Big girl Bed or the floor?

Just before Christmas Taryn taught Jocelyn a new trick called dive in and out of your crib head first. Since we like Jocelyn's head just the way it is (and her neck) we had to get out the toddler bed...She was not impressed and it has been a rough transition...The first week or so she was frequently found like this....poor kid. Nap time has also taken a direct hit. She still really needs a nap but it is amazing how quietly she can sneak out of bed and play...or unload all the clothes in her dresser....We love this girl and hope for more sleep and less refolding soon...

Piano Recital

Cami started taking piano lessons last summer and has seemed to really enjoy it. Her first piano recital was the week before Christmas. She played I saw three ships come sailing in and a duet of Jolly Old St Nicholas. At the recital she wanted to sit in the front row but Jocelyn had other plans. Brent went and sat with her and we were surprised that she didn't seem nervous at all; however, in her prayers that night she said "And thank you for helping me do good at my recital even though I was so nervous I just wanted to cry." You really can't ask for a better kid...And she really did do an amazing job.

Probably as good as it gets this year...

So I was really hoping to do Christmas cards this year but this is probably as good as it's going to get this year. There just has constantly been something going on as is the case in everyone's homes I am sure but I have just been slow getting life taken care of. So here's an annual top ten ish list...

1. We got a new car and have seat belts for all the kids-our current ones expected one and neighbors and carpools etc...It is a Ford of course and we were pleased to still feel a lot of brand loyalty.
2. Jocelyn got tubes in her ears and can speak in sentences now. It's great!
3. Taryn started kindergarten and has thrived! Her handwriting and math skills are amazing!
4. Cami started second grade and has become a HUGE reading fan. Currently she is addicted to some books called Fablehaven but has also LOVED the Harry Potter series and the Gregor Underlander series...
5. Brent got released from the Young Men's program at church after 3 3/4 years and has been home the last few Tuesday nights. Bed time is so much more peaceful. We are looking forward to lots more family time in the summers for boating and camping and hiking since he won't have to take boys camping hiking etc every weekend.
6. Amy enjoyed a 10 year anniversary trip to Hawaii now that we have been married 12 years (with Brent). It was so relaxing we brought home a great souvenir-a baby boy due in a few weeks.
7. Brent's business has taken off more and he now officially leases out office space instead of a bedroom at grandma's...
8. Cami started piano lessons and has her very first recital this week. She is playing I saw three ships come sailing in and maybe a couple others?
9. We took our first family trip to Disneyland and had a very magical time.
10. The girls had a great summer of swimming lessons and two great soccer seasons and a great year of dance.
11. Jocelyn is still in one piece despite her mad climbing skills which Amy claims as a personal victory-knock on wood.
12. Taryn has a loose tooth and is almost done with speech therapy after almost 3 years..She just needs to work on Rs and Th.
13. Cami got braces and lost several teeth and has been an amazing trooper over the whole process...
14. Brent has continued to sing in his boy choir and has had several great concerts. It is fun for him to fill some time with community service (lots of concerts at nursing homes and community events) and to learn more about singing.

Obviously I still can't count and the year has been full and we feel very blessed. We are excited for the little boy 2012 will bring and all the next adventures life has to offer. We hope all of you have a great 2012 and a fabulous holiday season!

Hiking with the Cousins

Because I have totally slacked at blogging lately, I have neglected lots of fun memories...BUT when Brent downloaded his pictures and I saw these I had to post because these were great memories. In October we went on a hike with some of the cousins who were down visiting for the weekend. We found someone's impromptu tomato garden off the trail and lots of bees. The kids got a kick out of hiking up a crevasse and I was encouraging them until I realized that it was kind of steep and I should probably be nervous. Luckily no one was wounded in pursuit of the crevasse including the photographer...Anyway, it was just a fun laid back hike so here you have it...

An up close look at the crevasse-they had to shimmy a ways to get to this point...

A fence by the random tomato garden...All the kids taking a break while the Dad's got the group picture in...

Not sure the instructions the kids were given to get them to make these faces but they were great faces.....

Soccer Girls

This year soccer season was so fun. It never ceases to amaze me how much growth a year makes. For example Taryn's team actually followed the ball this year and scored goals. There were probably only a hand full of dandelion picking/cloud watching incidents. It was great!

Cami's team was actually purposely passing the ball and throwing the ball in to their own players.

Taryn's team didn't actually win any games but Taryn did score a few times when she hasn't ever even been interested in scoring before. Cami's team won all but the last heart breaking game and routinely I had to tell them not to score unless they had passed at least 3 times or that it was so and so's turn to score so everyone pass it to this girl until she scores...I felt guilty running the score up to high...

Yes, I did get to coach Cami's team thanks to Grandma who watched Jocelyn during practices and Taryn who was my assistant coach. I know it is weird but coaching little kid soccer is so energizing to me. I just love watching kids feel proud of themselves and I laugh so hard at the funny things they do....Anyway, here's a few highlights of the season.

Jocelyn learned how to say soccer, soccer ball, soccer practice, and genuinely had fun watching the girls and playing on the side lines.

Cami taking a goal kick. I love her action shots because she is totally concentrating all the time.

Me and Cami mid play-They have the coaches ref the games on the field and sometimes it was seriously hard not to step in and play myself.

Taryn and her team-I think the highlight of the season was they got the pink polka dotted uniforms...Taryn was VERY pleased that they got the pretty uniforms....Has anyone read Fancy Nancy about how ruffled socks really do help her play soccer better? That was the case with this team for sure...

Taryn sporting her purple sweatshirt over her pink uniform but she is going the right direction on the field and kicking the ball so the season was a total success....

Taryn about to score. I love pee wee soccer and my kids are great to humor me.

Jocelyn turns 2!!!

Can you believe she is two?! How did that happen? Seriously? Although she had a surprising and semi stressful entrance into this world she has been a bundle of joy from day one. She was a pretty laid back baby. She endured all the hands on lovin' and has turned into a busy, curious, silly two year old.

She is talking more each day and the words she does say are actually very clear. My favorite is "Yes, please." She can say every one's name except her own and even calls the baby "baby boy." She can often be found in the closet tearing down the new jammie's to check them out, the whole time saying "Baby boy...Baby boy..." I hope she is as excited to see her new little buddy as she has been his jammie's.

She is so attached to her lady bug blanket or bug bug bankie as she calls it. Now whenever she is wounded she begs for it and tries to constantly sneak it out of her crib....She also loves teddy bear, duck duck, and minnie but really they are a distant second place. Yes she is still in a crib because despite her proclivity to climbing she hasn't tried to climb out of it. I still occasionally need her to be somewhere that she can't escape from yet....

She is a FAST runner and has a really great bum shake action when she dances. She loves throwing food almost as much as she likes eating. Her current favorite food is granola bars but she eats pretty much everything (especially if it is served with dippy-ranch). She finally broke 20 pounds at her last well child check (21 pounds) and got to flip around in her car seat. (Which is good because she was getting quite a lethal kick that Cami and Taryn weren't enjoying). She is still following the 3% growth curve in head circumference and weight and the 15% in height.

She has loved watching the girls play soccer and cheering them on this fall (talk about cute when she says soccer). She has started singing when we play music and has a really soft but high pitched voice. In contrast we finally have a kid who has a good hardy laugh-it shakes her whole body. (Cami's is silent when she is really laughing and Taryn's resembles a scream.)

We couldn't be luckier to have her in our family. She is seriously so cute-her smile and her mannerisms-when I can keep up with her. If I could kiss her forever I wouldn't be able to kiss her enough.

The first sister love for Jocelyn

The first mommy love...on the outside atleast...

Checking out the world after her exciting surprise entrance...

Opening a present on her big day with crazy hair.

Blowing out the candles on her lady bug cake...mom accidentally caught giving the assist...

Her birthday crown that stayed on about 2 seconds...

Taryn ready for a fall day of school...

I love this kid. I really do. She is the most spirited fashion conscious unique girl I have ever met. On the first day that it was below 80 degrees this is how she dressed for school (and lunch). Pictures speak a thousand (or more) words so enough said....

Before and After minus the before....

So Cami got braces in September and we were more than a little concerned it would be traumatic. Turns out it was no big deal.

I took her to the dentist last summer and while there I asked if he thought she should see an orthodontist. He said "I doubt it. She is still really young and has several baby teeth to lose."...then she opened her mouth and he said, "hmmmm... let me give you the names of several good orthodontists and you can see who can get you in."...

So her permanent teeth were coming in so far back in her mouth (crowded out by the others) that the gum tissue wasn't forming around the new teeth. In an effort to try to avoid gum grafts in a couple of years we are trying to pull those teeth into a position that the gums can properly form around the teeth...hence braces on our 7 yr old. She'll have them on for a year ish then off until the rest of her baby teeth are out and then probably have them on a while longer...

In the mean time we get to decorate her mouth with holiday colored rubber bands and see and fantastic smile emerging...

Cami in her Halloween Bands.

Taryn's Big 6 Birthday Day

She started out so tiny. Brent was scared to dress her because he literally thought he might break an arm off. There's no denying she adds a whole lot of flare to our home even in her pint sized body. Her zest for life is unbeatable and she loves so passionately. So here's to our beautiful 6 year old-she's amazing!

THE butterfly cake WITH eatable glitter....of course because who on earth could enjoy a cake without glitter? And look at that smile! Yes she really is that happy most of the time....especially on a day focused entirely on her.

For her birthday party she requested (and was REALLY serious about it) a Barbie rock out party...Thanks to all the kids that indulged her...It was truly a rock out.

The fancy cup cake decorating station courtesy of Aunt Rebekah's gently pre used decorations...It really wasn't as crazy as I was imagining letting 16 little girls decorate their own cup cakes...We of course did the traditional scavenger hunt to find the pinata and also pin the horn on the unicorn. And since this was Taryn's day face painting was an absolute must (I figured it was a better choice than the make up make overs she really requested.) We also had a get the Barbie dressed relay and a make the Barbie purse craft during which I was impressed no one got glitter glue or puffy paint on furniture or floors...Afterwards I found myself very thankful that birthdays come only once a year....

Super Scholar

It's nice to start the school year off right. At the end of each month Cami's school awards a kid in each class with a super scholar award. She was awarded super scholar the first month. She really loves to read and does it faster than myself or Brent (honestly). She got sick last June (yes right after she finished 1st grade) for a couple of days...She read the first Harry Potter the first sick day, the second Harry Potter the next sick day and by the end of two weeks had finished all seven books. At first we were like no way she is just skipping over parts but then we'd ask her questions and she'd know everything we were talking about and ask us really thoughtful questions in return. I think she has read them all at least 3 times if not 4 by now...Now if we can just slow her down enough to write legibly we'll be in business!

Traditions...Family Game Night and Taco Tuesdays/Thursdays or whenever

So this year has been crazy busy between my job at church, Brent's job at church, the work situation, and girls with dance, soccer, and piano...We felt like we were just rushing around and not exactly having fun as a family, although individually lots of things were fun. SO we made a change.

Brent knew of this family who for years and years has a had a family game night. No matter what they all drop other commitments and hang out with each other. They seem to be a close nit family and we really want our kids to like us and each other.

We do spend every Monday night together as a family but usually we are working on "learning" things. Thursday nights were open and we decided to institute family game night. The first one was a hit and ever since the girls remind us that it is game night and get all excited to choose out a game. It actually has been really interesting to see game strategies of a 7 yr old and 6 yr old and 2 yr old. Cami's favorite game is battleship or the balloon game while Taryn prefers Fancy Nancy build a parfait or Don't Eat Pete. Jocelyn likes anything she can sabotage....It has just been really nice to take some time and shut out the world and make it a focus to have fun and enjoying each other. I hope it lasts.

This is the balloon game and Cami is actually good at whooping us on this one-and Taryn always begs to be on Brent's team for some reason....Maybe she knows he doesn't get as distracted by Jocelyn as I do....

Jocelyn swiping the game cards....

We also started a Taco Tuesday tradition. Who knew the girls would like hard shelled tacos so much?! Easy for me to prepare and I don't have to talk anyone into eating. YEA!!

two ponies and time flies when your having fun?

So the other day I was wondering why has it been so hard to find time lately...time for painting toe nails, time for cleaning the house, time for reading, time for blogging....Then I got Brent to download pictures (new computer stores/downloads different and I haven't succumbed to figuring it out yet) and I remembered where all my time has gone.... Behold my time sink...BUT isn't she cute?

My last few months according to Jocelyn.

The Diaper Situations...

So apparently Jocelyn decided it was a great idea to change her own poopie diaper during nap time....She was REALLY proud of herself and I got to do REALLY a lot of extra laundry! (two days in a row no less....)

The mostly naked child waking up happy...

The soiled yet removed clothing, blankets and cuddles...(no visible nasties for the faint of heart)...

The diaper alone in its glory...

WOW what a good trick Jocelyn!

She has decided she likes to unload each puzzle simultaneously and throw all cabillion pieces all over her room....SERIOUS FUN!!! Now that is something to smile about.

And just in case the books feel left out she is awesome at unloading the bookshelf and dragging books throughout the house. She occasionally stops to read them too...(during which time I am booking it to repair the damage from the previous ten minutes)

She has decided that lotion makes the BEST hair product. I think this was the third time she slicked her hair on this particular day...And just in case you are wondering why I didn't move the offending lotion after the first slicking rest assured I did...BUT Taryn keeps spare lotion with her beauty supplies...and Jocelyn is amazing in her climbing abilities so even up on high dressers it is not safe....

And taking a break in the madness of hair care lets enjoy the double ponies for the first time. Jocelyn has been one bald baby and what she does have is curly so it looks shorter than it is. Now the back is getting long enough to slick into two ponies...."Long enough" is loosely used in our family.

Jocelyn has learned how to throw great fits lately...For several weeks they revolved around her booster seat because she wanted to sit at the counter with the big girls....She won.

Jocelyn refuses to eat any bread unless it is home made. Good thing I like to make bread. When it cools this is what I find Jocelyn doing since she is tall enough to reach now.

I have never been a huge make up user. I did own three things of lipstick-mostly because I bought horrific colors the first two times (I am totally color challenged when it comes to make up for myself). Well it is safe to say I no longer have any lipstick...Jocelyn used it all on her art projects and own extreme make overs....

Lipstick to recolor the rocking chair-doesn't it look great?!

A new color for the bathroom walls? Not to mention after I took this I closed the door and that was where the real priceless art work turned out to be...

And WOW doesn't she look inviting!?

SO...time flies when you are having fun??? At least that is how I explain it when wondering why I don't have time to do anything on my to do list....