Friday Five

1. Preschool Started:

This week we had our first day of preschool! We are doing a rotating joyschool again where the moms teach the kids and we trade off each week. Tyler had a little bit of a hard time on the first day, but I have to remember that the first month or so was tough last year too. He is the youngest in the class again and just has trouble sitting still.

I'm teaching on Monday and we are doing the letter A. SO I'll let you know how that goes :)

2. My Gym:

Tyler loved doing gymnastics classes in Texas (at the Metroplex) and we found a great place here called MY GYM. They have weekly classes plus a weekly free play, which Jackson can go to also. It's fun to have something special to add to our schedule!

3. A New Style:

I got my hair cut this week! Not sure if I love the style with the top layers down (they are really short!), but I do love the length of the longer pieces and how easy it is to do!

4. Sending Smiles and LOEP:

We are working on a project for the Liberia Orphan Education Project-- making ABC, 123, and color sign language flashcards. We are also doing school kits, so if you want to sew some bags or print flashcards, go here. My sewing machine is behind piles and piles of boxes in our storage unit, so I'll just be making the flash cards. But I think I'll make a set of regular ABC cards for Tyler while I'm at it!

5. Fall time Swaperoo

SO excited to announce we are doing another Fall Swap! Head over to the Swap blog for dates and details. I believe I will be making this:

and these:

Can't wait!

Our Trip to Idaho

We planned to take a week-long roadtrip to Idaho in September, but decided to hurry over and help celebrate Jeff's Grandpa's 85th Birthday with the family.

It was so amazing to see his family {mostly} all together. We had a big birthday party Sunday night and the next two days, we crammed in as much family time as we could. We had a fire at Aunt Pam's just like the good ol' days...

Jeff took Tyler to the sand dunes, we drove through an elk ranch, and we showed him how cool a cat-tail is!

I got to meet up with 2 wonderful friends and it was a blast.

Jerai, my freshman year roommate, who I know for sure was heaven sent. We are so similar and she really brings out the best in me. I love her!! Jackson was such a crab when she came but I know our kids would have loved playing together on a good day!

I also got to meet up with Christine, my co-host for Sending Smiles, who I have never "met" although we chat it up all the time through emails! She is such a sweetie and has the cutest kids. My boys had a blast with them and I wish we lived closer!

The kids did really well on the way there and on the way back. We were super lucky to only have an hour or two of fussiness. They slept well and played well in their car seats.

We've Been...

bubble blowin'

sunglass wearin'

scooter ridin'

park runnin'

beach goin'

sand diggin'

rug burnin'

tee-ballin'

lake likin'

mommy huggin'

grandpa lovin'

p.s. we're not private anymore, so add this url back to your favorites! :)

Tyler making Jackson laugh

If you're like me, then hearing babies laugh is the best thing ever! Tyler is the only person who can make Jackson laugh like this. I could hardly keep the camera steady cuz Jeff and I were cracking up too!

Best Day of my Life...

After work yesterday, we went out to Silverwood Lake for a half-day of lake fun. I found myself saying a few different times "this is the best day of my life!" the same way my 5 year old niece does about everyday of her life. I just love that saying. Why can't we say that everyday? I mean, I know there are bad days and just plain regular days, but I haven't had a day like this in awhile.

A day to sit still and look at the beautiful earth

and the beautiful people that are in it with me:

A day where I laugh so hard that I can't make any noise at all.

And when there's pictures of my loved ones to remember the fun... Doesn't get better than that!

Here's Tyler saying his favorite word right now "wapooza!"

The boys LOVED going on the tube. Seriously the funnest thing ever.

I pretty much fell in love with Jeff all over again. I totally love this guy!

The boys did great!

Jackson whined about his life jacket for a few seconds, and then he got over it. Look how cute he is!

And this guy? These boys are the best things that ever happened to us. What would we do without kids? (Read books, watch movies, play games, oh wait, not supposed to answer that question...)

Seriously, the best day of my life!

Fun Giveaway!

My sweet and super talented friend, Christine makes these beautiful handmade dolls! You have to go look and enter in her drawing for a super cute Halloween doll- she's giving away 3 of them! Chris made me 2 Halloween dolls for our Fall Swap and I'm in love with them. I'd love an Ezzmerelda doll to add to my collection of beauties!

Go here for details! you WON'T be disappointed!

Some pictures of our fun

Thanks to my sis-in-law Melonie, I have some pictures of the fun we had when they were here. It was so nice that our trip/move overlapped, so we could see them here.

On Monday while the boys were at the All Star Baseball game, we saw Toy Story 3, and loved it!

On Thursday, we all went to Laguna Beach and had an awesome time:

Thank you Mel for the family picture, and really for taking all the pictures! I love my Nikon, but I don't like taking it places where it could get destroyed, like the beach... and frankly, I was feeling very lazy! She was so on top of things and got great pictures of everyone!

The kids enjoyed jumping the waves and playing in the sand:

The boys enjoyed throwing the frisbee/swimming!

Then on Friday when the boys went deep sea fishing, we went to Build A Bear!

First they picked out the animal they wanted. Lily got a kitty, Isaac a doggie, Tyler a monkey and Jackson picked out the cutest little teddy bear, with my help of course :)

Next they picked out a sound to put inside and stuffed it with stuffing:

Then they grabbed a heart to put inside and make a wish and sew it up

Then they gave them a bath,

Then we named our new friends, Tyler wanted his monkey to be named Cararee, or something strange like that, so I suggested a few and George was the ultimate winner.

Jackson's giggly bear is named Giggles, quite appropriate for my happy smiley little guy.

we had so much fun with Mom and Melonie!

Thoughts on a Sunday Night

This is just a little post on a Sunday night about how much I love my little ones.

Tonight we sang the alphabet song (which I decided I need to be better about doing with them) and realized that Tyler knows a good deal of it. He got a little stuck around LMNOP...and told me, "I can't do that" so we sang it slowly and it came out like "el-an-elmo-pee." So that made me laugh. Jackson smiled the whole time and sang "abababa"

Tyler is a little fish in the water. My parents have a beautiful pool in their yard and the kids ask me to go swimming daily. I have to muster up some courage to go out there, because Tyler loves my swimming attention and Jackson is a little dare-devil. He thinks he can just walk off the edge and start swimming. So between diving bombing Tyler to the bottom to get a toy and saving Jackson's life every 5 seconds, it's always a blast!

Jackson is becoming quite the accessories fanatic, especially with shoes. He also loves sunglasses, hats and ties. There's a little basket where we put our shoes by the front door and Jackson will bring both his shoes and my shoes to me periodically throughout the day. He'll say "sh,sh,sh,sh" until I put them on then he'll grab my hand and walk me around the house. The other day, he had them on right before nap time and he wouldn't let me take them off when I put him in bed, so he slept in his shoes!

Our lesson today in Relief Society was Tell me the Stories of Jesus. I am reminded in a new ward where I don't quite know where I fit in (yet) the church is the same, and the gospel is true, and Christ is the center.
--I kept thinking about how I always had this beautiful picture of Christ and the children in my room growing up. Now my boys have the same picture in their room. I hope it reminds them, as it did for me, that Jesus loves us and that one day we will be able to gather around his side and hug Him. I hope I can teach my children that He loves us more than we will ever realize and that He is always there for us, no matter what our problem is; fear, doubt, pain, loneliness.

Before we came to California, we were walking the halls in our Allen building. I pointed to a picture of Christ and asked Tyler "who's that?" He usually answers right away, but this time didn't. I gave him a hint: "He's our special friend" His reply made me laugh and then brought tears to my eyes. "Grandpa?"

I hope my boys realize that our Heavenly Father and Jesus love us even more than our parents, or grandparents or closest friend. And that they show us their love by giving us special friends that support us and love us.

Here are a few of my favorite lines from the talk:
Have we told them of the love Jesus has for children, how He held them in His arms, prayed for them, and wept? Do our children know that Jesus stands ready “with open arms to receive [them]”?
To fathers and mothers, to grandfathers and grandmothers, and to those without children of their own who lovingly nurture children and youth, my counsel is to speak more frequently about Jesus Christ. In His holy name is great spiritual power. “There [is] no other name given nor any other way … whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ.”
Although there may be times when a child does not listen with a believing heart, your testimony of Jesus will remain in his or her mind and soul.
If a child is not listening, don’t despair. Time and truth are on your side. At the right moment, your words will return as if from heaven itself. Your testimony will never leave your children."
Beautiful words!

First post from California

Well, our move went very smoothly, thanks to the many friends who came to help and the others who sent happy thoughts and prayers. I saw many miracles and tender mercies unfold last week that helped us get through it safely and happily. As hard as moving day was, I remember having a very peaceful feeling that this change -albeit sad is a good one. That better things are coming and happy memories will follow.
The boys and I traveled well and Jeff and his mom arrived a couple of days later with the Penske Truck and our cars. Thank goodness for Jeff's mom who drove with him so the boys and I could fly.
We've had a week of fun jam-packed in the schedule but Tyler and I have come down with a nasty virus that has us feeling pretty lousy. We did manage to get to the beach today for a couple of hours with the whole family and that was nice!

More updates coming soon when I find a new lens for my camera and take some descent pictures! I love the internet and blogging world even more now that I have tons of Texas friends to keep up with... think of me when you start slacking on the updating! :) I miss you all already!

A few notes:

• There are boxes everywhere... flattened ones, taped up ones, empty ones, full ones, ones my whole family could fit inside... I feel like we could make a dr. suess book about all the different types of boxes in my front room.
• I think Jackson walked over to the fridge, screamed, I opened it and he pulled out a piece of bologna a total of 7 times today.
• Tyler keeps asking me "are we takin' dis to cawafona?" about pretty much everything he looks at.
• I hate moving. I wish I could just transport my whole house and everything in it anywhere I want anytime I want. Wouldn't that be nice?
• Tyler has chigger bites. On his crotch and on his neck. Poor guy. He keeps telling me "my teeter bites hurt. Teeters give me owies" I know they hurt. I've had chiggers. Darn chiggers.
• I should be sleeping, but I'm posting. That's funny cuz a few minutes ago I was thinking I should be packing, but I'm sleeping. Then I couldn't sleep anymore.
• A week from right now I'll be in Cawafona. Claremont, California, to be exact. This week will be too long yet not long enough at the same time. We have so much to do! Art classes, packing, cleaning and cramming in as much friend time as possible!
• I keep thinking about how blessed we have been the past 2 1/2 years here. I have loved every minute. We have had good times and challenging times, I'm a better person because of it all. And through it all, our friends have been like family. That's the thing about living in a place where we don't have family. Friends become family. I will miss my Texas family.
• As hard as this is, I know we are meant to move to Ca. I'm so excited to have family memories and for my children to know and remember all their grandparents!

Big Change, Big Move...

Jeff's job hasn't been working out, so we have been looking at our other options for a couple months now. Things have been falling into place and we feel like everything is all happening for a bigger reason and we have so much to look forward to!
I'm really going to miss Allen and the great friends we've made here. I love our ward at church and our neighborhood. I've been prepping Tyler lately and told him we will have to say good-bye to our friends and make new friends in California. He said, "It ok, Grandpa's my friend." That made me smile. We are so excited to be near family!

A Few Flippin' Videos!!!!

I've been taking videos constantly with my new FLIP! I love how small it is and easy to just pull out of my bag and start rolling. Here are a few of my fav's!
TYLER'S SWIMMING LESSONS:
By the second day, he was dunking his head under and swimming to his teacher under the water and holding his breath!

JEFF SPINNING THE BOYS:
Why is this their favorite thing to do?

BOYS WILL BE BOYS:
I love the giggling in this one. If you need a good laugh...

SLIP 'N' SLIDE:

MORE SLIP 'N' SLIDE:
Jackson was having the time of his life!

LAST ONE, I PROMISE:
Me on the slip 'n' slide. So embarasing...


Sorry to have a billion videos on one post, but if I don't do it now that I have a chance to sit down, they'll never get added. Hope you enjoy them!