Corrine's 2 year old pictures

We went up to Ross Park to get pictures of Corrine when she turned two. I had ideas of a fun, relaxed afternoon spent taking pictures of my smiling Ninny. The only problem is that Corrine really doesn't like getting her picture taken. I took TONS of pictures, and these 4 are the best. It ended up being pretty frustrating. Good thing she's cute!

Corrine's 2nd Birthday

Corrine turned two on June 20th, one day after Payden turned 10. We celebrated their birthdays along with Marlene's on the same day. We sure love this little girlie. She is a handful, but we find so much joy with her. Her smile is contagious and we will all do backbends just to see it!

Here she is in one of the cute little outfits her Uncle Paul and Aunt Jackie got her. She loved the pockets!

Here she is saying I'm two. She can't quite get how to hold up only two fingers with one hand, so I showed her how to do it this way! Her birthday fell on a Sunday, and I was subbing as the primary chorister that day, so I had Payden run and get her from nursery and I had the Sr. Primary sing Happy Birthday to her. It was very sweet.




She got some fun gifts for her birthday!



She is such a cutie! I can't believe she is already two. Where has the time gone? I really can't call her a baby anymore. So sad. But it is also so neat getting to see who she is growing up to be. I love this age, where they can communicate with you, but there is still so much for them to discover. Happy Birthday, Ninny!

Our new digs, the "after" pics

Here is the pictures of after everything is unpacked! We really like this house, and even though we have quite a bit less sq. footage (you should see the garage!) we are managing ok. I love the layout, and there are so many windows that I don't even turn the lights on during the day. It gets really hot though, because it is two stories, and power is expensive here, so it is often quite warm in our house! (When I got the bill for 10 days of usage, and it was $145, I turned the air off right then. Only $10 was connection fees!)


Here is the family room, right off the kitchen, like our house in Idaho. It has a nice gas fireplace here though. We can't wait to use it when the weather gets cool. You can't see it in this pic, but our tv is in a recess right across from the couch.


Here is the kitchen. The kitchen is very nice, but everything is smaller than I am used to . The pantry is tiny, the sink is small and shallow (dishes pile up way to quick!) the fridge is smaller and so is the dishwasher. The cabinets are smaller as well, there are some things that didn't make the cut for this kitchen and are out in the garage. But the layout is nice, and I actually really like the corian counter tops. I don't worry about water on them like I did my granite!


There is a half bath off the kitchen, which I love.

The laundry room it TINY! This is also the only place we could think to put the cat box, so it is less than pleasant. I actually wish I had a closet laudry room rather than this, I have to shimmy sideways to get in and out.


Here is Ava and Corrine's room. You can kind of see that they have a walk in closet, which helps with storage since they are sharing the room.

Here is Michaela's room, it turned out cute. I couldn't take a picture of Paydens, it was too much of a mess! Michaela loves her room for the vaulted ceiling.

Here is the bathroom the girls share.


Here is our walk in closet. Good thing its big because Corrine naps in there! Since the little girls are sharing a room, they couldn't be in the same room for nap time. So she naps in our closet! It actually works really good, she sleeps like the dead in there.

Here is our bathroom, it is huge. We really like it!





The toilet is off to the right in the picture, directly across from the shower. It has its own room.

I didn't take a picture of our room, it still isn't quite put together. But we like it. It has a nice bay window and is large.

Here is the view from the top of the stairs.


The entryway.


The stairs.


This is my favorite room of the house, the formal living room up front. I love having a place for our leather furniture and the piano.


There is a downstairs, and that is where the owner of the home lives. He is a nice guy and doesn't seem to mind our noisy kids! I will have to take a picture of the outside later, I forgot about that. The yard isn't fenced, so Kylo is on a chain and I can't let Ninny out to play, which is tough. I tried, but she would not stay in the back, she kept running out to the front and we live on a street that people drive kind of fast on. But we really like living here. We can't wait to buy though, and are keeping faith that everything will work out and we will be able to soon.

Payden's 10th birthday

Payden turned 10 on June 19th, but with our computer out and with moving, I am just now getting around to blogging it! She had a fun birthday. For her friends birthday party, we had a scavenger hunt at the zoo. I made up notes that had clues, and ran around just ahead of them to leave little gifts. It was pretty crazy, but fun! After that, we had cupcakes and ice cream at the park. There might have been some silly string involved.



One of the little gifts they got was little poppers, here they are setting them off.



It was unfortunately rainy that day, and for some of the part in the zoo we got wet. Then it got really bad when we still had more than a 1/2 hour before the girls parents were supposed to come get them. We piled in the van, and watched a movie!

Here is a picture I took of myself. I had been running around, up and down all over the zoo trying to stay ahead of the girls, all in the rain. Good times!

I made a cupcake butterfly, but the girls kept saying it looked like a bat.

We also had a party at home for her, Marlene and Corrine. She was excited to get a hymn book.

All three birthday girls blowing out their candles!



I made balloon cakes, one for each person. Each kind was a different kind of cake.

The morning of her birthday, we were having a yard sale. But we still made her birthday breakfast request, crepes!

We love you Payden, you are so much fun!

Look at Corrine!

She has been in a big girl bed now for about 2 weeks, With no binkie! She asked for it a couple of times, but has really done well without it. So we did away with it completely, we are now a binkie free home! So far, she hasn't fallen out of bed, and keeping her there isn't as hard as I had worried it would be. I have no idea why this is underlined and in italics. I can't make it stop!




She is pretty proud of herself!

First Day of School 2010

Michaela is going to a HUGE Jr. High school here. It is new and she loves it.

I thought she was so brave. The day before I started them in school, I went and got them registered, and we walked both Michaela's A days and B days so she would be familiar with them. She didn't seem nervous for her first day, she was excited to meet new people. The only thing that showed she was nervous was that she not only let me walk her inside, but actually let me walk her to her first class. I think this was because we were late getting there, and there wasn't any kids in the halls. It was still sweet, though. I felt for her, I know exactly what it is like to enter a new Jr. High in a new state. Scary. But she did good.

Payden was pumped to go as well. The day before they started, I took them clothes and supply shopping, and took them out to lunch. I think this helped them feel more prepared for entering new schools.

Payden was excited because they had lockers. It is unusual to start your kids when school is already in. They have year round elementry here, and the track Payden and Ava are on had already been in session for one week. We missed orientation, back to school night, and all those other things that help the kids feel prepared. Poor Payden even got lost looking for the bathroom in school. To her credit, it is a VERY large elementary.






They also have computers at all the desks, but Payden got "stuck" with a laptop because she wasn't expected. She was a little put off by this, but I reminded her that seating changes in class frequently, and she will get a "real" computer soon enough!


And last but not least, Ava started kindergarten this year. I am glad we moved, because back in Idaho they went to full day kindergarten this year, and Ava would have struggled with that. Here it is half day, every day, with early release every Friday. She couldn't wait to go to school. She wasn't worried at all; she was thrilled that it was finally her turn to go to big girl school! She is a fit thrower, as many of you know, and I had been telling her to not throw fits in school, no one here knows she does that, she can start over, etc. Then I said something I wish I could take back; I told her that the kids might not like her if she throws fits. I was trying to save her from being teased, but this introduced the idea that she might not be liked, and then she started worrying about that. I reassured her that the kids would like her, she is very likeable, she just needs to not throw fits. Gosh, I hate it when I make mistakes like that. Anyway, we got past that and she was ready for her first day of big girl school!



I was having a hard time thinking about leaving her here, in a new school where I didn't know anyone.

She looks so tiny, but so big at the same time!

My fears were lessened when I met her teacher, and she and Ava hit it off right away. Just look at how Ava is looking at her! We got there a few minutes before her teacher, and Ava had a chance to look around the classroom. She was so excited and kept pointing things out to me, saying she couldn't wait to use that, and that, and that.

Here is how I left them, going out to get the other kids. Her teacher really made her feel welcome and safe. The next day when I dropped her off, she ran right up to her like she missed her! It was so cute, as they walked out, her teacher looked down at her and said, "Aww, what a cute little face you have!" I am glad she will love my little girlie.