toys, toys, and more toys

Jess and I tackled a huge task today: cleaning out her toys.
She wasn't too happy about having to clean her room, so I told her I was happy to clean out her toys for her, but I would get rid of what I didn't think she used or needed anymore. Jess opted to help me because she knew that if I did it myself she would be missing a lot of toys when I got done.

One of the bins I dumped out had a bunch of these in it:

I couldn't figure out why Jess would have Lite Brite peices in with her Barbies and Polly Pockets. I asked her why they were in there and she looked at me and said, "They are the Polly Pockets' crayons" as though I should have thought of it myself. I never would have thought of it. I have very little imagination, I see things for what they are and have a hard time creating different uses for things. Jess, on the other hand, is a master at this. She is extremely creative. I love this about her. So, now I know. Lite Brite peices have an alternative use...I wish I'd known that before I vacuumed the rest of them up. They fall in the same category as Polly Pocket shoes - if they are on the floor when I vacuum, I'm not bothering to pick them up. They dissappear.

I only filled one small garbage bag with broken toys/junk, and we have a few to donate, and the room is cute again! Yay! One down, two to go...

Costume up

Fall has arrived and it is nearly Halloween! The girls had a Halloween party at their school and they were so excited for it. I am a huge procrastinator. I am trying to overcome this little problem I have acquired (and it has increasingly become worse since I had kids). I waited until Thursday night-the day before the party-to even think about costumes. I headed to Walmart to see what was available...

Jess wanted to be a witch, but does Walmart sell witch hats? You'd think that would be a very easy thing to find, but you'd think wrong. The only witch hats available were for adults, or part of an entire kid costume. So, I picked out a cute witch costume and just before I headed to checkout I decided to check the package to be sure everything was there. Guess what was missing. That's right, the hat. I guess I'm not the only one looking for a witch hat for a little girl.

Jess ended up with a "spider witch" costume. We had the hat from last year and it happened to go with the costume perfectly so that's what she is, and she's happy with it.

Syd wanted to be a fairy and I got her a fairy costume. Easy as that.

Kayman wanted to be a cowboy. Can I tell you how excited that made me? My sweet little boy in cowboy boots? How adorable is that? Well, it sounds easier than it is. Cowboy boots are sold at stores like IFA and Callisters, and Reams...and they cost about $40 for the cheap ones. I went on a wild goose chase to find some at Payless, or Walmart, or Kmart, (anywhere they may be around $20) and then just bent over and got them at Reams for $40. And while I was there I just had to get the Wranglers, it was physically impossible not to. You know how it is. I picked up a holster with 2 cap guns and we had a hat at home. Kayman was set.

So when we got home they tried on their costumes and looked absolutely adorable...

don't ya think?! This is actually right before the party with hair and make-up done too. The picture below is the night of the purchase and it was like pulling teeth to get that cap gun away from Man. He loves his boots. I love his jeans, and everyone at the party loved my little cowboy, fairy and witch.
I even had a guy stop me and asked if he could take Kayman's picture. I said, "Sure, isn't he the cutest cowboy ever?" The man said, "I have a friend who dresses like that every day, I want to send him a picture!" Haha! It's risky business dressing up as a cowboy for Halloween when you live in Herriman.

Jessica turns 5!

My baby girl is 5 years old now and will be going to Kindergarten next month. It's surreal to me. This journey with her has been so amazing so far. She is such a special girl. I love Jess so much and admire her in so many ways. These are the 5 things I love most about Jess:

1. She loves to dress up every day. Looking pretty is very important to her and it's not unusual for her to sleep in her princess dresses. One night she even slept in her princess shoes, she just couldn't bear to take them off!

2. Jess is very helpful and loves to make people happy. If ever she makes her sister or brother sad, it doesn't take long before she is sacrificing something to make they happy again.

3. Jess knows how to make things fun. She has always been good at making me laugh, even in the times when nobody else could. She used to try to make me laugh during the sacrament when she was just 2. She is very silly.

4. She has her own personality and style, and she doesn't conform to what others think she should do. She know what she wants and doesn't let others push her around.

5. She comes up to me and gives me hugs all the time. She hasn't ever really been too cuddly or affectionate, but lately she just wants to be close to me all the time. I am eating it up while it lasts!

We celebrated her birthday tonight with friends and family with games, pizza, gifts, cupcakes, and a pinata. She was very excited about all her gifts and loved having so many people there to celebrate with her. She got some of her favorite things! Barbies, polly pockets, clothes, shoes, a movie, princess shoes, nail polish, etc...

The pinata was a hit! (he he) Each of the kids got a chance to hit it a few times.
It was Kayman who actually broke it down! What a little stud!

Next came the cupcakes, which was much easier than cake and ice cream might I add. The kids loved it. It was too windy for Jess to blow out her candles, we are in Herriman, but I'm sure she made a wish anyway.
Kayman and his friends chowing their cupcakes. These kids are all a month apart and are Kayman's best friends!
All but one of the kids who came to the party. One little girl didn't want her picture taken, but these are Jessica's closest friends. She had a great time with them!

Happy Birthday sweetie! We love you! Thanks for being such a light in our lives!

Graduations

The girls have both graduated. It's been a while since Jess had her preschool graduation but I'm just getting around to posting it. I know.

Jess had a speaking part and did wonderful! She memorized it in about 10 minutes.

"Capitol letters begin our names

which we have learned to write

lowercase complete the rest

we'll show you here tonight"

She did so great! She sang some fun songs and even got to wear a graduation cap and gown and walk down the isle to accept her diploma. So cute!

Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Teresa (the most wonderful teacher ever!!!)
Jess with her friend Rebecca
And the family. Don't mind Kayman stuffing the cookie into his face.
Syd had her Kindergarten "graduation" program. She sang about 12 songs and the kids recited a few poems about the seasons. We were sitting so far back I didn't get a great picture of them singing, but here is a picture of most of her class. Her teacher Mrs. Black was great. Syd liked her. She met a lot of fun friends in her class and loved kindergarten! Syd is definitely excited for first grade! She is in the back row, second from the left in the red dress.
I can't believe I will have 2 kids in school. Kayman and I will have to find things to do while the girls are in school. Should be interesting! He'll definitely keep me busy!

Jeth lotht her firtht tooth!

Translation is "Jess lost her first tooth." She is having a hard time saying her S's now. She was VERY excited to lose a tooth like her big sister. Her second tooth is on its way out too! It's strange to me that she is growing up so fast. She goes to Kindergarten in a few months and then it will just be me and my little man. I'm feeling old...

Dance

The girls had their year end concert last week and did amazing! I haven't got the video on the computer yet, but I will soon. For now here are the pictures of them after the show.

This is a shot of Syd and me at her last competition. We decided to take her down a level and out of competition. She is very good, but the competitions were a bit much for her. She was getting bored and didn't look forward to them. A few days before the last one I mentioned it to her and she said, "I already have a trophy!" She didn't want to go. She does love dance though so both girls will be at the "Darling" level where they go to class twice a week and dance in the year end concert.
We love dance and especially the studio the girls dance at, Vision. It is a great studio with wonderful teachers. The girls are learning a ton and getting stronger and more flexible. With this change in level Syd will have more time to take piano lessons, and possibly karate for both of them.

Thanksgiving Point

I went to Thanksgiving Point with a couple of friends last week while the weather was still somewhat warm. We stayed there about 3 hours and had to pry the kids away from there when it was time to leave. They had a great time!

The hail destroyed a lot of the tulips earlier in the week, but it was still very beautiful.

Syd going for a ride on the rhino!
Jess digging in the sand!
Man just hanging out and being cute as ever!

Thanks ladies for a great afternoon! We had so much fun!

Outdoor fun

My kids and I have been LOVING the nice weather lately. We have spent a lot of time doing yard work and playing outside.

Syd came up with the idea to unhook the swings and attach them to the trampoline frame. They all had so much fun swinging upside down on them. Here is Jess trying it out. She was the first to go upside down.

Syd couldn't have her little sister show her up.
Kayman getting close. I couldn't watch this for too long, it made me so nervous he was going to fall and break his neck.
Syd added the second swing and grabbed her brother to relax in her "hammock."
Syd and Jess have been begging for a "water trampoline" for days! It's not warm enough yet, so I have said no...well mother nature provided where I wouldn't. Syd is convinced that Heavenly Father and her GGpa (who recently passed away) heard them talking about wanting a water trampoline so they made it rain! So sweet! I let them put their suits on and enjoy it, although it only lasted a few minutes before they were too cold.
On one of the first warm days we got lunchables and had a picnic outside. They loved it!
I can't wait for summer to be here! I have SO much work to do in the yard, but hopefully the kids will help a lot this summer. The girls are old enough to do some good weeding, and pick up the dog poop! :) Happy Spring!

In the spotlight

My dad built the kids a stage for our basement! He brought it over and set it up and the kids have hardly stepped off it since! It's complete with a curtain, rope light around the front, and spotlights up on the ceiling.

Here is Jess trying it out.

Syd and Man dancing
Syd giving it a whirl
And here are my parents, their dog Roxy, and the kids sitting on the stage. Don't I have the best parents ever?! Thank you!

Working mom

I am very lucky to have a job where I can work from home. I usually put in my hours after the kids go to bed (my most important job), but sometimes I have to get some things done during business hours.

I made a phone call to Quickbooks to get some questions answered and the kids were fine eating their cereal at the table. By the time I actually got talking to somebody on the phone the kids were done eating and were playing with each other. Still happy, so I didn't pay attention. I should have...

They got the milk and straws out and started blowing! Just over 1/2 gallon of milk used and once all the bubbles popped, guess where the milk ended up. Yup, on the floor. They had so much fun and we were all laughing so hard (once I got off the phone)! The girls did clean it up the best they could, and they had a fun time teaching Kayman a new skill. The joys of motherhood!

Christmas Eve

I am so grateful for the Christmas season and all the love felt during this time of year. We had some wonderful opportunities to serve and show love for those around us.

We spent Christmas Eve and morning with Andy's parents, grandpa and grandma, aunt and cousin. We had a delicious dinner at Andy's parents house and spent some time visiting before we let the kids open their Christmas Eve pajamas. I didn't make them this year, and they aren't even Chrismasy, but they all got some nonetheless. They were very excited to open a gift early!

The kids each get to choose where they leave their stocking for Santa to find, and place there it before bed. Kayman chose the fireplace and finally left it there after wearing his stocking for a while. He kept putting his foot into it and thought he was pretty funny! :)

Syd chose the green couch for all her loot.

And Jess chose the big green chair for hers.

Once we got that all settled we got the kids all bundled up and headed downtown to see the lights at Temple Square.

It is tradition with Andy's family to go to Temple Square on Christmas Eve, no matter how cold it is. Luckily it wasn't too bad this year. It was cold and everyone had frozen bums by the time we were done, but I have endured MUCH colder outings to Temple Square! It was so beautiful.

After the Temple we headed back to Andy's parents house to put the kids to bed. It was just about time for Santa to come and the kids were hoping we didn't miss him. They thought maybe we were out too long and he passed our area already. Luckily we got home and they feel asleep just in time.

Syd was very excited about the digital camera santa brought her. She loves taking pictures!
Kayman's got another football! Jess picked this out for him.
Jess getting loves from Nana.

Everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We spent the morning at Andy's parents and then headed to my parents for a while. After a gift exchange at my parents house we headed to my Uncle's house to spend some time with my extended family. It was such a wonderful day! I love spending so much time with family. We are so lucky to have so much family so close. We did miss Andy's siblings and their families though.

Christmas evening was spent putting away all our new treasures and packing for our upcoming vacation. We were headed to Maui in 2 days!

Dancing

The girls started taking dance at Vision Dance in September and have learned SO much! They have great teachers who have taught them very well. They have both improved so much since they started there!

Jessica has become so flexible and gained so much balance! Syd is getting more flexible and is so strong. She works very hard to be sure to get each step right. They both pay a great deal of attention to detail and practice a lot! They really enjoy dancing!

Syd danced to toe Nutcracker song and did such a great job. She has wonderful stage presence. She smiled beautifully the entire time and didn't miss a step!
The pictures I got of Jess were too far back and she was behind another girl the whole time so they didn't turn out. Luckily we got video of her dance. She danced to Mariah Carey's version of "Santa Claus is coming to town" and it was adorable! She took it very seriously and practiced at least 5 times a day as she was learning it!

I am so excited that they both love to dance and that we are able to take them to such a great studio!

A home visit!

On Sunday afternoon Syd asked me if she could borrow my gold pen (an old fashioned one that you dip into ink) to write Santa a letter. She was just getting it out when there was a knock at the door. I answered it and we were all surprised with a very unexpected visitor! Santa came to our house! Big red bag full of toys and all! He came in and and asked the kids what they want for Christmas.

Syd was in shock! She couldn't take her eyes off him! She told him she wants an American Doll, Baby Alive and make-up.

Jessica was thrilled and told him she wants make-up too. That's all she could remember when faced with the man himself!

Kayman sat on his lap but leaned as far away from him as possible. He wasn't scared of him, just a little unsure of why this strange man was holding him and talking to him.

Santa made sure to tell the kids to remember Jesus on Christmas because that is what Christmas is all about. He then gave them all a toy. The girls got new dolls and Kayman got a little stuffed animal. They were all SO happy! What a special day!

Thanks Santa for the personal visit!

Syd was very interested in his car. He drove a red car that Syd remembered seeing at church on Sundays. I quickly told her that his "helper" that came with him goes to our church (Syd recognized her too) and Santa was borrowing her car. She is a little too observant sometimes!

Halloween

This is being written a little later than I wanted. Once Halloween is over, I am so done with it, but I was too busy ripping out the dead flowers in my yard to get this done. That is something I have been procrastinating for weeks, and today's weather was irresistible!

We had a great Halloween! Syd was a fairy, Jess was a princess (again), Kayman was a rooster, I was a devil, and Andy was a hippie/rocker/long-haired-dude. My parents came out to see the kids in the afternoon so they could be home for their trick-or-treaters. They live at the top of a huge hill and lots of the kids make the trek up there for the BIG candy bars, so my parents like to be there for them. We had fun with them for a while at our house!

We had a trunk or treat at our church and got WAY too much candy! The kids loved it and I loved seeing all my primary kids in costume. They looked so cute! We then went home for our traditional "Frito Pie" Halloween dinner with Andy's family. Frito pie is frito's, chili, cheese, corn, tomatoes, and sour cream. So yummy! After dinner we headed out for more candy! It was fun to see the kids so happy and having fun. Kayman finally got the hang of it, but for a while he kept giving the people at the door his candy. What a sweetheart! Enjoy the pictures!

I have SO many pictures from Halloween, so I just made a slideshow for y'all.

I also wanted to post a few of my favorites cause I just LOVE them!