Stretching Our Limits

Hairstyle #22

2011-10-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful style that takes forever and a day to do. For instructions, go here.But A1 does look gorgeous like this.

School Funnies

2011-10-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

A1 says some of the funniest things about school. Here's a collection of some of my favorites:

A1's school has a professional coach to teach PE for each class. A1's class has Wednesdays as their days with the professional coach. One Wednesday morning, I explained to A1 that she needed to wear pants and sturdy shoes for PE and to be ready to get dirty because the coach might take them to one of the fields to play. She agreed and we went on with our morning. Then during breakfast she asked where the carriage was going to take her. "What carriage?" I asked. "You know, the carriage with the horses. You know, the coach." "No, no, no, not that kind of coach," I laughed. Then I explained that the coach wasn't a carriage that drove princesses around; the coach was a man ("On a horse?" she asked me) who would teach them how to play sports. It took a while, but I think she now understands what a coach is. And I understand that I've let my daughter watch too many princess movies and not enough sports.

During the second week of school, A1 revealed to us that one of the boys in her class has a crush on her (I didn't think I'd have to deal with this in Kindergarten; I thought I still had a few years) and keeps trying to kiss her. I told her not to let him kiss her. She said, "I don't let him kiss me. And, Mom, I don't like it. It distracts me from learning."

Here's a conversation I had with A1 as we walked home from school one Friday afternoon:
A1: Why didn't our teacher send our homework folder home today?
me: Well, it's Friday. You don't have homework on Fridays.
A1: No! (groaning and complaining)
me: Don't worry. That just means we get to make up our own homework.
A1: Hurray! (cheering)

A2's Culinary Skills

2011-10-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

One Saturday evening R and I were both too busy to make dinner. A2 told us multiple times that he was hungry, but we kept stalling him, telling him we'd be right there and just to hang on. Finally A2 gave up on us. He set the table for the four of us, including cups with water and napkins. Then he pulled out the cottage cheese, served each of us a heaping spoonful, and put away the extra. Then he blessed the food, called us all dinner, and sat down to eat without us. After he finished his food, he cleared his place and told us once again that we needed to eat. Needless to say, we sat down and ate the dinner that he prepared for us.

A2 Starts Preschool

2011-10-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

My little baby is a big boy now. He has started preschool. I cannot believe how big he is now.He and six of his friends meet together twice a week, and the moms alternate teaching. The kids are excited to learn about letters and numbers and whatever else we teach them. I think they're most excited about singing and playing with all the new toys.What am I going to do with myself now that both my kids are in school? How do you spend your free time?

A1 Starts School

2011-10-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

My sweet daughter, my tiny girl is officially in school now. She started Kindergarten in September at the local elementary school.

She is the youngest in her class, but she absolutely loves school and learning and homework and everything that I loved when I was in elementary school. She loves her teacher, who is a wonderful and kind woman, very patient with the kids. I am looking forward to volunteering in class and learning more about the kids.

Aren't they the cutest bunch of kindergartners you've ever seen?

A2's New Hobby

2011-10-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Because A1 has decided that she likes photography, A2 must also enjoy taking pictures. So I present his offerings from our camera.He still needs to work on keeping his fingers out of the picture and holding the camera on the subject of the picture instead of dropping it as the flash is going off. But other than that, I like it.

The Dinosaur Park

2011-10-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting family in Utah, we went with Grandma Jensen to the Dinosaur Park. There's a nice museum, but even better there are dinosaur statues throughout the park, hiding in the trees and drinking at the lake. A1 and A2 were entranced by herbivores......and the carnivores.They dug up dinosaur bones......and crawled inside dinosaur skulls.It was a magical adventure and we are still talking about the petrified tree that was also a slide (too much fun on the slide to take pictures). Thank you, Grandma, for taking us to such a wonderful place.

Welcome Wyatt Brown

2011-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

On the most recent vacation to Utah, we were fortunate enough to be there when my new nephew was born. He's a darling, looks just like his mom, and has the quietest cry I have heard (I'm sure that's fixed by now). Everybody got a turn to hold him at the hospital, but I think Aunt Erin and Uncle Ryan took the longest turn.A1, A2, and I watched Carmen while her parents were in the hospital. We had a blast playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the rust trap that is their swing set. As a final adventure for our time together, Grandma took us to Build-A-Bear, where each kid built a bear.This was the best way to end a few long days while Carmen's mom and dad were away at the hospital. Thank you, Grandma, for the bears. Thank you, Aunt Alison and Uncle Casey, for letting us play with Carmen and bringing a beautiful boy to our family.

Camping With the Jensens

2011-10-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

This summer was the first time in years that most of the Jensen clan was able to get together. The only person missing was R, who had to stay home and work. But Steve and Tracie and the kids were visiting from Indiana, so A1, A2, and I decided to join in the festivities.

We went camping, where all the kids learned to shoot a crossbow (the Nerf kind, not the real kind) and more importantly the rules of shooting (don't shoot at people, don't shoot when people are near, etc.).

We went fishing, as is Jensen family tradition, where A2 caught his very first fish...

...and the rest of us caught our limit.I think the kids had more fun trying to step on the fish as we released them than actually catching them. But we finally ended up with enough for dinner.But the most important part was that we got to be all together and had fun sitting in the sun. I can't think of anything better than spending time with the family at a lake.

We Miss Our Friends!

2011-10-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

This summer our bestest friends moved away, the Johnsons to the OC and the Floods to Utah. We miss them everyday and wish that they were still here. Who is supposed to tell me to get over myself when I start complaining? Who can I distract from actually earning a living at home? Whose apartment can I go to when I need eggs and don't feel like changing out of my pajamas? Who will feed me delicious French food when I'm supposed to be losing weight?

We couldn't stand it without them anymore, so we all met at Jaime's house for a day-long visit. The kids loved to see their friends again and couldn't believe what it was like to actually live in a house. Their favorite part of the house: stairs inside the house. Unbelievable!

We still miss you, friends. We need to set up another playdate!

The California ScienCenter

2011-10-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have never taken my children to the California ScienCenter. It is the most amazing place! The kids absolutely loved it. We learned about the different ecosystems on earth and where turtles live.The ScienCenter has a really good aquarium, including a walk-through tube so that you feel like you're walking at the bottom of the ocean with fish swimming all around you. The kids wanted to spend the rest of the time inside that tube, especially once the diver started photobombing us.A1 and A2 got to do a "newscast" on "TV." Aren't they so cute?Then they built and painted toys on the computer.The California ScienCenter is the greatest place for nerds, so I think we're going to have to spend a whole lot more time there.

PreK Graduation

2011-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

A1 graduated from PreK this summer. She loved going to school four times a week and learning from some of the greatest teachers in the world. We absolutely love Teacher Renee and Teacher Kim. Thank you for taking such good care of my little girl.A1 learned a lot in PreK. She learned that she loves homework (she made us buy her a "homework book" so that she could do homework on the days she didn't go to school), she learned the sounds of all the letters and how to put them together into words, and she learned all the numbers up to 30 and started on addition. We are so proud of you, A1!

New Quiet Time Activities

2011-10-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

A1 and A2 have become too old to take naps in the afternoon. However, I still need an hour or so to myself each day. So we have instituted Quiet Time. During Quiet Time the kids stay in their room and play. They can play whatever they want as long as they stay in their room and don't make too much noise. The favorite activity has become reading. I often come into the room to find something like this happening:
I am raising two little nerds, and it makes me so proud!

A1's New Hobby

2011-10-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

A1 has decided that she likes photography. She begs and begs to use the camera to take pictures of very random things. Here are a couple of her most recent attempts at being a photographer.Flowers are always a good place to start, don't you think?

Swimming with the Grandparents

2011-10-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

I often take A1 and A2 to the pool. A1 has come to love the water and usually spends most of the time swimming back and forth. A2, on the other hand, does not like the pool; I have to fight with him to keep him in the water for more than 5 minutes. That is, until Grandma and Grandpa came to the pool.

Grandpa, as usual, was the hit of the party. A few of our friends were there, and all the kids spent the entire time chasing him and being chased by him. They squirted him and splashed him. They rode on him like horse. Grandpa is the official favorite person of the neighborhood.

Grandma decided to teach A2 all about loving the water. Under her loving tutelage, A2 spent hours and hours in the pool. He jumped in from the stairs and from the side. He swam. He splashed and squirted the other kids. His poor little lips were blue and he was shivering by the time I pulled him, kicking and screaming, from the water. Now every time we go to the pool, he spends the whole time jumping into the pool and kicking from wall to wall. Thanks, Grandma!

Easter 2011

2011-10-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Camping gets so much easier and so much better as the kids grow up. This year's Easter camping trip was even better than any we have had before. We were able to stay for the whole time, and the kids just wanted to be like the adults. So A2 had to help Grandma set up the trailer.
And A1 had to help Grandpa light the lanterns each night.We hiked during the day and played games at night. Everyone helped cook (the kids' favorite thing was getting the water to do the dishes at the end of the meal) and everyone helped play. It was such an awesome trip.
The main event was the big Easter Egg Hunt, just like every year. And just like every year, A1 begged to have Grandpa as her hunting partner. Will anyone ever be better than Grandpa?This year, A2 decided that the only acceptable hunting partner was Aunt Megan. It made his day when she decided to arrive earlier than expected, and he spent the rest of the trip tagging along after her. I do have to say that Aunt Megan always was my favorite hunting partner too.And for all the hard work of finding where the Easter Bunny left the eggs, the kids (and the adults) were rewarded with large bags of candy and Zhu Zhu pets. What a haul!We love camping!

Totally Awesome

2011-10-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

A2 learned a new phrase to describe all the people in his life.

Kid-friendly Las Vegas

2011-10-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

On the return from a recent trip to Utah, we decided to spend some time in Vegas. But what can you do in Vegas with two small children? Well, we spent quite a bit of time at M&M World, where the kids got to see a 3D movie and take pictures with all the different colored Ms.We also took pictures outside the famous hotel/casinos, just to say we had seen the sites. A1's favorite was the replica of the Statue of Liberty outside New York-New York. She had just learned about it in preschool, so she was excited to follow suit.It's not a bad way to spend a few hours if you want to miss the most of LA traffic when you're trying to come home from vacation.

The Cabin

2011-09-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Every winter we get to go on a family vacation to the mountains of Utah. It is a fun, relaxing weekend filled with snowmobiling......and playing board games......and hanging out with Grandpa......and snowmobiling......and playing video games......and throwing paper airplanes down the stairs.Now whenever I ask A1 and A2 if they want to go camping, they say they do as long as it's in the cabin. I think we've ruined them for real outdoor camping fun!

Favorite Books

2011-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

As part of a school assignment, A1 was asked to take a picture with all her favorite books. I love this assignment. At first she pulled every book off the shelf, but we were finally able to narrow it down to just the top-tier favorites.
These are the books that she has read so often that she nearly has them memorized. I love that my little one loves to read and found this to be one of the most exciting assignments she had received.

Christmas 2010

2011-09-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

For the first time in our lives, we did not have Christmas with family. We stayed home and had a quiet celebration all by ourselves. To get into the Christmas spirit, the kids helped me decorate the house with a tree, a wreath, and stockings - all made out of construction paper and taped to the wall because we have no room for real decorations. Then we had to make Christmas cookies, a must-have tradition from my family.
Please notice that the kids have more frosting on their faces than on their cookies - another must-have Christmas tradition!
Our extended family sent presents, and R and I were able to collect enough gifts throughout the year that we were able to give the kids a very merry Christmas indeed.The kids' favorite part of Christmas turned out to be a gift meant only for A2. I mean, what boy can grow up without lightsabers?And my favorite part was quietly spending time as a family and being able to focus on the Savior, rather than on trying to see everybody and get everything done. I think I might like this new Christmas tradition.

Jillian Michaels

2011-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

It is time for me to get into shape. So I started following the Jillian Michaels workout OnDemand. It's hard work, and most days I really hate that Jillian, but I do look better. And the kids have a blast working out with me. Their favorite part is the jumping jacks! My favorite part is when it's over!

A1 Turns 4!

2011-09-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Since it has been almost a year since I last updated the blog, I guess there's a little bit of catch-up I need to do. A1's fourth birthday seems like a good place to start.

A1 couldn't decide how she wanted to celebrate, so I went with a flower and bug theme - that way we could invite both girls and boys. The kids played Pin-the-Bug-on-the-Flower, made flower placemats to use at Thanksgiving the next week, and decorated flower cookies with bug sprinkles.Then we had flower cupcakes, which were SOOOO much easier to make then her last birthday cake.Happy, happy birthday to my beautiful girl! You are such a delightful part of our family.

Primary Superheroes

2011-09-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful Primary presidency put together the most amazing activity for the kids. They asked the kids to be superheroes for others by giving super acts of service. They put together back-to-school kits for some lower-income schools in our area, then they made cards and cookies to give to neighbors who needed a pick-me-up, and finally they heart-attacked the bishop's office and their teachers' homes to show their appreciation.
As rewards for all their superhero service, the Primary president handmade each of them a superhero cape. Aren't they adorable?
Of course, that meant I had to make one for A2 so he could be just like his older sister.

PreK Field Trips

2010-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

A1 loves her new school so much. They recently went on a couple of field trips, and I was able to go with her on one of them.

We went to the Santa Monica Aquarium to learn about marine life. The kids had a blast touching sea slugs and seaweed.They learned about keeping the environment clean so that they don't adversely affect the marine life.They practiced scientific learning by using all five senses (well, four senses, then they watched as one of the Aquarium workers "tasted" for them) to study a sea star (that's right, they're called sea stars, not star fish. I learned something on this field trip too!).Then we just happened to be on the Pier as a parade of 100 motorcyclists and old-fashioned police cars came past. The kids loved waving at all the noisy vehicles and having these huge, burly bikers wave happily at them in return.A great day at the Santa Monica Pier!

They also went to the Santa Ana Zoo, but I wasn't allowed to go on the field trip because I volunteered for the first one. I guess we parents have to take turns having fun with our kids! What a great school to take these preschoolers on great and educational field trips.

A2's Second Birthday

2010-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

A2 turned 2 last month. He is growing up so fast. He's no longer a little baby, but a little boy now. He is obsessed with fishing lately. Everyday we go to the playground, where he finds a stick and pretends to fish in any hole that he can find. He pretends anything with a string is a fishing pole, especially a couple of the quiet toys I have for Church.

So we threw him a fishing birthday party. I made little party bags with fish name tags for each of the guests that they decorated.The kids then "fished" for candy to put in their newly decorated bags. Some kids used the poles, others thought the poles just got in the way of the candy.We then had pizza and cake. I think this might be one of the cutest cakes I've ever made. And it was simple enough that I didn't need any outside help (Jaime was especially grateful for that part).Was the cake delicious? Ask the birthday boy!(I will never get tired of pictures of my children with food all over their faces!)

This was the first birthday that A2 was excited for presents. He received some really good things from all of his friends, but his favorite present came from Grandma and Grandpa.Now he can keep up with A1 at the playground. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Birthday, A1. We love having you in our family. You make our lives so happy and filled with love.

When We Grow Up

2010-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

As part of a recent school project, A1 had to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her answer was the same as it has been every time we've asked: a doctor and a mommy (my mom is so proud of that answer). I think she'll be very good at both.Not to be outdone, A2 also wants to be a doctor. He's not so sure about the daddy thing, however. He'd much rather have his mommy take care of him than having to take care of someone else.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Hair Style #21

2010-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is a great Halloween hairstyle. Rolled-up braids with spiky ends sticking out each side looks a lot like a spider. I spiked A1's hair into eight legs on each rolled-up braid and put in spider clips to really set off the spooky effect.

PreK at Elementary School

2010-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

A1 started preschool at the local elementary school this fall. She is such a big girl now.
Here she is with her two teachers: Teacher Renee and Teacher Kim. They are amazing and the kids just love them.

A1 adores school. She comes home everyday with homework, which she insists must be done before anything else, including eating or going to Disneyland. And every time we finish her homework, she asks for more. A couple of times she has even suggested that we go to the store to buy her more homework! (Yes, my daughter is a nerd, but that runs in the family, so we won't discourage it.) I hope this attitude continues through the rest of her education.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

2010-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Los Angeles had extreme heat. It reached 113 degrees, which is the hottest it has been here since they started keeping records of temperature. So what did we do to weather the heat? We cranked up the AC and watched movies with all our best friends. I believe we had 22 people over at our apartment watching the newest Tinkerbell movie.Reviews:

Girls - "That was awesome!"
Boys - "This was fun, but I think next time we should watch Star Wars."

You can't please everyone.

This Post Brought To You By The Letter A

2010-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

I did not intentionally give my children names that started with the same letter. It just so happened that the names we liked start with the same letter. However, it sure does make choosing which letter at California Adventure to use for our picture a lot easier.

Hair Style #20

2010-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

We call this hairdo "Porcupine Head." Two criss-crossed braids with spiky ends. Fun and funky. It's one of A1's very favorites. We have to do her hair like this at least once a week.

front view (look how happy this hairdo makes her)

back view

Another Awesome Vacation - Day 3

2010-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Disneyland really took it out of us, so Day 3 was dedicated to relaxing. We slept in, then we went to the beach. This was the first time Casey had been to a beach on the West Coast and the first time that Carmen had been to a beach at all. Don't worry, we showed them the ropes.

We played in the waves......and Grandma showed the kids how to make a sand castle......and we buried ourselves in the sand......and we just plain old relaxed.(I think I have a picture of my dad sleeping at the beach for every time he has visited us in California. I may have to make a collage for him!)

We ate at a great burger joint and played a new card game that my parents recently found, Dominion. I have now asked for that game for Christmas because it's just that much fun to play.

Thanks, Alison and Casey and Carmen, for spending your first California vacation with us. I'm really glad I was here for the first visits to Disneyland and the beach. And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for joining us on this vacation. It was magical.

And Grandpa is and always will be the girls favorite.

Another Awesome Vacation - Day 2

2010-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was spent at the place where your dreams come true.
(You know, I don't think I have a single picture of my family where somebody isn't making some kind of silly face. This is the best shot we had.) Anyway, back to dreams - the kids focused on all their dreams, while the adults had so much fun watching their dreams.

A1's biggest dream right now is to be a fairy or a princess or, if possible, a fairy princess. So we let the girls wear princess dresses for an hour or so while we stood in line. I have never seen two happier girls! A2, on the other hand, couldn't care less about princesses. He loves trains and animals. So we fulfilled his dream by becoming animals on the circus train. (See what I mean about the silly faces?)Carmen wants to be able to drive, so off we went to Autopia.And A1 had to ride with Grandpa, of course. He's her favorite.Grandma's dream is to be as worshipped as Grandpa is by the grandkids. While we couldn't quite fulfill that dream (at least in quantity - A1 and Carmen simply love Grandpa too much), we did make up for it. A2 loves Grandma and prefers her over Grandpa.
It is my dream to not throw up at Disneyland. I'm proud to say that I have fulfilled that dream every time we go. But to do so has deprived A1 and A2 the opportunity to ride the Tea Cups. So Grandma took them with her so they wouldn't be deprived any longer.
Now that they've had a taste of the Tea Cups, they beg to go on that ride whenever we are at Disneyland. I may no longer be able to live my dream of not throwing up. Thanks a lot, Grandma!

It got quite hot while we were there, so the adults cooled off with a ride on Splash Mountain. Don't they look much cooler now?We had so much fun at Disneyland on Day 2. We got there at opening (8am) and stayed until closing (midnight). The kids were really tired, but we fulfilled Casey's and Carmen's dreams of going to Disneyland and riding all the rides.

And, of course, we had to get souvenirs

Another Awesome Vacation - Day 1

2010-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

If you look back at posts from the past, I have invited all of you to visit us in California, as it is one of the greatest places to visit! My sister and her husband and their little girl finally saved up enough money and vacation days from work to come visit us. They dragged my parents along with them so that we could really turn it into a family outing.

They could only stay for three days before getting back to the daily grind, so we stuffed as much vacationing as possible into those three days. Day 1 consisted of California Adventure and meeting as many characters as possible at Disneyland.

California Adventure was perfect for our first day, as we could get to everything there without killing ourselves on a day when the parks closed early.

The kids loved being together, and A1 and A2 couldn't wait to show Cousin Carmen all the best things about the Happiest Place on Earth. We went on all the rides, with the kids going on the Bug's Land rides at least three times each. It was exhausting, so the kids forced Grandpa to take a rest with them (or was it the other way around?). These three love their Grandpa more than anything in the world.
While the adults took turns riding all the "big-kid" rides (the California Screaming roller coaster is the best roller coaster EVER!!!), the kids played in Bear Country. It's like a gigantic playground with ropes to climb, slides to go down, and lots of areas to explore. Their favorite was the slides - they would slide down then giggle and run madly to do it again, all the while with me trailing behind begging them to wait for me. This is the closest I could get to taking a picture of them standing still. They couldn't stop their fun for a lousy photo!
We also met lots and lots of characters, 12 to be exact: Woody and Jessie, Tiana, Ariel, Belle, Pooh and Eeyore, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Silvermist and Tinkerbell. Alison (my sister) made the cutest personalized autograph books for the girls, and they had a blast asking the characters to sign their books. This will truly be a great memory keepsake. Thanks, Alison!

Just one picture of meeting the characters:

Did we have fun? Oh, yes, we did! Time to go home and rest up for Day 2.

Spooky Times at Disneyland

2010-11-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Disneyland decorates for all the major holidays. Their decorations for Halloween were fantastic.
Not only do they decorate the streets, they also decorate some of the rides. I love what they did to Space Mountain (ghosts and spooky images flashing past as you ride at high speeds through the dark), but the kids really loved what they did to the Haunted Mansion. It's their new favorite ride now that it's dressed up as Nightmare Before Christmas.I hope you were able to get into the Halloween spirit as well as Disneyland did.Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-07T22:40:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year. Our friends Bentley and Gaige invited us to be a Peter Pan theme with them, which we gladly accepted. A1 was Tinkerbell, A2 was Smee, Bentley was Peter Pan, and Gaige was Captain Hook. They were absolutely adorable in their costumes!
We had three parties to attend the weekend of Halloween. As the parents were highly encouraged to dress up for a couple of the parties, I decided to join in the theme as well. I was the second star to the right (and straight on until morning).We also did Trunk or Treating at the Church. It was fun, but exhausting. The kids needed a rest from carrying around all their bags of loot. They decided to lighten the load by eating some of their candy before the adults could say no.
I hope you had a happy Halloween!

Hair Style #19

2010-11-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I love this hairstyle. It's another that would be perfect for Valentine's Day. Set aside lots of time for this one (it took me 45 minutes): Part out a heart shape around the back of her head and put that hair into a rubber band to hold it out of the way. Part out another heart (using the first as a "template") around the first heart. French braid each side of the larger heart (taking hair from only one side to keep the braid in a heart shape), then do the same to the smaller heart. Gather all hair at the bottom of the two hearts and finish with a messy bun or - as I did - with a bunch of little braids. A1 thought she was so pretty with these hearts.

top view

back view (with lots of little braids)

Muffins

2010-09-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

My sister tells the best jokes! Her favorite is the Muffin Joke:

Two muffins are baking in an oven. One turns to the other and says, "Is it just me or it is hot in here?" The other muffins says, "Aah! Talking muffin!"

I laugh so hard every time I tell that joke. I shared it with my friend Renning, who it turns out has my kind of sense of humor. So what did she do to show how much she loves the joke? She made me talking muffins!Aren't they adorable? Thank you, Renning, for putting a great visual with my sister's joke.

Dinosaurs

2010-09-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've told you about the fun our kids have at the Natural History Museum. It seems that last time we were there, we didn't quite get the full experience. The museum has a man-sized puppet of a T-Rex, which they use in an "integument presentation" (showing what dinosaur skin looks like). Our good friends, the Floods, took us to see this amazing show. A1 stepped on several people to get away from the T-Rex and into my arms. A2, who was already in my arms, simply hid. And I was awed by how life-like it all felt.Thank you to the Floods for great company to a great museum and a great show. We love going on field trips with you.

For the Future

2010-09-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

This blog has multiple purposes. The main purpose is to share with others the happenings of our small family. Another is to remember those adorably embarrassing things my children do so that I can hold it over their heads/show future significant others. This is one of those posts!

A2 decided that his shoes didn't fit him correctly. He needed bigger shoes. Which shoes did he choose to make himself a big boy? My cute peep-toe wedges! I'll admit, they do make me feel taller and better looking. Maybe he's on to something.

A1 sleeps in some very strange positions. Mostly she sprawls sideways on her bed or hides under pillows. Recently she has taken to wedging herself between a couple of pillows or between a pillow and the wall. Perhaps she feels that there is too much space in her room?

Fun For a Girl and a Boy

2010-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a Slinky when you were little? I remember hours and hours of enjoyment from watching the crazy thing walk down the stairs at my parents' house. Unfortunately, we don't have stairs in our apartment, so my kids found a different way to play with the Slinky.

They played this game for nearly two hours that night. I have never seen kids having so much fun with something so small.

Erin and Ryan's Summer Vacation

2010-09-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

My wonderful sister and her awesome husband came to California for a few days to visit us. Naturally we spent lots of time at the beach. A1 and A2 asked to build a sand castle. Now when I usually build a sand castle with the kids, it's just a hill with some shells stuck in it for decoration. But Erin and Ryan were serious about building a real castle: they instructed A1 and A2 on digging a moat and laying a foundation and placing buildings correctly and finding the right amount of decoration. The kids had a blast. Thank you, Erin and Ryan for teaching my kids the fundamentals - I knew there was a reason I let them hang out with you!

digging the moat

the final product

New Adventures at Disneyland

2010-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Disneyland reconstructed what used to be Tom Sawyer's Island into Pirate's Lair. The renovations are now complete and the Lair is open for fun. You can enjoy pirate booty...
...and get trapped in a cage made from bones......and generally run amok on the island.I highly recommend spending time there. But prepared to set aside a couple of hours to do so - there is just so much to see and do that your kids will want to stay there indefinitely.

Missionaries

2010-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were reading about Ammon and his brothers in the Book of Mormon. I tried to explain what missionaries were and why we need missionaries, but they didn't quite seem to understand. So the sister missionaries in our ward were kind enough to visit and explain a little bit better about being a missionary. They even made name tags for my little missionaries. What a great learning experience for A1 and A2! Thank you, sisters!

Natural History Museum

2010-09-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

We love visiting the Natural History Museum at USC. The kids go wild for all the birds and fish and mammals and dinosaurs that they get to see. What a great field trip for my kids: educational and fun!

big dinosaurs at the entrance
checking out the fishlistening for the ocean

digging for dinosaur bones

Hair Style #18

2010-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

I did this hairstyle for a pool party. I just wanted to jazz up the normal braids a bit, so I criss-crossed them as I braided. This is another hairstyle that took quite a bit of time to do, but it seemed to hold up well to swimming, so it might be worth it to do again.

criss across the top

cross across the bottom

Hair Style #17

2010-09-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

This hairstyle is inspired by my amazing sister-in-law, who is so much better at this than I am. Someday I hope to be like you, Tracie.

This is a simple, yet elegant, hairstyle, perfect for Church. I did slanting twists across A1's head, then let the back fall into ringlets. Easy peasy.

"cornrow" twists

perfect for Church

Hair Style #16

2010-09-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is another variation on the Valentine's Day hairstyle with hearts. By placing four hearts with their tails all together, it turns into a four-leaf clover. You can also do this with three hearts for a three-leaf clover.

Hair Style #15

2010-09-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

One morning, the kids didn't really want to go outside, and I wasn't feeling up to fighting with them. They had been really good all morning and all they wanted to do was watch a movie. So as a special treat, we watched The Black Cauldron. And I had fun with twists for A1's hair. I started with a twist on each side of her hair across to the back in what I had first envisioned as a half-pony. But then the top didn't look like I wanted it, so I twisted the top (one twist on each side) down to the bottom of her hair. Then I flipped it all up and added a butterfly. This hairdo took the entire movie to do, and A1 will never hold still like that again, so I only have these pictures to remember that hairdo.

twists along the topside twists to a half-pony and top twists to the bottom
flip it up with a butterfly

Hair Style #14

2010-09-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

I love accent braids. They make a simple hairstyle even better. In this hairstyle, I did a flippy, which a then split into two braids. I pulled the rest of her hair into a messy bun, and wrapped the braids around the bun.

braid accents

messy bun

beautiful, happy girl

Hair Style #13

2010-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect hairstyle for Valentine's Day. I've included an easy heart and a more difficult heart 'do.

The easy heart is just an upside-down flippy into two braids joined at the bottom with a rubber band. Simple and cute:The more difficult heart 'do is the same concept, just stepped up a few notches. I did three hearts (upside-down flippies to braids joined at the bottom of each heart) on each side of her head. I tucked the bottom of the heart into the top of the heart right below it, then curled the hair that poked out to finish the look.And one happy girl for Valentine's Day.

Summer Primary Activity

2010-09-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

A1 is a sunbeam this year in Primary. She absolutely loves Church (she cheers every Sunday in anticipation of going to Church) and her favorite part is Primary. She has some wonderful teachers (we love you, Brother and Sister Rasmussen) who are very dedicated to the kids and to teaching them to Choose the Right.

This summer the Primary Presidency threw a wonderful Primary Activity involving water "sports." The kids became "fishers of men" as they fished for Swedish Fish (the candy, not the actual fish) and learned about teamwork as they filled buckets with water by passing sponges down the line of kids. Then they played water kickball. I had never heard of this sport before, but I now think it is the greatest thing ever. First, second, and third bases were actually kiddy pools, then the path to home plate was a slip 'n' slide. So each kid would kick the ball then run and jump into "first base," then run and jump into "second base" when the next child kicked the ball, etc. The funniest part was the slide to home. There aren't any hills to put the slip 'n' slide on and none of the kids could get up enough speed to actually propel themselves toward home plate, so most ended up crawling. A1 and A2, however, decided to army crawl to fully enjoy sliding home. I have never laughed so hard!
A big thank you to our wonderful Primary Presidency who worked so hard to pull this activity together. I really appreciate all you do for our little ones. And so does A1:

A1 Graduates Preschool

2010-09-04T14:29:00.001-07:00

A1 finished her first year of preschool this past spring. We were part of the UCLA Ward Co-op Preschool, established many, many years ago and continued from mom to mom through our local congregation. The moms of our preschoolers taught the classes, which I loved; it's amazing how much these little minds grasp. A1 loved being part of a class that learned, played, and sang together:
We started everyday with playdough and some songs:A2 loved the days when I taught because he was part of the class too. He wants to be just like his big sister:

What a great time this preschool was! So congrats to my big girl for graduating from preschool:P.S. A1 has been accepted into the Clover Ave. Preschool. I'm excited for her to learn from a teacher and be in a real classroom setting.

My 1/15 of a Second of Fame

2010-05-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I should take advantage of the fact that I live in Los Angeles. I am now taking opportunities that I normally wouldn't even think about doing anywhere else. For example, on April 6 I received tickets to go to American Idol. They don't allow cameras, so I wasn't able to get any pictures while we were there, but it was very interesting to see what happens behind the scenes. Jaime and I went together and somehow ended up standing in the "pit" right next to the stage - you know, the place where they put all the pretty, young girls who look good on television clapping for the contestants. We're not sure why the producers put us there, but our working theory is we happened to be sitting next to a group of pretty high school students in the waiting area and the producers must have thought we were with them. It was a lot of fun to watch the contestants perform and clap and scream like an idiot for them.

We were able to watch the show that night to see if we made it on TV. We could see the back of our heads a couple of times and my arm once, but nothing more than that. Until the took a very quick sweeping shot across the audience right where we were standing. We watched frame by frame until we found my head in exactly one frame that lasted all of 1/20 of a second.
So now you can say that you know someone who has been on national television. I'm not sure how I feel about spending my 1/15 of a second of fame on the very bottom corner of the screen.

Easter and Camping

2010-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

As per tradition, I took the kids camping with the rest of my family for Easter (R was on call that weekend as usual). This year was a ton of fun because both kids were old enough to enjoy the wonders of camping. (I'm sorry for the really long post, but I just had to document all the fun.)

First A1 and her cousin Carmen rode bikes around and around and around ...... and even A2 decided he needed to get in on the action.
Camping in Zion National Park allowed us to go on quite a few hikes. Our favorite is Emerald Pools. We hiked ...... and rested ...
... and saw some wonderful sights! A1 has to do everything that Grandpa does, so she rested every time he did. We celebrated our hike with Smores. I think A1 likes it, don't you? Then we went back to the campground to prepare for the huge egg hunt. A1 chose her favorite color (pink, of course) to die her eggs ...... while A2 was just amazed that eggs could turn different colors.Because the kids were so good, the Easter Bunny took the eggs away to hide them. The kids waited patiently while Grandpa looked for the place where the Easter Bunny left the eggs and candy.Finally Grandpa found the spot and the kids went wild finding the eggs and candy. A1 was able to find the well-hidden eggs ....... while A2 got a little help from Grandpa.
We found all the eggs and celebrated by eating our chocolate.We absolutely love camping with our family. We look forward to the time when R can join us for all the fun!

Pre-Easter

2010-05-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

We had so many Easter parties this year that we have to designate some of them as Pre-Easter! We celebrated as a neighborhood by having an egg hunt and a fun luncheon together. This was A2's first experience with egg hunting and he loved it! As you can see, he filled his basket just as quickly as A1.Then I taught A1's preschool right before Easter weekend. So we discussed Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection, then we shared the story of the Easter Bunny. The kids made bunny masks so they could pretend to be the Bunny while we had another egg hunt.Then we had a party with all the moms to eat Easter treats and other yummy food. The favorite was Jaime's delicious Rice Krispie eggs dipped in frosting and decorated with sprinkles.This pre-Easter really helped gear us up for the real thing!

Noah's Ark

2010-05-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, we went to the Getty Museum to see the area dedicated to Noah's Ark. They have animals made out of all kinds of materials - wood, old tires, recycled aluminum cans, old windmills, etc. Some even made noises like their living counterparts.

The kids "rode" a camel ...... and helped the animals into the ark ...... and climbed to the upper decks where the monkeys sleep (A1's favorite part!) ...... and cleaned up after the animals (A2's favorite part!).They had a really good time. I think we might have to go back again.

The PotatoHead Family

2010-05-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

The kids recently received a Mr. PotatoHead set that included two big PotatoHeads and one baby PotatoHead and over 50 accessories. They have spent hours and hours putting different silly faces on the PotatoHead family, which just makes me smile.

A2 would spend all that time playing with the box if I let him. I'm afraid that I had to throw the box away a few hours into the play, so he has had to settle with the actual toys.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

2010-05-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Rub-a-dub-dub

Three men in a tub.

And who do you think they be?

The butcher, the baker,

The candlestickmaker.

Turn the out, knaves all three.

First Article of Faith

2010-05-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

As part of this year's Primary curriculum, the kids are trying to learn all the Articles of Faith. Here's the first. Hopefully, we'll see many more.

Horseplay

2010-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

How to Ride a Horse

Step 1: Become friends with the horse. Patting or feeding usually works wonders.
Step 2: Mount up. Riding double helps increase security and confidence.

Step 3: Give the horse a good rest every 15 minutes so that his/her back doesn't break.

Cleaning

2010-05-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

A2 has discovered a new toy: Between A1's love of mopping and A2's love of sweeping, I'm really enjoying my break from cleaning the floors!

Living in comfort

2010-05-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

When one requires comfortable surroundings while performing everyday tasks (such as making phone calls), a private couch is just perfect.

But then again, where would one be without sharing and cuddling?Which do you prefer - one couch or two?

Twinners

2010-05-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

A1 and her cousin Carmen look remarkably similar. In fact many people have asked if they are twins. What do you think? (Hint: the one with bangs is Carmen and the one without is A1.)

Beyond looking similar, they love spending time together and doing the same things. Their favorite activity is helping Grandpa cook. And all chefs know that you have to taste what you're cooking to make sure it will be good for others. (They tell me the frosting was good enough for the Christmas cookies.)

To celebrate the "twinners" favorite activity, Grandma made matching aprons for the two "Cooker Pals" and their Grandpa. Didn't she do a fabulous job?

Hair Style #12

2009-11-29T18:03:00.001-08:00

I started this one as a "hair headband" with just one progressive ponytail across her head, but the one fountain coming off the side looked a little silly, so I made two rows. By putting a diagonal part between the two rows, the fountains are approximately the same distance from the front of the head. As I did this hairdo a couple of days before Halloween, we decorated A1's hair appropriately, but this could be decorated in any way or with no decorations at all!

top view

front view

A little tip for those of you who would like to try this: section off each row and the back of the hair (that is left hanging down) and hold it in a rubber band while you work, then do the back progressive ponytail before the front progressive ponytail (basically you're working with the middle section of hair while the two outer sections are held in rubber bands).

Hair Style #11

2009-11-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

This hairstyle would be elegant on just about anyone. I've been seeing casual versions of it pop up on a lot of TV shows recently. I started with an off-center part, then twisted the hair toward the back, taking new bunches hair with each twist (kind of like french braiding, only it's french twisting), until I reached the back. I like to put in a flower clip to hide the rubber band.

back view
side view

top view

Hair Style #10

2009-11-29T17:54:00.001-08:00

I love messy buns. They are the greatest thing to happen to little girls' hair for a long time. I pulled her hair up in the front in three flippies, combined those into two flippies, criss-crossed those to become two messy buns.

top view

back view

Hair Style #9

2009-11-29T17:44:00.001-08:00

I think this is a beautiful up-do, but maybe a bit too grown up for my little girl. I started with a part off to the side on top of the head, then combined all her hair into a ponytail in the back. I then flipped the ponytail up and pinned the hair around a beautiful flower clip (of my own design!).

front view

side view

back view

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

2009-11-29T17:18:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We had a great holiday, spent with Uncle Gary and Aunt Debbie and some of their friends. Thank you for inviting us to spend the holiday with you.

R had to work all Thanksgiving day (darn those people who continue to need medical care on holidays; why can't they just miraculously be better just so I can have a nice time?!), so we had our own Thanksgiving on Saturday. It was wonderful, and I'm still enjoying many leftovers!

I am grateful for a fantastic family who would do anything for each other, for loving children who continue to amaze me everyday, for a wonderful husband who is working so hard just so we can have a better life in the future. I am grateful to be a part of the true gospel and to have God's influence guiding my life. We are very blessed.

Cheers and Boos for Black Friday:

Cheers for online sales! We got most of our Black Friday shopping done Thursday morning (I know - Black Friday shopping on Thursday doesn't sound right to me either).

Cheers to Best Buy for putting their doorbusters online so that I didn't have to stand in line for hours with two cranky children.

Cheers to Toys R Us, where I picked up the very last princess toy for A1 available. Or maybe that's just cheers to me for happening to see it sitting there far away from the aisle where it should have been and, therefore, no one else saw it. Either way!

Boos to Kohl's for having the most perfect skirt available in stores, but not online. It wasn't just an "in-store only" special that was full price online. They actually have no record of the perfect skirt at all online.

Overall this Black Friday was a positive experience as I didn't have to fight any crowds other than the kids yelling for my time while I was on the computer.

Creative Juices

2009-11-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a scientist at heart, which means I'm rarely artistic (artistic, not autistic - very different things). So I'm very proud of myself for the following creations:

1) necklace and earring set made from topaz - designed by me!2) necklace made of black onyx - designed and strung together by me!3) Halloween hair clips and any time hair clips - made by me!4) large and small flower hair clips - made by me! (I think my favorite is the dark pink one in the middle of the bottom picture.)A1 had to get in on the creative juice action too:

1) painting - made by A1! (isn't she cute?)

Bonding Time

2009-11-29T16:58:00.001-08:00

I love when my kids get along while doing things together. What do you do to bond with your family?

A1's Third Birthday

2009-11-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

My amazing daughter had her third birthday last week. We had a rather large party with her friends and the pure joy in their little faces was totally worth the three solid days of work I (and a few friends I recruited) put into it. A1's favorite thing recently is all things princess; she requested a crown cake and a princess party, so that's what we did!

The little princesses and knights arrived to decorate their goody bags for holding all the treasure they would soon find.

A real live princess came to read about a princess and a knight that team up to defeat a dragon. (A great, big, gigantic, I-can't-thank-you-enough thank you to my amazing cousin-in-law, the beautiful Princess Gloria, for doing this incredible favor for me.)The guests acted out the story by defeating a dragon......and conquering a castle......in order to be crowned knights and princesses.Then we had the crown cake that A1 had been asking for months to have at her birthday.

I'll admit that I may have cheated slightly by making the actual crowns out of sugar cookies and the cakes to look like pillows, but I think I made up for it by providing each party guest with several personal crown cookies. I had a lot of fun decorating these cakes, but none of it would have been done without a ton of help from my good friend Jaime, who decorated the cookies and did most of the second cake and then watched the kids while I decorated for the party. (Thank you so much, Jaime!)

Happy birthday to you, A1. We love you and are so happy to have you in our family.

I'm How Old Now?

2009-11-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm definitely in my fourth decade of life, I thought I should celebrate in style. So I convinced R to take the kids and me to dinner with some friends. A few days later I really celebrated by taking the kids to Disneyland - the first of many, many trips. We spent the day in long lines, meeting the characters (mainly so that I wouldn't have to do it again next time we are there). We met the Winnie the Pooh characters, with Tigger as the favorite, of course...
...and four of the princesses (Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, and Snow White).

We did manage to go on a few rides, but we were having too much fun to take pictures of that part. I caught this last one on the carousel right before we left for the day.

All in all it was a great birthday. I think Disneyland is a great place to celebrate getting old, yet refusing to grow up!

And I Rolled My Eyes

2009-11-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

A1 and A2 asked me to make them waffles for breakfast this morning. Being the loving mother that I am, I immediately got to work to make them a wonderful breakfast that they could brag to their friends about, dirtying a whole lot of dishes and all the counters in the kitchen. When I went to call them to the table, I found this in the living room...
... and this in the bedroom...

... on top of this that I still had to fold.Later a friend stopped by to ask me what I did with myself to keep from being bored all day.

And I rolled my eyes.

What makes you roll your eyes?

Happy Halloween

2009-11-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween was great this year. I love that A1 is old enough to get excited about and enjoy the holiday and that A2 gets excited about anything that A1 gets excited about. We made cookies and went to a couple of different parties and played games and, of course, went trick-or-treating. A1 continues to talk about how much she loves dressing up in a costume (she would only answer to "Tinkerbell" all day). A2 learned that he loves suckers. All together, a successful day.

Trick or treat!

Tinkerbell

Cookie Monster

The Animals Went Marching Two By Two

2009-11-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

And the kids went marching four by four!

Our good friends, the Johnsons, invited us to go to the zoo with them. So off we went - in the rain! Actually the rain was good because it kept the temperatures down and the crowds small. We basically had the zoo to ourselves so our kids didn't disturb anyone and they could stand and look at their favorite animals as long as they wanted.

The giraffes were high up on the list of favorite animals...
... as were the gazelles.
However, I think the favorites were the gorillas.

We stayed forever at the gorilla exhibit, watching the whole family eat and interact. Then we got a show from our own little monkeys...Bentley, Gaige, and A1 (from left to right) loved the zoo more than just about anything. In fact, A1 and A2 will be getting an annual pass to the zoo for Christmas (shhh, don't tell them).

Where have you been lately that has made you buy (or want to buy) an annual pass?

Our First Field Trip

2009-11-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

Last month A1's preschool had a field trip to a farm. The kids got to pet and feed animals, go on a hayride, pick their own pumpkins (just in time for Halloween)...

...and play on pretend old-time vehicles (trains and cars and stuff).
I tried to get some cute seasonal pictures of A1 and A2, but only A2 cooperated...

... A1 was having way too much fun playing. I'm glad that their first field trip was such a success!

3 Milestones in 1 Day

2009-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Apartment living has severely limited some of A2's learning opportunities, especially learning to climb stairs. To overcome the lack of stairs in our apartment, I took A1 and A2 to a nearby playground that has a toddler slide with stairs just perfect for beginners. I set him down at the bottom to figure out how to lure him up to the top; while I was thinking, he simply crawled up the stairs, no problem! We tried it a few more times, just to make sure that he knew what he was doing. On the fourth try A2 thought, "This is not a challenge; let's try something else." So he held onto the railing and walked up the stairs! I guess our lack of stairs hasn't limited him that much.

On a somewhat related note, A2's first tooth made its appearance last night. It is now officially time to ween him.

When You Give A Boy A Cookie

2009-10-14T09:45:00.001-07:00

Question: What happens when you give a boy an oreo and turn your back for a few minutes?

Answer:

Has It Been A Year Already?

2009-10-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

A2 had his first birthday a few days ago. I can't believe that he is a year old already! He's an adorable boy who loves following his sister (especially now that he is walking), loves playing with his daddy, and loves cuddling with his mommy. He has brought so much joy and fun to our family.

Naturally we had a party to celebrate and invited a few friends over to join us. I made a train cake (my first attempt at carving and truly decorating a cake).

Did I do an okay job? Tell me it's good.

We gave A2 his own little train car to eat while everyone else devoured the rest of the cake.

Signs of a good party

A2 loved eating the cake. You can't tell in these pictures, but he had cake all over his belly, in his eyelashes, and even in his hair.

Before

After

And we opened presents. A2's favorite present?

The boxes and bags that the presents came in, of course.

Overall, it was quite the party. Thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate. Happy Birthday to You, my darling boy!

Happy October!

2009-10-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a few days late, but A1 received these adorable Halloween clothes from her grandma, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of the month than dressing up.

On Your Mark, Get Set...

2009-10-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

...GO!!!

A2's first steps caught on camera! I now officially have two kids that can run in opposite directions; which one should I run after and which one should I let go?

Book of Mormon Stories

2009-09-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

In our ward, we have two nurseries - one for the younger kids (younger than 2 years old) and one for the older kids (older than 2 years old). The older nursery gets to go to singing time with the Primary kids, which is A1's very most favorite part of Church. She sings her favorite songs on the way home from Church, while we're eating, while we're walking, while we're taking a bath, and most especially while she is supposed to be sleeping. She will stay up for more than two hours after we have put her to bed just singing to herself. We may have a performer on our hands; what do you think?

Let the Learning Begin!

2009-09-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

My sweet girl started preschool this week. She is so excited to learn with other kids. And she is adorable with a backpack that is almost as big as she is.
And my happy, happy boy is learning how to walk. Look how proud of himself he is:

Photography Lesson #3

2009-09-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

More photos of my adorable boy.

Essay: What Did We Do This Summer?

2009-09-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

I took a break from blogging during the summer. However, now that school is in, I guess it's time to complete that "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" essay. Here's our summer:

As is mandated by state law, we spent quite a bit of time at the beach, digging and building sandcastles.We learned some new skills. A2 first learned to pull himself up in his crib...
...then learned to cruise along the furniture and walls to get wherever he wants to be. His favorite places? Wherever Mommy happens to be, including the bathroom and the kitchen.
A1 learned to swim (while wearing arm floaties). A2 learned that it is funny to throw himself into the pool and scare Mommy to death (which he then attempted to repeat three or four times and got really mad when I wouldn't let him).
And, of course, we visited family in Utah. As I was attempting to pack everything for our trip, A1 really wanted to help. So I told her to choose which clothes she wanted to pack with us and to put them in a pile to put in a suitcase. I came out of the bedroom 5 minutes later to find this:
She had taken every piece of clothing she owns and put it in the pile. Notice that she included her stuffed cat (for herself) and a plastic horse (for A2). I think we need to have a lesson in "packing light." While I packed some clothes for her and put the rest away, she decided that A2 needed help packing as well. I found all of his clothes in a pile in that same spot. I was too exasperated at that point to take a picture of his pile.

We had a fun trip, which included painting with Aunt Emily and Uncle Eric...
...and a trip to the zoo with Cousin Carmen.We had a great time. Thanks to everyone for all the memories we made this summer.

In Memory of an Amazing Woman

2009-09-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

Cleo Royle was born April 22, 1915 in Lehi, Utah. She married the love of her life, Cecil Webb, on January 4, 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression. Starting her own family during such a hard economic time taught her one of the great axioms that she passed on to her grandchildren: Waste not, want not. She often threatened that if we didn't finish the food that was placed on our dinner plate, she would save it and put raisins in it for breakfast in the morning. I don't ever remember having raisin spaghetti for breakfast, but I do remember a lot of clean dinner plates.

Cecil made his living as a fine jeweler, and Cleo helped him occasionally in his shop. She was also a dental hygienist, a piano teacher, and many other professions to help make ends meet, while raising her six children. Because of Cecil's skill in fine craftsmanship (learned from making watches for years), he was drafted in World War II as a mechanical technician - he was in charge of putting together the delicate instruments in the dashboards of the airplanes. Such a skill was rare during that time, so he was never sent overseas to fight; he stayed in Arizona and sent his handiwork off to war. Cleo declared that she was extremely blessed to have married such a talented man and showed her appreciation by watching over the wives of those men who were sent off to war. She considered herself their mother hen.

Three of her six children were born deaf. Cleo simply taught those three children to read lips and to speak by feeling the vibrations in her throat. Decades later all three received cochlear implants and found that they had no trouble adapting to their new world of hearing because their mother had painstakingly taught them all they needed to know.

Cleo and Cecil served a mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1979. The grandchildren grew up hearing stories about the wonderful members in Ecuador and listening to lengthy prayers of thanksgiving offered in Spanish. I was able to go with the two of them to the dedication of the Ecuador temple in 1999 - a temple that had been promised while they had served there 20 years earlier. Just a year later, I was called to that same mission and did all that I could to be the kind of missionary that my grandmother had taught me about for years.

In 1990, at the age of 73 (long after most couples would have been touring the world or simple settling down), Cleo and Cecil moved to Bountiful, Utah, to help take care of our family while my mom attended medical school. I was just becoming a teenager at the time, and I'm sure I didn't give her the easiest time during those hard years. But she never yelled. She simply quoted scripture or sang hymns to make us behave - I can still hear her beautiful voice in a slight vibrato singing, "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other." If we continued disobeying her, she would threaten us with the back of her hand, not that she could do much damage - but those intricately designed rings Grandpa gave her would have!

Cleo had a beautiful voice and she loved music. She directed church choirs for years. Other callings in the church included gospel doctrine teacher (until the age of 82), Relief Society instructor, and Ward and Stake Young Women's President. Perhaps her favorite calling (besides being a missionary) was as Assistant Temple Matron in both the Ogden and Bountiful temples. I loved going to the temple with her and tried to do so every time I visited after being married. She shared so many insights into the endowment that only years and years of study could teach.

Cleo dedicated herself to family and the progression of her eternal family. She learned how to ski when she was more than 50 years old so that she could spend more time with her youngest son. She came camping with us twice a year until she was nearly 90 years old just to be closer to some of her grandchildren. I will never forget the half hour she had me locked in her car, explaining to me that I had to keep my new husband happy so that he would never leave me! All joking aside, I know family is and always will be the most important thing for any of us - and I know that because of her.

Cleo was diagnosed with acute leukemia on August 17, 2009, which accelerated rapidly. Knowing that she was at the end, all her children and a large portion of her grandchildren gathered at her side. She planned her own funeral days before it actually happened and continued to recognize her visitors as she grew weaker and weaker. She passed away in her sleep on August 25, 2009, without losing either her sight or her mind (her two biggest fears). She leaves behind 74 descendants (children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) to join her husband, a son, a son-in-law, and many, many more loved ones at our Father's side.

True Optimism

2009-06-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

A1 saw her first large rainbow the other day. It was bright and had all the colors. We explained to her that a rainbow happens when it rains and then the sun shines on the rain. Now every time she sees it raining outside, she smiles and yells, "Hurray! It's raining! Now I can see a rainbow."

The Perfect Day

2009-06-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

We recently spent a couple weeks in Utah with our families. It was a great vacation - the amount of fun we have is in direct correlation to the amount of weight I gain, and I gained a lot of weight!

We decided to spend one day communing with nature near Smith and Morehouse - a favorite camping area. A1 and A2 loved spending time with the grandparents and learning something new. And I loved being named "King for the Day" - I caught the first fish, the largest fish, and the most fish (a Triple Crown Clean Sweep in fishing); I only need to do that another couple hundred times to unseat the True Fishing Champion, Grandpa Jensen.

R and A1 showing off the last fish of the trip

We love fishing!

Don't worry - A1 made sure that we didn't hurt any of the fish and insisted that we throw them all back.

Lazy Saturday

2009-06-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

We took ourselves a nice, relaxed, lazy Saturday today. What did we do? Well, R taught A1 how to kill the boss at Cleyra (that's Playstation talk, if you didn't recognize it; can you guess which game he was playing by that small clue? Some kind of prize to those who can).

And while R was distracted with that, A2 took the opportunity to prove why we can no longer leave him alone - he goes straight for the good stuff.
A2 is in the first stages of crawling. He can try really hard to move barely inches, so he'll try to a while and then give up to go across the room the fast way - by rolling over and over and over. How he does that without getting dizzy, I'll never know.

And what was I doing during all of this? Taking pictures of the fun, obviously, but also looking at one of my new favorite blogs, CakeWrecks. Check it out; it's hysterical!

Hair Style #8

2009-06-06T18:34:00.001-07:00

This was my first attempt at keeping the short under-hairs from falling out of a ponytail. I tried a "hair headband" - basically, pulling the hair all the way around the head in one long progressive "ponytail," which I then pulled up to combine with the rest of the hair in five flippies and then into a ponytail.

from the front (with her bear)

from the side (to show off the hair headband)

from the back (to show off the flippies)

I don't think this turned out quite as well as Hair Style #3. The headband doesn't flow into the rest of the hairdo as well as the flippies, I think. What do you think?

Hair Style #7

2009-06-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite of all A1's hair styles. I think she looks so cute with these progressive pigtails down her head.

from the front

from the side

from the back

I attempted a variation on this, something I call shoelace progressive pigtails. Crisscross the hair down each side of the head, instead of just rubber bands, with barrettes at the crossing. I don't know if it turned out as well as the simpler version.

from the side

from the back

Which do you like better - the simple version or the crisscross version?

Hair Style #6

2009-06-06T17:05:00.001-07:00

This is called "smocking" (actually a sewing term, for you non-sewing people out there). It looks cuter on girls with thick hair (like A1's cousin Carmen - just adorable on her).

from the front

from the back

Hair Style #5

2009-06-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

Another invention from trying the keep the short under-hairs from falling out - this time from pigtails. Three flippies on top and three flippies underneath, all split between two pigtails.

from the front

from the back

In case you can't tell, our lovely model was very angry and throwing a tantrum while I was trying to take these pictures (I think she was mad because I wouldn't let her take the pictures by herself).

Hair Style #4

2009-06-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

I love this hair style as a simple one for church: just five little flippies with flower clips to flourish each one. You can leave the back simply down or pull it into two pigtails.

from the front

from the side

as pigtails

As a side note, when I laid A1 down for her nap on the day I did this hairdo, she laid still for about 2 seconds. Then she jumped up and called, "Mommy, we need to take pictures!" It's a good thing she remembered.

Hair Style #3

2009-06-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite for really hot days. Sweet A1 has strange hair: it's long enough to look great as a ponytail, but the under-hairs (those closest to her neck) are too short to stay up. So this just started as a way to keep those small hairs up in the ponytail.

I pulled all the small hairs into flippies all the way around her head (for 10 small flippies), then combined every two of those into bigger flippies (for 5 medium flippies), then combined all those into a ponytail. I have left it as a ponytail (see Hair Style #8), but in this case I pulled it into a messy bun (which is hard to do with A1's VERY thin hair).

from the front

from the side

from the back

I did the same thing when she wanted to be a ballerina, except I pulled the ponytail into a tight bun and added a bow:

Hair Style #2

2009-06-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is called "Diamond Head." Start with the front hair pulled up into one rubber band, split that between two rubber bands (pulling more hair into the rubber bands), split those into three rubber bands (pulling up more hair), split those into four, combine those into three, combine those into two, combine those into one (all the time pulling more hair in as you work your way down the head).

from the front (she closed her eyes just as I was taking the picture)

from the back

Hair Style #1

2009-06-06T15:52:00.001-07:00

As promised, I have been testing my creative palette on A1's hair and have finally taken pictures of the results. I started by creating a little "crown" of hair all the way around the top of her head (which I forgot to take pictures of!), but I branched out into two little "crowns," one on each side. I combined the dangling ends in to a crown clip to complete the look.

from the front

from the back (kind of)

from the side

A couple days later, I did this style again (with more rounded crowns), but I didn't combine the dangling ends. Rather I put barrettes on each one, which made it look more elegant in my opinion. Unfortunately, A1 was not in a picture taking mood that day, so I can't show you what it looked like. Believe me, it was cute.

Giveaways

2009-05-11T09:10:00.001-07:00

I have recently started looking at the hair blogs (there are a bunch of them out there) to find new ways to do A1's hair. I will start posting new hair do's as I do them, but for today I want to plug them many giveaways that they have going on. I just check the following blogs every couple of days to look for what they have going on:

www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com
www.hairandshare.blogspot.com (right now they are giving away a flat iron worth $200!)
www.pigsandponies.blogspot.com
www.girlydohairstyles.blogspot.com
www.cute2tryhairdos.blogspot.com
www.babesinhairland.blogspot.com
www.ohsogirly.blogspot.com

And there are many more! I love finding new ways to do A1's hair - it's my creative outlet.