Weirdos

I think one of my favorite moments I get everyday is peeking in on my kids after they have finally fallen asleep. It's so funny to see what position they are in, what toys they are snuggled with, and if they are even in their bed or not. We found the two of them like this in the same night, and found it hilarious. As you can see, Jayda's entire upper half is shoved into a purple pillowcase like a reverse mermaid. And Skyler is in a position that will most likely land him in a chiropractor's office when he's older. Never ending entertainment.

Sleepy Sundays

Not to get sacrilegious or anything, but the phrase "Day of Rest" always makes me laugh. While we love our Sundays, I don't know if there is a more exhausting day of the week. I don't think it helps that our three hour block of church is at the exact same time that Skyler should be snuggled in bed, happily dreaming of Dora. And since my son is not a public sleeper, you can imagine the WWF wrestling match that it took to reach this point of exhaustion. I can't complain either though, it's not too often that I get a good hour of pure, uninterupted Skyler snuggling to myself. I might not miss the wrestling matches in my heels, but I will miss this.

Neat Freak

I am not a neat freak. It's not only because I don't like to do it, I just don't think I possess the talent to be a good cleaner and organizer. Glenn on the other hand is very neat and can clean a room like no one's business. Lucky for all of us, I think Jayda is going to take after her daddy in that department. She really enjoys waking up in the morning so she can make her bed and straighten her room. And for a three year old, I'd say she does a pretty dang good job at it! She was so proud of her bed this particular morning, that picture taking was in order.

Someday I'm going to get her a "little girl" bedspread, but for now I love that she is using my grandma's, who has passed away. They never got to meet, but I know for a fact that they would have been kindred spirits. My grandma was as girly as they got!

DC Temple Trip

Yeah, I'm about a month behind! I started this post about three weeks ago, but the pictures weren't uploading right, so I saved it and just never got back to it, until now. So I'll probably be spending the next few days getting caught up!

Our ward had been planning this big temple trip for quite a few months. Since I'm in the primary I got to take the primary kids around the grounds and talk about the temple while their parents went through a session. I can't lie and say that I didn't have a little anxiety about being in charge of so many young ones, but I was pleasantly surprised as everything went really well. Glenn and I took the youngest group and started with a fun craft. After that we went to the visitors center and talked to the sister missionaries about the Christus (I have no clue if that's actually how you spell it). After that we went to the actual temple to take pictures and look around. We then went back to the Stake Center for some snacks and unwinding. In all honesty it went by so fast that we had a hard time getting everything done on time. The kids were very sweet and a lot of fun and we had great support from the other members of the ward!

I think this picture is so cute.

Making "temple mobiles." They were a bit tricky for the young ones, but still a lot of fun filled the time perfectly.

Having snacks. The ward and Stefanie Cross were so good to bring lots of yummy goodies for the kids, which they loved!

Afterwards, we took a very excited Glenn/daddy to his most favorite place on earth!

There is a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, but not as many Krispy Kremes. When he discovered that DC had one, he was like a kid on Christmas morning! Jayda was pretty excited too, and asked for a pink donut, which, lucky for her, they had!


Our little pink girl eating her pink donut!

Glenn at the peak of happiness!

Kendallonian

We were supposed to have Kendall and his family in DC this summer, but it didn't quite work out. So on his way home, Kendall made a quick stop to say hi. I was pretty bummed not to have them so close, but we'll get to see them at home soon, since we get a mini vacation with the family this August, woot!

Anyway, this photo was not staged at all. Wherever there is cake, there my kids will be, and most likely without pants.

Celebrating Two Years of Life!

I'm going to get all gushy for a second and tell you how much I LOOOOVE my kids! Seriously, could I be any luckier? Being a stay-at-home mom has been the best job in the world and I've had such a pleasure getting to know my two, very strong willed and often hilarious kids. Celebrating birthdays is such a bitter-sweet experience. It's fun to watch them grow and reach the next step of their life, but it can also be so sad when you realize that they aren't babies anymore!

We figured a fun way to celebrate Skyler's birthday would be to visit the Simonsons, who moved up to Catawissa a few weeks earlier. Heather was the one I went house hunting with a while back, and now they are here and we hadn't visited them yet. It was a fun way to kill two birds with one stone. Once we were there, we enjoyed our time playing in the backyard while we waited for Jaron to get home from work.

Blowing bubbles!

Emmy and Carter's bunnies. They were SO cute and very good with kids. Emmy showed us how she puts a harness on them and takes them on walks, so cute!
The two munchkins in the bunny cage, where they belong lol!

Carter, Jayda and Ashton. Jayda and Ashton are really close in age, but Jayda and Carter played so well together. It's fun to see how different personalities work out. Jayda also LOVED playing with Emmy, they are basically the same person, which gives me a lot of hope for when Jayda turns eight!

Skyler and Lilly blowing bubbles. That stuff must have been sweet as honey because half of the time that wand was in Skyler's mouth!

And of course, no two year old birthday is complete without a time out!

Once Jaron came home, we picked up some Papa John's pizza (droool) and went to a great park in Bloomsburg. The weather was gorgeous and the kids were in heaven playing with their new found friends. After a few hours of playing, we finally decided to have cake and go home. Singing happy birthday to Skyler was SO funny, it took him up until the end of the song to even figure out that we were singing to him! He just wanted to be left alone to eat his cake and continue playing.

The kids talking on these sound disks. They were pretty far away from each other, but you could hear the person across from you very clearly when you talked into the board.
Me and Jaron catching up!

Emmy keeping Skyler safe. She's such a sweet big sister!

I like this picture because Skyler ALWAYS has his sippy cup with him. He's going to be one of those guys that has the perpetual Coke in his hand everytime you see him, funny!

Eating pizza in the park gazebo. I probably gained five pounds that day...worth it.

Look at his face! This is how he looked the whole time we sang to him, he was so confused!

Thomas the Train set, choo choo!

Jayda and Emmy, two peas in a pod!

Digging into his cake!

Jaron, Heather and Lilly

Love this girl!

Love this guy too!

Neither of my kids have ever liked the swing, so I have to get a picture on the rare chance that they actually want to swing!

And, since this post isn't quite long enough (snark), I will now post Skyler's top ten. I already know all the reasons I love this boy, but I thought in the future it would be fun to read the top ten things that Skyler loves the most right now!

1. Dowa-boots (he loves Dora more then he loves breathing air right now)
2. Daddy, Mommy, Jee-da
3. nanee (candy)
4. tootee (cookies)
5. exploring, on his own, wherever he may be
6. giving big "around the leg" hugs
7. naming all of your body parts
8. "driving" his cars around the house, along the walls, across your shoulders
9. climbing out of his crib at 11 at night to hang out with his parents
10. laughing, smiling and having fun

Ah, I love this kid!

Days 7 and 8

Oh man, I finally made it through the week! For some reason it's sad for me posting the last two days of our visit, it was hard to see my family go! But, time moves so fast, and the time away will just make our next reunion that much sweeter!

Friday we braved the threat of unpleasant weather and went to Ocean City. I was amazed to find how different Atlantic City and Ocean City really are. Ocean City still has the great boardwalk and shops, but not the huge casinos and buildings. They're both cool, depending on what you're looking for!

This picture of me and Jackie is so lame, but I like it, so I'm posting it anyway!

I know we have to go back because the kids could have played forever in the sand. We just need to go when the weather is a bit warmer.

That night my parents watched the kids for us while Glenn, Jackie and I went to Bahama Breeze for dinner. I didn't get any pictures, but the food was alright. Nothing mind blowing, but a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that I was still full from the last week of gorging!

Saturday was a very quiet day. My mom watched the kids again so the rest of us adults could to see Star Trek. We tried to get food at Popeye's, a restaurant that my dad loves so much that it practically brings him to tears. However, it was closed, so we got sandwiches at Farmer's Pride, that little shop on Ridge. SUCH good sammies, in you're in Philly, you must try them out. But they only take cash!

Since Jackie and my parents had very early morning flights, we said our goodbyes that night. It was so much fun having them here and showing them a piece of our lives here in Philly. Don't be gone long guys, we miss you!