Kid Update

Emma has arrived full-blown into her terrible twos...We are all trying to take cover and enjoy the cute and pleasant parts of living with an opinionated and independent toddler!  She was the only one allowed to push a cart at Trader Joe's the other day when we went shopping (according to her) and although I have been working with her on learning her colors lately, I am starting to regret it.  For instance, she asked for milk so I was getting a sippy cup out of the cupboard to fill with milk and all I hear is screaming "NOT THE PURPLE SIPPY! I WANT PINK!"  Lovely...She is very loveable and sweet to make up for it.

 

When we arrived home from running errands the other day she looked like this (see below) and I couldn't resist taking a picture because it was her in a nutshell: taking care of her baby doll like always, shoes kicked off because she does that whenever we are in the car (but ironically, in the house she always is very particular about having certain shoes on).  She can be really sweet and affectionate as you can see when she is sleeping. We sure love her and hope she survives being the baby for so long.  I realize that by this point with all the other kiddos we had a new baby and they were shifted into a crib, and going to bed at the same time as the older sibs, etc. but not so with Emma. She is still rockin' the late nights with mom and dad, the crib, and the limelight.

Jonas was so cute while we were decorating the house for Christmas.  As we put up each new item (tree, garland, lights) he kept saying "I can't believe my eyes!!"  and was so thrilled.  It was reminding me why we go through all the effort of transforming the house!  For little eyes to realize the importance of the season.   We have been enjoying snuggling by the light of the Christmas tree and reading all of the traditional books. This month Jonas and Emma went to Pump it Up for Jonas's preschool fieldtrip and had a lot of fun with all their buddies.  We also had our primary program at church which is where each of the children have a short memorized line that they share with the congregation as well as singing all the songs they have been practicing this year.  They did a great job and the girls did great with their duet portions of one song.  Jared and I are now co-teaching Jonas's sunbeam class and it was quite a task to keep them focused and content up on the stand while their parents were in the congregation.  I, of course, was brought to tears by the kids' singing and thought they all did a great job!  Thanks to Greg and Maren who kept Emma for us so we could help the all the sunbeams.

Snuggling and reading by the Christmas tree

Jonas at Pump it Up

Lillian and Jocelyn both had parent teacher conferences last month that went very well.  I am still trying to come to grips with the fact that the girls can be really out of control and disrespectful at home sometimes but seem to be angels at school.  I kept thinking "are we talking about the same child here?"  I guess it is good in some regard that they feel they can "let go" and misbehave at home but I am holding on to the hope that someday they will be able to use that hard work and good behavior at home consistently too!!  There are times when I see glimpses of it, but hopefully it's a healthy balance for them. 

The girls on the way to school one morning

One week when the kids had a short week and several short days the teachers decided to forgo homework.  I felt like it was heaven on earth!  We were able to spend more time together (not fighting or nagging about HW) and when the kids found some mushrooms on the front lawn I could tell them "Let's bring those inside and study them!" instead of hurry up, guys, we need to get your homework pages completed!  We printed out some science observation sheets to fill out together, took out magnifying glasses and water droppers, knives and bowls and went to town.  Lillian was so excited about it all that she (unbeknownst to me) put the dissected mushrooms in a clearly labeled bag in her backpack to share with her teacher at school.  They weren't re-discovered until a week later when it smelled like a small fish colony had died in her backpack and we went searching.  We wouldn't have had a clue what they were except for the fact that she had clearly labeled them in a clear bag.  They were a disgusting black liquid by the time we got to them!  We all started laughing when we realized what happened and a lot of cleaning ensued!

Lillian reading to emma one night before bed

 The girls both had "grinch day" at school this week. Different days for each grade and they were pretty excited to have a (pretty much normal) school day with a theme.  Grinch math, grinch reading, etc. but they were allowed to dress up.  It's hard to see the detail in this picture since she had the christmas tree right behind her (amateur photographer) but she wanted her hair like cindy lou who and, with Jared's help, we were mostly able to achieve it.  She was thrilled and she said although a couple other girls came to school with cindy lou who hair "her's was the tallest and stiffest." 

Jocelyn has been working hard at school and also having a lot of fun excursions.  For her activity day girls group at church they have been doing craft projects and a trip to the Oakland temple to see the lights and a performance of the nutcracker.  I took Jocelyn, her friend, and Lillian into Oakland and to In-N-Out afterward and we had a really fun time.  We left Jonas and Emma home with Jared which ended up being a good move because Emma kicked off our family weekend of the flu while we were gone :(

Before the performance

On the roof of the temple: overview of the lights

All the girls in front of the temple

After the performance

A poem Jocelyn did recently at school that Jared and I got a kick out of!

Thanks to friends who watched my younger two for me, I was able to attend a school fieldtrip with Jocelyn to a local performance about Tall tales and was about to attend another fieldtrip to see the butterflies in Santa Cruz until that got canceled due to rain.  Here we are at the performance

Overall, we are feeling well this season, grateful for what we have, and oh so blessed to have the ultimate gift of the Savior's atonement in our lives.