USS KIDD Kid's Christmas Party

Last night was Mark's work kids Christmas party. It was really nice and we had lots of fun. Santa and Mrs.Santa showed up and read the kids The Night Before Christmas. It was really cute! We had one of Mark's friends take our picture...It was great that everyone was looking at the same time..lol

I love Blake's face in this pic..he was saying mmmmmmm he was such a ham the whole night..

Daddy and the kids and of course our son is making silly faces again!!

Blake was having fun w/throw the ball in the snowman...didn't want his sister to do it.. ;-)

My cute kiddies...I just realized Blake is in need of a serious haircut...gotta do that before we go out of town..

Taylor going up to get her gift from Santa

Showing what Santa brought her....

Blake going up to get his gift...and NOT letting go of daddy!!! Can you tell by the grip he has on Mark's shirt??!! lol

Happy as pie away from santa...

Well it was a great family evening...and mingling w/other military families gives you a sense of being part of a bigger family than your own. It's a great feeling being part and having an extended family even if it's your military family.. :-) I'm glad the crew is home for the holidays and I'm especially happy Mark is home with us. We are off to LA and AZ for the holidays and we are soo excited to see everyone and make new memories. I love my family and love being around them. I'm not sure if I will be able to post anymore before we leave or while we are away. So I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Be safe and have tons of fun!!! If you live in AZ send me a message on Facebook w/your phone number if you would like to get together..we plan on heading to the Mesa area to see the temple lights and do some visiting...and I would love to meet up with whoever is free..

A little bit of everything....

I thought I would combine the last week into one posting. We have had a busy rainy week here in San Diego! With lots to try and find to do inside vice us being outside where it's normally sunny and warm. I feel as though we live in Seattle,WA with all this rain and cold weather. :-) I do enjoy the coldness even when I complain I will take it over the HEAT anyday! Below is Taylor's x-mas tree she has in front of her bedroom window. She decorated it all by herself. She is so proud of it and so am I so it is blog worthy to post! :-)

Daddy and daughter on our Wednesday (family home evening) since we didn't have time on Monday and Tuesday Mark had overnight duty we decided to do it when he was home. Taylor said it was better to wait to have daddy here cause Family home evening has "family" in it and daddy is part of our family and he has to be here. Of course she is right so we waited and had so much fun. (the picture below this is out of order but the results of our FHE activity is below that)

This is out of order but I'm too tired and laze to fix it so I thought this was a cute pic of the kids the other morning when Taylor was getting ready to go to school. Blake woke up and would not leave her side and just stood by her. It was really cute and I love that my kids are so close and Taylor is a GREAT big sister to him. Blake just adores her and loves her!

Okay so here is our Santa handprints that we made for our FHE lesson on Wed. It was so much fun and we had a blast! So we displayed our little santahand family on our wall.

Below is our kids "feet" x-mas trees. Blake had so much fun getting his foot painted, and Taylor thought it was funny how her foot turned out to be a christmas tree...All in all we did not have melt downs like our last FHE so it was so enjoyable and fun. I guess I need to work on my patience with little ones nad understand that they aren't at a age where its very easy to sit still and listen w/out throwing fits or getting bored easily...lol (a issue I will be trying to perfect for a VERY LONG TIME)

Taylor and her BFF Hannah. This was our Ward x-mas party last night. The kids had to wear their pj's to perform there dance I want a Hippo(not sure how to finish spelling it) for Christmas. It was so cute!

My cutie pootie waiting for them to be called up to dance!

My rascal son getting himself into whatever trouble he could find. lol He ran EVERYWHERE and thought it was so much fun to run away from us when we tried to get him to stay where we were at. Gonna have my hands full w/him and I blame my newly found grey hair on him...ha ha ha

Daddy got tired of chasing him so he put him on his shoulders...and as you can tell Blake is leaning backwords...silliness I tell you!!

Taylor performing her dance...she looked so cute and I want to now put her in something like this where she can perform.

Well this is our little updates from the last week. We had fun and still trying to stay dry and warm with this crazy weather we are having. I'm excited to see family and be with them for the holidays. Lots of pics will be loaded when we get back. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm grateful to my family for the love and support they give and show especially my parents who are always there for us no matter how big or small with open arms never judging. I'm grateful for a loving heavenly father who everyday forgives me of my short comings and guides me to be better everday. I am grateful for our savior and brother Jesus Christ for his loving sacrifice of giving his life for all of us. I am grateful for the gospel I believe in and the strength I find in it when I need an extra push or reassurance. I am grateful for my friends and there friendships. I am grateful for my husband who is such an amazing person who continues to show me unconditional love and keeps me on my toes w/his jokes, smiles, hugs and thoughtful words. I am grateful for my children and the joy they bring into my life. I learn so much from them and they make me want to be a better mother and teacher to them. I am also grateful for Alisabeth and Jared for the short time I was with them they joy I shared with them. I'm happy to have had that time w/them and excited for the near future visits to have them here w/us making new memories. My heart is filled with a lot of grattitude for the ones I love and hold dear to my heart. I have learned so much, and continue to strive to learn more. I hope I never forget the small and little things that mean the most.

Decorating our Tree

Mark left on Tuesday morning out to sea yet again, but only for several days till tomorrow (fri) afternoon. Before he left he was such a sweetheart and set up our little artifical Christmas tree and put the lights on it. The kids were in bed so I said we would have to have the decorate it while he was away and we would surprise him w/a finished tree by the time he got home. So last night we got busy working on it.

So when Mark's kids went to live with him several years back they got the tree and some decorations. So we still have them and use them, PERFECT now especially having Blake. The ornaments are plastic, and though they aren't what I would of choosen but I was not around at that time of buying or even knew Mark. LOL I do like the BRIGHT colors of the ornaments and so do the kids and that's all that matters. I do have real glass balls that I either wrote on or had the kids put their hand prints on and made snowmen with them, but have yet to put on the tree cause Blake still likes to shake or grab the tree. So we are trying to work with him that you don't do that, but telling a 14month old NO touching a colorful anything is like talking to a wall..A BIG WHATEVER MOM! ha ha ha

Anyways, I thought it was so cute to get them both hanging stuff on the tree and for the most part Blake did a great job. So here are the pics...I am so excited for Christmas and I can't wait to see my family!

FHE Lesson on Christ Birth

So we had our Family Home Evening lesson on Christ's birth. The other day Taylor seen that I had put out one of my little manger scenes...It is block people that my mom had gotten me awhile back. She asked who they were. I felt HORRIBLE and also thought in my mind of course what the heck child you know that is baby jesus..LOL Well, I came back to reality and explained to her again who it was and that sparked me to do a FHE lesson on Christ's birth. I figure since I don't have our Navitity scene up all year round and she only sees Jesus as a man in pictures that is why she was unsure.



I battled my mind in what I could do to make the story of Christ's birth in the form a 6year old would understand and also be able to remember and have it stick in her mind better. As luck would have it our Ensign and Friend arrived today in the mail. I always go through the Friend and find the CTR ring before Taylor gets ahold of it so I can better help her and give her clues when she is reading it...(if you know my daughter she gets easily upset and frustrated when she is doing something that requires a lot of thinking or looking) So I try to minimize the fits and attitude by knowing where it is first. So I was looking and I came across the story of Christ Birth as well as the First Presidency message...and a cute little activity of Angel Gifts for Jesus.



I cut out Angels and read Christ's Birth and Mark and I shared more in deepth of the story and we shared that celebrating Jesus' birth was like celebrating our birthdays but different in the way we don't buy him anything we give by how we act and what we do. So we could give our gifts in the form of telling him what we would do for him and write it down on the angel. We had a blast, one of mine was working on patience and boy was I tested on that tonight cause toward the middle of it all. Blake had a melt down cause he wanted to eat the crayons, and kept whining and crying. Taylor got upset and attitude cause she wasn't knowing how to spell certain words so she would whine and throw an attitude. BOY WAS I OVER IT by then..lol I told Mark man I really do need to work on my patience. We laughed. So Long story short, while Blake threw his tantrum and Taylor finished her angels I worked on a X-mas tree and presents for us to hang on the wall..with our angels. I think it came out cute.. The story for the angel gifts had them put them on the primary x-mas tree but I thought if I taped them to the wall we would see them better and be reminded of what we wrote.



Besides the meltdowns and my patience reaching the breaking point. My lovely husband came to the rescue and saved the evening w/his PATIENCE (he has A LOT) and put blake to sleep and I had taylor go to bed after our family prayer. We aren't very good w/consistencly (sp) w/FHE and I am trying to work on it. Brother Bednars talk I believe when he spoke about his family and all the issues they had w/kids nit picking and it being so crazy that he could say now as they are older that they would remember FHE was consistant. I am hoping I can give that to my children, so I will continue to try and work on my patience and not want to give up so quickly when they act up or seem uninterested. I think I will go to the book store and find FHE lesson for small children and all in 5 mins or less.. LOL Enjoy our pictures...all in all I had a good time and I'm happy we did it and finished!

Thanksgiving Weekend

These are all backwards but oh well, I'm too tired to fix it...lol This was last night while watching the USC game..the kids we're being silly and playing and I thought this was cute after their baths..

My SILLY husband had to be WIDE eyed when I told him to smile right and open his eyes, cause the picture before this one he had his eyes closed...lol I did NOT know he made this look till after I took it...soo silly..we got to go on a date and see NEW MOON...I was so excited, since we have NOT had a date day or DATE for a very long time. We usually have one or both kids w/us...so my second parents offered to watch both kids while we went to see a movie. It was so sweet and we were excited! We had a good time! This was saturday in San Pedro, this is Taylor with her cousin Neveah..she is Dawns little girl. They were in town visiting Dawn's husband's side of the family and we drove down to see them since it had been several months since we last seen them..it was a great visit and I can't wait to see them again for Christmas..

This was Friday when we got into town (Torrance) we had lunch at our favorite mexican resturant La Capilla w/our family...soo much fun and these are the STUDS...Blake is such a mini me of his dad...

This is THANKSGIVING DAY right after us having dinner w/Mark on the ship....Blake has this new thing of throwing himself backwards, being silly and even when he is mad...so Taylor was holding on tight so he wouldn't hurt himself or his noggin....

So we had a great Thanksgiving weekend...it was filled with lots of laughs, stories and just great new memories to share. I love the holidays and being with family. I am looking forward to Christmas to see the rest of the family in Arizona. It will be so much fun and I can't wait!!

BABY MUG SHOT!

I had to share this with everyone....and especially for my family who don't have facebook but get on this page to see what we're up too....So a month ago Taylor's school was doing IDENT A KID it's a ID for children that parents, babysitters, grandparents etc have with the child's picture, and their info as well as who the parents are and home address in the event they are lost or kidnapped you have current info on your child including a finger print or toe print...Well I was excited when they said siblings could join in on this as well. So I took Blake early before school started to have his done. Taylor did hers when her class went.

Well I knew he didn't smile when she took his picture but I didn't think anything of it. Till I got the cards back and Mark and I BUSTED up laughing sooo HARD!!! It looks like a BABY MUG SHOT!!! It is sooo funny!!! I had to share w/everyone...Soo darn cute..I told Mark all it needs is a sign w/numbers and letters under his face then it would be a MUG shot....ha ha ha ha ha Well thought I would share...

49er Fever

Okay, since my husband hardly ever, ever visits this site...I thought I would post pics of the kids that I plan on using for one of his Christmas presents. I ended up taking like 60+ pics and about a dozen of them came out with good smiles, both or individually looking right at me. These are just a few of the ones I took. Mark is a HUGE 49ers fan so I thought this would be a cute way to showcase his love for the niners and for the little ones. I only got a few pics of them together which was REALLY HARD, cause Blake kept wanting to run around and play w/the ball instead of sit still and smile for me..lol

I had to include the stool cause that was the only way Blake would pay attention and sit still long enough for me to take his pic w/his sister. I told Taylor just stand there and smile at me ALL the time till I get a good one..LOL Poor girl, but she did a GREAT job!

Blake just loved the football and would throw it and run around with it. When it was Taylor turn to have the ball he would throw a fit cause he wanted it. It was funny but also really hard.

He is such a peel, and such a BOY!

She looks like a pro! I asked her if she wanted to be a cheerleader and she said "yes" so I said I'll look into it for you. Then she walked away and after a few minutes comes back and says "mom I can't be a cheerleader!" I said "why not" and she said "cause I'm already wanting to be a teacher and a cop, I won't have enough time to be a cheerleader too!" I laughed so hard! I had to tell her I would look into being a cheerleader NOW and she seemed so confused and said "what about school, mom I need to go to school" It was cute, and after explaining it would fit it like when she played soccer then she got it and said "oh, I'm so silly mom" YES SHE IS!

Watch it be my luck that Mark strolls onto this site and takes a look and sees that these pics have to do w/a christmas present for him. LOL Even though he NEVER looks at this at all any other time.. ha ha ha This would be my luck! Well by chance he does HONEY you read too much and you better ACT surprised come Christmas..but I just remembered even if he did see this now, by the time Christmas comes around he will have forgotten..So no sweat! I was showing him things I wanted for Christmas (jewerely) and I seen this ugly one and I said I better not joke about wanting anything that is ugly cause you will totally remember that and Not remember what I really want..and he laughed and said Yeah your probably right! lol My simple husband makes me laugh but I love him.. ;-)

Enjoy the pics, and if anyone has cute gift ideas please pass my way or know of cute websites..crafty etc would be great!

November Pics and Thanks...

So here are some pics from the last week or so....The below is Blake eating apples for the first time and liking them..and he was being silly by showing me them in his mouth...I swear he is such a silly boy! He loves to tease, and be funny!

Last night Mark built a fire and it was Blake's first time seeing one and being near one so he was SOOO SUPER EXCITED when Mark was finished...that he kept watching it and wanting to be near it..

Mark and Blake laying in front of the fireplace relaxing just watching it...Blake just loved watching it and laying by his dad...

Today I told taylor that I wanted to get pics of us so I could our Christmas card this year. So this is my beautiful little girl posing. I can't believe how grown up she is becoming and looking. Getting so big and seems like yesterday she was Blake's age...

Mark and I before church..

Both the kids being super cute!

Another one of them being cute, but it was quick getting their picture..cause Blake was having nothing to do with it all..he just wanted to play with his truck and run around..

This is him after the last pic was takin, he got up and ran away laughing..so daddy had to pick him up so I could get a picture of him by himself...He is such a peel!

Then he decided to play with the rag strips I made last night for Taylor's hair...I think he played with them the longest and had soo much fun..

He wanted his sister in on the fun..

Well Thanksgiving is coming up in 4 days and we will be spending it with Mark aboard his ship since he has duty. We are excited and will be taking lots of pictures. I am happy the joy my kids and husband bring to me and my life. Seeing each one of my children's personalities shine through everyday is so neat to see and lots of joy to my heart. I love watching them interact with one another and I love laughing at how silly they are. My husband is a great joy to my life as well, he keeps me on my toes, always making sure I am takin care of. Eases my worries and fears and just a great support to me. He is handsome, and loving and always has a joke or silly thing to say to make me laugh or smile. I appreciate the hard work he does to provide for our family and the sacrifice he makes everyday to serve our country for our safety and freedom. I want to always remember the joys I have in my life that begin at home, though I'm human and don't always have great days. I hope I can always remember the small things and the many reasons why I'm so blessed. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this year and I'm grateful to you as my friend and what you mean to me and my life.