and loved by everyone!

In the last 9 weeks Lucy has managed to wrap her mom, 2 sisters and dad around her finger.  She has brought a whole new kind of joy to this family, as each new child does.  Every morning when Addie and Kimber wake up they instantly go to Lucy and begin mauling her.  I am sure their yummy morning breath kills Lucy, but she smiles and coos anyway. 

She's such a happy little girl.  As long as she is fed and rested she is content to just lay on the floor and watch her surroundings.  She hasn't started laughing, but she does do the throat gargle and smiles big while doing it.

I also have to mention that she is a wonderful sleeper!  She isn't the greatest day napper but she usually sleeps from 7 or 8 pm until about 5 am!  We have nights here and there where she gets up more than once, but I never complain because she sleeps so great for the most part.

She's such a pleasant and easy going little girl.  I'm so glad we have her as part of our family.

Camping

(Annie, I love your socks and flip flops!)

We had a great weekend in the woods!  My girls had a blast getting dirty, playing with cousins and eating lots of fun food.  We camped in a great area where the kids could play and we didn't have to worry about them wandering off.


Lucy and Slade always love to lay together.  At least Heather and I think they do.

I'm pretty sure this is only something you would see when you're around the Richardsons.  The kids taking a ride at a table in a trailer.  Of course I've seen the Hatch kids hop in the back of a truck with a casket.  My girls are doomed.  They come by it honestly.

The kids got filthy dirty everyday and loved every minute of it.  Kennedy even managed to grow a five o'clock shadow.

Addie is my little Miss Priss but loves to be outdoors getting dirty.  Really, I think it's that she loves wearing mismatched clothes and not having to get her done just right.

This is what happens when someone takes off with your camera.  When it's returned you end up with a lot of these kinds of pictures.

I've decided that it doesn't matter if you go camping for one day or one week, it's a lot of work!  When I got home I had this to deal with-

But all of the work was worth it.  It was a priceless weekend.

Outstanding Citizen

 This morning Addie was awarded the Outstanding Citizenship Award at the school assembly.  It's a very prestigious award that is only given to kids who meet the following criteria:


1. Shows best effort in all schoolwork and turns in assignments on time.

2. Is courteous and kind to classmates and children on the playground.

3.  Obeys all classroom and school rules.

Good job Addie!

 I imagine Kimber is thinking something like this:  "Hmm, I wonder if I will ever get that award.  Hey, there's Addie's classroom.  I love Mrs. Patsy and Mrs. Davis.  I wish I could go to school.  Phew, it's kinda breezy out here.  Sorta chilly.  Why did my Mom put me in shorts?"

Silent Library

It's a tradition in my Dad's family to have a Saturday Night Program at our annual family reunions.  Since this was the first annual Russ Richardson Family Reunion, we had to follow tradition.  My sister Heather, her husband, my brother Jordan and his wife Nichole put together the absolute best Saturday Night Program I have ever seen.

Here's a little background. Silent Library is a show on MTV where six contestants play games of bizarre punishment.  Each round the players choose cards and the one who picks the card with the skull and cross bones must endure the punishment.  In order to earn money the players must remain silent while the chosen player endures the punishment.  Easier said than done.  Here's a clip if you want to see what I mean.

For our version of the game we had Jared, my brothers Brigham, Ben Travis and Taylor and my very brave little cousin Carrie.  The players laid the cards out and Jared counted down.  Each player chose a card and Travis was the lucky one who got to go first.  Keep in mind that these challenges had to be completed in 30 seconds!

His punishment was Pretty Corn.  He had to eat a cob of corn covered in lipstick.  I wish I had been able to record it because it was so hilarious!

Ben drew the next punishment which was Chicken Scratch.  Jordan had to scratch his back with a chicken foot.  This is where I would have flipped out and quick the game!

Lucky Ben drew the next punishment as well- Excess Baggage.  He had to fit himself into a duffel bag in.  It was hilarious to see him squirm around trying his best to get inside. 

The next punishment, Gone Fishing, was for Taylor.  He had to wear a space collar for dogs and eat a box of Goldfish.  Never seen anything funnier. 

Carrie was such a good sport for the Stinky Cushion Punishment.  The other five players had a whoppie cushion on their lap.  One by one she had sit on their laps and deflate the cushion.  Embarrassingly funny!  And look how hard the guys are all laughing!

Next was Pool Time for Travis.  He had to wear a pool toy around his thigh while it was inflated with a compressor until it exploded.  It was so loud when it finally popped!

 This next punishment was disgusting!  It was for Taylor and called Toe Rings.  He had to each Peach Rings off of Jordan's Toes.  Taylor gagged his way through it and we all had a good belly laugh at his expense.

Puppeteer was my favorite punishment.  Ben had to apply eyeliner and lipstick while having his hands moved by a Puppeteer, otherwise known as Jordan.

Bad Door is always a fun punishment, at least to watch.  Taylor had to endure a punishment similar to this one.

The last punishment, called Farm Feed, was for five of the six players.  Carrie got lucky.  The players had to eat a yummy spoonful for cat food.  Each player had a different kind.  It was so funny to watch them gag and try their best to get it down.  They failed, understandably. 

I can't get over how similar this was to the real show.  Doug made a great librarian and every detail of the game was perfect.   We all laughed so hard.  Thanks for the laughs!