SHIP ROCK

Again, one of our favorite things to do at my mom's house is to go hiking. This time Jadyn picked up a bizarre new habit. She had to stop everytime she some a patch of dirt & feel how soft it was. I'm not sure where that came from - it was weird!

This pinecone definitely stood out from the rest....

I thought it was so pretty & just crazy! Kylie thought it looked like a watermelon with the red inside & green tips!

Here's a rock we looked for. On our last trip Erik & Kylie found this rock & Kylie named it "Ship Rock". (Yes, we like to name rocks at our house - see previous post) They named it this because it looked like the fron of a ship that was shipwrecked. Here's "E" & the girls on top of "Ship Rock".

The girls & I acting like pirates. Jay is steering while Kylie & I keep a look out.

This stuff is all over the place at my mom's. It's called resurrection moss & I think it's so cool! It's black moss all over the rocks. Poor a little water on it & it comes to life & turns green again. I poured a little water on one area to show the difference.

The girls also like to collect rocks while on our hikes. Jadyn had her pockets completely stuffed with rocks. She had to have gotten a work out with the extra weight hiking uphill. Here's the haul they made.

CONCERT ROCK

While Erik & I went running one afternoon my mom took the girls on a walk. They found this huge rock off the road a little bit that they decided to call "Concert Rock". They planned an entire Family Home Evening around this rock. Everyone had to come with a talent to perform while standing on the rock. They made awards to hand out & everything. It kept them busy for a couple of days. They did a good job & it was a lot of fun!! Here's an overview of the area. Alan's standing on "Concert Rock".

Jadyn wrote her own little poem about Junie B. Jones & then recited her poem for school. Along with her poem from the last grading period.

Kylie told a story she made up about a girl.


Erik did his crazy car alarm sounding noises. I love how this picture caught him with his mouth open in the act!

My mom called the ravens.

Alan sang a song that required audience participation.

I recited "Crowded Tub" by Shel Silverstein. It's the only poem I know off the top of my head. I can't imagine why? (It's a large vinyl quote in the girls bathroom!) Overall, it was a very fun family outing!

TEETH

Teeth seems to be a never ending saga at my house. At the beginning - it was a nightmare with the whole teething thing. Kylie didn't get her first tooth until she was 13 months old. But, she started teething at 4 months. Now that they're older - it's a nightmare loosing teeth! For some reason it just scares my girls to death. I'm not sure why. Especially since everytime when their tooth finally comes out they remember it doesn't hurt, but they still go nuts everytime. Jadyn especially! There's just no way to describe the torture it is to try & get her to let us pull her tooth out when it's just barely hanging on. It took days of screaming & crying & throwing fits to finally end in Erik just stealing her tooth when she was screaming & had her mouth open.

While up at my mom's house Jadyn had a front tooth just barely hanging on for dear life. She would not let us pull it! She told us one morning, making Kylie extremely upset, that Kylie also had a loose tooth. Which was funny because Kylie kept telling Jadyn it didn't hurt & don't be scared. Guess she doesn't practice what she preaches. Once Erik found out about it though she was awesome. He told her to stand still so he could pull it. It took her only a minute & then stood still - it came out without a whole lot of effort. In fact Erik just pulled it down & it just flipped out of her mouth in the air! It was actually quite funny.

We made Jadyn watch to see how non-scary it was, but it didn't help. She was still freaked out. I'm sad to admit this, but it ended up in us pinning her down & pulling it out. Which of course, as soon as it was out, she was fine & happy. It had to be done, it was literally hanging. And with a front tooth doing that it was just gross. I couldn't look at her pretty little face because it grossed me out - it had to be done!

Here's my toothless wonders showing off their teeth...

Erik told them that if they both lost a tooth in the same day that they would get extra money from the tooth fairy. So, they each received a $5 bill. (Actually, it was all Erik had in his wallet. We don't carry cash. They were lucky - at least he had something since we weren't about to drive into town to find an ATM at 9pm!)

The adventure is not over yet. Jadyn's other front tooth is loose. (I hope she looses it before Christmas!) She has now lost 3 teeth in the past couple of weeks. Kylie's other bottom tooth (the one opposite the one she lost) is loose as well. Fun times!!

KYLIE and the PLEDGE

Kylie was excited to be the leader for the pledge for flag ceremony one Monday. Here she is doing her job...

We love their school & that the kids get opportunities like this. I love this picture because it has her teacher standing next to her & her principal in the background. We are blessed to have our girls attending such a wonderful school. Not to mention being blessed for just having such cute kids! Look how cute she is!!! Plus, I LOVE that she's so comfortable in front of people. I wish I had an ounce of that from her!

Student of the Month

Our little Jay-Bird received the Student of the Month Award for her class for September! We're so proud of her & how hard she works at everything! Here's what her teacher had to say about her....

"She is an outstanding young lady. Jadyn is a very responsible, driven, and compassionate individual. She attends class everyday with a positive attitude and eagerness to learn. I thoroughly enjoy having Jadyn in class."

JAY SLEEPING

Our girls toss & turn like crazy while they're sleeping. Usually when we go to bed Erik checks on the girls before we head upstairs. This one night I did & this is what I found. This is after being asleep for only about an hour, too. Crazy girl!
By the way, I did not turn the light on to take these pictures. This was all my flash!

CAMPING

It's been a LONG time since I've posted. Therefore, there are a slew of new posts coming again over the next few days. This whole not having a computer thing is getting REALLY old. Anway - ENJOY!


Our family went camping for the first time. Erik & I went camping a few times before we had little kidlets, but not since. Our poor deprived children. Thanks to a couple of the Sutherland families in our ward that changed. Thanks again guys for setting this up!

My girls loved holding this cute little guy....

Sitting around the campfire at breakfast....

It was a lot of fun. Only bad part was that it was freezing at night! The girls were pretty warm, so that was good. I'm sure we'll be going again next year. We just have to wait for it to warm up again!