A Favorite

Tent building is a favorite activity at our house.We don't build them that often but when we do we usually center all our daily activities around it so that we're constantly in our tent. We usually have picnics, watch movies, and play games. You'll find blankets, pillows, and anything else soft in the house to snuggle with as well. This past Saturday we decided to have a movie tent watching experience and as always it was a success. I also discovered Olivia's love of climbing up the ladder, if I turned my back for a second she'd scamper up as high as she could go. I almost had a heart attack when I saw she could climb to the very top of the ladder.One of the problems with this is she can't climb back down by herself so she'll sit at the top screaming for you to get her down so she can climb up all over again, crazy girl.

From Savannah

I meant to post this awhile ago but better late then never right? So I decided I wanted the girls to give Jacob hand-made Christmas presents this year. This way it would really be something from them not just something I bought them and put their names on. I saw this idea and knew Savannah had to make it for Jacob. I asked her random questions about Jacob and then wrote in her answers. He really did love it and we all got quite the laugh when we read it on Christmas morning. I think I might need to make this a tradition to see how her answers change over the years. Here is what I asked and she answered:

My daddy's name is Jacob, he is 9 feet and 7 inches tall, his hair color is brown, he has pink eyes, he is 4 years old, his favorite food is peanut butter, daddy's favorite drink is pink milk, for his job daddy makes pizza, daddy likes to go to the pawn shop to get popcorn, he like to play baby dolls with me, I love it when daddy plays football, what I love most about my daddy is he's funny, I love my daddy.

Some of her answers we actually correct buy many were either her favorites or totally random like what Jacob does for a living, I don't know where she got that from.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to snow falling and its been snowing ever since. Jacob is working weird hours so today he was home during the day which is/was awesome because I needed his help with the girls outside. Poor Olivia kept falling down every other step until she finally got the hang of walking in the snow but she still face planted it many a time. Savannah was obsessed with making a snowman and Jacob was the perfect assistant to help her with that task. We also discovered that Savannah has grown out of her snow pants which are the perfect size  for Olivia and all us girls are in desperate need of snow gloves. When I was getting the girls dressed to go outside I kept thinking of the movie Christmas Story where the mom is getting Randy dressed and what a huge production it is. Savannah jokingly even said "I can't get my arms down!" I almost died laughing. We had a blast making snow angels and building our snowman. After I make cookies and the girls have a snack we plan to go out for round two. Savannah already tried to sneak out earlier and came in with wet pants and cold feet since she didn't think to put her boots on. Olivia cried when we brought her in the first time so were thinking she wouldn't mind going out again. Fun times are to be had here at our house that's for sure. I really do enjoy the snow as long as I don't have to go anywhere in it and so far I'm not scheduled to leave my house till Friday so I think I'm good.

 

Soccer

Savannah is the biggest nut! Today was her first soccer game and she was so excited about it. She woke me up at 5:30 to tell me she had a bad dream and then started asking if it was time to go play soccer yet. Luckily she fell asleep in bed with us for a bit longer but by 7:30 she was constantly asking if it was time to go. Finally at 10:30 she informed me she was ready to leave and had her jacket, hat, and scarf on and all I could do was laugh. She got her team shirt and had fun warming up with all the other kids from both teams. Here she is below with her cousin Avery, almost the whole game they got to play together and you'd usually find them holding hands. We're going to have to teach her that another rule of playing soccer is not holding hands while playing, this lead to many falls and not paying the best attention to where the ball was. They all did great though and it was so funny to watch. By the second half Savannah was getting worn out and by the end of the game she was just walking. A nice perk of this is that Savannah is now taking a nap because she fell asleep during quite time, its exhausting being a 3 year old soccer star after all.

When we got home she was so tired she just sat right in her chair while I got lunch ready.

Then we told her she didn't get to play soccer again till her practice Tuesday night and this was the face I got. Who knew she'd love soccer so much?

What to do...

So what do I do when I'm having one of those days where I am just at my ropes end? I make cream puffs that's what I do. I will also say they are fantastic and did help a bit in making my day better.

Happy Girls

So last night Savannah had her first soccer practice and this is the face she makes whenever I ask her about it. Jacob ended up taking her to practice because she kept asking if daddy could take her and watch her play soccer. Jacob said she did fairly well for having no prior experience or knowledge about what she was doing. We went over the basics for her but I guess she kept picking up the ball and taking it to the coaches. Jacob said she ran up and down the field and her face was bright red. She was so excited when she came home and just kept talking about soccer and asking when she gets to play again. The reasons we decided to put her in soccer were because this program isn't too time intensive, they have 3 practices and 5 games. It only cost $20. Her second cousin is also on her team and she loves playing with her. So far I'm really glad we signed her up, so if you want to know what we'll be up to for the next 5 Saturday mornings we'll be watching this crazy girl "play" soccer.

I thought I'd give an update on what Olivia has been up to, she is the same sweet girl who has developed a small temper to match her small frame. I say this somewhat jokingly because this girl can throw quite the tantrum if the mood suites her. I am amazed at the screams she can belt out because she is such a sweet heart. She loves feeding herself, she is still a great sleeper, she has walking down and now attempts to run. She basically leans her upper body forward to help her momentum. She loves to play with Savannah and her favorite game to play is tea party. She loves to dress up already and will usually have a hat or crown on her head. I caught her yesterday in my closet trying on a pair of my shoes, it was one of the cutest, funniest things I've seen in awhile. She is still just an absolute joy and blessing to our family and we fall more and more in love with her everyday.

New Love

While we were in Maryland I tried to take lots of pictures. I had mentioned to my mom that I sometimes had a hard time getting my pictures in focus and how it was kind of annoying. One day she took a few pictures using my camera and realized how right I was. That is when my amazing mom offered to let me have one of her cameras. If you've read my blog you know what a great photographer my mom is and she has/had 3 cameras so me being her most favorite daughter got to inherit one. I am already in love and have been having fun taking pictures of the girls. Also like many others I love photography, I love having pictures up in my home and I love taking pictures of my sweet girls. When I drive around I look at my surroundings and think of how I could get the best shot. My family is full of photographers so it doesn't surprise me with how much I love it even though many don't know I do. So here is your first picture I have taken with my new camera and I am in love. Thanks again mom, you really are to generous but I don't think I'll ever stop you.

Christmas 2011

We had such a great Christmas!The girls and I got to spend 3 whole weeks with my family in Maryland and Jacob joined us for the last week and a half,  it was just so fun to be with my family. Our days were filled with fun activities and just hanging out and it went by all too quick if you can believe it. It had been a year since the girls and I had been out for a visit and 2 years since Jacob had been so we were all due for some time back east. While we waited for Santa to bring Jacob the girls and I had fun hanging out with my mom during the day, we took the girls to the mall and let them ride the merry-go-round and Savannah got to talk with Santa again.

Another day we took the girls to lunch at McDonald's and and let Savannah run all around the play area.

Savannah LOVED going to the grocery store because they had little mini carts that she could push around and put some of the groceries in. She really was in heaven and asked to when we were going shopping again.

Olivia got worn out and even fell asleep in the car which is VERY rare for her, she has to be beyond exhausted to even consider falling asleep anywhere besides her bed.

On Christmas Eve we made sugar cookies for Santa and Savannah had so much fun cutting out different shapes. When we put the cookies out I thought she would burst because she was so excited.

Both the girls were very excited to find their first present that Santa had brought for them, their dad. Here are Jacob and Savannah after opening presents. Grandma and Grandpa helped Santa pick out a V-Tech computer for Savannah.

Olivia was quite smitten with Mark just like Savannah is. She'd crawl all over him and run to him when he'd come home from school or where ever he'd been.
The Thursday after Jacob got there he and Mark got to go on a tour of the Secret Service Training Facility which they both loved and had so much fun doing.
Also while we were there we celebrated mine and my dad's birthday's, I always love being home for my birthday. We got to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (my favorite) and my brothers, Jacob, and I got to go to the movies.

After Christmas we took the girls to the DC Temple to see the lights and the Christmas Tree's in the Visitor's Center. Savannah has a very deep love already for the Savior and was very excited to see the large statue of Christ in the visitor center. When we were leaving she kept asking to see Jesus again.

On New Year's Eve we all hopped on the Metro and headed to DC to visit some of the museums. Savannah thought it was the coolest thing to go on the train and she loved going to all the museums.

Olivia of course had a good time being pushed around in her stroller and she even got to see quite a bit because there is glass around most of the exhibits so she could see almost everything from the comfort of her stroller.

The weather on New Years was amazing we put jackets on the girls just in case it got too windy but it was in the high 50's.

Our first stop was the Natural History Museum and Savannah loved looking at all the fossils and animal exhibits.

We then headed over to the Air and Space Museum (Jacob's favorite) and checked out all the airplanes. They have an exhibit where you can walk through an old plane and Savannah made us take her threw twice.

We then headed over to the National Art Gallery which is my favorite, they were doing renovations on the galleries I love to walk through but it was still fun and it really is one of my most favorite places to be.

We got to visit with family and we went out to eat, we went to movies, played games, ate lots of food, and just had a wonderful time. I'm so lucky to have such a generous family and one that loves me and my little family so much. As always it was hard to leave and while being there I was reminded of all the things I miss while I'm living away. Its a good thing we can visit once an awhile.