Flower Girl & Sign Bearer

 Clara was the flower girl, and Coleton the sign bearer for Jordan's cousin's wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding, and the kids did a great job with their "duties."  It was also a great opportunity to get some pictures taken of the two of them, especially since Uncle Taylor was their photographer.  It's not an easy task taking pictures at this age, but I thought he got some great ones!

Clara's 3rd Birthday!

Our sweet girl turned 3 on September 3rd!  We had family over for a special breakfast in the morning and to give her the presents from us.  We all went in and got her a doll house and all the little pieces that go with it.  It is absolutely adorable and she loves it!

Then we recorded the milestone on our new growth chart.  She is 35" tall, just shy of 3 feet.  I can't wait to compare and keep track of how our kids grow through the years!


Then after a nap for both kiddos we got the house ready for her birthday party!  This girl still remembers her 2nd birthday party, so I knew I had to make it special.  Lots of friends and family came over and we all had a blast.  We had water balloons, a painting station, cupcake pinata, sprinklers, opened presents, delicious dinner of Ham & Cheese Sliders and homemade Mac & Cheese.  Along with fruit kebabs and chocolate cupcakes, what more could a girl ask for!








The day after her birthday I interviewed her, here is 20 questions with Clara...
1. What is your favorite color? Black (So not true, any other day of the week and she would say purple.)
2. What is your favorite toy? Blocks...no my dollhouse...my dollhouse is my favorite toy.
3. What is your favorite fruit? Pear (Also not true, I never buy pears for some reason)
4. What is your favorite tv show? My favorite tv show is Yo Gabba Gabba!
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Meat & Cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress I have in my closet.
7. What is your favorite game? Umm...Dominos.
8. What is your favorite snack? Umm...my favorite snack is Crackers.
9. What is your favorite animal? Lions.
10. What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle.
11. What is your favorite book? Caps for Sale.
12. Who is your best friend? Katie & Allie
13. What is your favorite cereal? My favorite cereal is Hot Grape Nuts!
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in my play house.
15.What is your favorite drink? Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? What is a holiday? Halloween, because it's fun! (after a brief explanation)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Baby dolls.
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Hot Grape Nuts! (It's true she loves that stuff)
19. What is your favorite dinner? Just kidding!
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A cupcake!

She loved being interviewed and for the most part she was serious with her answers, until the very end, then she just got goofy.  Some other interesting facts about Clara...she has an imaginary monkey who goes almost everywhere with her, she is obsessed with band aids and slippery soap (bar soap) she has an amazing imagination and loves all books.  Happy Birthday to the sweetest girl there is!  We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Expectations...

It has taken me a long time to figure out this whole parenting thing...I mean, I have an almost three year old, I should have this down by now...right?  Wrong.  I have been learning in leaps and bounds these past three years, and just plain old trying to figure things out.  I have come to realize that the areas I struggle most have to do with unrealistic expectations.  For example, Jordan works a lot.  He works 24, 48 and 72 hour shifts.  There are more times than I would like that he tallys up 120 hours in one week.  So on those few precious days that he is home I have grand expectations.  Then when they are not met, which in reality they never are, I get disappointed, and I waste those precious days being frustrated.  In my mind I was not allowing myself to enjoy the day until...I was showered and presentable looking, the kids were clothed and lookin' cute, the house was clean and tidy, laundry was put away...and then we could begin to enjoy the day.  Yeah right.  Those simple few things end up taking all day, and before I know it the day is gone and Jordan is back to work, and I forgot to enjoy any part of the day.  Sounds ridiculous now that I think about it, but for some reason the days are a whirlwind of getting things done, and then they are over and a new day begins with Jordan back at work.  I realized that had to end, I had to re-evaluate my expectations.  The day begins when I wake up and get out of bed.  I need to learn to enjoy getting the kids up and dressed, enjoy making breakfast, lunch and dinner, enjoy cleaning up the kitchen over and over again, enjoy doing 4-6 loads of laundry a week and folding and putting away endless amounts of clothes.  I need to enjoy these tasks, because this is my life right now.  I need to be okay with not having make up on, and having my hair in a crazy mess 75% of the time, because life is still going on, and I don't want to miss it! This new perspective has brought me so much peace.  I am working on brainwashing Clara...for example...kids are such copy cats of what we do.  So if I go around cleaning with a smile on my face then she joins along.  She insisted I buy her a pink sponge at the store the other day, so now she goes around the house scrubbing here and there, saying, "I love having a clean house" and "doing dishes is so much fun."  I just have to laugh at how she mimics things I say, and the more I say it the more I believe it, and the more good habits she picks up.  Win...win.

Clara's first time flying a kite, she was giddy with excitement!

On another note, we went beach camping last weekend with our best camping buddies.  Matt, Jeannine and Elora stayed in our tent trailer with us, and I just love how much fun we have.  Yes the kiddos are sometimes loud at night, and wake up at the crack of dawn, but it is so worth it.  Jeannine's sister's family and their 3 kids camped as well, and it made for a fun and crazy campsite.  I am checking the calendar as we speak to see when we can go camping again!

Gardening...

Hello blog world, it's been a while!  I guess maybe I needed a break from blogging?  Maybe I am still not ready to come back?  Not sure, but for now, here is our latest at home hobby that we just love.  Jordan's last project was a fence surrounding our garden, he did it himself and in my book it took up way too much of his precious time.  But the result was well worth it.  We have chicken wire on the inside of the fence which goes down about 2 feet underground.  Take that rabbits and gophers!  We have had 4 dumpload trucks of wood chips delivered, which now cover every square inch of our property that was once dirt.  Jordan has brought in loads and loads of rich soil and manure, and we compost all our organic materials, I love not wasting that stuff!  Now our 9 garden boxes (which Jordan built) and our large plot of land were safe and ready for spring planting!  These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago when everything was at it's prime.  We were hauling in crazy amounts of bounty and could hardly keep up.  Don't worry, nothing has gone to waste, we distribute freely among friends and family and get creative with our dinners.  Beet Burgers, Eggplant Parmigian, grilled veggies, frozen corn, stuffed peppers, tomato and basil pizza, strawberry ice cream and the list could go on of all the wonderful things we have been eating out of our garden.  I believe I am getting a bit spoiled and will forever be a vegetable snob when it comes to buying vegetables from the store. 

Helping us do the prep work...corn just sprouting in the back...Coleton thought he found the perfect sand box ;)

Our little gardeners.

Yellow squash, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, bell peppers, strawberries, radishes & beets, tomatoes, pumpkins & melons.

Zucchini, corn, herb garden, an example of our harvests every few days.

Did I mention we have an orchard?  25 fruit trees, you name it, we have it.

An aerial view, we aren't close to done yet either, we plan for berries between the herb garden and fence, as well as berries and grapes around the fence.

 

We are getting very attached to our little half acre property.  It is so rewarding to grow your own food, and make delicious and healthy meals for your family.  So there you have it, our garden!

4th of July!

This year the 4th was pretty much a replicate of last year...Jordan at work, parade & park in the morning, naps, hanging with family and lastly fireworks...only the kids are a year older and things are getting more and more fun.  Here is a sampling of our day, better late than never, right?

Mount Laguna

We are on a roll with our camping trips.  This trip was particularly fun because there were six families that camped together, and that meant for lots of little kiddos running around.  Our kids always have so much fun with other kids to play with, they all of a sudden seem so grown up and independent.  Here is a summary of our trip through pictures...

Lots of hiking and exploration...

Hanging out at camp, spending lots of time with good friends...

 Slackline...mountain bike riding...delicious desserts...

One little note to self...bring extra blankets when camping in the mountains!  We just about froze our behinds the second night, even with all four of us huddled together in one bed.  Speaking of nights...they can be pretty interesting.  The first night was just our family in our trailer, and the hours of midnight-2 am were very eventful...restless and very awake little children made us worry it was going to be a looong night.  Sometimes I wonder, are we crazy to think we can camp with kids these ages?  Luckily they finally settled down and slept great the rest of the night.  The second night, Matt, Jeannine & Elora slept in our trailer with us, and amazingly it was an uneventful night all the way until 6:00am, that's really good if you ask me!  Camping trips with other families has got to be our favorite thing to do, and we hope to do many more!

First Hair Cut!

This the first hair cut for either of our kids.  Clara's hair has been allowed to grow out on its own in an uneven and crazy way.  We were heading that direction with Coleton, he was looking more than a bit shaggy, and Jordan decided it was enough, his hair needed to be cleaned up.  I was against it at first, I just knew he was going to lose is baby-ness with his curls.  And I was fighting back some tears when I saw the final result.  I missed his curls, and he looks so so so much older, so sad!  But now I can say that it is growing on me, I love how his hair isn't constantly in his face, and I love my big grown up looking boy.  He is too sweet for words...