Pastry Chef

 My friend Yan is from China and she really wanted to learn to make sugar cookies.  We got a little carried away and pretty much every person that walked through the red neighborhood was tackled and forced to take a cookie.  Well, that is true except for the tackling part.  Sugar cookies aren't that hard to get rid of, even if some of them are Christmas shapes during October.  
The girls spent almost an hour decorating, which is definitely a record.  Rocky spent so much time because she tried to make a heart for each one of her boyfriends.  That girl is so boy-crazy.  I try to make myself feel better by appreciating that she likes lots of boys instead of just one.  Now I just need her to lose her front teeth and start looking awkward so that the boys won't be quite so ready to reciprocate her attention.  I have no problem with a crush, but it is when they start planning weddings that I get squeamish.

 Yan and Katie were pros by the time we finished. 
Daisy was busy trying to eat all the sprinkles without getting caught. 

 Daisy and Dagney are going to take over the pastry kitchen of Chef Cuzine.  They figured that it is easier to carve out their own niche than to try and get involved with the mean boss lady.

We went to a birthday party and the kids were invited to wear costumes.  Since ours still aren't quite ready I thought it would be a good chance for them to actually choose what they want to wear.  Daisy did a nice job putting together a ballerina look and Rocky put together this look.  Since I'm sure you don't know what she is I'll just let you know that she is a rock star.  When she saw this photo she said, "I've never done those eyes before." 
I don't know where she got this sassy photo idea. 

 Rosy decided that she wanted to go as a baby.  I tried to convince her that she is, in fact, a baby, but she doesn't believe me.

Bonus Photo:

No Theme, Just Life

 
Every day when I pick Rocky up from school she comes running out with a new book that she checked out from the library.  It took her about two days to figure out that if we got there early she could go in and look at the books before heading to class.  She made friends with the librarian and even though she can't read she spends hours looking at the pictures.  At first I had some serious doubts about a school that would send books home with the kindergarteners, but so far so good.

 You can also see the amazing fall weather we have been experiencing.  Rocky likes to kick it out on the big trampoline.  Our mini trampoline had made us the cool family in the red doors but once this one came out we were quickly demoted.  Now the only ones that jump on ours are the babies (who everyone knows are nerds.)

Now that Rosy has some hair her big sisters enjoy styling it while they are taking a bath.  For some reason they call this look a "bohawk." 

 We carved pumpkins with a bunch of friends for FHE.  Daisy didn't have her own pumpkin so she went ahead and massacred this little orange.  That poor little Cutie probably wished he had never been born.

 The best part of student housing is the friends.

What is cooler than wearing p.j.s and an apron?  Nothing.

 For several weeks now Rocky and Daisy have been working on opening their own restaurant.  Today was the big day that the got the whole staff together.  It is called Chef Cuzine (Pronounced coo-zeen which is another word of their own making).  The menu that Rocky put together has about 6 choices, one of which is a cranberry relish that Rocky insists is Cranberry Soup.  When Brandon tried to order one of the choices, which was a yogurt and grape salad, she told him that it was dog food.  He was pretty upset to find out that this up-scale place had dog food on the menu but she, in her waitress voice, calmly explained that there is a customer that comes in every morning with her dog. 

 There was a little bit of conflict among the staff because they were getting a little too creative with the menu but Rocky was able to rein them in.  Mostly the patrons, otherwise known as the moms all ended up being served some kind of Play-Doh waffle.

And in a completely unrelated story...
When it was time to go back to school Brandon's mom sent the girls a package with furry pink and purple pencil bags.  Daisy immediately snagged the pink one and she has slept with it under her pillow every night.  When she takes a nap in my bed she will move it to my room and then move it back before bed time.  Apparently the other night she forgot because I was just getting tucked in when I found it under my pillow.  I had no idea how much stuff was in there.  She is such a little pack rat.

 Now I know why every time I check on her right before lights out she smells like lip gloss.  There are a couple of rings, keychains, and necklaces.  There is a toy, and a flashlight/pen.  And, of course she has a brush, just in case she needs to look her best in the middle of the night.

 Rosy just sleeps with her little Dearie. 

The P.P.

 Rocky's performance in her second Primary Program wasn't as memorable as the first.  She was reverent and sang like a little angel.  I was happy that she behaved while simultaneously feeling a little sad that we had crushed the wild streak that led to last year's gummy bear incident.

I wanted to get a photo and she insisted that she pretend do be preaching.  I'm serious. I tried three times unsuccessfully to get her to shut her mouth.  She stuck her hand out in a gesture that implied that she was calling her audience to repentance.
Her actual part wasn't quite so persuasive.  She said that her favorite thing to do with her family is to go to Utah and to go to the Treehouse.  (Too bad the congregation lives in Eugene or we could ask them if they would give us a discount in return for the free publicity.)  She also said that one day she can be a good mother by getting married in the temple.

In honor of the special day I let her wear my special barrette.  I found it on some street in Boston when I was a missionary.  I took it home and boiled it for an hour and it has remained one of my favorite souvenirs from my mission.  I just knew it would come in handy some day.

I Heart Jesus

When I saw this face I felt a little bit better knowing that the wild streak isn't completely gone.

New Camera!

 For my birthday Brandon got me a new camera.  I was so bummed about the old one dying and without it I didn't have anything to blog about.  I think this is especially true because at the end of a day my brain is so tired that without physical documentation I have no idea what happened.  For the most part it isn't a big deal because not much really does happen. 
Most of the stuff we do is pretty typical, but it seems more fun if I bring out the camera. 
Daisy and Rosy were caught here.  They weren't supposed to have the T.V. on and you can see that they both realize that they are busted. 

 With the change in the weather the trips in the double jogger are requiring more and more layers.  Most of the time these days I just take Rosy in the single but on Fridays Daisy doesn't have school so she comes along.  When she wears the panda hat that Jill made her she actually becomes the panda and will not allow me to refer to her as anything but Panda.

 We went to the annual Homecoming parade and this year got to hang out with our little squirrel friend, Kinsley.  She doesn't always have whiskers but she is always this cute.  Rocky wore her "gold" medal because it is the perfect accessory to go along with the pink stripes.

 The parade this year didn't have anything too crazy, if you don't count the fraternity that went with a "Breaking Bad" theme.  Rocky was impressed that they were doing science experiments.  Brandon figured that most colleges would encourage the production of meth during school functions.

 This year there was a fair afterward at the courtyard by the library and even though I just barely said we wouldn't be going to any more college parties we found ourselves sucked in.  The blow up bouncy houses and slides were a lot more fun for the kids than the actual college students.  I think they were a little embarrassed because it was too early for any most of them to be tipsy. 
I on the other hand had no shame.  We've taken the kids to the Kangaroo Zoo a bunch of times and I always get jealous that I can't go on the slides.  This time I was all in. 

 This morning everybody participated in Daddy's morning workout. 

 I thought that I would try and catch the morning faces of the girls.  Rosy and Daisy were up crawling all over Brandon and me while we were trying to sleep in for once so their faces aren't really sleepy faces.

 Rocky's is accurate.

 This morning Rocky found a spider web in the corner of our door frame.  She was really excited that we had Halloween decorations like everyone else and we didn't even have to buy it. 
I wasn't as excited.

Ever since General Conference Daisy has been really excited about the Priesthood.  She kept asking questions about it but when she realized that it wasn't "Pretty-Stood" she didn't seem to care anymore.  I have seriously got to get this girl into some other hobbies.