SECRETS BETWEEN SISTERS

CC was whisphering secrets in MJ's ear. She was laughing those hard belly laughs. CC thought it was because of the silly things she was whisphering. I knew why MJ was laughing, the same reason I laugh when CC tells me secrets, it tickles your ears.

TELL THE TRUTH

Here is a conversation I had with CC after I took a pink plastic bag, one of her toys came in, and used it to put one of my quilts in.

CC: Mom, why did you use my pink bag? Tell the truth. If you tell me the truth, I won't be mad.

Cracked me up.

3 BLURRY PICTURES of an AMAZING SKIRT

My dear friend Joy Turner made this beautiful skirt for CC for her birthday. She would said, "Bea-u-tiful, skirt!" She loves it to pieces. I refashioned an old t-shirt of mine for her. The t-shirt is a beautiful rust color and matches the skirt perfectly. I didn't do the greatest sewing job but I am enjoying the thoughts of making another one. The pattern I created is definitely a keeper. I am just going to make a few minor alterations.

ARTIST

Sierra loves to draw. She will draw for hours and hours. Here are some of my favorites from her gallery along with what she said about each.
My family. Dad, Mom and me a Ballerina.
Mothers and daughters. A mother flower and her baby flower in a pot. My mother teaching me how to play with the yo yo.
My mother. Mom is so excited I got more beans for being good. (No those aren't freckles. Those are moles.)
Me a Mermaid, Dad jumping rope. I am swimming in the sea. I love dad very much.

CAN'T... NO SUCH THING.

My mother use to always say, "Can't is a little girl too lazy to try." Whenever we said, "Mom, I can't _______________." (Fill in the blank.)

My mother-in-law has said, "You can do hard things."

I love these words of encouragement that were pass to me from wise women. My daughter today said, "I can't make my bed." I said, "Oh, can't is a what?" She smiled, remembered, and said, "a little girl too lazy to try."

I want to pass this pieces of wisdom onto my daugters. I want them to know, if they work hard they can accomplish all things with their Father-in-Heaven's help.

Is there a phrase your mom always use to say that still sticks with you?

MJ TALK, BEFORE CC BREAKS A LEG.

CC was acting wild. She jumped off the bed and hit her head. She started to cry. I said, "Why did you jump of the bed?" She said, "Because mom I am trying to get MJ to talk." I said, "Baby, that isn't the best way to go about it."

CC has been asking me at least twice a day if we can have hot chocolate with marshmallows. With the heat and humidity it is the very last thing I am craving. I guess she is ready for fall.

MADDIE BADDIE

Look at her eyes. She loves that sissy.

WIND TUNNEL

An industrial sized fan.

Aimed directly under a white down filled blanket.

Is a pirates cave, where fairies can play.

PEEK-A-BOO

8 BEST MOMENTS OF THE DAY
1. MJ's big 4 teeth grin.
2. Cinnamon French Toast made from homemade wheat bread, hot off the skillet, with lots of butter and maple syrup.
2. Spinning the girls wildly in the office chairs.
3. Watching Sierra build an entire village for her polly pocket princesses out of blocks.
4. Playing hide and seek with Sierra and listening to her giggle madly as I walked back and forth down the hall past the linen closet where she was hiding.
5. Making a perfect dinner.
6. Watching Sierra sit still at the kitchen table and eat all of her food.
7. Smelling my babies as I cuddled and kissed them all wrapped in their towels fresh out of their bath.
8. Reading Piglet's Great Adventures to Sierra with our heads nuzzled together.

WEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Had to post this for my family. Thanks Jess!

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Wish I had of gotten a better picture of this. I now know what angle I should have taken the picture at to get a better composition but I still love it. (I know, I know, I am never suppose to blog about Nate, but I had to this once.)

Last Sunday, we were all exhausted. I invited some friends over for dinner. I was trying to do the rolls on the tray when MJ woke up from her nap early. She was still tired. She crawled after me whippering. She wanted to be held but I had to finish putting the rolls on the tray and I didn't have an extra hand. Nate was in taking a nap. I went back to our room and threw MJ on top of him and said in a huff, "Take her for a walk, do something with her. I am trying to finish dinner." I walked out of the room. (Not my most loving wife or mommy moment.) In less than a minutes she stopped crying. I thought, Wow, what happened? I snuck back into my room and peeked around the corner and he was massaging her little back. In less than five minutes this was the result. Beautiful. Perfect. I love my husband. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is such a good daddy.

NO PICTURES, JUST NIGHTMARES AND FAIRIES

I know Joy, you are skipping this one. :)

Sierra has really bad nightmares. She wakes up constantly. She won't go to sleep at night. When she tells me her dreams, I even get scared. I don't know where she gets these horrifyingly sad images from. Anyway, for weeks now it has been, there are wolves in my room. They are going to climb up the windows and come into my room. They are going to just appear in my closet. Then the monsters. There are always monsters lurking everywhere. We bought nightlights,bribed, and my sister made her a beautiful room, but she still refuses to sleep there.

A few nights ago I was at my wits end trying to get her to stay in her bed. I was sitting there kneeling at her side telling her there is no such things as monsters. I have argued this point countless times. I finally looked her in the eyes and said, "Sierra, I love you so much and your Heavenly Father loves so much. Before we came to dental school your father was given a blessing that said your great-grandma Oma Wilson would come with us to Pittsburgh and watch over us. I know that many nights she sits in this room and watches over you." Sierra asked, "Who is she?" I said, "She is your great-grandma. She died and now she is our guardian angel for a time." Sierra asked, "What is an angel?" I showed her a picture of an angel. She said, "Angels are like fairies, huh mom?" I said, "Kind of, they are kind of like fairies." (What a beautiful moment. I felt at peace and warm as I told her of all the people that loved her and watched over her. I wish I could end this post on this peaceful note. I can't.)

Conclusion: She became so excited at the prospect of fairies in her room that she couldn't sleep. Still no sleep. Then she yelled back at me and said, "Mom, I have an idea." I said, "What now?" She said, "I will die myself so I can be a fairy." I alarmingly replied, "Not a good idea." She asked, "Why?" I told her I would miss her too much. Then this morning I was cleaning the mirrors and she wanted to suck on the ammonia filled glass cleaner. I told her she couldn't because eating it would kill her. She sprayed some on the counter and licked it. What? Yes, she wants to be a fairy. Ahhhh. How do I get myself into these situations?

Moral of this story: Oh parents, be wise (wiser than me.), what can I say more?

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY MY DARLING ANGEL GIRL

Sierra's I am 4 pictures. She is getting so tall and thin.

YEAH, Aunt Emily sent me a package for my birthday!!!

Yummy, I picked out my cake. Pink Jell-o cake. Raspberry Jell-o cake with Cheesecake pudding mixed with cool whip for frosting and fresh raspberries. Yummy.

A present that lasted 12 hours. The child climbs inside and grabs onto the handles and you roll it. Nate said it wouldn't last, but I thought 12 hours was a bit ridiculous. She was sad when I took it back but she exchanged it for more princess Polly pockets, her latest obsession.

BASEBALL

Yesterday Nate took Sierra to a baseball game. They bought a hotdog and sat in the stadium and watched the game together. Nate is the secretary to the Young Men in our Church. They bought tickets for all the leaders and the youth and told Nate if he wanted to, he could take Sierra.

Conversation on the way home from playing at the Nunnery's home today.

ME: Did you have a good time at the baseball game yesterday with your dad?
CC: Yeah, but nobody would let us play.
ME: They wouldn't let you play?
CC: No. Only some other people got to hit and catch the ball. Nobody would let us play.
ME: Really, that's sad.
CC: Yeah. I guess you got to have numbers on your pants, shirt, and hat to get to play with that ball.

ODE TO JESS

Here's to Jess, my Pittsburgh sister who preserved my sanity today. MJ has been breaking through two teeth and has been very irritable. She has just whinned at me for 48 hours. I can't put her down. I can't clean my house. I can't work on the quilt that I want to finish for my growing neice. I can't make dinner. I have to walk and bounce and bounce. Anyway, I begged Jess to let me come over to her house. She spoiled MJ by letting her jump in her jump-a-roo, which she loved and giving her dum dums. After an hour of Jess MJ appeared cured and this was the final result. Heaven, a sleeping baby.

Jess took these pictures. I laugh. Do you think they are sisters? Where do they get that look of death from?

MESSY MADISON

Madison has been making messes for me. Michelle, you can empathize. She tore apart a sewing book of mine. She climbed Nate's bike and got bike grease all over her.

Then she went into the bathroom and emptied a toilet paper roll.

Every day she unloads all the movies off of this shelf. (When this picture was taken she had only started the job.)

Sierra never went from thing to thing discovering and being messy. Sierra mostly enjoyed pushing her physical limits and contracting a lot of bumps and bruises in the process. MJ likes to figure out and explore her surroundings and with that comes a whole lot of mess. Still, I think I prefer it to blood, bruises, and goose eggs.

DREAM 3 FUFILLED, BUILDING A SAND CASTLE

Thankfully my mother-in-law had her camera while we were on the beach in Erie. She sent me these pictures. Thanks mom. Sierra has been asking me for at least six months if she could go to the beach and build a sand castle. She was so excited when she saw Lake Erie. She dove in and played until the sun went down. The sunset was spectcular. We got to see it from our tent. We camped on the beach at Sara's Camp Ground. It was really crowded but the surf drowned out most of the noise. It was really fun to play as long as we wanted in the waves and then jump into bed. What a fun place to visit.

DREAM 2 FUFILLED, SEEING LES MISERABLES

Grandma McKnight and CC on the bridge next to the Benedum Center, where Les Miserables was playing.
Grandma McKnight and CC in front of the digital sign outside the Benedum Center.

Grandma McKnight and CC waiting for the show to begin.

A little know fact about me is that I was a child of the theater. I loved being on stage and hungered to perform whenever the opportunity arouse. I am not a singer or dancer, strictly an actress, but I loved musicals. My favorite play, Les Miserables. I dreamt of seeing the play as a child and learned every song by heart. My favorite character was Eponine and I would sing her parts over and over again. The opportunity never came to go until this past week. Nate gets 1/2 price tickets for up to 4 people, as a student at the University. We took advantage and went to see Les Miserables with Grandma McKnight. I was so excited. It was Sierra's first play. She loved it at first but it got a little long. She sat really still and was only disruptive with the constant questions she was whispering to me. She went to sleep after Gavroche died. She was pretty sad. I kept reassuring her that it was all just pretend. I guess I forgot how dark and morbid Les Miserables was. Not a good choice for a 3 year old. What was I thinking? Not sure.

DREAM 1 FUFILLED, SEEING THE HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT

Jesus Christ appearing to the people on the American Continent after his death and Resurrection.

Alma the Elder teaching the people and baptising them.

I had several dreams fulfilled this last week. My father served his mission in upstate New York. He use to tell us stories about performing in the Hill Cumorah pageant as a missionary. (I have always wanted to see the pageant.) He played one of the wicked high priests and a warrior in the war scene, if I remember correctly. I thought he would like to see how far the pageant has come since he was a young man. These clips are poor quality and poorly videoed but at least they are something. I love you Dad.

MJ GREW HAIR!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I don't know why I love this so much. HAHHAHAHAHAHAH.

4TH OF JULY

The 4th of July was amazing, as always. We loved every minute of it. The 4th of July is by far my favorite holiday. We had amazing festivities from dawn to dusk and beyond.

The park had a bike parade. They provided all of the 4th of July paraphernalia. Sierra loved decorating her bike and rocketing around the fountain. The parade was great.
Say hello to some of our friends. Here is the Turner family decorating bikes.

Anne Turner, isn't she beautiful. Love the skirt Anne! Your mom is so talented.

Hailey Dinger. She is so cute.

Our new friends, May and Lalo. May is in Sierra's sunbeam class.

We had a great morning playing in the park. Then MJ and I made pies and rolls, (I would have captured a pictures but the batteries died. Too bad, you would have been jealous. YUMMY.) while Nate took Sierra fishing. She had a great time and couldn't stop talking about their adventures when she got back. Then we were off to a friends home for a BBQ, the food and conversation was GREAT. YUMMY. FABULOUS. Then I bribed the night guard with the remainder of the pie to let us on the roof to watch the fireworks. I stayed behind and got MJ to bed but the view was still amazing from the 19th floor. All in all, a fabulous day. Maybe we will get to do it again next year. Fingers crossed.

LOVE BEING A MCKNIGHT, MISS BEING A CRAVEN

I love my family. Aren't my sister's gorgeous? My sister Michelle took these pictures at the ranch a couple of weekends ago.









My sister with the dark hair is still single. If any of my friends know an amazing guy looking to settle down. She might be the one..... :) (I am sure I am going to get a phone call for this. :))

ONLY SIERRA

CC (praying): Heavenly Father, thank you for my mommy that she does silly things and makes me laugh.
CC (While reading Beauty and the Beast): I don't like the Beast mom. He makes me scared when he gets mad, but it's okay, it's just a commercial. Right?

CC loves MJ. She doesn't want to do anything without her. When she is done playing in the living room and wants to go back and play with her in her bedroom, she won't ask MJ or wait until she crawls, she just hoists her up and carries her off to her bedroom. Most of the time MJ is a good sport and even smiles and laughs, but every once and a while she gets tired of being a rag doll and cries out for me to rescue her.

P.S. No she has never dropped her.

PROGRESSION OR DIGRESSION

A picture of our kitchen/laundry room. We got a portable washing machine. I am so elated. I feel like I am flushing money down the drain everytime I put money on my laundry card. My laundry has started to cost close to $35.00 dollars a month and that is just to wash my clothes and hang dry them. I know the new washing machine will cause my electric bill to go up a little, but we don't pay for water so that won't go up. Get this... I bought this beauty off fo Craig's List for $75.00. It is a year and half old. Typically they run anywhere from 500.00 to 600.00 dollars. I think I will be making a profit when I sell this beautiful, life changing device. I have been doing laundry all day and I am so happy.



Because people have been asked, here is a picture of our old house in Morningside. Here is my beautiful kitchen. I know all you Pittsburgh women are coveting. I am sure you are wondering, "Why did she move?" The kitchen and the laudry were amazing. The rest of the house not so much.