My bestest Charlotte

I love all of my children dearly and lately I have found an increasing amount of Joy in Charlotte.

The relationship between a mother and daughter is very different from a mother and son. I thought Aaron and I were as close as could be when he was three but Charlotte and I are even closer. It must be that I can remember being a three year old girl and can relate to her more. I get excited about baby dolls and tea parties and pretty dresses and bows but never really did about the trucks and balls and trains. I would be excited for Aaron but not excited with him.

Charlotte has changed so much in the past six months. She is truly developing her own personality and I love everything about it. She loves and looks up to her big brother and wants to be with him but doesn't want to be him. She loves to learn and go to school. She is a sweet and thoughtful girl. She loves to read, she loves to help her baby sister, she loves to help me cook in the kitchen and she has an answer for everything. She is great at bargaining but won't throw a fit if the outcome isn't her way (usually). She isn't scared of new places or people. On Sunday we were in Livermore visiting Nick's family and when we were at church she had no problem going to a new sunbeam class. I sat in the back of the room with Aaron, tears in his eyes at the thought of sitting in a chair next to new people, I watched Charlotte sing her heart out to the songs she knew and try her best at the ones she didn't. I was so proud of her and so happy for her that she has the courage to approach new situations with ease. I was plagued by being shy up through high school and by the looks of it Aaron will be too.

Another thing about Charlotte is that she is oddly aware of health for a Three year old. She always wants to know if the food she is about to eat is healthy for her and when the answer is no she won't eat very much. Even desserts. She has also recently become concerned about her teeth. At preschool today my friend Kelli told me that she was teaching about the letter T and gave each of them a little tootsie roll. I guess Charlotte took one bite then said "Now I'm going to have a cavity" and wouldn't eat the rest. After preschool we went to our ward's park play date and after eating some pretzels wanted to go home to brush her teeth.

Her new phrase is "Mommy, You're my bestest mom" always followed by a big hug and kiss on the lips, and the only reply I can find fitting "and you're my bestest Charlotte"

Charlotte is unique and wonderful and brings so much joy and happiness to our family. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed us with her.

Snow fun

Our kids have been asking if we could go to the snow since October. Our ward had an activity at a snow park in Shaver so we finally took them.

The ride up was beautiful.

Aaron didn't even get sick this year, though he was ready with barf bag in hand.

Elsie did NOT like the snow.

That is until she realized she could eat it.

Aaron, trying to climb down a mountain of snow.

We found a half made snowman so we finished it. The boy in back is Max who is in my primary class. He is a very sweet boy. His dad left before we did so he stayed behind and got a ride home with us, which was wonderful. He entertained Aaron the whole way back. 8 year old boys are so cool when you are 5.

I spent 95% on the time sitting right here with Elsie.

Aaron with his Chili in his bowl, on his face, and on his sweatshirt. He also knocked over two bowls while trying to slide through people on a disc.

Elsie meets snow.

Nick and Aaron sliding down the long hill.

Even with as much fun as we had in the snow, I was so excited when today at the zoo, we all took off our sweaters and enjoyed the sun warming us up.

I am ready for spring.

Funny things this week

Our Valentines day was nice, nothing too fancy. We gave the kids little presents, they consumed WAY too much candy, and I made a YUMMY dinner.

I have no idea what they were doing here, but it was odd so I'm posing it.

Elsie trying to get the last drop. She's a big milk fan

and, not only can she outdance your baby, she can also write her name.

Aaron was wondering if the watch that Jodi gave Charlotte for Christmas was real glass or plastic. The best way he could think to find out was to bite it.

This is the new Tinkerbell watch that he had to buy her (with his own money) to replace the shattered one.

When you ask her what time it is she says "One o'tinkerbell clock"

A walk with Ali

Yesterday while Nick and I were making dinner Ali took Aaron and Charlotte on a walk to feed the ducks. She took my camera and got some cute pictures.

Can you see the A?

and here is Charlotte's C

Happy Birthday Seattle!!

My cousin Marissa's daughter just turned 9 and we went to her party last night. I can't believe that she is getting so old. I used to babysit her everyday when she was in Kindergarden. It's crazy how much kids change in such a short period of time.

Happy Birthday Cece!

Disney On Ice!!

On Saturday we saw Disney On Ice and my kids couldn't have been more excited! (Elsie spent 6 hours alone with Daddy!)

We went out to breakfast before the show (they love going to a resturaunt to eat, probably because we rarely do)

being silly

and scary

The show was really fun but I think I enjoyed watching their expressions more

at intermission Charlotte picked out this tinkerbell costume and has been wearing it ever since

Aaron picked out this sword. That brings his collection up to 4. I took pictures but none of them are worth posting, the lighting was no good. They wouldn't have done the show justice anyway. I recommend going to see it live.

Then we went to the mall to get a birthday present for Seattle and enjoy some ice cream.

It was such a fun day. I love being able to do new and exciting things with my kids every once in a while.

Unique

I found this on Katie's blog and tried it out. I was excited to find out that I am the ONLY Michele Cabiness in the united states!! I did all the other names in our family as well. There are 2 for Aaron Cabiness, 1 Charlotte Cabiness and 1 Elsie Cabiness. I'm sure the uncommon last name helps but the first names weren't all that popular either. Suprizingly there was no recorded Nicholaus Cabiness but when I entered his name spelled Nicholas there were 2 so his must be spelled wrong on the official names of the united states list.

I also learned that if your last name is Smith you should not name your baby John. There are over 50,000 of them out there.

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

my little artist

My kids favorite thing to do lately is cut paper with scissors. Usually they just cut up a piece of paper so small that it's not recognizable and I have to pull the vacuum out to clean it up. Yesterday Aaron was feeling artistic. I was sitting at the computer and he came running in excited and proud and showed me this.

"Look mom!!" he exclaimed, "I'm an artist!"

Oso de Oro

Today we went to the park with Stephanie and her kids. I don't think we have been to this one since we moved so it was fun. It was our favorite, and I remembered why today. It is so big with lots to do.

quilt update

I have this problem, maybe even a fear, of unfinished projects. I can't stand them. I obsess over them. I forget everything else until they are done. Everything, like cleaning, cooking, tending to my children. I wasn't that way as a child and I am definatly not an overachiever. Definatly not. I just can't stand knowing that there is something I have left unfinished. This includes reading books. I just read Wicked for my book club. This book has some less than desirable scenes in it and not everyone in the group finished it but I just had to, and I did, very quickly. I also read the whole Harry Potter series for the first time in the month of August.

So here is the quilt for Aaron. The day I posted about the rediculously priced fabric I cut out all the pieces. Then the next day I sewed them all together. Keep in mind that I am new to this process and it isn't quick. I pulled out the squares thinking I would just sew a few together before I started dinner and ended up sewing until 2 am. (I did feed my family that night but I didn't let them eat at the table) Jodi has batting for me so I am waiting until I see her to sew the front and the back together. And yes, it's killing me.

This is the true first quilt I made. My grandma helped me with it for Charlotte when she was a baby. She has just recently discovered it again and she decided that she needs to sleep with it every night because it keeps her safe.

Disclaimer: This obsession with finishing projects has no effect on common household chores such as dishes.

Son of a pilot

The other day we were driving in the car and from the back Aaron said

"I don't think the clouds are too high today. It's probably going to rain, I think that all the water in the air is starting to stick together."

Only would Nick's son ponder the weather at age 5. Smart boy.

However since his favorite thing to do with his toy airplanes is make them crash, I don't think we'll be letting him fly a real one any time soon!