In all the Christmas frenzy, I received a little gift that was truly amazing. At the same time, my two little girls took a nap (a very rare occasion for Jena) the day before we were heading off for our Christmas vacation. Oh, what a blessing!
A close up, since Jena wasn't very visible in the fist photo.
I know we are quite behind updating our blog, but hopefully we can catch up in the next week or so.
Most of the time we seem to follow after our kids cleaning up one disaster after the next. It almost seems as if they don't even notice the difference between a room that is a mess and one that is cleaned up. But with the many chores around the house, these two little girls have a few things they love to help doing. Jena loves to help clean the fish tank. She will hold the siphon tube as the gunk is being removed, hold the hose as new water is being filled into the bucket and use her little cup to refill the tank. She enjoys it so much that she even gets upset when we clean it without her. Taylor's favorite chore to help with is to push the wet clothes into the dryer. She will stand right next to me awaiting each wet item. She also loves when I say "push, push push" and she will try to repeat it back as she laughs. During those days when it seems like our biggest parental job is as a cleanup crew we just think of those cute little moments when our two little girls are just as excited to help as they are to make a mess. 
After some candy bribery Jena finally let me put a barrette in her hair. We thought she looked so adorable. She pranced around for awhile and even agreed that it was cute in the mirror. But after a little more time had passed, she was done letting mom dress her up.
This year my dad picked out the girls Halloween costumes... Jena was a rose and Taylor went as a Stargazer Lilly. They looked so sweet as they ran house to house in search of candy (or at least Jena ran house to house). This was the first year we did more trick or treating than the trunk or treat at our church. There is an area near us that seems to be the Halloween hub. Everyone fully decorates their homes and I heard that some spend up to $500 in candy (it's good we don't live on that street). We figured we had to check it. We were amazed with all the lights, decorations, police on horseback and the amount of people that were everywhere. One house was decorated to look as if it was an Old Western Saloon. You could barely see the house in the background. Others had spooky scenes from movies, but I couldn't tell you which ones (even not so scary movies are scary to me). Taylor just looked around with amazement at the commotion as Jena followed the crowds of people up to each house. On a quieter street Jena knocked on a door and after a fast "trick or treat" she said "where's the candy!" I guess she got the point of what the whole dressing up, decorating and running around was really about the CANDY!
I loved making these as a kid, so when Taylor was napping I started to gather the supplies. Jena loves cooking or doing crafts with me, so when the scissors, ribbon, markers, tissues and suckers starting showing up she got really curious. After the first ghost she was hooked and it took about ten later until she decided she wanted to eat the candy instead of keep decorating it. Here are two of the ghosts she drew herself. She was so excited to show her daddy what fun we had today.
Last Sunday we dressed the girls and headed off to church. Taylor loves to run around the halls and that's when I finally noticed it. Though the dress still fit her around, it was not working at all lengthwise. Not only was it too short, but even the waistline was in the wrong position. So today, I dragged out the next bin of clothes and with reluctance removed all the littler baby clothes from her drawers and only filled them with the 18-24 month size. It's a good thing that adults don't have clothes that match their age, because who knows what size I would still be wearing around :) I guess because she's still so little, it's hard to think of her as nearing 2 years old. Time sure flies quickly!
This month in Joy School Jena has been learning about nature. They have learned about animals, plants, rocks... everything basic. Today they took a trip to a local farm/pumpkin patch to feed some animals and see lots of food that grows on a farm. We tried to take them through a corn maze to find a giant pyramid of hay, but after a few minutes we were just glad we could find the entrance again. The kids loved the goats, cows and ponies the most. There were a few drama moments, but all the kids loved the animals and playing on this wooden train. If it would cool down just a little we probably wouldn't have been so tired and dirty after our little adventure.
We love this picture because it truly shows how far Taylor will go to get something she wants. The clever girl actually discovered that if the chair was too far away, she could always climb in the bay window (behind her in the picture) and then get on the desk. Needless to say, the desk is now removed from this location, but its just a matter of time until she finds another way...
So the other day I was talking with Jena and she asked me what I like to do. I said I like to sew. To which she replied, "You don't like to sew, you like to clean, clean, clean." So apparently she doesn't see the dust, crumbs, stains and cat hair flurries, but her mother doing something she really "likes" to do. I wonder what else made her list of my favorite things to do :)
For a smaller zoo the Santa Barbara Zoo is awesome. Almost all the animals are close and easy to see. For instance, every time we go we have seen the Lions right behind the glass. We can visit all the animals we want in a few hours. There are lots and lots of kids, so it's not like ours are the only loud and crazy ones... and many more reasons. It is truly one of our favorite things to do as a family. This time we managed to make the otter feeding. It was very cool to see them hold on the the fish and chomp away. They are brothers and one didn't like to eat the fish heads, so his brother would come over and finish the job. Here are a few more pictures and places at the zoo that we really like...
Not that I want anyone to see my closet, but when I saw this little girl and how thrilled she was to be in another clever spot... I couldn't resist. If there is a small place that's new and potentially exciting that's where little Taylor will be. What can I say besides, That's our girl!
At first one might think, sure it seems like a normal fireplace. Typical workmanship, typical location, typical cleanliness (at least I thought it wasn't too bad). But on closer inspection, one might think, if it's not time to be used or cleaned (since apparently it doesn't get cleaned that often) then why is it currently open. And if one looks even closer they might discover a mark from the culprit just outside the fireplace. 
How about another piece of debris from the scene and a closer look at the mark left behind? 
We took a little road trip down to San Diego to watch General Conference and enjoy time with the Grandma Sue and Grandpa. We spent the first half of the day listening to the Prophet and other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and then we spent the afternoons and evenings playing on wiggle racers, watching cartoons, sewing and eating yummy food. On Saturday the four youngest cousins got so dirty that they all got tossed into a bubble bath and they loved every minute of it. We had such a fun time with all the family and even managed to get a few spiritual moments in there too. Here are a few other cute pictures from the weekend.
Jena came home from Joy School today with a little bag full of stickers. She was so excited and decided that the best thing to decorate was herself.
We have a great group of kids in our Joy School Group. I figured I would share at least one picture from the week. We took a little field trip to our local Albertson's for a tour of the bakery. We learned how they follow "rules" to make everything go smoothly. Plus the kids loved that they got a cookie and they even sent us home with a cake. The kids loved it and the adults were so grateful for the wonderful staff!
My eye is now feeling much better and today we finally got a picture of Jena heading off to Joy School. She has so much fun and has a hard time leaving at the end. Next week school is at our house and at least going home will be the easy part. She is growing up very fast and loves to talk about her friends and family. I figured I would add in one picture of the sweet Jena and one picture of the wild Jena on the four wheeler (no, they really didn't go four wheeling, she just wanted to pose on it).
We headed to Valencia to play with the cousins and watch the BYU game. Jena and Carson ran around in constant motion destroying monsters and playing with every toy within reach. Kellie was the greatest helper with Taylor. They played with toys and went down the slide. Taylor even liked to climb in a little truck and Kellie would make sure the truck was steady and Taylor wouldn't fall. Thank you Kellie! Ryan, Shawn and Jake cheered the Cougars on until they were victorious. Then we headed to dinner at the Soup Plantation and ended the night at the park. Thanks Rochelle and Shawn for a fun night.
Taylor hates being buckled in her seat and wonders when I'm going to stop taking pictures.
So, for anyone that didn't hear... This morning I was laying down on the couch and Taylor was jumping all over the place. All of a sudden Taylor kicks me in the eye and I am paralyzed. Not exactly, but for at least a half an hour I couldn't open my eye. Then when I did it was so blurry and my eye wouldn't stop watering. Five hours and a few exams later, I found out I have a scratched cornea. It never helps when the doctor says, "You must have a high pain tolerance." So for the next week, I have three different types of eye drops/creams that need to be applied all day. The doctor did also say that maybe Taylor will be a soccer player because it was right in the center, a perfect shot. GOAL!
