Saturday Drive

We were on our way to the store today and as John drove, I turned and looked behind me in the back seat at the girls. Today was a sunny but cool day here---no rain for the first time in 3 days so we had the windows down a bit. With the wind blowing through their hair, they were giggling and having fun. I grabbed my camera and took a picture of each of the girls. It was one of those "mommy moments" when you notice them looking a little older and wanting to capture the moments while you can. I love them so much. Are you sure they can't stay this little forever? :( Sometimes I wish---and other times (MOST times) I know that life wouldn't be so wonderful if they didn't continue growing. Families are precious and such a blessing!

Trunk-or-Treat 2007

We had our ward's Trunk-or-Treat up at the church tonight. With it raining (more like pooring!) these past few days nonstop, they decided to hold the trunk-or-treating in the building. There was atleast 30-40 kids there. We had a potato bar dinner before hand that was excellent and so many people showed up for the event so it was a lot of fun! Aubrey dressed up as a cat and Jocelyn dressed up as a bee. Some other costumes I saw were: a skunk, clown, spider, dragon, angel, and a bunch of miscellanious (blown up balloons taped to someone's clothes, blue hair wig, etc). The gym the event was held in didn't have good lighting on the stage so some of the pictures didn't turn out well but here's a few that did...

Jocelyn dressed up as a bumble bee. Not that she had much of a choice, right? I thought she was really cute though. She did well with the costume and surprised both John and I that she wore the headband throughout the whole event without any problems. HEY! I'll enjoy that as long as I can thank you very much. I'm sure it won't last long.

Aubrey dressed up as a cat again this year (minus the cat ears that we lost through a cross country move). She dressed up as a cat last year but with us being on a tight budget right now, this seemed to work out well. "We promise Aubrey...you'll be something different next year!" :)

Sisters!!

Here is Jocelyn and my visiting teaching partner/friend that dressed up as a spider. Aren't they cute? A spider and a bee!!

I know you can't see the girls too well in the photo but they're dead center. If you want to see them a little closer just click on the photo.

If You're Happy And You Know It...

Jocelyn has really come to love the song "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands." When I was feeding her lunch the other day, she started clapping to let me know that she wanted to sing the song. (As you can see...she was a little distracted by our cat George but that didn't stop her from clapping!) So away we sang:

"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it...
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!"

Beautiful Fall Colors

Jocelyn and I went on a walk the other morning like we usually do after we take big sister Aubrey to the school bus stop and I'm so glad I brought my camera with me. The colors of the trees here are so pretty as it turns Fall!! So I thought it would be neat to share them with you. I threw in a few pictures of Jocelyn on our walk as well. As you can see in one of the photos, she's peeking up at me through the little window in her stroller as we were walking. Funny girl. :)

Pots & Palettes

What: Aubrey's 8th Birthday Party

When: Saturday October 13th, 2007

Where: Pots & Palettes


Aubrey had a friends birthday party the day after she turned 8. We found this great shop called Pots & Palettes that you take pottery classes at and they also cater to birthdays. She invited 9 of her friends to join her for the celebration and they had a blast painting their own piece of pottery and giggling and enjoying eachother's company for 2 whole hours! Jocelyn was in her own little world----playing with the balloons that were set up for the party. She was a trooper through the whole thing! Here are some pictures from her fun day....and a few from our family birthday party at home.

Soccer party

Well everyone - Aubrey just officially completed her FIRST season of soccer! She had so much fun too that she's signing up for spring season. She had the best coaches and she's going to really miss them as she's advancing to the next age group. She had so much fun meeting new friends on her team and learning so much about the sport. It was a little hard on her in the start as it was her first played sport besides dance classes---so it was a hard adjustment but she really learned to get in there and kick the ball around. This past Saturday was her last game of the season and they threw a party for them afterwards at a pizza joint. She not only received a trophy but she also got an award for perfect practice and game attendance. Way to go Aubrey (and to your Mom/Dad for getting you there)!! GO KINGS! :)

"HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY," AUBREY!!!

BIRTHDAY: October 12, 1999/ 2:43pm/ 6lbs 10oz/ 18 1/2 inches

My baby is growing fast before my eyes! Of course seeing that she's now 8 years old means she hasn't been a baby for quite some time now but she'll always be my 'baby.' Hard to explain that to her..."Mom-I'm NOT a baby anymore." :)

It's hard to believe she's already 8. I know it's been a long 8 years for me but it still seems like just yesterday she was crawling on the ground (okay, she still does that sometimes), spilling her food (okay, she still does that sometimes too), and drooling all over the place (okay, okay...now she only does that while she's sleeping). Here are some precious memories I'm recalling of her growing up:

* I was tucking her in one night, oh---when she was about 3 years old or so, and she said, "STOP THAT NOISE" while covering her ears. I replied, "What noise sweetie?" She then shocked me with her answer: "YOUR voice noise!!" Wow. It was a bitter moment but funny nonetheless. Kids can be so darn cute sometimes, can't they?!?!? :/

* She was on a car ride with her Grandma C & Papa D. They were driving down the road past some hay in a field. She pointed out the window and said, "LOOK...there's some hay snacks" instead of hay STACKS.

* She called grapes "bapes" and a butterfly "flutterby" and cattepiller "callipitter and carseat "sarkeet."

There are so many more great and priceless memories I have with my sweet little girl (again, she reminds me that she's not so little anymore). I don't think there's ever been a picture of her taken where she doesn't have the prettiest cheesiest smile on her face. When she was a little girl, she would always crook her head to her shoulder when a picture was being taken. It was so cute when she would do that. Where does all the time go? I'm so blessed to have her as my daughter. She really makes me one proud mama. "I love you Aubrey!! Enjoy your special day!"


That was then...



This is now...

Meet GEORGE!

Well, we have a new addition to the family now. (Most of you received an email already about George but I wanted to post it on here anyways---especially for those that haven't heard the news). For someone (like me) who hasn't grown up too much around animals (besides an occasional hampster that is), we've been doing fairly well. It started out a little rough with him "attacking" the girls and spooking me out but it's been over a week and we're doing great with George in the family. He's been known to curl up and take naps on John a time or two and the girls really love playing with him. Look out for some funny stories to come. I don't know if it will top the story we've already experienced (jumping on Aubrey's head while we were eating breakfast) but we'll have to wait and see. :)




John had no idea that George had even climbed on his head while he was sleeping until I showed him the picture on the camera. Priceless!!



And yet another one of George snuggling up to John. He's a very cuddly kitten.



Here he is the night we adopted him. He was cruising around the house checking things out while I snapped his photo.



The girls just LOVE George. If that wasn't already obvious! :)

October (finally!)

This picture was taken when Jocelyn was sick. We don't normally take photos of the kids when they're sick but she just looked all cuddly and cute so I couldn't resist! What's a mom to do??? :)


Aubrey before her soccer game.


Aubrey running for the ball at her soccer game (she's the one on the left).


Jocelyn playing with my friend's adorable 18 month old while I watched her for the day.


Jocelyn and I at story time at the Quantico base library.


Jocelyn playing with her new walking toy that she got for her birthday. She loves pushing this thing all over the house! As you can see...she's having a blast.


Jocelyn loves her care bear that she got from her Grandma & Grandpa Shields.
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Whew! September has ended. It was quite the month for our family. To go through the month briefly with you, we had to take Jocelyn to the emergency room 3 times in 1 week because she had a really bad case of a stomach virus and she wasn't able to keep any liquids or food down and they had to re-hydrate her. So that took 2 weeks for her to get better---just in time for her 1st birthday. John's going to school full time on top of working full time, so you can imagine he's staying quite busy with that alone along with everything else he does. Aubrey started the second grade and she's got soccer twice a week, sometimes more (only 2 more weeks to go). And to add a side note: it's pretty funny to watch 7 year olds running on the soccer field all huddled together behind the ball. Apparently that's where the term "magna-ball" comes from. :) In all seriousness, I know they're doing their best and the main thing is that they're having fun. Jocelyn had her 1 year check-up and shots (which went better than expected) and her and I have started going once a week to story time on base for ages 2 and under. It has been a lot of fun getting to know other moms while she gets to enjoy an hour of play. And what about me you ask? Well, I've just been busy running the household, helping Aubrey with her homework (which I at times joke that I need to finish my college degree in order to help her sometimes!), took care of my dear friend's 18 month old for the day while my friend was at home very sick (Jocelyn loved having a friend over to play all day with though), and all the mothers who are reading this know that the list could go on and on and on---so I'll spare you the rest of my motherly duties. I have also taken on a new calling at church that has me in charge of emergency prepardness which I'm really excited about doing and I will also start school again part time in a few weeks (had to take a semester off for a break). Keeping busy is good. Keeps us out of trouble most of the time! :) Oh...and another exciting reason that September is over and October has begun---Fall is here!! We are so grateful that we're most of the way past the "hot weather and humidity" season and onto cooler days that remind us of back home. And if you've heard a rumor that we're going back home for Christmas...I can confirm that it's TRUE! :) We can hardly wait to see our family and friends again!