Winter wonderland

This year has seemed much more "christmasy" than the last few and maybe the pictures below will explain some of that. It has snowed more in St George than I have ever seen. It snowed for several days, and one night it was cold enough the snow actually stuck. The first round of snow the girls were outside often sneaking out to "taste" the snowflakes. It was so funny because they walked around with their faces up until Taryn face planted on the hard driveway because she really couldn't see (snowflakes in the eyes and not looking down at all). Only a mild bruise resulted on her forehead and nose. By 7 am the next morning the girls were ready and BEGGING to make a snow man....
By 730 am we were all out in the snow with Frosty (as the girls named him). Fortunately for us he did not dance off anywhere with our children. After Frosty was finished Daddy introduced the girls to the concept of snowball fights and after a few tears of surprise and anger the girls did get into it first attacking Dad (as he asked for it) then turning on mom. After the extravaganza and dad leaving for work, they covered the back yard in snow angels. The girls stayed out for what seemed like forever until mom convinced them their fingers and toes were going to fall off and they could make another snow man and grandma and papa's in a few days.

A few nights before the snow storm we decorated a ginger bread house....no not all of the candy made it onto the house and Taryn was very taken with the frosting....Thanks Jess! (a friend who brought us the kit)

Waders

Needless to say these waders aren't used in fishing....They are the latest accessory in dress ups!

Pink Alert!

We had our Christmas dance recital on Saturday and it was soooo much better than the spring event. It was on a stage and the girls had REALLY STINKING HUGE TUTUS (both of which made the girls incredibly excited). Another highlight was that Cami was terrific. She knew all the steps and looked just like a real ballerina. Taryn participated this time instead of laying on the floor for the whole dance and she didn't kick anyone. There were however some moments of excitement.....See the play by play below.

The opening move right on cue.

Taryn following along looking cute. So far so good.

Taryn realizing she had a big tutu on that twirled great and she had most of the stage to try it out on....She bolts completely forgetting the routine.

Cami continuing to rock it and Taryn spinning and twirling back stage and loving every minute of it.

After the recital Taryn says "mommy I have so so so much fun!!!!"

After the recital Cami said "I remembered all my steps!"

Two girls trying to cooperate for a picture when they are really tired and danced out...but who wouldn't be carrying around a load as big as those tutus!

dreaming of sugar plum fairies

Ever since we unpacked the Christmas decor this is how Cami has slept...

This is how Taryn sleeps every night. She goes to bed and sweetly smiles. Then as soon as the light is out and we are out she sneaks out and grabs a collection of books to fall asleep with. After she gets back in bed it takes two seconds to fall asleep-unless of course we go in and take the books and then it takes about twenty minutes until she is done crying and saying "you a mean mommy!!!"

First lights of the season

Last Sunday we took the girls to look at lights and a nativity. They had a lot of fun and wanted to put up our lights right away. We finally got some on the house today and this evening when Taryn looked out and saw them for the first time she stood really still (amazing for her) and all she could say was "WOW! WOW!" I love the magic of this season.

The nativity program thing

Cami light gazing

The St George LDS temple with lights

ps-As suspected no Cami would not eat the turkey on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving favs

For Thanksgiving two sisters came down and celebrated with the two of us that live down here and it was a blast! Wednesday night we got together for a little taco soup action then Thursday we had sooo much fun. We ate around noon and the girls helped me craft turkey cup things for candy corns. They felt very grown up to use sissors and glue by themselves. After dinner Rebekah and Josh created a great treasure hunt at around town locations and the kids pretended to be treasure explorers. (Thanks for waking up at 6 to go hide the clues and for all the time it took creating the idea). They found a pot of gold at the end. Friday we went to a craft fair with the girls and later the boys hit the new james bond flick. While the boys were gone the kids helped me "rake" leaves. The boys got home just in time to feed the ducks and eat pizza. These were very aggressive ducks-probably didn't get enough turkey the day before-luckily Jared's nip wasn't too serious. Saturday we hiked and picnicked and crafted more (hooray for cricuts!). By Sunday I think we were all tired but then we got a surprise treat when our friends the Lewis's stopped by on their way through town. It was a super busy super fun weekend. The nicest part was Brent actually took off work and played with us the whole weekend. The girls had serious withdrawal on Monday.

After the treasure hunt the cousins gave their best explorer faces...

Here comes the leaf fight...I mean "raking"

The Weight girls and the Lewis's

The latest playtime- watch out paul mitchell!

So one of the new favorite games at our house is "doing hair." The girls used to be content with barbies and babies but recently discovered it is soooo much more fun to use real people. Their favorite is to spray hair to soaking the twirl the comb all up making fantastic knots (fantastic in not a really nice way). After one or two rounds of this it is now a single parent activity. (Thank you Brent for taking one for the team!)

So you think you can Dance? This one's for you!

Look what I found at the Jubilee of trees. Yes, that is Matt from so you think you can dance.....I saw him and tried to sneak up and get a stalker shot of him until one of his fellow dance crew guys said hey Matt and he turned around. Then the guy said she wants a picture of you and grabbed my phone (hence the not so great quality). So here I am with the most famous dancer I've ever PERSONALLY MET! Charie this is for you!

(Brent did call me a teenage girl for doing this so I hope you all enjoy!)

Everyone needs a good laugh

Yesterday I took the girls shopping for Thanksgiving food. Cami asked what we needed to buy and I told her turkey. She said do daddies have to go hunting to get turkeys for dinner (She learned about pilgrims and Indians in preschool). I told her they used to but now we just go to Harmon's. She of course (she is a 20 question child) asked where Harmon's gets turkeys. I told her from a turkey farm. She then said where do turkey farms get them? Stumped I said well they just grow them from baby turkeys. She said wait there are turkey moms and dads and babies? I said yup thinking this would be the end of the discussion. After a minute she said "Awe, mom that's really sad. We eat turkeys? (finally realizing that meat is animal...) Do we have to get one?" I will have to let you know if she will actually eat any on thanksgiving...I doubt it.

This morning I took Taryn swimming. She was holding her breath and going under and floating etc. I said "Taryn you are a fish!" She said "I not a fish mommy. I a mermaid. See..."And off she went singing at the top of her lungs "ahahah"-the mermaid song.

Dancing with the spooks-

This year Halloween seemed to be a week long event. Every time I turned around it was time to dress up again. This isn't really different from the typical day because the girls get dress ups out at least two or three times a day. The only difference was that Cami wanted sparkly make-up on her face and loved every minute of it while I was praying that my 4 year old didn't look too hoochy. She was a very sparkly Tinkerbell and Taryn was a very happy witch. Speaking of witches it has to be one of the most common Halloween costumes ever but the accessories (brooms and cats and hats) are not really user friendly for a three year old. Luckily we all still have our eyes but their dance teacher might not have appreciated the broom as much as Taryn did. Anyway the first party of the week was at dance class. All the girls dressed up and did a cup cake dance/walk and trunk or treated each other. It definitely got the excitement flowing.

Taryn trying to be a real witch and fly away on her broom.

Cami trying to be the fairest fairy in the land.

The whole dancing gang...notice the amount of princesses and pink...it must be the demographic that Disney aims for.....Dance away you spooky princesses!

Preschool trunk or treat

Cami has the best preschool teacher in St George. (she is the bee) She had a class on trick or treating safety and then organized a trunk or treat with all the parents so they could practice their newly learned etiquette. There were lots of "pleases," "thank yous," and "don't eat that yet!!! it could be poisoned!!!! Let you mom see it first!!!!" It was tons of fun for all the kids and Taryn got a kick out of seeing all the costumes. She too felt the need to dress up for the occasion and was a great helper handing out ("testing out") all the candy.

Halloween

Halloween day was so fun as both girls are old enough for anticipation. They get really really excited for every holiday and it makes it fun to be a mom. On Halloween morning we (my sister Rebekah was in town with her fabulous kiddos) took the kiddos trick or treating at the middle school. (the school offers this as a "community service") The went from classroom to classroom and cousin Madison made them feel right at home. Some of the teenager costumes were a little scary for the girls but it was all in good fun. After that we went to the elementary schools Halloween parade and Cami got all excited to be able to be in the parade next year. We played with cousins that afternoon then had dinner at Grandma's. Afterwards we trick or treated at the Grandmas and Thompson's (my other sister) then did our own block. The girls ran between houses and when they saw houses decorated too spooky (with smoke machines and fake blood) they just kept running. Now almost two weeks later we are still living with the consequences of very generous neighbors. How do you get rid of candy without upset kids and without gaining 15 pounds of chocolate weight? Wish us better luck next year....It was fun to trick or treat with cousins and really make Halloween a holiDAY!

The cousins making their best scary faces...and Cami screaming because wow that's scary!

I talked Taryn into the Minnie Mouse costume for the actual day because I just thought it was so cute. Grandma Jennings helped convince her by letting her carry her Minnie doll around. Yea for grandma-we all appreciated not having to carry the broom and hat!

Cami would make a good fairy. She flutters just like a real "permanent" fairy.

This is your face on Drugs...

So Taryn is apparently violently allergic to amoxicillin...

This is her face on Tuesday morning...day five post initial reaction...it did look more watermelonish and red prior to these pictures but who thinks to take a camera to the hospital unless they are having a baby...



I noticed hives going on Friday and took her right into the dr. He said that she had a classic allergic drug reaction. By Saturday she was spiking fevers and really swollen and really really itchy. By Sunday her whole head was swollen and she wouldn't use her hands to hold anything or her feet to stand at all. Sunday night she was sooo miserable with such high fevers (103.7) we took her back to the dr. thinking we'd get some steroids and observation...So they stuck her in the hospital to rule out a bunch of stuff (because of the joints and fevers) and to make sure she maintained her airway. They let us leave Monday afternoon and by today she is walking a little and eating a little and not itching constantly. So in the end after all the tests it looks like she is just really really really violently allergic to amoxicillin....Never a dull moment with this child is there? At least the strep is gone...(reason for the amoxicillin in the first place.)

Taryn's big day

Taryn is 3 and I can't believe it! That first year of life seemed to last FOREVER (in a nice way) but since then it has flown by (in a sad ish way) . I don't have a baby anymore but I have an unbelievable little girl. We got to spend a lot of Saturday with our good friends the Francoms. It was so fun to see all the kids playing and excited. We went "hiking" for a little while but froze ourselves to death. It was seriously cold for St George and since the girls both had strep last week the outdoor adventure didn't last too long. We also went to Cami's soccer game and Taryn bee lined it onto the field to help several times. The rest of the time she cuddled up with Daddy and tried to stay warm. We had a little BBQ party that evening and yes I did break down and BUY a cake. I have never bought a birthday cake because I get a kick out of making them but she begged for the Aerial cake from the grocery store bakery for like 2 months...so she got it and mom was pleasantly surprised at how much I didn't miss making it. Taryn has had major anticipation for her birthday this year and it was really fun to watch her having her very much looked forward to day.

Grandma and Papa came down a few weeks early for the pre birthday birthday party. It definitely built her excitement and helped her have a wonderful birthday.

"THE" cake and she even got the candles out. I hope her wish comes true whatever it was...

Taryn and Evie and Kai soooo happy to have "new" friends. They kept talking about how they were the same age. It was really funny.

The excitement of polly pockets...a little girls dream come true.

New clothes are AMAZING! Yes she is hugging them.

More soccer mom shots

How could I not love soccer and being a soccer mom with a face like that thanking me. It has been really fun to coach. Although 4 year old girls are prone to be a little distracted and emotional (there are dandelions and butterflies and missed goals) they have been really good sports. There's only been tears a few times. They all really like to do our team cheer "GO TANGERINES!!" (yes we are the tangerines....) Anyway I couldn't resist a few more pictures of soccer....

Cami stealing the ball from a pink girl

Amy playing goalie accidentally in a no goalie 3v3 league....oops!

The team cheer!

Taryn is a BIG girl these days...

Taryn is such a funny girl. Since Cami started preschool we have been having mommy/Taryn dates every Monday and Wednesday morning. It has been so nice just to have some one on one with her and I appreciate her little funny personality more after hanging out with her. She is working on learning her letters and the other day spelled her name for me. I celebrated the moment so much that now she runs around saying T A R Y N! She is constantly saying funny things ("mommy, I not a baby. I a BIG girl") She is working on counting (1,2,3,4,6,7,12,13...) and her colors are pretty solid now. Her hair is starting to finally fill in a little and she looks adorable in buns! She helps me coach Cami's soccer team and gets a kick out of blowing my whistle and getting drinks for anyone who's thirsty. She is still way more coordinated than a kid her age should be (and that leads to trouble) but she would love to actually be on the team if she were two years older. She loooooves water-to drink I mean. It is really hard to even get her to drink milk or any other beverage. She loves getting her toe nails painted, especially blue or purple. She is finally potty trained and does a really good job being independant with that. She is growing some too...She is up to 25 pounds and She is definately taller since her size 2T jeans are high waters now. When she is happy she is soooo happy! Anyway I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate what a fun happy little spirit she is and I am so thankful she is part of our family.

Hanging out with Taryn and jump roping for our "date"