They have the look!

I took these pictures a couple of days ago and realized after the fact that my kids appear to be on opposite ends of the personality spectrum if you base it off of their looks in these pictures.

future goth?

future bookworm?

Ready, Set, Go!

Oh, how fun a slide can be! Every evening we make our way over to the park for the kids to play. On this occasion, the kids decided to slide tandem. They were having so much fun - it was great to see them all laughing!

For The Love of Spaghetti

Needless to say, we have introduced Jacob to spaghetti and he LOVES it. I am not sure how much he actually gets in his mouth but he screams for more if he runs out of noodles. He has now started to scream in delight if he sees noodles of any kind. I guess noodles are a staple of childhood and now I officially have three that wouldn't live without them.

Super Cool

This morning we all decided to veg in our pj's for a little while. Of course Jacob decided he was going to motor around and play for a little bit. I decided I was going to clean out the diaper bag and found his sunglasses and hat so I figured the best place for me to put them was to be on him. I think he looks pretty cool, don't you?

The Fair

On Friday, after the guys got home from school, we headed over to the Antelope Valley Fair Grounds for the annual fair. Of course we took advantage of the night that military got in free. We partook in good carnival food and the kids enjoyed all of the sites - especially AJ with the tractors (of course I didn't get a picture of that though). At the end of the evening Sarah and I got to see Chris Daughtry in concert while the Daddy's watched the kids. We had fun and were very tired by the time we went home.

Jacob tried to enjoy his brother's melted snow cone that we had put into a water bottle - less messy that way!

Mike posing with his beer - you can't go to a fair and not have a beer, right?

This is the infamous Sarah - wife to Elizabeth's beloved Builder Dave - along with her daughter Grace. I think AJ actually has a little crush on her. He talks about her all of the time.

Elizabeth with the Antelope Valley Antelope.

I think the kids look a little tired - what do you think?

Big Accomplishment

I have been trying my hardest for the past several months to get my little man to hold his bottle. As much as I enjoy holding and cuddling him while he drinks, there are times it would be nice if he could just hold the bottle himself - free up a hand. Well, today he made that a reality for me. I am not sure what possessed him to do it - maybe it was being out with the big kids at the Jungle Zone. None the less, I am hoping that this trend continues until we are off of the bottles.

A Day At The Pool

Sunday we headed over to the Sonic Splash pool after days of promising the kids. We are so glad that we went, because come to find out they are closing the pools early this year (don't ask why they close in this heat) due to "lack of funding" and Sunday was the last day it was open. The funny thing was that there were only four other families there the whole time we were there so it was like having a private pool. Elizabeth and Jacob enjoyed there time floating around in the big pool while AJ spent most of his time sliding down the slide. The slide there is similar to what you would find in an amusement park - a lot of fun! I wish I could have gotten pictures of them swimming but holding Jacob in the pool limited my ability. Anyway, hopefully we will get some more swimming in at the indoor pool - the kids had a lot of fun!

Look at that cheeky grin! Is that a preview of the trouble to come?

Doesn't she look much older than four? It is starting to scare me how fast she is growing up!

AJ was taking a break from his sliding - I guess his blank stare is a good indication of how tired he was!

Daddy and AJ waiting their turn to go down the slide.

Love Birds!

As most of you know, my 4 year old daughter has many men in her life. She has several "boyfriends" that are the husbands of my friends but I think we are starting a new stage in this crush thing. There is an adorable little boy in our TPS class named Camden (see dancing video) that Elizabeth has "loved" since we first met him. Well, apparently their relationship is moving to the next level because today at the Jungle Zone they spent most of the time sitting together and cuddling. It is hard for me to believe that she is going after the younger men already. What are we going to do with her? I think Daddy is going to have to get the shot gun now! (We love you Camden!)

What a cute couple!

Super Cool Working In The Yard

We spent Sunday morning working in the "yard." As most of you know our front yard consists of a few desert plants and a heck of a lot of rocks that need to be "groomed" from time to time. Jacob thought it was great to help by taking the rocks in and out of where they were supposed to be. Of course we had to have the pacifier in or else he wanted to get a little taste of the rocks as well.

Getting Into The Game

This week has been an fun filled week of soccer camp for Elizabeth (and AJ got in on the action on occasion). She attended camp here on base put on by Challenger Sports which is a British soccer camp. Coaches come from all over Great Britain to coach over 1700 camps in the US. Elizabeth's coach was "Coach Mike". He taught her all sorts of games - including a surfing one - and built her confidence. We started the week with many tears but by the end of camp today, there weren't any tears shed and she was a great sport about getting her ball "borrowed" (don't say stolen to a 4 year old when you have taught them that stealing is bad). She is scheduled to have her first soccer game with the Edwards Soccer League sometime after labor day. Who knows - maybe we have the next Mia Hamm in the making!

A Taste of My Afternoon

So, my day started off really well - we headed for soccer camp at 8AM and all three kids did great. When we got home, we spent some time outside riding scooters and then it was time for Jacob's nap. He took a great nap - 2hrs. and I got a lot done around the house while the kids played nicely together. Time for lunch came and everyone ate great! At this point I was planning on taking the kids swimming after their naps but low and behold, who knew the afternoon would bring about a 180 degree change. I should have known something was wrong when Elizabeth took a 2 hour nap on the couch but instead I just appreciated it. My second clue should have been that Jacob also took a 2 hour afternoon nap before getting up and trying to wake up his big sister (see below). Once again, I just mistook it for peace. My third clue - which should have been the biggest was that AJ slept from 1:30 until 4PM. Four o'clock was apparently the witching hour because Elizabeth, Jacob and I were startled by the sound of what we thought was a siren. Instead it turned out to be the infamous AJ. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed - his wailing went on for almost 2 hours without and reprieve. Comforting didn't do the trick and neither did tough love - so we just waited out the cries. Once this spell was over, he was the sweet old AJ again but boy did it make for a rough end to the afternoon.

Goal

Today was Elizabeth's first day of Soccer Camp - she was so excited and looked like such a little athlete. She really likes her coach and should have a fun week. The soccer season starts after soccer camp. It should be a lot of fun seeing little 4 year olds play soccer.

Blast Off!

This weekend Elizabeth, Jacob and I headed down to Orange County to see my parents while AJ and Daddy stayed home for some boy bonding. The two kids and I got to see my uncle and his two kids, Erin and Westin - whom I haven't seen in over 3 years. The kids had a lot of fun playing together and the rockets were a big hit!

Check out Elizabeth's rocket blasting technique - I think it is quite cute!



Sorry about the video being sideways!

Elizabeth was quite dainty about loading her rocket but she sure could get it to go high!

Of course Jacob had to get in on the action as well, with a little bit of Pappy's help.

Playgroup

Our TPS class has a weekly playgroup with all of our kids. Today Katie was kind enough to host playgroup at her house and the kids had a blast! There was water, sand, toys and snacks - what else could a kid ask for? (She had Mimosa's for the Mommies so everyone was happy!)

The kids headed straight for the water. Elizabeth played int the sprinkler island for a little bit before heading over to the pool that she could make a big "splash" in.

Of course AJ had to get his mowing in before he could partake in any of the water fun. Apparently he doesn't discriminate between mowers - not even a pink one.

After the pools, it was off to the sand box. You can only imagine what wet little kids and a sand box turns into.

Once they were completely dirty, the headed over to the table for some snacks - they needed to rebuild their energy before having another go at the pool and sand.

Jacob didn't miss out any of the fun. Our friend Sarah was nice enough to keep an eye on him while he played with the other kids inside. He loved the rubber floor - apparently it is a great chewing device - even if you have to lay down to chew on it.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder!

Yesterday Mike got to fly in an F-16. He was able to take the controls once in the air and flew the majority of the time. What an experience! I am jealous!

I'm Going To Lose My Mind!

Who Me?

Well, my little angel, Jacob, has gone from the world's best sleeper as a baby to what I am deeming the world's worst. He has decided that sleeping in the crib by himself is not what he has in mind. Nap times have become a power of wills - will I outlast his crying. This is so hard because I used to be able to just put him down and he would go right to sleep without any fuss. If that wasn't enough, nights have become a challenge as well. Apparently there is a party in his room around 2AM that I wasn't aware of. He has been waking up and deciding it is time to get up and play. Trying to let him cry is awful (not only for me but AJ isn't getting any sleep either) and I am not able to find any solution to sleep besides holding him or bringing him to bed with me. I would like to blame it on teething but I'm not too sure if this isn't a new side of Jacob. Uggghhhh! I hope this "phase" ends soon or else I am going to turn into a non-functioning zombie.

On the go

Well, my little man, Jacob, has been crawling for a little over a week now and he has learned how to get around quite well. He can find his way to the play room and does many laps around the kitchen daily. Of course, he has also discovered the dog and cat food as well. When he hears that it is tubby time (the boy REALLY like water) he makes his way down the hallway to the tub. Anyway, he is pretty dang cute crawling around but now that I means I really do have three to chase around. :)

FYI - AJ is just asking for help in taking his shirt of for tubby time. It sounds worse than it is.

Baby Shower

Yesterday, we hosted a baby shower for one of the girls in our class at TPS. We had a lot of fun with good food and fun girls! We made onesies for Alli's little girl to be and also played a few get to know each other games. I think the best part was the time away from kids and getting to be an adult for a while. Congratulations Alli!

The Mommy-to-be (well, she already has two boys), Alli. Doesn't she look great for being due in less than two weeks?


Some of the creative girls that were making the onesies and a preview of the creativity that our group has - this little girl will have so many onesies she won't have to wear the same one twice.

Of course there was time for cake and present opening. Alli received a TON of diapers and enough outfits to get her through the first six months without having to dress her little girl in something more than once. (Makes me want to have another little girl - well let me think about that one - maybe I will just live vicariously through others!)

I got to pose with Alli and the sock rose bouquet that I made for her.

Cutest Kiddos Contest

OK - so this is a plug for my kids but what isn't these days. I entered Jacob and Elizabeth into a contest to become print ad models for a children's boutique by my parents house. Well, they both made it to the semi-finals and now I need your help in making sure they win. Please vote for them if you get a chance! If you are ever in Foothill Ranch, CA I encourage you to visit Out Of The Bleu - it is an awesome store. Thanks for your help!