Foto Friday - Holiday card photo shoot

So now that the holiday cards have all been sent out, I can share with you the pictures that we got on our holiday photo shoot at Ryan's Ranch in Joshua Tree National Park. A huge thanks to Rose for taking all the time and effort to get such great shots.

Jadyn Version 3.5

So it has been several weeks since I posted the photos of Jadyn in what she calls her "sticking dress" and promised there would be an explanation forthcoming. The name "sticking dress" was derived from how it looks like a t-shirt and skirt stuck together. But more importantly is what the dress represents because on December 1st, Jadyn officially turned 3 1/2 years old. So here is a snapshot of Jadyn at this age.

The really funny thing about the sticking dress is that I distinctly remember writing about how 2 summers ago, I could not for the life of me convince her to wear a dress. She wanted nothing to do with them. Well that attitude has taken a complete 180 and now that is all she wants to wear. And wouldn't you know, even though she DID wear a lot of sundresses in the warmer months, I do not remember it being a prerequisite of our day. Now that the temps have cooled down, she would be happy to wear her sticking dress every day. She cries when she gets it dirty, cries when it is the hamper and cries when I tell her she can only wear it with the matching sweatshirt and leggings to keep her warm. If I try and get her to wear jeans (which unfortunately make up a large portion of her winter wardrobe) she cries and tells me she won't be pretty. I have explained to her that it is not what you wear that makes you pretty but she disagrees. She argues that princesses don't wear jeans. I asked her if she still thought I was pretty since I wear jeans a lot myself and she abrubtly answered no. Well that one certainly did backfire. Luckily she has a few other outfits that are acceptable in her book and occasionally she wears the jeans without a fight. This last weekend when I finally let her wear her Christmas outfit to the winter festival, she thanked me repeatedly, although that was only after we had to argue about how she was going to wear her hair and which bow went best with the outfit. Jadyn is definitely a girly-girl and she is also very opinionated. I wonder where she got that from?

Sometimes, I am convinced that Jadyn's own stubborn personality coupled with the desire for more independence at this developmental age was designed to test my patience and challenge my parenting abilities to the utmost extreme. I really am already starting to fear the teenage years with her. For the most part, she listens to Joe but me - I swear she argues for the fun of it. Telling her no is never good enough and once she accepts no for an answer, Little Miss Drama Queen lets you know she is unhappy with your decision. She has even started refusing to go into and stay in timeout. While I am standing my ground and know with a little hard work, this phase will eventually pass, it is pretty hard when big brother is around trying to give her everything she wants. One day while she was time out for not cleaning up when asked, Jake went behind my back and cleaned up her mess for her. I didn't want to reprimand him for being helpful and sweet so I dumped the box out again to make Jadyn clean it up and the minute I turned my back, Jake cleaned it up again!

On the flip side, Jadyn has become so creative and imaginative. She loves to draw and color and has become quite proficient in drawing people - better than my stick figures. She also loves to make up and tell stories and songs. She also collects sticks at the park or around Jake's school and then pretends they are certain animals based on the shape and size of the stick.

Developementally the last few months have seen quite an explosion as after a lot of hard work and frustration on her end, she finally learned to write her name. She can now ride Jake's 12 inch bike (which makes it perfect that Santa is bringing one of her own for Christmas). She has fallen in love with playing the game Memory, I think in large part to the fact that she is so good she can easily beat Jake and me, even when I am really trying. She insists that I copy Jake's weekly homework folder she can do homework too, most of which she can do with a little help. She loves to cut with scissors and as I recently discovered can play with Play-Doh uninterrupted for over 2 hours and is easily occupied with one of my colored pens and some blank paper. I love to see her doodles.

Jadyn is also immensely helpful. She loves, loves, loves to help Joe (and I to a lesser extent) bake and cook. She loves to help me clean, do laundry, feed the dogs, take out the trash or whatever task I ask of her. And I love that she is so willing and eager to lend a helping hand.

After months of sleeping with Jake in his bed (ever since the visit from the paci fairy), one night when they were not settling down to sleep I threatened to separate them. To my surprise, Jadyn then voluntarily got up and got into her bed. Since then most nights she starts off in her own bed but of course she is seldom alone, since Jazz loves to snuggle with her. And you have to keep checking on her because she has been known to get up, turn on her light and quietly start playing with her baby dolls and princesses. She will also bring stuffed animals in to Jake's room to keep him company. It is quite amusing but trust me - not so much at 8 p.m. when I am in desperate need of some "me time".

Even though Jake is overall more mellow and compliant, I love the creativity and imagination that accompanies Jadyn's spitfire nature and despite there obvious differences in personality, it is also nice to see how well the two of them play and get along together.

I was hoping to get a really good run of outdoor pictures of Jadyn but since that has yet to happen, check out how excited and happy she was in these pictures. We were out shopping for a few last minute gifts when she spotted these VERY girly PJs that came complete with a tutu. She put them on last night and was dancing around like a ballerenia. We really need to try dance classes again but I think these shots capture our high-spirited princess pretty well.

Magoomba Monday #25

Can I just say how happy I am to have made it through last week?

1) So I have made some comments alluding to the fact that I have quite suddenly become a very active part of the PTA at Jake's school. Unfortunately there is a severe lack of parent participation in our community and our state's budget crisis has left the school system in desperate need of additional funds, not to mention the fact that the economy has left everyone spending less, including giving to charities and organizations. Then the school's PTA president had to resign her position to take care of a personal matter. So, needless to say I ended up stepping up and this past week was crazy. I set up and worked the book fair almost every day last week, helped organize and orchestrate the Winter Fest at Jake's school and wrote the PTA's page for the January newsletter. The good news is that we were able to put a lot of books in the hands of students at the book fair, raised a decent amount of money at the Winter Fest and increased home/school communication with the newsletter. It's a lot of work but it is also nice to know I am helping to make a positive impact at Jake's school. Not to mention that I have made some wonderful, life-long friends in the process.

2) Another reason this last week was so crazy was the fact that Joe was out of town. He was originally not due back until this Friday but now thinks he might be coming home earlier in the week. This would be wonderful as both the kids and I miss him terribly, especially this close to the holidays. I give so much credit to military families who sacrifice time away to protect our freedom.

3) Friday I took the kids on a "date". We went and saw "Princess and the Frog", which was super cute and both the kids really enjoyed it. I then took them to McDonalds Playland for dinner. It's not my first choice for food or entertainment but the kids love the play structure there, not to mention the toys they get with their happy meals. I then treated myself to a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks for the drive home and we checked out some Christmas lights before heading home. It was a very nice, relaxing evening.

4) Saturday was the aforementioned Winter Fest, in which we went early to set up and then I worked one of the booths. Here we are before heading out:

The kids were overall very good considering the amount of time we were there and thankfully, Mr. Nathan (Jake's best friend Sam's Dad) came and took the kids for me so they could participate in the festivities including a free craft. Here is Jake and Sam waiting to have their reindeer's nose hot glued:

I was able to sneak away for a little bit so the kids could visit Santa.

If you look at the caption on Jake's shirt, his expression is so fitting:

Jadyn is getting a little less scared every time she sees him. I think the candy cane she gets afterwards helps.I then learned a valuable lesson firsthand: Candy canes are sticky. Very, very sticky. (You were so right Joanna!)

5) So one think that has fallen to the wayside in light of Joe being gone and me being so busy at Jake's school is my working out. Part of the problem is also the weather because while it is not too cold for me, it is too cold for Jadyn to sit in the stroller while I walk/run at the park. This is really not a good excuse because we have a treadmill for this very reason. I just haven't had the time or motivation to get on it. I am hoping that will change this week because I was really do well there for awhile and I want this to be a priority.

6) Couple of entertainment notes. First of all, I am love, love, love with the band Muse and even more in love with their new album - The Resistance. There was something in particular about their single, Resistance that was just haunting me and I finally researched the lyrics more closely and figured it out. The whole album and this song in particular was inspired by the love story in George Orwell's novel 1984. It was just recently when LauraC posed the question, what book(s) changed your life? It's not an easy question because while there are many books I love, I can't say that many of them changed my life but after careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that 1984 had that impact on me when I first read it back in 1992. It really changed the way I looked at things and taught me that it was okay to question authority. Anyway, take a listen to the song if you haven't already and tell me you can't see it "1984: The Musical"

And finally for my fellow Twi-Hards. Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob) hosted SNL this past Saturday and I just had to tune in to see what he would do. Well, while most of the show was about what I expect from SNL these days, there was one skit that had me rolling with laughter. Enjoy!

7) I love getting the mail this time of year. I love getting mail that I actually WANT to open. I love seeing all the cute pictures and reading updates on families yearly newsletters. I love getting in touch with people I haven't spoken to in awhile. Tis the season!

And with that, hope every one's week is off to a great start and not to stress anyone out but there is only 11 more days until Christmas. Can you believe it?

Bonus Foto Friday: Dog as Reindeer

It was so worth the $1.00 from the Dollar Tree to torture the dogs with these. Utah played along while Nago wouldn't keep them on long enough to get a picture.

Foto Friday - Snow on the Mesa

I am taking a photography class online to help me learn the Canon Rebel and my first week's assignment was to get a off center focused subject or still life scene with appropriate white balance. On Monday the temps were cold enough that Yucca Valley, which is 2 towns over, got some snowfall so I decided to head over there and photograph the Joshua trees after dropping Jadyn off at preschool. I was kind of sad I couldn't take the kids with me to play in the snow but at the same time it was kind of fun, not to mention peaceful to traipse around in the snow by myself to get the right shot. And while I still have a long way to go with my photography skills, I was honored to have this picture chosen as one of the pictures of the week for the class:

Jake Version 5.5

Wow! Just typing that blog title made it really sink in - Jake is 5 1/2 years old already! When did that happen?

So it was an exciting week for Jake at school. Monday was the first trimester awards ceremony for all the kindergarteners. I was so proud when Jake received awards for achievement of excellence for both math and for knowing all his upper and lower case letters. But I was most proud of his third award for Random Acts of Kindness. He also received an award for his perfect attendance for the month of September.

Today, I had my first parent-teacher conference. I knew already from my brief discussions with his teacher that Jake was doing fine in school but it is still nice to sit down and see exactly where he is at. He scored approaching or at grade level for all skills in language arts and above grade level for math as well as satisfactory or above for listening, speaking, behavior and homework effort.

The most enlightening portion of the conference was when I got to see a sample of Jake's creative writing. This is something the teacher works with him on during his enrichment on the day he stays late. He was able to write two sentences "I see my Aunt" and "I like my blue car" by learning to copy certain words and sound out others. He spelled Aunt a-n-t and car c-r but the positioning of the letters and spacing between words was remarkable and I love that his teacher focuses on getting the children to be able to express their thoughts on paper and not just practice copying sentences. She is also working on emerging reading with Jake but language arts is not something that comes as naturally to him. Still, I love his effort and willingness to try and sound out or use picture clues to read words. He is right on the cusp and with his eagerness to learn, I know he will make great strides.

As far as his math abilities, they blow my mind. He can count by any number 2-10 all the way up to 100 with almost no help and the other day he asked me what 100-17 was and when I asked him what he thought, he paused only briefly before telling me 83. Joe enjoys challenging his affinity for math at home and has started to introduce the concept of multiplication since Jake seems both ready and interested.

Jake wears many hats - he loves to cuddle and hug. He is very affectionate. But he can also rough-house with the best of the them and is a very physical and active 5-year-old boy. His willingness to help others and share, especially with his sister warms my heart every day. He is very friendly and social and counts ALL his classmates amongst his friends. His laugh is nothing short of infectious and he loves to make silly sounds or resort to physical comedy to put a smile on your face, again especially for Jadyn whom it would appear he cannot stand to see cry (compassion or irritation could both easily be the motivating factor behind that one).

Racing his diecast NASCARs and building with Legos and train tracks are still his favorite activities as well as riding his bike and making dirt tracks for his cars outside. He is also very competitive and enjoys all sorts of games, whether sports like baseball or soccer, video games like Mario Kart and Speed Racer or card and board games like Go Fish and Chutes and Ladders. I have however, learned not to play games with him right before bed because man, he can be a pretty sore loser when he is in need of sleep.

Sometimes, that attitude I was warned about at this age rears its ugly head and it can be quite a challenge when it comes to disciplining and explaining that it is sometimes not about what you say, but the way you say it. Overall however, I have to say this is a very exciting age - an age of exceptional growth in both how quickly he learns and retains new information and independence as he goes off to school and does more and more on his own. Of course even with all the things that get easier, it is hard not to be a little sad to see him grow up so fast. Then again, with weeks like this, its also nice to have validation that he is growing into a amazing "not so little" boy.

Here are some bonus shots of Jake I took during a recent trip to the park in which I was playing with my new camera:

Wordless Wednesday - I'm glad someone likes Nago's new dog bed....

Getting into the Spirit

I seriously don't know how I managed to go almost an entire week without blogging again. Oh wait, that's right - I have been spending so much time volunteering at Jake's school, helping the PTA get things ready for all their winter events that I have seriously considered setting up a cot to sleep there. One day soon I will get caught up. I still need to finish my posts on Jake's soccer season and let everyone know what Jadyn has been up to since officially turning 3 1/2.

So the holiday season is in full swing. I finally got the kids to agree to wear their matching Santa PJs on the same night so I could snap this super cute picture of them by the tree:

I also like this one, even though Jadyn is not looking at the camera. It also shows how tall she is getting it and it shows how little our tree is. I originally wanted a tree that would not overwhelm our modest living room but now it just seems SO small. We are definitely going to hit up the after Christmas sales to snag a bigger tree for next year.

Saturday we went to the Winter Fest in Beaumont, where my brother and his family live. My sister in-law Tawnya had rented a booth to sell her amazingly cute bows and memo boards and I wanted to go and support her. Here we are after setting up:

While there the kids were able to enjoy the sledding hill with their cousins Madison and Ethan:

And get their pictures taken with Santa and Ms. Claus:

This worked out perfectly because now I don't have to feel guilty this Saturday when I work the school's Winter Fest and miss all the fun, not to mention the fact that Joe will be out of town for two weeks. So any more pre-holiday family fun is going to have to be squeezed into that last week before Christmas, including our annual trip to the Wild Lights at The Living Desert. And can I just mention the weather? Baby, it's cold outside! Or at least for us here on the west coast and considering how warm our fall has been. The next town over actually got snow last night. I was actually disappointed. If it's going to be this cold, we might as well get some snow out of the deal.

So yes, the holiday season is in full swing at Casa de Funny Nose. Hope yours is off to a great start as well.

New Moon Rising

Mild spoilers.

The Twilight Saga's New Moon was everything that the first installment was not - first and foremost it was a very faithful adaptation of the book, including the cheesy, angsty dialouge that was taken right off the page. I loved it! I have heard multiple people describe it this way, but for 90% of the movie it was like they took the vision I had in my head while reading the book and put it on the big screen. And don't even get me started on how perfect Taylor Lautner was to play the part of Jacob. To even think they considered recasting his character. He was pitch perfect and the chemistry between Jacob and Bella was exactly as I envisioned it should be. The action was superb. I loved the special effects for the wolf transformations and the fight with the Volturi. It gave me goosebumps to think how awesome the training and fight scene is going to be in Eclipse.

That is not to say that I didn't have any critiques of the film - I really disliked how they had Jacob lose his temper at the end of the movie theater scene (a personal favorite part of the book for me) and don't even get me started on how cheesy and off Edward and Bella looked prancing in slow motion during Alice's vision of their futures. Gag! And did anyone notice Edward's wonky nipple right before he almost stepped out into the sun? What was up with that? Or Jasper's hair for that matter?

But again, overall it was a great movie. The critics didn't like it, but I suspect that is precisely because they DID follow the book. I can't imagine anyone not having read the books really could have enjoyed the movie. It just wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. But as someone who has read the book (multiple times), that's just fine by me.

Here we are - the group of gals that braved the crowd to see it on midnight opening day:

Totally worth the sleep deprivation and yes, if you are on my actual blog you will see that I already have a countdown for the third movie. Only 209 days to go!

Magoomba #24

While many of these items really deserve a blog post of their own, throwing them in with the magoomba is about the only way I am ever going to catch up so to heck with it. Try and stay with me.

- Last Monday the weather was beautiful. With school out on Thanksgiving break we decided to head to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve to check out the fall foliage. For an interesting comparison, check out the visit we made in the spring. It was absolutely gorgeous and exactly what I needed, since we don't have many trees out here in the desert. It just exuded the essence of fall and is one of my favorite trails.

- Since we were already out and about, we decided to get some holiday shopping accomplished and I ended up with my dream camera as an early Christmas present - a Canon EOS D-SLR Rebel XS. But don't expect a sudden dramatic improvement in my photography skills - I don't need that pressure. The camera I have been using is a Canon S5 bridge camera, which is a very good camera. It's going to take me awhile to adjust to the whole SLR thing. Having said that however, the rest of the afternoon, all I kept thinking was how I wished I would have had the Rebel for our trip to the preserve!

- Early Tuesday morning (think 3 am) Jake woke up complaining that he felt yucky and before we knew it, we were dealing with a full blown case of the stomach flu. I felt horrible that he was so sick right after having surgery but he insisted it didn't hurt him and the surgery center assured us that as long as we kept him hydrated, he would be fine. The rest of the week, we basically waited to see if the rest of us got sick, wondering what it would do to our Thanksgiving plans but Thursday morning we were all feeling good and headed to Joe's parents for the holiday.

Here are the kids with their cousins - Aidan and Lilly:

So how do I look in that last picture? Because you may not be able to tell, but I was about 2 hours away from the beginning of my own bout with the stomach flu, stuck upstairs praying to the porcolein god while everyone was downstairs enjoying Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say, that 2 hour car ride home was NOT FUN!

Good thing I don't do Black Friday because I wouldn't have been able to go anyway. Once I started to feel better, we spent the majority of the remaining 3 day weekend with projects around the house and getting the Christmas tree and decor up. I am super excited about the mantle this year - last holiday season I finally found the style of personalized stockings I wanted and then to bring out the apple green hue in the argyle, I purchased some new candles.

I was really concerned about how Jazz would do around the tree. While initially curious, she has refrained from actually knocking down any of the ornaments.

Thinking about it......

Making an attempt:

The long weekend was also a good chance to spend quality family time together in a low key setting, including lots of snuggling and movie watching, not to mention yummy leftovers! And despite my inability to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, I still find myself with plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday, which makes it a success in my book.