Taryn's Top 5

Happy Birthday to Taryn! Happy Birthday to Taryn! Happy Birthday Dear Taryn! Happy Birthday to you!!! Taryn turned 5 a week ago and I can't believe it! She is such a fun energetic kiddo. She has been planning her 5 year old birthday party for about two years now-making lists and checking them more than twice...She wanted an Aerial bride birthday cake. She wanted a big girl (two wheeler) scooter... Every time we go to Target and she sees something she likes she says "OH! Can we get that for my birthday?" Needless to say expectations were REALLY HIGH! So we had a birthday party with her preschool on Saturday. She of course wanted to plan all the games-face painting, mummy wrapping, a scavenger hunt, a pinata....We got so busy we forgot to play pin the tail on Aerial. Luckily we all cooperated and played that at the family party (cake and ice cream).

Anyway, here are 5 of my top favorites about Taryn:

1. I love her voice and the way she says things. I love how hard she works at speech class but I will be sad when her cute little high pitched Chinese goes away...

2. I love her smile. If you know her you know she is either smiling or screaming...I love the smiling part. It seriously sparkles.

3. I love her coordination skills. Watching her in ballet is really like watching art (she stays on her tip toes the whole time). She busts out in "salsa dancing" all the time and she can really shake it for a 5 year old. She is so graceful. I love watching her turn the pages on books-I have since she was like 2. The way she moves her fingers is really pretty. Her coloring is amazing. I love how she can control her movement-I know that sounds weird but its true.

4. I love how she hums when she eats if she likes what she is eating. She totally subconsciously hums whatever is running through her head-usually Taylor swift or some variation of a primary song. I love that she is not a picky eater and will try anything.

5. I love how she teases and how she is so fun loving. She is just a happy girl most of the time and it is really fun to have a happy kid around. She makes our family way more lively and fun.

I could go on and on about the good little spirit she has and the funny things she does. She is a truly endearing child.

Taryn blowing out the candles on Aerial's wedding dress cake...yes she is my child only girly to the core...

Taryn riding her new scooter in her new zebra rain boots. She is in heaven here. She hasn't taken the boots off for hardly a minute since opening them...yes she is wearing tights and a tutu too...

Taryn and the pinata...Luckily no one lost an eye or any other vital body part...

FINALLY!!!!

Finally the moment Cami has been living for, dreaming of, working towards...Her first tooth popped out today at school. We have been watching it dangle for a few weeks and wiggling it for several more than that. Cami was so excited to surprise me when I picked her up.

I must admit I was sort of dreading the awkward losing teeth/regrowing teeth/braces THEN looking normal again phase BUT I really love the look. Mostly I just really love the girl!

Super Scholar and the Food Baby and the Pink Dynamites

SUPER SCHOLAR=Cami Weight!!!

Cami got an award for being the super scholar in her class for September. She got called up to the front of an assembly and was given a certificate by her teacher. Grandma, her sisters, and I all cheered really loud for her. Her teacher says she is always the first one done with her work and then quietly sits at her desk and reads a book. This was the pick me up that Cami needed I think to start feeling more confident at school.

Cami, Grandma, Jocelyn, and Taryn after the assembly.

Cami and her teacher.

Jocelyn and her new found kitchen skills.

Pardon me, do you happen to have any graham crackers...oh never mind...mine is stuck to my head right where I left it...

Taryn on the pink dynamite team...they have a cheer about how dynamite goes boom and then they all fall over...she loves it...

Soccer is a little disheveling...Good thing the coach brings good treats to practice to make it worth the running.

Hmmmm.....

The other night Cami was still awake an hour after getting tucked in bed. I went in to see what the deal was and she said "Mom, I have a question. What happens when a blue whale meets up with a shark?"
I said "What?" (we hadn't even been talking about fish or sea world or anything all day)
She said "Do they like fight... and who wins 'cuz whales are so big but sharks are so mean..."
Hmmm...glad to have a thinker on my hands...

You may have noticed...

You may have noticed lately that our house is a little messier than usual...that plants are over turned...drawers are emptied out onto the floor...closets are ransacked....anything with a cord is unplugged and dragged out and left....cupboards and spilling open....AND that we have one very happy baby! Welcome to the world of mobility JOCELYN!!!! We LOVE you...and in a couple years you'll help us clean it all up right?

School o school I hate you you stink!

Isn't there a poem about homework oh homework I hate you you stink I wish I could wash you away in the sink? I feel a lot that way about school. I hate sending my kids off for hours to learn things I don't teach them. I hate how quiet the house seems and I wonder if the end of the day will ever come so I can go get them. Taryn misses Cami so much now she is gone all day and I think Cami misses us all a lot too.

It has been a hard transition for her to be gone all day and eat lunch at school. It doesn't help that all her little friends from last year are in other classes. My heart breaks for her when she tells me she didn't have anyone to eat with or play with...(a big shout out though to her second cousin Nathan who ate with her on the first day of school-you are awesome kiddo). I hate growing pains-I know they are normal but friendships can be so painful not to have.... She has decided that she wants to try tumbling/gymnastics instead of dance t his year and soccer starts next week.

Taryn has loved going to the busy beehive preschool again and we love love love Miss Megan. Taryn genuinely feels comfortable and has so much fun there. She learns a lot and plays a lot and it is good for her. She has started dance again and starts speech again next week. I think she is most excited about soccer starting. I am trying to keep her busy but I keep hearing "I SO BORED MOMMY!!!" (without Cami).

Anyway, I am thankful my kids have access to good education and that they are learning and growing...I just really miss them in the process and I hope they are learning all they need to and none of what they don't need to. :)

Taryn BEGGED to wear her church dress and curls in her hair on her first big day. She wanted to look so pretty and fancy....

Cami was more nervous than Taryn...doesn't she look a little Nancy Drew ish or something...very preppy little girl (she chose out the outfit herself of course).

RESISTING

Taryn is a child who surprises me every time she opens her mouth...I love most of what comes out and despite me not knowing how to parent such a completely intense child she is a really fun kid. So this week we were at Wal-mart looking for batteries...

We walked past the girls underwear section. Any clothing-especially anything girly is a true love for Taryn. (again I don't get it but she is so endearing about about her weird clothes fetishes) She was checking out every package and hugging them and talking a mile a minute in her high totally excited voice....Then she froze for two seconds.

Next was the funniest thing I have seen her do in forever. She started jumping up and down and dancing and squealing....she grabbed the panties off the rack and managed to verbalize something about the WHOLE package being Ariel's....When she finally had her wits about her to make a sentence she said "Mommy can we get them..."

To which I replied "Taryn I cleaned out your panties yesterday and you have like 300 pairs still...You don't need them buddy but the are pretty..."

Then she got the longing look on her face and in all seriousness said "But mommy they are so beautiful!!! I just can't RESIST!!!!"

End of Summer Bash/Camp out

So I had issues with pictures again....BUT before too much happens I wanted to post these anyway.

The girls took one last round of swimming lessons. Miss Kristen and Kenedy were awesome and Taryn wants to have them over for play dates.... The girls learned a ton and we will definitely be doing this again next summer.

THEN we decided to go camping for a few days up in pine valley. We hiked around in the woods and found a cool Indian tee pee and a bear cave and all sorts of stuff...The girls were totally occupied just exploring the world for hours. Brent capitalized on this and went fishing and played with his camera. My sister came up for a dutch oven dinner one night and Brent went skeet shooting with them while I cleaned up. We ate a lot of ginormous s'mores (Brent saw HUGE marshmallows in the store and couldn't resist) and laid in the hammock watching shooting stars...This was Jocelyn's first camping trip and other than not sleeping worth squat she did fabulous. It was a really relaxing-a much needed change of pace for everyone.

The girls last day of swimming

My little Indian braves...except they are girls...

Taryn checking to see how cold the reservoir really was...she didn't last long...

Cami day dreaming and happy about it.

The girls rocking out on the stage/rock they discovered...

Jocelyn and her tongue...Glad I could contribute genetically to my child in some way...

It was torrential our last morning there so thank goodness to Grandma and Papa's camping trailer we still enjoyed our doughnuts...

Cami with her monster marshmallow s'more-yes her pony tail is stuck to her arm in it and it is smeared on her forehead and pretty much everywhere else...thank goodness for serious baby wipes...

Some candid moment in the life of the weights...our "real" family moments.

california adventure baby-

True to our character and current lifestyle we decided last Wednesday night to take a quick trip to CA. Brent was able to take a couple of days off (work was more manageable for the first time in a few years) so we got on the computer at 10 pm and found a hotel in CA. We packed like crazy and loaded the girls in the car at 430 am Thursday morning and took off. Brent is taking after his dad insisting that it is easier to drive when girls are asleep...the only problem was Taryn and Jocelyn were too excited to go back to sleep...at least they were happy and not unpleasant. With about an hour left to drive Cami busted out with our first family "Are we there yet?" and Brent and I just busted up....just the way she asked in a nice polite but ready to be done with the car voice was sooo funny.

So we got to CA with plenty of time to hit the beach on Thursday. The girls had watched a Barbie surfing movie and had been talking about being mermaids and surfing and finding magic seashells for a couple of weeks so we thought they would really like this. Well it was about half the temperature there (68 vs like 105) so we opened the car doors and Cami said "wow it's kind of freezing here!" BUT we did persevered. The girls enjoyed getting buried and making mermaid tails looking for sea shells and watching the train rumble by. They were a little afraid of the water and that was ok with me-the waves were huge and it was a surfer only day. Jocelyn enjoyed eating tons of sand and rolling all over in it. It was a really fun afternoon and I didn't have to clean any sand out of the shower and only felt a little sorry for the hotel staff.

The next morning we went to Lego land...I thought it was just a big park with a lot of legos to play with...not so. WE LOVED LEGO LAND!!! The rides were perfect for the ages of our kids and it wasn't crowded (no time wasted in long lines). Both Cami and Taryn rode roller coasters for the first time. Brent didn't think they would at first. Then I told him to be a little sneaky and not tell them what kind of ride it was and see if they liked it. At first they were terrified and then when they got off Cami wanted to ride again and again.

One funny thing that happened was at the end of the day we walked through a new water exhibit with tanks of different fish. In the first one there was a big puffer fish like on The Little Mermaid. Taryn walked up to it completely serious and yelled "HEY puff puff! Can you do me a favor? Go find Aerial for me!" and then she waited....

Also at the end of the day we walked past a flamingo enclosure and Taryn said "oh no mom, don't get close!" I asked why and she said "They're FLAMingos...they will shoot flames out their mouths and burn us!" and she quickly ran away...

Jocelyn was a champ and took a nice long nap in the stroller and just enjoyed the crowds with her usual happy go lucky disposition. And the best part was I don't think I heard any whining the whole day even though everyone got to bed hours later than normal.

Saturday we told the kids they could choose what they wanted to do (beach again, zoo, wild animal park, Disney land, sea world, etc)...they choose Sea World. Cami is such a good sister. She really wanted to go to Disneyland but she knew Taryn wouldn't be tall enough for a lot of the rides and she said "Mom let's go to Sea World because I want Taryn to have fun too." I love her good little heart. She truly unselfishly wants her sisters to be happy.

Sea World was insanely crowded. The shows were good and much different than we saw there 2 years ago (no people in the water with the animals). They added birds to the dolphin show and Taryn danced around like a bird for the rest of the day. She begged and begged to be in the splash zone at every show while Cami begged and begged to not be in the splash zone. Towards the end of the day Taryn got her dream come true and got soaked at the fire show while the rest of us stayed a safe distance back (there weren't a lot of people so she could go sit down a couple of rows and we were able to see/talk to her still). Again Jocelyn handled the day phenomenally and we all had a good time.

Sunday we left again at 4 am (just for the record I REALLY don't want to make a habit of this and Brent REALLY does....) and got home in time to take good Sunday afternoon naps. Anyway it was really fun to hang out with Brent 24x7 and watch the girls have so much exciting fun.

I have the best family ever.

So I had issues getting pictures on here for some reason so they aren't too organized or centered or whatever...sorry.

Lego land

The first roller coaster...they don't know what's coming...

Jocelyn snoozing away...good girl!

The entrance

Jocelyn well rested post nap...

I said go pose by those pretty flowers and I'll take your picture...this is how they posed...

Don't eat me...
oh no I've been eaten...
Daddy taking one for the team and riding on the water ride with the girls...

Doesn't she look like a rodeo queen or something?

Its all about speed for Taryn

Getting back to the hotel REALLY late (around 11 pm)

The Beach (San Clemente)

Mermaid tails...they are hard to see.

Working on sand castles..

Hmmm... I like this sand stuff...

Nope, nope I don't....It doesn't taste as good as I was hoping.....

Sea World

Taryn pretending to be a bird after the dolphin show...

Cami was very impressed with the pet show...they have been begging for a cat...not gonna happen.

We walked in the gate and saw cotton candy...they were so excited they couldn't wait! Glad to see my girls are really my girls.

Love those baby teeth...incidentally Jocelyn did get a new tooth one of the nights we were there and another one last week so her grand total is 5 chompers....