Marlena's Wedding

Last night Jon's step-sister, Marlena, got married! They decorated with an Oriental theme and all of the wedding party (bride, groom and Marlena's kids) wore Oriental clothing made by Jon's step-mom, Louise. Everything came out beautiful! I did Marlena and the kids hair. I love doing up dos. They are so fun and you get to be creative. Emma and Derrick thought it was a great "party" and filled up on chocolates, fortune cookies and cake! Emma even got daring enough to eat noodles with chopsticks! It was a fun night! Congrats and love to Marlena and Chris!

Dance Time!

Derrick with Grandma Trafzer

Toshina teaching Emma the "Chicken Dance"

More dancing with Grandma Trafzer

Emma dancing with Grandpa Brenay

Maddie, Emma and Derrick

"Moment of Truth"! The cake!

Grandma Brenay & Emma

Grandma Brenay & Derrick

Chris trying to cut in on the father-daughter dance

Nice chocolate face! (It was also on his pants and all over my light skirt!)

Emma & Grandma Trafzer

Emma & Grandpa Trafzer

Emma trying to eat with chopsticks!

YUM! Fortune cookies!

Emma with Aunt "Lena"!
(For some reason Emma never says the "Mar" in Marlena's name so it's just Lena!)

The back of Marlena's hair

Our family!

Little Girls, The Elderly, and Cost-Co

I don't want this blog to come off the wrong way like I'm bragging about how cute my kids are (although I do think they are pretty cute) :). But that is not the purpose of this blog. I realized today why I do not shop at the Superstition Springs Cost-Co. I usually go the the Cost-Co in Gilbert, but today I was closer to the Superstition one so I went there. First of all, are the snowbirds back already or are there just a lot of retirement communities around there? I am not trying to be rude or offend the "elderly", but they happen to make my Cost-Co trip take a lot longer than usual today! It was all about Emma's hair! She usually gets complimented on it when I style it like this, but today was ridiculous! I must have had at least 8 or 9 people (mostly older women) stop and have to touch Emma's hair or ask how I did it, or how I get her to hold still to do it. I actually had one lady chase me down calling after me "Excuse me, excuse me, mom?!" She then made her husband come over to see it ( he was catching up with her because she literally CHASED me down!). Does her husband really care what my daughter's hair looks like? Then I would get questions like "Oh, are they twins? How close in age are they?" And of course, true to their personalities, Emma would chat up a storm with anyone who would listen, telling them all about preschool today, and Derrick would try and bury his head against Emma and not be seen at all. And honestly, my secret to this hair is that it is the only way to do Emma's hair and have it stay all day long. She can't pull it out and it doesn't fall out. If I know we have a long day this is the hair-do she gets! So, the next time I have to go to Cost-Co I will go to the Gilbert location and if I'm in a hurry I will let my kids go looking like rag-a-muffins and maybe we'll get out of there a little faster than we did today! :)

New Hobby!

I have a new hobby (or you might call it an obsession!)! I have finally jumped into the world of digital scrapbooking and I LOVE it! I used to scrapbook all the time until Emma turned 1 and then...nothing! I just never felt like dealing with the mess and the kids. This way the only mess I clean up is clicking the "x" on my computer screen when I am done! I like that I can still create and if I don't like something...I erase it and try something different. Now, I am just getting started so all you "professional scrappers" out there can't judge my work! :) But here are a few pages I have been working on!

Off to Preschool!

The day finally came for Emma to start preschool! She has been waiting for this for months now! (And so have I!) Her first day of school was Tuesday. Last week she had a "Meet the Teacher" and got to meet her class. She is very excited that Alli from her dance class is in the same preschool class! I have been looking forward to having a couple hours a day to just have Derrick. I felt like I accomplished quite a bit in 2 hours with just 1 kid! But, as I dropped her off my heart sank a little! I'm sure I will cry on the first day of kindergarten! Derrick and I went to Kohl's and Wal-Mart and cleaned the kitchen while Emma was at her first day of school. When we went to pick her up she got in the car and Derrick's little face just lit up and he said "EMMA, did you have fun?!" I thought Derrick would be fine with her gone, but I think he misses her. He asked where she was twice today and cried when I went to take a shower this morning because he had no one to play with! But, I also think it will be good for all of us! The first thing Emma told me was that she played with Barbie's at school! She also told me she had singing time, learned about the color red and that there was a naughty boy that said "Ehh" (in a grunting tone) to Miss Amber! She gave me the details of how he had to sit on the naughty bench for 2 minutes and then they sang silly songs to cheer him up and make him be nice! I'm glad she had such a good first day. Today she had fun again and can't wait to go back tomorrow! I can't believe she is such a big girl!

Ready for school!

She wanted to take a picture with Derrick! (How sweet!)

Good-bye my big girl! Do you love the black and white for a dramatic effect?! :)

Car Wash!

Labor Day weekend was definitely a labor weekend! We got a lot done around the house and then played a little on Monday. Jon and his brother were busy laying a new floor in the "salon". It looks great and I love it. They also did some work out in the back yard. While they did all that I was busy cleaning the house and catching up on laundry. On Monday we went for a walk/jog in the morning and then came home and washed Jon's truck. The kids were really excited to help wash daddy's truck! Emma was actually a pretty good little helper. Derrick didn't want to get wet and wasn't quite as enthused, but still had fun. He started having fun when I put him in the bed of the truck and he could just play back there, but he was very cautious. My little daredevil was crawling in the bed of the truck because he was scared he would fall! After nap time, we took the kids to see "Kung Fu Panda". They enjoyed it but, I'm not sure Derrick is ready for movies quite yet! They did pretty good during it though. After that we ate at Cheesecake Factory. It was a fun weekend to just spend time with each other and get a lot accomplished!

Just for Derrick

I've been feeling guilty that Emma has been getting all the "blog time". She has just had an exciting month! So here are some pictures of Derrick. He is turning into such a little man. We are still potty training. It seems like some weeks are great and others...not so great. But, I am surprisingly being pretty patient about it. I don't really care to push it and if that means he's in pull-ups for several months, I am fine with that! His eating habits are about the same as potty training...good one week, bad the next! Sometimes I just get so tires of fighting with him over food! But then I get so happy when he eats something new! A couple weeks ago he ate 5 grapes and I was so excited! He also had 3 apple slices and has tried 4 new dinners in the last couple weeks! We are definitely making progress, but an outsider looking in would never know it! (But, they may not have known how bad he was to start with!) But, I still love my little man!

"Star Light, Star Bright"...Emma's Wish!

Last night Emma, Derrick and I were on our way home from my parent's house and Emma, looking out the window, said "Mom, I see a star!". So, I decided to teach her the Star Light song.
"Star Light, Star Bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
Then I told her to close her eyes and make a wish. We did this 3 times in the car on the way home (she thought it was great fun) and she had me in tears. It was just so sweet I asked her to do it for the camera when we got home. Each time it changed a little, but she always wanted to go to the star and see Jesus, Mila and President Hinkley and play with them. One of her wishes she said, "...and dance and be happy and always stay there"! I like how in the video she wants to "share nice, and do chores"! She is my little sweet heart and this definitely melted my heart!

Emma's Birthday Pictures!

Here are some of the latest pictures from Melissa Jackson Photography! We got these taken last week for Emma's 4th Birthday! They turned out wonderful as usual! There is a link to Melissa's website in my family and friends...if you ever want amazing pictures, check it out!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma had a great birthday on Tuesday! I can't believe she is 4! My friend said the other day that she thinks 4 is a sad year because they are not really toddlers anymore...they become big kids! And looking at Emma I can see that. She starts pre-school soon and I couldn't believe I had to go buy a backpack for my little girl! When she woke up on her birthday and I wished her happy birthday she asked when her friends were coming over! No friends, but she had a couple visitors and lots of birthday phone calls! Aunt Crystal and her cousins called to wish her a happy birthday and Grandma and Grandpa Brenay called and sang to her and Aunt Annie called and all I heard was Emma singing "Happy Birthday to me" on the phone to her! :) In the morning Grandma and Grandpa Clark came over and gave Emma her present...a new blanket and pillow that Grandma made. It is beautiful and Emma loves it! On Sunday Grandma and Grandpa Trafzer came over to bring Emma her present...a Snow White dress-up and crown and a Snow White doll! She felt just like a princess dancing around in it that night! She wore it all day on Monday!

Emma's new blanket!

Emma got to eat her favorite meal for dinner...Hawaiian Haystacks (rice, chicken, gravy, cheese and pineapple!)

Emma also helped me make cookies to take to her dance class. Here she is enjoying hers!

Present time from mom and dad!

Her favorite gift was a new piggy bank. She has been asking for one for months! Derrick broke her old one. We were able to fix it, but she didn't use it because I didn't want it to brake again!

Emma also got a Cinderella puzzle. She did pretty good putting it together.

Another favorite was a Strawberry Shortcake doll. Here are the kids trying to smell her hair! Emma asks everyone if they want to smell Strawberry Shortcakes hair! It actually smells pretty good and reminds me of being a kid! I loved Strawberry Shortcake!

Emma showing off that she is 4! She always finds the most "creative" way to show how old she is on her fingers. When she was 2 it was the "loser" sign!

Dad was being silly with the kids. They thought it was so funny when he would do this to them!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!

Emma's Birthday Party!

Have you ever thrown a birthday party for a 4 year old? If you have, my hat's off to you! It's not as easy as it looks! But we had success! Emma enjoyed her first friend birthday party this morning. There were 7 silly girls running around my house and I think they all enjoyed themselves. Emma's actual birthday is on Tuesday, so she was able to celebrate a little early this year. We decided on a Barbie party after I saw a beautiful cake online that I wanted my mom to make. After pricing it out, we went with the less expensive version, that turned out prettier than I ever thought possible! My mom is amazing! It may sound silly, but I almost cried when I saw the cake because it was not what we had talked about doing...she glammed it up a bit knowing I wanted something ridiculously fancy for a 4 year old party! :) The cake was a big hit with the girls! Thanks again mom! Our house was decked out in pink everything...Emma asked why I was taking it down after the party. I think she thought that was our new decor! We played "Pin the Crown on Barbie", made necklaces, opened presents, ate pink cake and pink ice cream, colored pictures of Barbie and of course played Barbies! Emma received wonderful gifts...when I asked her what her favorite was, I think she named every present she got! She was busy playing with new Barbies and toys for the rest of the day. Derrick was excited to play with all the balloons! So, ask me right now if Emma gets a party next year and I would probably say no, but maybe by then I will have forgotten all the stress that goes a long with it! In the end it was worth it and I'm glad the girls had a fun time!

Odds & Ends

Our life really hasn't been that exciting lately! So I will try and make this blog interesting! :) Jon and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary last night. We went to Donovan's Steakhouse in Scottsdale. It was pretty good. Jon enjoyed his more than I did. I got a filet and it was good, but I'm a pretty plain steak person. Honestly, my favorite steak is a well done sirloin! You don't find that in nice steakhouses! The sugar snap peas were really good though. I could have made a meal out of those! Jon got a 24 oz rib eye!! He almost managed to finish it too! He found the most well done piece of his medium rare steak to have me try it...I had to choke it down! It was like eating pure fat...YUCK! The waiter brought us complimentary creme brulee because it was our anniversary! This was after Jon told me I could pick dessert since I didn't enjoy my steak as much. So that idea didn't work out so well because creme brulee is Jon's favorite dessert and I really don't care for it! But, I have to say, I ate some of this one and it was actually very delicious! I don't like the sugar on top, so I just scraped that off and ate the custard with strawberries. Overall, it was a fun night! 9 years seems like such a long time, but it has flown by! Next year for 10 we are going to New York! We can't wait for that! We have decided that the Olympics will be the end of us! We are staying up until midnight every night to watch them, even though we have DVR! We are crazy! Last night was the first night that I fell asleep at a decent hour, but it was on the couch while watching the Olympics with Jon! They are so exciting and the USA is doing pretty good. I have to say the best event was the men's swimming relay! Jon and I were almost screaming watching it! It was definitely a nail biter! Go USA! That was awesome!

The kids are doing good! Emma can hardly wait to start pre-school. She has been playing with her friends a lot lately and just seems to be growing up so fast. She asked me this morning, "Mom, why am I not 4 yet?" Soon! She has her party this Saturday so stayed tuned for pictures of that!

Ava and Emma playing dress-ups!

Derrick is plugging along with potty training. He went 4 days without an accident! We are getting there! He even stayed dry during nap time and at night for those 4 days! The kids have been into playing "Let's go to sleep". They make beds all over the house and just lay there! I guess I can't complain about that game! Some of their favorite bed making spots have been Emma's closet, under the piano, in the hall, and under the kitchen table! Jon came home the other day and was puzzled as to why there were blankets and pillow under the table!


So that is our update...like I said, not much!

What happened to my "baby"?!

My baby boy is now a "BIG BOY"! Last weekend we finally set up Derick's full bed in his room. He was so excited! The kids played on it constantly for the few days following. So far after a week he hasn't tried to get out once! It's still new and exciting though...I give it a month or 2 before he starts getting out! His crib converted into a full bed and he just looks so tiny in that big bed! He has also started wearing Lightning McQueen "pulls" (pull-ups). The first day I put them on him he kept trying to pull his pants down so he could see Lightning! He is doing great with potty training, but I'm not really pushing it. I was not even going to start him until he was 3 because I have always heard that boys are harder than girls to train, but he has the example of Emma and tells me more than she does now that he needs to go potty! It is a nice feeling to be diaper free, but I am a little sad that my baby is all grown up!