Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars

My Kinder&Garden

2011-03-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've dreamt about having my own garden for years. I'd picture myself in pioneer-type dresses with large straw hats out my small patch of dirt with various vegetation planted and cared for by my own hand. This dream carried with it a fear, however. A fear of failure, of not possessing the "green thumb" spoken of, and shadowed by my mother's extensive knowledge of plants. This as well as- how do I know I'm not doing it wrong? How do I know the need for each little plant? Living in Arizona gave me a good excuse from un-attempting my garden dream. But here in Georgia, I knew it was time. At Thanksgiving time, a visit from my Father in Law resulted in my very own above ground garden plot complete with top soil. After the last winter's frost and a trip to the local nursery, I knew it was time to take the plunge- plant those seeds and see what happens. And guess what? It works! You actually take some seeds, plant them in the dirt, water them everyday, and they start to grow!

A similar thing happens with kids. My little garden of children have grown so much this past year. In less than a month, my two 3 year olds will become 4. They can write their own names, completely dress themselves, and wear big kid underwear. In less than a month, my two 2 year olds will earn "and a half" at the end of their age. They can wait their turn, share their fruit snacks, and climb on the playground all by themselves.

Thankfully, there's still lots of time for more growth and changes.

An example of Claire writing her own name all by herself with no prompts. Clay also write his clearly and correctly. They look forward to school...a time when I will have to grow a little bit by letting them out of my nest and into the big world out there- a very scary thought.

This girl packs a punch

2010-11-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Ah, my Lily. So much personality in this one. I can't express the fun and the joy she brings to our family. But maybe some of the pictures can help.

From her big blue eyes to her golden locks, she's a bundle of girl that walks full of determination and confidence. She's sparked intelligence since early on and demands to be accepted as a person, not a baby.

She's a true beauty that brings laughter and sweetness to our home. What a treasure she is. I'd take 10 more of her.

Halloween and the After Party

2010-11-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

One dragon, two fairies, a tiger, and Go Dog Go had a great Halloween weekend. Luke and Lily turned 2, squadron party, the St. John carnival, Wild Adventure amusement park, and the ol' ward Trunk or Treat & carnival. End result; lots of excitment, several buckets of candy, and a sugar coma when it was all said and done. It took about a week to recover.

Livin' Down South

2010-09-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

we are finally settlin' here in Georgia and are really enjoying our little town. It had been a long trip to get here with weeks and weeks of hotels and travels, but we finally made it! We're really enjoying our great ward (we seriously doubled the nursery) and look forward to being here for the next 2-3 years.

The C's turn 3!

2010-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Camping at Glammis Sand Dunes

2009-12-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween!

2009-11-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

I took the 'big' kids to a Halloween party to practice their trick or treating. They were adorable and we love being back with all of our friends in Tucson!!

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

2009-10-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

It was a shocking phone call when James told the kids they would be seeing daddy soon. At this point, I yanked the phone away in confusion (how could you be telling them this? I thought. How rude!) and asked him to clarify. Sure enough, James explained he'd been accepted to Weapon School in Las Vegas and, though it doesn't start until January, would need to return back to Tucson to do some preliminary training. Well, Holy Crap! The 6 month deployment just turned into 3 months!

It's so nice to be able to talk to the kids about daddy freely now. The conversation was pretty limited trying to explaine that "daddy is far far away" and always "flying planes in Afghanistan." Now it's all about daddy coming home! If any 2 year olds can have a heart attack, I believe Claire and Clay will, upon seeing their dad! I think they are going to give great big hugs...and probably not let go :). Wife included :D

Package from daddy

2009-09-17T22:00:00.001-07:00

Claire and Clay can often be found talking about their daddy who "flies airplanes far far away in 'Ganistan' " Though they have no idea what they are talking about and where the heck dad actually is, they were very excited to get a package from daddy the other day. Especially since it contained candy and cars....

September already?

2009-09-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm glad September has come quickly and yet it seems October isn't coming fast enough. I am really looking forward to Halloween this year. It might be that it is just the beginning of all the fall Holidays which is, of course, the best time of year. Could be that Oct-Dec. seem to be the fastest months of the year because of those holidays (time going by fast is welcomed so that we can get daddy home soon!). Or, could just be I'm excited that this year the kids will understand Halloween and absolutely flip when they realize all the candy they are going to get. I've had their costumes for weeks complete with trick or treat bag. Let's go!!
Living at my parents' house while James is deployed was definitely the right decision. The kids are LOVING their grandma, grandpa, and Uncle Drew (who lives with us in the basement). Not to mention all the cousins close by that they ask to go see almost everyday!They lOVE LOVE LOVE cousins!

Father's Day without daddy

2009-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Our first official deployment has begun and so I have packed up the kids and made a run for Utah- to live with Grandma and Grandpa while James serves his time in Afghanistan. We are certainly enjoying the cooler weather than Tucson had to offer and we love having cousing near by to play with.

It will be tough for the kids to be without dad for 6+ months, but I'm sure we'll all get through it just fine, thanks to loving family and great friends!

Easter Bunny meets Tooth Fairy

2009-04-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's official- lily has a tooth!

Can't get enough huntin'

2009-04-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

This year our family performed an Easter Egg Hunt marathon hitting three egg hunts in one morning. The weather was cold, rainy/overcast, and windy, but it did not dampen our excitement for the day (or the desire for more candy by Claire and Clay).

The last egg hunt we attended had some face painting and made my little ducklings into little bunnies!

Enjoying the fruits of their spoils...

The next day we had another Easter egg hunt at home including hunting for their own Easter baskets. Needless to say, this little Easter bunny was quite tuckered out after all the work.

2009-04-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of little Luke holding his head up so strong and looking at his sister Lily.

Clay loves to go anywhere with his dad. He especially loves riding on his dirt bike and going to car races at the local track. I think James has found a soul mate. (By the way, it was Mustache March. Thankfully, that's over!)

Is this really the only picture I have of Luke's and Lily's blessing day? James gave them beautiful blessings January 25th, 2009. Thanks to the family and friends who joined us for that special day.

My little twinners :). What cute sisters! Both are such sweethearts.

Wish Luke could have made this family photo. He must have been sleeping. But cute nonetheless.

2009-03-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Clay loves to try on mommy's shoes (and occasionally dad's) and walking around the house. I thought these pictures were funny because he looks like he's been caught doing something bad :).

February in Utah

2009-03-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

The month of February literally drove my little family to Utah to spend with Grandma, Grandpa, and lots of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins while James got some good training in Florida and Louisiana. Here's just a review of a few things that were in experienced and enjoyed during the month.

figuring out that duet.

Taking nonsnowy-day walks around the temple with mom

Realizing a new funny face.

Loving our fun cousins!!

Helping grandma make pancakes for breakfast.

Luke finds his thumb- finally (after lots of searching and drooling)!! And he hasn't let it go since.

Some good wrestling matches (and no one got hurt!)

lots of tubbie time with Grandpa

Luke learning the games of basketball with Grandpa

Clay's and Claire's introduction to sledding

Our First Tucson Christmas

2009-01-04T17:06:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning at their new table from Santa eating their stocking goodies.

Lily and Luke in their Christmas jammies a little more happier.

This was our first year to spend Christmas with just our family and here in Tucson. While at first I was a bit disappointed, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got about starting our own traditions (one of those traditions we both agreed to start with our family is Christmas jammies). Christmas morning really was exciting. Even though we tried to do a minimal Christmas, we realized we really could have stopped at the stockings and balloons we had blown up. Clay loved the metal Hot Wheels he had in his stocking so much he refused to open anything else for a while. Claire was completely satisfied with the balloons :)

2009-01-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Clay has a certifiable obsession with cars. He spends the majority of his time carrying them from room to room (arms full and at times, his mouth is carrying one) after which he lines them up very carefully over and over again. This day was a particular favorite of mine as he took his edamame snacks and made them the drivers. Each of his several cars had an edamame driving on top.

2009-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

Anyone relating to this one? Grapenuts in the lap top. This has taught us that when we leave the room, either close the lap top or close the cereal. Both available in the open is a sure fire disaster.

Making it Six

2008-12-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

It was family photo day on base with James' squadron so that families could have poses by the A-10's for Christmas cards or just family pictures. This was our first family venture altogether since Luke and Lily were born. I knew this was going to be my one and only chance for a family picture to get our as Christmas cards. The day was super windy and children complained of crackers taken away for time of pictures, but atleast the picture was taken and cards were send

They just keep me laughing

2008-09-28T21:29:00.001-07:00

2008-08-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

We have so many more pictures of these guys (like their birthday in April!) but we've switched over to a laptop which doesn't have all our pics- and I don't know where James puts all that hardware where the old pics are stored :).

July

2008-08-08T13:03:00.001-07:00

January

2008-02-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

My November Munchkins

2007-11-23T23:06:00.000-08:00

October part 2

2007-11-01T21:39:00.001-07:00

October

2007-10-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Both kids are sitting up now. Claire has the most balance she just loves to sit and sit until she falls down. Clay still prefers to be on his belly where he can scoot around and get where he needs to or see what he wants to. These guys are so much fun and they are constantly making us laugh!

2007-09-16T22:47:00.001-07:00

More Cuties

2007-09-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend in San Diego

2007-09-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

Cool Shades

2007-08-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Smilin

2007-08-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

UPS Came with a new Package

2007-08-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

How chill can a guy get?

2007-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Smilin again

2007-08-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Smiley Kid

2007-08-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Claire Hot Tubbing

2007-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

Profile Pic

2007-08-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Taking a Swig

2007-08-18T11:22:00.000-07:00