123 all eyes on me

We had so much fun watching Haylie in her school performance. Only problem is, whenever she can see us she is much more interested in waving, smiling and shouting out James' name than singing. She is just so cute!!

so blessed...

Soda Art

In art class again this year, Raider decided to make a soda can project. Last year he made a bird, and this year in honor of his growing desire to drive, he decided to make a truck. Good thing we drink a lot of soda!!

I'd Rather Be Dancing

After a semester break from dance, it was all Haylie could talk about to start up again. We tried out soccer during the fall instead of dance, but Haylie just kept telling me she would rather be dancing. Finally she got to start up again, this time at a different studio with one of her best friends from school. Haylie loves being a ballerina.

...And she's trying to be teacher's pet already. That's my girl :)

Lou Lou, skip to my lou...

This was free dance time, Haylie and her friend had so much fun twirling around and dancing with each other.

Imaginary Friend

Here are Haylie and James, enjoying some ice cream along with Haylie's first ever imaginary friend (who's name I can't remember now - Joshua or Joseph I think).

Live a Little

Finding a Christmas tree is always an adventure. First comes the decision of where to get the tree - do we cut it down or go to a fancy lot, or Costco?? We usually trade off the different places each year and this year was a Costco year. Although Micah tends to prefer the short trip to Costco, he pretty much hates cutting open a million trees to find the perfect one. After opening several trees he got a brilliant idea (which he usually has when we go to Costco) that we should just buy a wrapped tree and chance it. Of course I never agree to that plan, but this year after Raider and Micah dragged on that I should learn to "live a little" I finally agreed. They lined up a few of the wrapped trees next to each other and selected the one they thought looked best while I loaded the kids in the cart and pretended like this wasn't really the plan.

Micah and Raider's expert selection:

The final product. Not so bad!

Micah swares it's our "best tree ever" - not quite sure about that but I was glad I proved I could live a little.

No More Pacifier

I recently found this envelope which you might remember from this post about when we convinced Haylie to give up her pacifier and mail it to a little girl who really needs one. Haylie's heart broke at the thought of the other little girl not having a pacifier and together we got an envelope and mailed off her pacifiers to this very sad little girl.

(Haylie added the names and additional decoration after we found it - she also added James' pacifiers to the mix. She didn't seem at all concerned about how we had her old pacifiers).

So after a recent visit to the dentist, who told us that James needed to give up his pacifier soon or risk some teeth issues, we decided to try the same tactic with James that week. James was very attached to his pacifier, often crying when I wouldn't let him have it outside of naptime, so I wasn't surprised when he wanted nothing to do with our little game. He wasn't too concerned about anyone else needing a pacifier and determined that "the little boy" needed to get his own. He loved his pacifier and cried at the thought of giving it away. I didn't force him into it because can be very stubborn and I knew it wouldn't work well. However, I did start telling him that in about a month, after our upcoming trip to Disneyland that he would need to be done with his pacifier. I explained to him that the dentist said it would ruin his teeth and that he should start preparing to give it up after our Disney trip. Well, amazingly enough, the day we returned from Disneyland I asked him to give me all his pacifiers and told him we could not use them anymore. He agreed and never said another word about them. He never fussed or pushed back at all. He just gave them up and never used them again after that day. He even later said that we could mail them to the little boy who needed them since he isn't going to use them anymore.

As I was looking back at the post about Haylie's pacifier give-away, I noticed another post I had written with this quote: "Don't see your child as a blank slate awaiting your pen, but as a written book awaiting your study."

It is just fascinating to learn about our children's personalities. Our children come with gifts from God, character traits that are uniquely theirs. James likes to do things in his own timing and in his own way and I am committed to respecting that and operating within his boundaries when appropriate. Those qualities are very strong and wonderful if they are nurtured properly. I am equally as proud of him for standing his ground and making up his mind about when he wanted to give away his pacifier as I am with Haylie for her bleeding heart who just wanted to make someone else happy. I adore them each in their own unique ways!!!

Gabby Gator

Every couple months, the kids in Haylie's class get a turn to take home the class mascot "Gabby Gator" - Haylie waits every day, hoping her name will get drawn out of the bag and she is incredibly thrilled when she gets her turn. Then we set out creating a fun adventure for Gabby gator. This time Gabby Gator got to go see Haylie's cousins.

Then Haylie and Gabby played Haylie's favorite game Uno.

Haylie and Gabby beat Mommy - they were very excited.

For dinner - Gabby got to enjoy Haylie's favorite food - meatballs. What a fun night - until next time Gabby Gator!