The pledge

Just being a little patriotic around here. Wrote this out by herself this afternoon :)

And I just love her toothless smile...

No training wheels!

I've known he could do this for months, but in true little J fashion, he just needed the time to figure out he could do it too. He zips around on his scooter already and has the balance thing down to a T. For some reason, he was just nervous (or stubborn maybe?) to give riding on a bike a try. As a parent, sometimes that can be so frustrating. But I guess they all just need to do it in their own time.

I was out for the afternoon and when I met up with the clan at Mee Maw and Goompas for dinner, Little J ran over excitedly and had some news he wanted to share with me. J told me that afternoon he practiced with him on a balance bike we borrowed from a friend. After 5 minutes, he had that thing down pat and was willing to try his bike without the training wheels. I think it was finally that little boost of confidence from the balance bike that did the trick. There's no stoppin' this kid now!

And again in true little J fashion, 5 seconds after he learns to do something he has to ramp it up with some tricks. Way to give your mom a heart attack.

And in true Miss C fashion, she just can't let him have his moment in the sun without upstaging with a few tricks of her own.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2012!  J and I had a chance to get out with some friends to ring in the new year.  To health and happiness in the new year!

Holidays

The holidays seemed to be a blur this year. I really didn't want that to happen, but with the move and all, I guess it just kind of came and went.  It doesn't help that I'm still shooting sessions and fall tends to be really busy.  Maybe next year :)

We had the family in town right after Christmas this year and it was nice to have the cousins together (not to mention have my siblings around).  We didn't do much but hang around and enjoy being together.  A little family picture to document the occasion :)

Twas the night before kindergarten

Twas the night before kindergarten and as they prepared,

kids were excited and a little bit scared.

They tossed and they turned about in their beds,

while visions of school supplies danced in their heads.

Erasers and crayons and pencils galore

were stuffed in their backpacks and set by the door.

Outfits were hung in closets with care,

knowing that kindergarten soon would be there.

In the morning it came – school starts today!

Would the teacher be nice? Would they still get to play?

Faces were washed, and teeth were brushed white;

Kids posed for pictures with eyes sparkling bright.

Parents packed snacks and kids hopped in cars

As if they were boarding a spaceship to Mars.

Some kids brought blankets or their favorite stuffed bear;

in hopes they could nap like they did in day care.

Their parents exclaimed: “You’re big kids – WOW!

Let us hold your bears and blankies for now.”

The parents were worried their children would cry

if they left them at school with just a good-bye.

So they told their darlings, “If you want, we can stay

and make sure that everything will be A-okay”

The teacher then greeted each one with a smile,

and invited the students to stay for a while.

The room was all filled with toys, books, and maps,

but where were the beds for midmorning naps?

They colored and painted and played Simon Says,

then tumbled and skipped and stood on their heads.

They sang silly songs from beginning to end.

Within just a minute, each kid had a friend.

The children were happy. They loved Miss Sunrise

It was she who was in for a giant surprise.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear

but sad moms and dads who were holding back tears!

Their noses – so sniffly! Their eyes – red and wet!

This was the saddest good-bye Miss Sunrise had seen yet!

She gathered the grown-ups on the magical rug,

then sent them away after one final hug.

The children all waved from the door of the school.

“Don’t cry, Mom and Dad; kindergarten is cool!”

*sniff, sniff*

I can't believe it's finally here. Tomorrow my little one goes off to kindergarten....

Camping

This past weekend, J took the kids camping. They had a blast! No moms were allowed so I don't know exactly what went on....after all, what happens at camp stays at camp! I would imagine there were a lot of shenanigans and staying up waaaay to late! Just look at those smiles!

Don't worry, they didn't exactly "rough" it on this trip. Between the two dads, you should have seen what they packed! You would have thought they were leaving for a week...or maybe even a month! The only thing I think they didn't pack was the kitchen sink....and actually that might have made it's way into the car at the last minute after all.

From what I hear, one of their favorite things to do was "cook" their own dinner (hot dogs) and roast marshmallows. I think the dads even whittled their own campfire sticks. Impressive :).

The next day, the kids took a hike around the campsite and found some pretty cool things.

The campsite also had story time!

In all it was a successful trip!

Rock, paper, scissors

So the competition for being first has been getting out of hand lately. They both want to be first going out the door, getting in the card, buckling their seat belts, going up the stairs, and on and on and on. It gets exhausting! I tried having days....one day Miss C is first for everything and the next day we switch. But after about 5 days, I can never seem to remember whose day it really is (heck, I can't even remember what I did 5 minutes ago). A smart person would probably have a chart handy to avoid this problem, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. So I've resorted to what any civilized person would do to settle an argument. Yep. Rock, paper, scissors.

Worked for the first day and then one little stinker got smart.....

Me (while exasperated and screaming): Well I don't know whose turn it is! That's it. We'll do rock, paper, scissors.

Miss C: Which one are you going to do?

Little J: I don't know.

Miss C: Little J, come on. Are you going to do paper?

Little J: Yeah, I'll be paper.

Rock, paper, scissors. Little J rolls the paper. Wanna guess what Little Miss Sneaky comes out with? We're going to have to keep our eye on her.