Olive said the blessing on the food at dinnertime tonight. She prayed that we would be able to go to the temple soon and be together as a family. And then she looked at my face for a reaction.

And here's part of what she said in her bedtime prayer tonight: "...And please could I not have scary dreams tonight? Just nice ones, like glitter, and sparkles, and Care Bears, and pillows."

Olive's prayer just now: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, please bless Mommy will have a great night, and please bless that Heavenly Father loves all the daddys amd brothers and sisters. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." And then she asked me if Heavenly Father heard her. I said he did, and she said, "Where is he, behind the roof?"

Here's Olive with her favorite boy buddy, Konner, at library craft time.

I was pretty impressed with her letter b. And today when she was trying to write the number 2, she had a little bit of a hard time with it. But once she figured it out her whole face lit up, and she asked if she could keep writing 2's.

It's happening. George has started climbing out of his crib. I actually expected him to do it way sooner than this because he's such an agile little guy. But anyway, it's happening now. Bedtime was really rough for a few nights until I thought, "What did I do when the girls started doing this?" And then Chris reminded me the total hell we went through for a few months with them, until I started singing them to sleep. Staying with them until they went to sleep was against my ideals at the time, but I chucked that ideal out the window when I realized how much more peaceful bedtime was for them and for me. If doing that is my big crime as a mom, I'll happily be that criminal! It's been about 2 years that I've been singing them to sleep. And I knew doing that with Georgey would be helpful. So, I sat the girls down and told them it was time to start going to bed on their own; that Mommy and Daddy would still tuck them in and listen to their prayers, and that we'd leave their door open if they needed it, but that they had to go to bed on their own. They've been little champs about it. They chat and sing for just a few minutes, and then they go to sleep just fine. And staying with Georgey is working well. Sleep is precious around here; ideals are for the birds.