The Random Photo Post

There were a lot of cute captions for the photo, but I have to say Jen is the winner with : "I give up! Who needs toys, just get me out of here!"

As for your favorite chocolate partner, it looks like peanut butter is the winner. Seriously though, there aren't many ways to go wrong with chocolate!

On to the random photos, which date back to August:
I think this was the first time she wore real pigtails. OK, so they are tiny, but still legit!

Micah being a goof. He told us he made a mask.

His first time driving at Autopia!

This was the first (and probably the last) time we went by the pool in our new complex. Um, no thanks!

I don't know when or where or why, but it is a cute picture!

At Newport Beach in September.

Brooklyn rocking some chops!

Micah being a smarty pants. He is even reading now. Crazy kid!

Sending off a letter to Santa. Micah was so sweet to include a special request. ..."and a doll for my sister."

First fire lit in our new place. The kids loved it and it was perfect for that cold snap we went through.

This was the day before Thanksgiving and I organized a get together for my mom's group. I decided it would be fun for the kids to have a pinata to bust open (and a good way to get rid of all the Halloween candy I had sitting around). Well, for future reference, they don't make any Thanksgiving themed pinatas. No turkey, no cornucopia. So a red chili will do!

Micah helping me paint his room. I made him strip down to his underwear and a toolbelt. He was all too happy to help out!

This is at my mom and dad's house. Micah hopped behind the fireplace cover and said "I'm in line." Gotta love him!

Our Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! On Christmas Eve we went over to Chad's sister's house for a great meal and to exchange gifts. Tawnya is quite the cook, so there was plenty of delicious food and even Micah was raving about the peas. Anyways, we were very very spoiled. I asked Micah at the end if we should be done with Christmas since we got enough and he said yes! I got some really cute ornaments, clothes, books, and a laundry sorter (I'm totally stoked about that by the way). Chad got lots of books, DVDs, games, and so on. The kids got toys, toys and more toys! By the end, Micah had packed up his loot and was ready to head home.


Christmas morning was surprising for us. Brooklyn woke up before Micah and she was pretty cranky, so I told Chad to just wake Micah up, thinking that all the presents would be a fun distraction. Well, this is the reaction I got:



Not what I expected! Brooklyn loved Christmas and her new horse. Micah was a little less enthusiastic. He was groggy, so it took a while for him to warm up to it. Later that morning we went over to my parents house (no pictures, sorry) and were spoiled yet again. The kids practically own a portion of Toys R Us and Chad and I have lots of neat new things. Chad is excited about his new games and I am loving my new boots!


We came home for a while and my in-laws were in my house working on a couple of home improvement projects. They spend hours on end helping us work on all our many projects. Not only do they do them, they make them perfect. They are so so helpful. THANK YOU!!! Oh, and forgive me for falling asleep on you. It has been a long holiday!

Later that night, we went back to my parents' house for dinner. We had another fantastic meal and spent time with family members. The best part of the night was watching O Holy Night. It was a film on the birth and life of the Savior with Celine Dion singing O Holy Night. Even if you do not like Celine Dion, it is amazing. I couldn't help but to cry. What a beautiful film and a great way to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. The best gift has already been given!

This is what she thinks of Santa...

Look at the face! Can you tell what she is thinking? I'd love to hear what you think. Write a comment with what you think Brooklyn is thinking in this photo. I'll publish the best comment next week!

Crafty Christmas

Today we finally got to do something that was just for the kids. With the weather being cold and rainy and Christmas shopping along with day to day errands, we have had very little play time, but we changed that. I organized a craft for my mom's group at a park near by and we had a lot of fun. As we waited for our friends to arrive we played and played.


Then we got crafty. I bought sugar cones, frosting, and different kinds of candy. They all came together to make a cute and very sugary Christmas tree. The kids LOVED it! If you have small kids, you should try it. If you are near me, I have some leftover, so call me and we can make more!

Oh and I will try to get Chad to do a random post next time!

Santa's Message for Micah

Click here to see what Santa had to say to Micah. For all the moms and dads out there, you can make sure that Santa sends a message to your kids too! As an extra bonus, you can go here to get proof of him being in your house!

Next post will be by Chad with his random photos. There are some good ones in there, so make sure to look for it!

"Preschool" Graduation

Micah's "preschool" had a graduation for the class today. We were excited to see his little graduation ceremony. Chad took a little time from work to meet us there. The teacher stood in front and called them out one by one. When they got to Micah, I got my camera ready, but no one came out. There was a pause and a teacher at the back of the room said, "He's not coming." What? I wanted to see my kid in his little cap hold up his certificate and get a round of applause. I started making my way to the back as more names were read off. When I got to the back, Micah was in a corner unwilling to come out. Hello, does that say Chad or what? I tried to encourage him to come out and told him that daddy even came to see him. He only got further from me and ended up inside the bathroom! I know my boy well enough to know that the more you push, the less likely he will be to do it. I decided to leave him alone and sat back down. Finally, after all the names were read, Micah made his way to the front. No cap on, no certificate to hold and wouldn't stand, but hey he was there. At least I got that one!

Here he is admiring the cap he made.

I got one shot of him looking at the camera. I think that is because his friend is forcing him to!


After the ceremony, they told us to go out to the play area where they had set up treats. So we all went out and snacked, and the kids started playing on the playground. One of Micah's classmates had an older brother show up for the graduation, and this older boy came up to Micah and started talking. Here is how the conversation went:

Him: "Hey you! What's your name?"
Micah: "I'm Micah."
Him: "Oh. Do you know Joseph? He's my brother."
(At this point the older boy runs away to play somewhere else and Micah chases after him)
Micah: "Hey wait! I want to play with you!"
Him: "How come?"
Micah: "Because I love you!"
Him: "Okay. Do you want to climb on this?"
Micah: "Sure!"

I thought that was pretty cute. He's a great kid! Congrats, Micah!

In case you had any doubts

Brooklyn is definitely my little girl. As you can see from the pictures below, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!
Those of you who know my parents are probably cracking up. Look at how young my dad was! Now look in the back, yep, that is my mom, not Ashley. If we could freeze time though, they could be twins!

Tacos and trees

On Wednesday night we made it a family night in. I made tacos a little differently and Chad LOVED them. The secret: when the meat is still raw, add about two tablespoons of tomato paste and the taco seasoning, then cook it up. Chad is a taco enthusiast, so for him to like the ones I made, I was excited! Anyways, after dinner the tree went up! Since it was getting late, Brooklyn had to go to bed. I know, we are such mean parents! Micah, Chad and I got to work putting up all the ornaments. It is fun to bring out the old ones that have memories from years past. They come from different stages of our lives and from friends and family members. I think that is one of the best things about ornaments!

Micah proudly points to the ornaments he hung.


My camera was on a funny setting and I got this. I thought it was kind of cool.


Oh, and don't you worry about Brooklyn missing out on the tree trimming...she makes sure to pick ornaments off and hang them back up again all day long!

A girl and her balloon

Brooklyn has become attached to this balloon...literally!

Recap

So Monday was my b-day and I turned 27! It is weird to feel like I am closing in on 30. Anyways, Chad and I took the kids to Disneyland for the day...or so we thought. I really went to get my gift card so I could spend it on the kids for Christmas. I thought we could spend a few hours there, but the place was PACKED! I had never seen it so busy. The lines to go into each park in the plaza area were literally back to back. We went on Monsters and got a treat then headed home. At least I got to have TK Burger for dinner!

Tuesday was the day my family took me out to celebrate. We went to Riptide and did the teppan and sushi. They have amazing sushi! I opened presents and spent time with the people I love. It was nice!

On Thursday, (aka Thanksgiving) I ran the Turkey Trot in Dana Point with my friends Michelle, Val and Al. I hadn't officially signed up and was going to run it anyways, but Kristyn had to drop out at the last minute. She told me to run for her, so I ran as Mrs. Jackson (if you're nasty). Since Val can't do anything in an average way, she made us shirts and headbands to run in. It was fun, but I hadn't trained at all, so I am very sore today. Having done three years of track, I think my ego got the best of me and I pushed harder than I should have and now I am walking like the tin man! The lesson here is that unless you maintain, you won't have the same abilities you had "back in the day."

For Thanksgiving, we went to my grandma's retirement community and rented out the banquet hall. Everyone contributed with a dish or two and the food was delicious and plentiful. I have to say I am thankful for too many things to list here, but among my top ten would have to be the gospel, my family, freedom, health and safety. Hope you all had a good one too!

And the winners are...

2: Susan
1: Michelle
5: Lauren

Leave me a comment and pick the bow or flower you want. First come first serve!

GIVEAWAY!

Attention family, friends, readers and blog stalkers: I promised a giveaway and here it is! I know I should have taken the time to take really cute creative pictures of my bows the way Ashley always does with her cute stuff, but I was in a hurry. Here is a quick picture and sample of the things I have right now. On the right top corner are the pinwheel bows, top middle is a cream organza headband, the top right are yellow and red boutique bows, bottom right are flower snaps, bottom middle are bitty clips in polka dot and light pink, dead center is a nylon headband with a red flower, and bottom left and mini bows. I have a few other things in other colors as well. These are fun bows and clips in different styles, so you can use them on yourself, your girls or give it away as a gift!

Here is how I want you to enter. Leave me a comment with your five guilty pleasures. On Thanksgiving Day I will use random.org to pick a winner (or two) and they can pick one (or maybe two) of the clips above! While you are thinking of your guilty pleasures, I will let you in on mine. In no particular order: The Wendy Williams Show, In-n-Out animal style fries, sleeping in, wasting time on the internet (facebook), and Drop 7 (a game on the iPhone).

We'll try again next time...

This Sunday we were so excited for Brooklyn's first day of nursery. Finally, at 18 months old, I can drop her off and spend the rest of church getting a spiritual message. To make things even easy, we gathered up two trash bags full of toys for us to take over there, so she would have lots of familiar toys to play with while she was there. It also didn't hurt that there is now room in the house for Santa to bring toys! Anyways, the last few weeks I have been going into nursery to get her used to it and to give me something to do instead of just pacing the halls. Seriously, it gets boring quickly! When it came time to drop her off we had all the toys out and they were all having fun playing. I was about to leave the room when the nursery leader asked if I could stay since her assistant was sick. OK, I could do one hour. No big deal. As the next hour approached, another lady came in and I thought I saw my opportunity. I tried to sneak out. I walked down the hall and down the stairs and that is when I heard her screams! Within a minute the nursery leader was down the stairs with her. OK, now it is Chad's turn. I turn over an inconsolable toddler to him and head to class. I thought the rest of the day must have gone OK. Wrong...I went to Micah's class to pick him up, only to find out that he hit one of his friends with a paper (I know it is only a piece of paper, but it is still naughty. Don't get me started on this one!) Chad said that Brooklyn was a wreck. He finally took her for a drive to have her fall asleep in the car, which threw off naps big time. We all went home exhausted and very short tempered. Like I said, we will try again next time!

On a positive note, Brooklyn is binkie free! She is doing awesome. She goes to bed and nap well without it and even rides in the car without a peep. I am so glad I don't have to keep track of those things any more. As an added bonus, she is talking more. She said mine, caw (that means bird), shoes and a few others. I knew she was understanding us the whole time!

Also, I am reading a great book called Forgiving Ourselves and it is a great book I would recommend to anyone that is having a hard time letting go of the past. I know I make myself sound like I have murdered someone. Really it is stupid and little. I mean the bishop even giggled when I told him. The biggest problem is forgiving myself. I am learning how to do that. This book is awesome. It really emphasizes God's grace and trusting in it. That is very comforting! I am learning so much in this process and I think that is what the point has been all along, to learn and grow. I have more empathy and less judgment upon others. I have learned patience and a real need to have faith rather than thinking I can make it through life on my own!

Sorry about slacking in the blogging department. My life has been busy as always and it is hard for me to fit it in. I was thinking a little giveaway might be a good way to get back into it again. Check back later this week!

Happenings

Well, we have been busy around here. We always are since we have two kids and life is just busy in general. Some things are fun, others are crazy. Recently, I noticed that the carpet in Micah's room was warm (like it had just come out of the dryer). I knew this wasn't good. I called into my HOA and sure enough it was a slab leak. Lucky for all of us, it hadn't created any water damage, we wouldn't have to pay for it (community property), we caught it early, and they didn't have to dig into the ground to fix it. Even better, it wasn't the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas! Anyways, the leak has been repaired and now we are just waiting to have the drywall fixed. Yay!

Yesterday we decided was the last day for Brooklyn to have her binkie. She starts nursery on Sunday and I thought at 18 months we have had enough. I can see her teeth getting funky and she is far less verbal than Micah was at this age. So the binkie goes. We snipped the tip and don't let this funny smile on her face fool you. She was mad mad mad! Naptime and bedtime were difficult, but expected. Soon we should be done!

Fall is slow to develop out here, but we are enjoying more mellow temps. We love days at the park and here are the pictures to prove it!

Don't sweat the small stuff

So right now, I am not taking that advice so well. More kids=more things to manage=more stress. For the last hour or so I have been going over different ideas for our up coming family picture. It is our first one with Brooklyn. I know, I am terrible. We had one with the extended family with her in it, but this will be the first one with just the four of us. When it was just Micah, it wasn't a problem. We went with jeans and a black top. Micah's was striped, so he looked extra cute. The pictures turned out great. Now that I have a boy and a girl I am trying to figure out how to coordinate all of us and I don't want to go with just a black or white. So I have been toying with the idea of different color schemes. Truthfully I am looking for an excuse to buy this cute little Gap dress:


I thought I can buy that and get her a cute pink or blue bow/flower for her hair and then use those colors to dress the rest of us. I am running into a few problems though. One, if I buy this adorable dress, I will have to buy shoes to go with it since she doesn't have any. Two, we might all have to buy clothes to go with her and I don't want to get us all new clothes to wear. OK, I WANT new clothes, I just don't want to BUY them. Three, should I really be making Brooklyn the center of attention in the photo? I mean, Micah is just as important, but boy clothes just aren't as exciting. Four, do we want to be so dressy for a family photo? We want to coordinate, but want to avoid things like this:


...and this:

Anyone know of a good color scheme to go with? If I don't figure one out soon, I might just be developing sepia and black and whites!

Out of the mouths of babes...Part 2

Micah is a crack up. Have I mentioned that before? Well he is! Here are some of the funny things he has said lately.

M-Mommy what kind of car do you want?
Me-(pointing to a Pathfinder in front of us) I like that one.
M-OK mommy, I will get you that car....in pink.

After walking into his room and seeing him stare at the fuzz on TV.
Me-Do you want to watch a video?
M-Uh, yeah.
Me-OK (then pressing the DVD button and screen turns blue)
M-Hey, I was watchin' all those ants!

After being antagonized by his older cousin for a while.
M-Mommy, Shelby is buggin' me out!

During a trip to the mall.
M-You are the bestest girl ever mommy!
It was a good thing he buttered me up early because that sweetness went away later that day.

At home on the couch.
Me-Micah come snuggle with me. I love snuggling with you.
M-OK, does it make your heart happy?

Every morning without fail.
M-Daddy, Daddy can I have some milk and Spongebob please?

While watching a You Tube video of Paradise City and pointing at the lead singer.
M-I love him!

Checking out a police cruiser.
Me-They take the bad guys away. See this is where they sit.
M-When they are on time out?

We survived Halloween!

We had SO many activities and parties that we were supposed to attend for Halloween, but I came down with a nasty cold and we cut that number in half. For a while, I was thinking that I might ruin Halloween for the kids, but I downed a lot of Vitamin C and although I wasn't 100%, Halloween was a success!

Friday was a whirlwind. Chad parents came into town and they immediately got to work on our house. Chad's dad is a contractor and so he was able to fix and change things in the house that needed work. You would think his mom was too since she was right along side doing the work. I got to use some power tools and reassemble a cabinet, but otherwise, I was more of a conversationalist. I cannot tell you how much work they did and how nice it is to have it done. To name a few, we have knobs and pulls, Brooklyn's door closes all the way, we have a peephole on the door, a keypad on the garage and cabinets securely mounted. It was a HUGE help!

We got to take advantage of having Ghee and Papa down by carving pumpkins together. The kids had fun for a couple of seconds and then Ghee was left to carve it on her own. It turned out cute!

In the meantime, I was getting Carrie's famous chili ready for the ward Chili Cook Off and Trunk or Treat. We got dressed and ready with cranky kids and all. It was a lot of fun for all and I actually won an award for the chili. It got the Burn baby Burn award. it must have been the hottest one there! The kids had fun going car to car to get treats and it was a good practice round for the next day.

Saturday came around and we were ready! We got the kids dressed and ready. Micah was Handy Manny and Brooklyn was a Pretty Kitty. They both looked adorable! Brooklyn loved trick or treated and had it down in no time. She would climb the stairs and pick out her own candy. Micah was done after 10 minutes. At that point, he told us to hold his candy and say "trick or treat" at the door. I knew it was time to go! We had a good Halloween and now for more Holidays!