Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tiny Dancer


Taylor just finished up another session of ballet through the City of Phoenix. She loves her class and especially her instructor Miss Susie. Taylor always wants to sit next to Miss Susie when stretching and hold her hand when they do their circle dances. I do think the feeling is mutual as Miss Susie selected Taylor to lead the final class, as she is one of the better listeners in the class...I know, I said she is a good listener! Just not for mommy and daddy!


This was an extra special class, Grandma Bonnie came along! I knew Taylor wouldn't participate very well if Grandma was standing on the sidelines watching, so I had Grandma participate with her!




Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Little soccer player

We bought Taylor a soccer ball for Christmas and she loves taking it to the park and kicking it around. In the backyard we have a kickball and it is another favorite. Her new favorite game is dribbling across the yard and doing a big kick to score a goal. She is getting really good at dribbling...although in this particular video she chose to take a short cut and pick the ball up to move it...we have told her you are not allowed to touch the soccer ball, unless you are the goalie of course!

Silly Girl

Taylor has started this silly Chug a chug a chug a choo choo...with hand motions. I have no idea where it came from but it makes me crack up everytime. I thought I would share it incase any of you need a laugh.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Reading with Jordan

Taylor has really started to love books, which we are really excited about because there was a span of time she wasn't really interested. Every night she would have us read every single book in her collection if we would! Obviously time doesn't always allow for a complete collection reading so we have been working with her to "read" to herself. I am so impressed with how well she can remember the books and "read" along! We watched our friends little guy Jordan the other day and while Derek and I were working on something else we walked into the living room and found this....

Backyard Camping




As most of your know Derek is a HUGE fan of camping and I am not such a fan! He has been wanting to take Taylor camping for some time, but I just haven't felt ready. She is very busy and I just really feared she'd escape out of the tent in the middle of the night...or not sleep! Derek and his friend Ryan decided we should do a trial run in the backyard, which I totally went for since I got to sleep in my comfy, cozy bed! I was shocked at how quickly both kids went to sleep! Much thanks to Ashley for singing to them :)






Both Taylor and Caleb slept the ENTIRE night! They did wake pretty early, but I guess that means they would be tired enough for naps later the next day??

So I guess this means I might have to give in and allow a camping trip....still not thrilled, but after our backyard camping success I do think the kids (and dads) would have a blast!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Additional pictures from longest blog ever!







The prized ice-fishing catch!






A little family pic before Christmas Mass

Cousin love on Christmas Day!







Fun in Shipshewana...










My computer is running super slow...this is all I have in me tonight! I have said out loud that I am going to try to do better at updating, so hopefully it will happen!!


















LONG Delayed Post





I can't believe I haven't posted since Christmas! And not even the actual Christmas... it was our pre-Christmas! So... lesson learned, no more holiday themed wallpaper until I can get back into my blogging swing of things, I can't believe I still had Christmas wallpaper in March!
Here's a picture to start you off, Taylor has changed so much in the last few months it is hard to keep up with everything!











Christmas in Indiana! What a GREAT time we had! Not only was Taylor super excited for the snow...(while there was some) she couldn't wait every morning to get out in it! She would wake up and the first words out of her mouth were "Play in snow now?" (hence her outfit for sledding of pj's, winter coat and boots!) She loved sledding down the hill and over the frozen lake, 3 months later she still discusses it! Derek even embraced the cold weather and did a little ice fishing with my dad. They had a little success and we had fun watching them throw on their winter gear and run, sprinting down to the lake when the flag popped up!





We welcomed our newest nephew Landon on New Years Eve! We were so happy to be there and have the opportunity to meet him before we flew back! Then again, Taylor and I might have been staying put until he arrived if he had decided to wait :) We are just so excited for Erin and Kordell.....but we miss Landon so much already!


We went to see Sesame Street Live on NYE. I was a little nervous thinking Taylor might be a little young for a live show, but she did amazing. She was so focused on the characters (even though she wasn't very familiar with them) and loved EVERY second of it! She particularly loved the song "Movin' Trash"...what can I say, she's my daughter!





January brought a visit from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bert. I was horrible about taking pictures this time around! We had a great time at the Barrett Jackson car auction, even though I just don't understand the appeal of "old cars" when there are new cars to be purchased! I think Taylor's highlight of this visit was spending an afternoon at Dave & Busters, although I think the adults had just as much fun! There is a great quarters game that makes you feel like you are in Vegas haha.





We also had Taylor's first dentist appointment in January. She was a champ! She wasn't scared and did everything the dentist asked her to, such a proud mommy moment!



Derek took his Valentine's out to dinner at one of our favorite places in the area. El Encanto in Cave Creek has such a great atmosphere. You sit outside along side a pond with an ample amount of ducks swimming around. After dinner you can feed the ducks, this year the ducks were extremely friendly and CLOSE on the deck. I was a bit uncomfortable, however, Derek and Taylor didn't seem to mind!









With our beautiful weather there are of course visits to the horse track! Taylor loves yelling at the horses to "GO, GO, GO" and she loves to see all of the tractors and trucks in between races. Our last visit was dollar day, which meant dollar ice cream cones for Derek and Taylor, not sure who was more excited about that!

Well it seems I was a little long winded and picture heavy...I am unable to upload any more pictures! So I guess there will be another blog with more pictures!