Angee's last post had a bunch of words so I thought I'd add a few pics:

1. Fatima Bin Josie (wearing Lilly's dress on her head)
2. A hot air balloon over the wall behind our house
3. Lilly at the carnival in Anthem--can I just say I hate Carnies!
4. Josie looking every bit the angel
5. Working on our circus act; 3 out of 4 Tanner's ain't bad, but we'll be adding Angee to the mix come spring

Rats!

So I haven't kept up on our family yearbook. Life has been crazy. We moved. Lilly started school. I had to find new doctors, stores, and what about friends? Just finding a new pattern to my life has been difficult. And then in the middle of my new life, I started an after-school dance program. I am teaching for Deer Valley Unified School District. I saw that there were no nearby dance studios and called and interviewed with the district. I know I am crazy. Right now, I am just teaching at Lilly's school, but they would like me to do it down the street at another school. (I am not sure I will) It has been fun to teach Lilly dance with the other kids from her school. I have about 40 kids spread between 3 classes. This is on Tuesdays after school. It runs for 12 weeks with a performance for their family with costumes the last day. Her school doesn't have a dance program, even for the older kids to select as an elective in there daily schedule. It has been fun to dance again and I cannot believe that I haven't taught dance in 5 years. Whew! I can't believe how time flies. Its a whole new experience too. I taught High School students and not Kindergartners. Boy was I tired after the first day. Not that the dance moves were so hard but teaching dance and managing the behavior of little ones is a challenge. It was also a bit hard the first couple of classes to get my creative juices flowing but it has been going good. Dave and I also volunteered to register people to vote and that has been fun. I also have been teaching a busy bumbles dance class down the street for an hour on Tuesday mornings at Tutor Time. It is daycare/preschool/kindergarten place. They have like 300 kids on campus. I take Josie with me. And for the hour I teach dance; she goes into one of the little toddler rooms and plays toys and has lunch with them on the tiniest table I have ever seen. It is has been fun. I am really sad for those kids who are dropped off at 7:30 AM and their parents pick them up at 6:30 PM. Don't get me wrong, I think the staff is great! I am just mostly sad for the little babies who should just be held by their mom's and not dropped off at a school. Anyways, I guess I really have started a little side business that takes about 4 hours total of my week to do and it has been fun. It is called the Sonoran Dance Institute and Dave made me some great flyer's, brochures, and pamphlets and currently I can be found at Tutor Time or Deer Valley School District.

This is how it got started. I moved to planned community and they have a big club house. I informed them I would be happy to teach a children's movements class for the community, since they didn't have any. After three different failed attempts with my community director, who is an old lady, who doesn't want to be bothered with the noise in the big empty clubhouse that we pay for as community, I moved on.
I called down the street to Tutor Time and asked them if I could demo classes for them in the month of August. I guess they liked me and told me they fired the old dance teacher because she wasn't so reliable. Speaking of reliability, I have a funny story from my first day of work about that topic. Well, on the first day that I am about to start work. I am driving down the street (It is five min from my house) My cell phone beeps. By the way, I cannot get cell reception in my home. It is the school nurse. Lilly has been sitting in Nurses office with Pink Eye for an hour. My home line was down that day because of construction. I had no idea. I am that dumb mom, who sends her kid to school with pink eye and infects the entire class. Yes it was me! I am feeling terrible and panicked. What should I do? Leave Lilly with the nurse for another hour? So, I pull into work, march in to the front desk, and cancelled my first day of class. Great. How reliable is that. Anyways, teaching dance has given me something to think about, since I am starting over again in a new area.
We just recently had a big relief. Dave's work laid off 2000 employees in AZ. Yes 2000 people and families that are counting on a job. We still have a job. American Express have many different campuses all over Arizona and until last week had about 7,000 employees total here. I just think about all of those different families suddenly unemployed. I feel really blessed and lucky. Anyways, Halloween was fun. We threw a neighborhood party and invited all of our neighbors to come over and eat before they went out to trick or treat. Really nice people mostly from Chicago, Philly, NY. I thought I lived in the South West. Who knew! I need to post Halloween and our recent trip to Huntington Beach to visit Grandma/Pa and the new baby Grant. Hopefully I will do better at keeping track of my family through the blog.

PS Rats! Dave and I have been married six years. I have been collecting butterflies, acorns, fairies, etc... for my Enchanted Christmas tree since then. Last night I was flipping through the Pottery barn magazine and they just came out with a butterfly tree. I hate that! I know people have butterfly trees, but now everyone and their dog will too. Boo Hoo. It is one of my most favorite thing to look forward to all year. Lilly's most favorite tree! I got to go. Josie is smearing her cream cheese/bagel all over me like it is lotion. She is a character.

Graduating Class of 2021

Lilly is so excited and cannot wait to go!

She loved the first day and we had a little
party when she came home.

Here is Josie excited for Lilly to come home!
She also loves to wear Lilly's shoes.

First Week- Memories

On Monday August 11th Lilly started her first day of Kindergarten. I was a little ruffled. Sending Lilly to a school with 1200 other kids, grades k-8th, created a lot of anxiety in me. Which I was not trying to transfer onto my child. What if she got lost in the shuffle. But it all turned out o.k. and she had a great day. Her teacher and classroom were so cute. She told me she made a new friend named Ellie. Who she ate her sack lunch with. She informed me that they ate it in this place called the cafeteria and she couldn't get her apple finished because this strange voice from over head yelled, "Its time to clean up! Its team to clean up!" Which she yelled to me in a robotic voice. I had to laugh. I forgot that intercom's are new to her too. Lilly got to tell the class her favorite thing to do. But, she didn't know that she was only going to get to say one thing. Doesn't surprise me. She could talk your ear off. So, she told her class that her favorite thing to do is fold clothes. Not true! But, her second favorite thing to do is ride roller coasters which she didn't get to tell the class. Now that sounds more like the dare devil Lilly.

On the 2nd day I had her ride the bus to school and picked her up after school. This is something she wanted to do since she saw her cousin Mackenzie riding the little bus to and from her home two years ago. I put her on the bus with a little girl from the bus stop, who is older, who said she would sit by her. I crazily raced ahead of the bus to the school and was waiting at the kindergarten playground when she got there. She wasn't sure which classroom was her's and was a little disoriented because she entered the school from the other side.

Our school has no hallways, so all the rooms open directly outdoors. This is my big gripe. Therefore a giant prison fence surrounds it with locked gates, and only some of them are open for 10 min in the morning and after school to let kids in and out. I know this is a protection from someone just strolling into a classroom and not going through the administration office. But, its like you never could run to the school playground and play because it is under lock down most of the time. I haven't figured out yet which gates are the ones to enter from -it is different from the morning to the afternoon. This school was intended to be a walking school so there is no parking. I have to park so far away to get her that it is ridiculous.

Back to the 2nd day of school
Lilly informed me after school that it was to hot to play outside at recess (115degrees) but everyone has to go out. Which I agree with. Maybe they should wait until it cools off a bit. They never sent me out in a blizzard. She said, "I don't really like to sweat." Another thing that was troubling to her was that you could not touch anything in the classroom. Not one thing. Which she didn't like because she wanted to touch all things in the room. It is really hard to shop with Lilly she wants to touch everything. She can make an apple into a fairy princess etc...

Lilly likes Mz Goings who she calls Mz Glowings. And she is pretty adamant that her name is Glowings and that she is not allowed to call her teacher. But, she didn't like the school lunch because she only got a yogurt and celery sticks. I asked her if she liked celery sticks, which I knew she didn't. But that was all they had she told me. Some how she either didn't make it to the hot food line, or she was just being silly. I asked her about her friend Ellie. Well Ellie sits by her in the classroom but she now has a new one named Winter. I asked why she didn't eat lunch by Ellie? She said I have to sit where they tell me to. She told me she was not going back because there were no toys there and the kindergarten play ground did not have monkey bars and not enough swings for everyone. She then informed me of the playground rules-You cannot push anyone off the swings or climb up the slides. It is just not fun. There is not enough time to color the things your working on. And most importantly she really missed her toys. She also told me that the girl on the bus had really bad breath and she almost fell of the seat because there are no seat belts. So she had to scoot forward to keep her feet on the ground, as to not slide around. Wow! Wow! I lot of new things to worry about. I bet a lot of the other kids had no idea of all the rules. I bet they just played. She is a little too serious. I am hoping school will relax her a bit. But, more importantly someone needs a nap-big time.

3rd Day- "I am not going to school today Mom." Why? I need to stay and play with my toys. Everything was a fight from breakfast to how I combed her hair. Lilly has always slept in. Now, I have to wake her up. That is not a good thing. I guess we will go to bed earlier. I didn't think it was possible. Funny or oddly for a 5 year old, Lilly is amazingly controlled. As soon as we step onto the school yard, she acts like everything is o.k. But, I am pretty sure she did not want to go today. But, when I picked her up she said school was great and she had fun. She said she helped her new friend who got a cut on the playground. She took a band-aid to school in her backpack just incase someone got hurt. Good thinking! She informed me that little kids get to sit on the mat during story time, and not the big soft pink chair. She also really likes the kids at her table and of course her teacher. School is great.

4th Day- As I am dropping her off, Lilly told me that it would be o.k. to call her or come get her if I missed her. Rip your heart out. I looked around and about one third of the kids lining up to go into the classrooms were crying. Oh all day kindergarten is too long after summer break with no structure. When I picked her up she seemed really tired, but wanted to play alone with her toys when she came home. She was worried that the day would be over soon.

5th Day- Everything was great. She was happy to go and more excited to swim after school with her friend Gabriella. She didn't even tell me that her teacher went home early because she was sick. Her teacher sent home a note saying that Lilly was the best listener. I think this school thing is going to be great for her, even if I think that it is a long day.

Man oh Man

Who knew that their little man would end up being my "Man" and Josie's and Lilly's "Old Man." Man oh Man! Someone is getting older. But, you wouldn't know it. Dave is still sweeter than candy! Funnier than snot! One of the happiest people I know. Man oh Man! The easiest of easiest people to be around. A good friend to many. One hard working smarty pants. And, still my personal favorite. Dave you are the very best thing in my life. I am glad that you are mine. Happy Birthday! I love this next picture. Whoeee !!!!! What a babe!

Aloha & Goodbye

Today Lilly graduated from preschool.
It was so fun to see her sing with her classmates.
In the final ceremony they let their classroom butterflies fly away.
It made me a little sad to see this part of her life end.
All of her school mates, play mates and teachers
have made such an impact on her little life and the
funny thing is; she won't in 5 years time even remember them.
Life does go by fast.

Drama Queen @ 15 months

Meet the new queen of the house. Josie knows what she wants. When she wants it. How she wants it. And, don't mess with her or she just might slap you. It is so strange. I can't remember Lilly hitting me as a baby. But this little Josie lets you have it right in the kisser. She is the funniest little thing too. If she thinks she has hurt you (after she has hit you) she cries and cries. She is quite the character. She laughs at herself, then laughs at others, and then can switch on a dime and be screaming and shaking her fist at you. I have to laugh because it is sort of amusing. She has a little temper. I wonder where she gets that from? Ha. It will be interesting to see how she does as a two year old. It's good that she is my second because I know it will all come out in the wash. We love this little queen, drama and all.

From the back seat of the car last night.

Mom are you going to hold to the iron rope? The iron rope? Yea, the iron rope. Yes, I am going to hold to the iron rod. Even if it gets really dark? Yes, I am going to hold on. Me too.

We bought a Home!

Yippee !!!!!!!!!!

1- 20 mins from Dave's office!
2- A nice and beautiful desert community!
3- A very very good school for Lilly!
4- The first time in 5 years that Dave will be around! xoxoxo
5- We have a couple of friends that live in the area! Comforting
6- We can put our roots down! And live a little.
7- Only 55 miles from my family in AZ.
8- Near beautiful Sedona! (Like Park City-artsy)
9- We stole this house! The person who built it walked away just at the last min. So, we get to go and do the final walk throughs and make them fix any mistakes, as if we built it. (We tried to buy 4 homes in the last month and couldn't pull the trigger fast enough before they were under contract.) The market is really starting to move again. Glad we were renting.
10- Happy about the decision we made.

Some of the Not so Happy Factors
1- This will be our 4th place of residence in 5 years.
2- I will miss my family. I have a sister within a mile.
3- I have a brother 20 mins away!
4- They are building a temple 3 block (3 miles) from my current residence. Are we moving the wrong direction? Boo!
5- Leaving "Happy Valley" I mean "Happy Desert." And going out into the world.
6- Starting Over is hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially when you are not working.

Mom click here to see where we are moving to- Sonoran Foothills

Dave's Dolly's

98 degrees

Pictures are from February and first week in March.

Monday Morning Play Group- Someone is missing but I can't remember who.

Facts for April 14th 2007
1-Grandma Jackees birthday! Happy Birthday
2-Lilly went to her usual Monday Morning play group (8 little girls that are her age from the ward) This is something she loves to do. Play with her peers at a different house every week. We also got invited to do it on Friday's with the other 7 girls her age from our ward. Lucky for us! Lilly gets to be in both groups !!!!! She is in demand. Or I am willing to let her play anywhere with anyone. She loves friends and wishes she had a big sister.

Lilly loves the play groups and this year has been great. And why not- All they do is free play for 2 hours and stop for a snack. On our turn- We usually take them to the park. Here is a picture from February at the park 3 houses away from our house. The play ground is off in the distance. It is fun. We also always invite our cousin Carter to come. He loves the girls. If you look closely at the other girls you can see why Lilly wants to have long hair. Monday is the long hair group. Friday is half and half group. I will have to post the friday girls- they are a little more scraggly haired like us. Her best friend Audrey is in it also.

3-It was 98 degrees today and the heat is coming on. I Love the 90's -Hate the 120's. I do wear sunblock but I am pretty sure that I will be pretty wrinkled by the time I die.

4-We went swimming today after lunch and Josie loved it. I actually had to hold tightly to her little body- to keep her face out of the water. She was just squealing and jumping around. Yea for swimming. Yea for the sun! Yea for the pool!

5-It is summer here and the flowers are all starting to die-so sad. If you know me I love flowers. I love to plant them, buy them, and dream about them. So, I posted some pictures of flowers from the first week in March. I knew if I didn't take a picture then -they would be gone by May and no one in Utah would believe me that Summer is over by May; and winter hell has begun. You can't go out because of the heat and even when the sun has set it is above 100. Doesn't that sound like hell? Not being able to enjoy your summer break. You know that song "Oh what do you do in the summer time-when all the world is green" Can't do most of it because of the heat. Old people in un-airconditioned homes die here. You see it on the news all the time. You know the description of hell with its never ending burning torment. That is our winter in July. Which sucks for the school kids. They finally get out of school only to be shut up inside. Think about taking school off in January and February, those would be long days in those areas with snow.

6-Today we ate the best watermelon in the whole world. I am pretty sure of it. We played a couple of rounds of old maid. Lilly's new friend Sarah who moved next door, came over after school (She is a 2nd grader and is introducing Lilly into all kinds of new things)-We will see how this goes. Lilly wanted to know what a christian was after playing with Sarah.

7- It was a fun day and I can't complain. It would have even been funner if you my friends could have spent it with me.

I can do it myself.

"Hey mom can I have some brownies?" Yes, just one minuet. "No, I can do it myself."


It is very strange how you spend much of your Mother-hood trying to teach your child how to be self sufficient. The goal of a parent seems to be to help your child grow up to be a productive, happy, loving, and a self reliant adult. You want your child to learn how to make their own happiness. How to take care of themselves. How to comfort themselves and comfort others. How to be resourceful. How to cut a perfect diamond out of the middle of your brownies at age Four.

Well, a small part of that goal starting happening this year for me. It started when Lilly went to preschool. I was not allowed inside after the first couple of weeks. And, don't bother trying to get a description of what happened there. Next, I was not allowed to help make her bed (which is good thing) but it needs help every now and then. Then, I had no say in what outfit she picked out, and no combing of her hair. Which she is trying to grow out. Yes, it is a scraggly mess. Lilly is also learning to read. She is pretty good at those little sight word books that her teacher sends home every week. But, you got it-she reads those to Dave. She thinks we should take her training wheels off of her bike. She just got her bike for Christmas. And, the monkey bars-are like watching the lady on the flying trapeze. Even the boys are mesmerized at the playground. I am terrified. But, you know I get the same old- no mom I can do this. She will cut her own brownies, pour her own milk and now she walks to her friends house.

It was one of the moments for me. I was in total shock. It happened the first week in March. She woke up and said I am walking down to Audrey's to take her this coloring page. I said, "I could go." No way. "Let me call down there so they know you are coming." -No way. It is about 15 house down the street and just around the curve. I can't really see her. So, I sad o.k. and took a picture of her before she left. She happily skipped away, turned and waved at me and then disappeared around the corner. Maybe she won't come back someday? What have I done! I am not sure I am ready for this.

First Cake

Josie's first Birthday was fun. We had our cousins over for cake and ice cream. They sang great. And of course, Josie had her own mini-cake. She was so cute to watch. There is something wonderful about watching a child do something for the first time. "First's" are just as exciting for the parent as the child. At first, she would only touch it with her finger because I don't know if she knew what it was or what to do.

Then she began touching it with alternating hands and licking each finger off. It got a little frustrating after awhile. She wanted that cake, but would have to lick her dirty fingers every time she went after it. Eventually, she figured out how to eat the cake without getting her fingers dirty. She went for it with her mouth.That way she wouldn't have to keep licking her fingers. "Clever girl" And, you know once your face is dirty. You might as well pick it right up. She did not want me to take away her little piece of heaven.

See the dirty look. Get away mom, and don't clean my face. And, there is the scream and shaking fist-

"You took my cake"

Josie's First Year -Come & Gone

Dancing Queen?

I can't catch the dancing Queen. I run to get the camera and it is all over. But, here is a little of it after the moment has passed and Josie has moved on to some thing more interesting in the cupboard. I do like the pause in the middle with the hand hold. I think it is a nice choice of choreography. But, the dancing crawl is the very best- Ha!!!! And yes, I am fighting with my 4 year old over who is going to get a better shot with the camera. Arghhhh

Rhyme and Reason

One of the games that Lilly and I like to play is making up spontaneous songs about a random theme. I'll give her the subject, and she'll create a related song. Today, she was showing me her surfing moves on the Lazyboy and I asked her to make up a song about it. This is the result--not bad considering that she made up everything on the fly and still managed to make it rhyme. Anyway, next time I'll try not to shoot directly into a bright background.

Valentine's 2008

Valentine's Day was great besides the fact that I was pulled over not just once but twice in a 20 min time period. Received-two red hot tickets from the first officer and, "I will let you off the hook" from the second officer. Thank-goodness. I didn't want to pay for 4 tickets. That put a downer on the day. Back to the good part of the day. I actually received a really thoughtful gift this year. Not the typical gift. Can you guess what Angee got for Valentines? Yes, it is red, shiny, and pretty slick. It was really one of the best Valentine's ever. I loved it. Ironically, Dave got to pick out a new pair of shoes. Go figure. And no it wasn't a new car to go along with the tickets.



Lilly was so excited when we drove past the clubhouse on the way to her school's Valentine party. She couldn't believe the grass was covered with waving hearts. They looked cool from the street. So, we had to stop. I couldn't get a shot of the whole clubhouse lawn, because I would have had to be in the pond and there is no parking on the street. I also didn't have time to go back home and get the stroller, even though it is within walking distance, because of school. So, here is one of the clubhouse's corners. This is something that is really fun about our neighborhood. Since we are renting, we don't have to pay the HOA fee's. But, get the benefits of many riding trails, 6 different parks, 2 clubhouses, 2 pool complexes and a public community school built right in the middle. Which, I had to register Lilly for a week ago. There are 4 wards in our neighborhood-so it is a little Mormon village. Anyways, for all the holidays there is some planned event. I am happy where we are at for the moment. It is a fun place to be.

Here are the two silly sisters. Josie is a joker. She makes Lilly laugh all the time. She pulls the funniest/scariest faces ever. You can see her little tense body in the picture. She is very excited to be out and about with Lilly.






Josie loves to be outside. She actually cries when we go inside. Lilly acted the same way. They must be sisters. They love the sun.









My favorite picture from Valentines 2008


Right now Josie's favorite thing is her Dad. She laughs when she see Dave's picture on the fridge. She squeals when she hears the front door open. She wiggles and races towards him. She waits with a smiley face until he notices her. She is so excited to be with him. It is really sweet to catch a picture of her looking at him that way- totally in love.

Sea Stars

Riderless-
In graceful gallop-riderless-
one tiny, wingless Pegasus
comes out to take a morning run,
faraway from moon and sun.
Avis Harley- Sea Stars Saltwater Poems

Side By Side

How wide is the sky?
How dark is the deep?
How soon will I sing?
How safe is my sleep?
How old will I grow?
How big will I be?
Will you always be here swimming with me?

Avis Harley- Saltwater Poems

Here are a few of Dave's snapshots from the beach last weekend. Sadly, the battery went dead not long after we arrived. Again, not one picture of Dave. Maybe, there is something to this? You know, the one holding the camera doesn't have to be in the picture. The day was beautiful despite the chill in the air. After running in the waves, Lilly and I headed on a walk down the beach towards the pier, where Josie and Dave were going to meet us. We missed each other and waited at two different ends of the pier. It turned out o.k. We sure saw a lot of animal tracks that day, and created a few of our own. Lilly just knew for certain that we were tracking a bear. The beach is only a few miles from Grandma's house. Who can resist the ocean's call.

Comparing

Here are two pictures. One of Lilly right after she turned 1 and one of Josie right before she turns 1 this month. Everyone is always commenting on how they both look like Dave. What do you think?

Determination.

Applause!


Would you like to try this?

I promise not to touch.

Whoowee!!!

Victory Dance!