ZIEGLER FAMILY

A little catching up.

2010-01-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

So I know that I am way behind but here is an attempt to catch up a little bit. This is what we did in November. There are pictures of LeOra's Thanksgiving feast at school and our trips to Knott's Berry Farm and Arizona for Thanksgiving break. This is when we went to the zoo. If you look closely you will see RJ running by a little signs that says 14 on it. That was a speedometer, you know like the ones that you drive by that tell you how fast you are driving. We liked to run past it and see how fast we were going. After a good 30 minutes of everyone on the Ziegler side of the family doing this the record was a tie between RJ and Kreed with a top speed of 15 mph. I got 13 mph. Not bad! This was the most fun we adults had at the AZ Zoo. The kids got into it too. LeOra and Mackinsie are very fast!

We did go into the petting zoo and see lots of other animal exhibits but I have no pictures of those. Our camera is broken and so we just take pictures with our phones. Sorry!

There were lots of fun park days and playing in the AZ sunshine with cousins.

This picture was taken at church on my phone. We are teaching our kids a lot about reverence. At least she isn't making any noise. :0)

They loved eating otter pops and swinging on grandma pay's swing as well as roasting marshmallows on their fire pit.

The following pictures are all of Knott's Berry Farm. Again, not very many. I really need to get a good camera. I am realizing how few pictures I take now. Sorry grandma and grandpa.

LeOra's Thanksgiving feast at school. It was very cute. All the kids core costumes that they had made and ate on place mats they made with place cards and so many other cute Thanksgiving creations. I love her teacher.

I think there may be more pictures on RJ phone but they are not accessible right now. I will try and post them later. Hopefully by valentines day I will post about Christmas! ;)

Lost tooth

2010-01-14T07:43:00.001-08:00

It was very exciting here last night as LeOra lost her first tooth. It has been loose for a while and she had been wiggling it for days until finally it popped out last night. She quickly put it in an envelope and put it under her pillow so that she could have a visit from the tooth fairy. This morning she came running out of her room exclaiming, "Momma the tooth fairy came and I got two tickets."

October

2009-11-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

October was a very fun and busy month full of field trips at school, pumpkin carving and fairies.

(My pictures are not in order and I didn't feel like messing around with it. You will get the idea of what we did.)

These are pictures of us carving pumpkins. This year LeOra wanted to carve her own pumpkin and even got most of the seeds out herself. (If you remember last year this was a feat.) Anyway one funny story about the pumpkins has to do with LeOra. RJ carved a pumpkin that had fiery looking eyes and mouth. It looked very scary (not really but as scary as it gets in this house) Anyway the next night after RJ and I had put the girls to bed we noticed an addition to his pumpkin, a heart crown had been drawn on. When asked who added this lovely crown, LeOra responded, "I did. I thought it looked pretty." Only in this house full of girls would that happen!

Mackinsie and Kirstin got to draw on their pumpkin while daddy and LeOra carved theirs.

Yes that is fuzzy mold growing on our pumpkin. I forgot to take a finished product picture until yesterday. Oops!

Halloween Night

LeOra is Silvermist. She is one of Tinkerbell's fairy friends for those of you who have not seen the Tinkerbell movie. We also met her when we were in Disneyland. (I know I haven't posted about that yet. FYI, it was a lot of fun.)

Mackinsie is Elena from the Barbie Fairytopia movies.
Kirstin is Rosetta who is another one of Tinkerbell's fairy friends.

This is the group of cousins who gathered at the gift shop for some trick-or-treating in the village.

Kirstin in awe over the fact that someone put candy in her bag. Believe me, she caught on quick to the whole trick-or-treating thing and was leading the way.

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

After the village we went to Aunt DeAnne's house for a yummy chili dinner then more trick-or-treating fun by her house. ( They give better candy up there!)

At the beginning of month LeOra's school class went on a field trip to Avila barn and I was able to go with her. It was lots of fun. They went on a hayride, ate apples off the tree, picked their own pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and then fed the animals.

A few weeks later I took Mackinsie and Kirstin to Avila barn as well so that they could have fun there too! We went with some of our friends from church. I think it was the first time Kirstin fed the animals and she thought it was so much fun. She just kept giggling every time they would take the food out of her hand.

Dance Recital

2009-09-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see the girls had a dance recital a few weekends ago. They are so cute in their pink tu-tus and sparkle crowns. I love it. I am sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy. My real camera wasn't working so I had to use my phone. I also videoed my favorite dance, Monkey's Uncle, but don't know how to upload it yet. You will just have to come visit us for a private showing! In their class they do some ballet and some tap. They really enjoy dressing up and being beautiful ballerinas.

My Little Girl is in Kindergarten

2009-08-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Last week my LeOra started kindergarten. Prior to her starting I was very sad to leave this chapter of our family, the one where they are all mine all the time, but she was so excited to start school that I couldn't help but get excited too. We bought school clothes earlier in the summer and she would look at them almost every day and get so excited to wear her new clothes and shoes. Then came the purchase of the backpack. I bought her an Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those of you who don't keep up on the Disney Princesses) backpack and had her name monogrammed on it. She loves it and I love how the backpack is almost as big as her. She goes to afternoon kindergarten and her teacher is Mrs. Winters. LeOra really loves her teacher and talks about all her new friends everyday. On the first day I asked her what her favorite thing that she did in school was and she told me recess. That's my girl!

She seems so much older already. After two weeks I am discovering that the transition was not so bad and that it is kind of fun. Now I get to go on field trips and volunteer in her classroom. I volunteered last week and when I told her that I was going to be at school with her she gave me a discussed, are-you-serious kind of look. I told her that is was going to be so fun and she still didn't seem that thrilled. Then I told her I was going to go anyway and I wouldn't talk to her while I was there and I would just help the teacher. She was fine with that. She is already to big for her mom to be around all the time. LeOra has always been my independent child. So I went the next day and I think secretly she was glad that I was there. She gave me a smile from across the room and a hive five as she left the room for recess when we were all done.

Here are some pictures from the first day. She is definitely the biggest girl in her class. Shocking, I know!

I am special!!

2009-06-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

I accidentally erased my blog list and therefore lost all of your blog addresses. I know I am very special. ;0) Would you be so kind to write a comment and put your blog address in it so that I can make a new one. I hope I won't erase this one. Thank you.

What to do on my 30th Birthday?!

2009-04-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

Saturday was my 30th birthday and what is a girl to do to embrace this new decade? Well...how about a triathlon. I know, I am crazy. In about January my friend, Tiana, was telling us about the Tri-for-fun that the YMCA puts on here in town. She told me that it was on April 25th. I thought, "Hey that's my birthday. Wouldn't it be funny to tell people that I did a triathlon on my 30th birthday." Well the idea stuck and I started training. The tri-for-fun was a really good triathlon to start with. It is a sprint meaning that you swim 1/4 of a mile or 9 laps, bike 12.5 mile or 17.5 miles (I did 12.5) and then run a 5K. The race is very relaxed and I actually felt very prepared. The hardest part for me was the bike portion. I am such a novice at the bike that I know nothing about gears and what to do on those hill. There were several times that that information would have been handy. On one of the steepest hills I thought, "I could get out and walk my bike up faster." But in the end I actually enjoyed it and would like to do another one. I guess I caught the triathlon bug! The best part was that my wonderful husband and girls were there the whole time to cheer me on during each transition and the finish line.

After the triathlon, we all ran (and I mean literally run) to the Strawberry festival. LeOra and Mackinsie's ballet class was performing on the center stage. I was running through the crowd like a crazy women weaving in and out of the people with my stroller while to little girls in pink leotards and Tu-Tu's were running behind me. We barely got there in time! RJ said I should have run faster in my triathlon. Anyway, the girls did a wonderful job and were such beautiful ballerinas. Then we played at the festival and rode on a few kiddie rides and ate some yummy strawberries until there was no more fun to be had there. Then we came home and everyone took a shower so that the girls could go to Aunt Eimile's while RJ and I went out to dinner. It was a very busy day but a lot of fun. There was one down side to all of this, I forgot my camera! That explains why there are no pictures on this post. I was very sad. I am going to try and get some pictures from some of the other mom's in their ballet class and we will probably have to buy the way over priced pictures that they take as you cross the finish line. When we get those I will have to post them but for now, you will have to picture all of this in your head!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter, as we did. We did the morning traditions of finding Easter Baskets and opening things from the Easter Bunny. Then we put on our new Easter Dresses and went to church. That was my favorite part. We focused on what the true meaning of Easter is; the fact that the Savior died for our sins and that He now lives so that we can live again also with Him. I am so greatful for my Savior and I am glad to be able to seek Him in prayer and use that Atonement in my life to repent and become clean again. May you all have a fabulous Easter filled with eggs and the spirit of Christ. I just watched this movie that the church put on you-tube and it is beautiful. Here is the link. (I hope it works I have never done this before.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

And yes, I will post the pictures later. I promise!

Happy Birthday LeOra!!

2009-04-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

On April 7th my baby girl turned 5 and I don't like it one bit. It has gone so fast and I am not excited to put her in school. It is the end of this chapter in our little family where they are all mine all the time and I am sad to see it go. At the same time I am excited to see her grow and do more things. Being a parent has it's bitter sweet moments. She, however, is so excited. She cannot wait to go to kindergarten and I know she will love it and do so well. I have to brag for just a minute. She is such a good girl. I love her to pieces. I am so glad that she starts out our family because of her wonderful example and kindness she shows her sisters. Truly just this last week she has seemed more grown up and mature. She listens and obeys and is such a good helper. She is outgoing, friendly and confident in herself which is probably what I love about her the most and hope that she never looses. I hope she keeps going in the great direction she has started.

Well, enough of that mushy stuff and onto to the celebration. She had quite the birthday weekend. RJ was out of town for her actual birthday so we did somethings to celebrate with him before he left. After the Easter Egg hunt (see next post) we went to Toys R Us where we are a member of the Birthday Club. They give the birthday girl a balloon, crown, gift card and announce their name and birthday over their PA system! She got to go through the store and pick out 2 toys while everyone stopped up to say "Happy Birthday!"

Then we went to McDonald's to have lunch. RJ turns his nose up at McDonald's just as Kirstin does in the below picture so we don't go there very often. However, the girls love to go and play in the play place. This is a real treat and a real sacrifice from their Dad!

Then on Sunday she had her Birthday party with all of her cousins. She wanted an Aurora Birthday party with an Aurora cake that had "white cake with strawberries in the middle and raspberry frosting." I have no idea where she came up with that but it sounded good so that is what we made. She also insisted on having a pinata at her birthday and we found this one that was a girl and a pink dress and looked just like Aurora (sort of). Every one got a whack at it and Chandler finished the deal for the kids!

LeOra

Mackinsie

Ashleigh

Ava

Ethan

Kayla

And Chandler! Poor Megan. She said pinatas never get to her anymore. Next was cake time.

That is the look of pure happiness and excitement. I love it!

Next came present time! I already have enough pictures on this post so I just put up the ones where she was actually looking at the camera. She got lots of cute things and she is very excited about it all.

Then on her actual birthday day it was back to the Discovery Museum (which is probably her most favorite place in all the world) for more fun. After that we had lunch with her friends, Tyson and Kelsie and cousins, Ashleigh and Evelyn. More birthday cake was eaten and more fun had by all...especially my 5 year old, LeOra!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-08T22:36:00.001-07:00

This last Saturday the Discovery Children's Museum here in town had an Easter Egg hunt. The girls were so excited for this. They even got to meet the Easter Bunny. There were lots of kids there but plenty of eggs to find. LeOra kept saying that she should be able to find the golden egg and get the prize because it is her Birthday. But she was fine with the fact that she didn't but decided next year she would run in and look really hard and find the golden egg. I also thought it was funny to hear what she had to say about the Easter bunny. She kept telling me that she didn't know that the Easter Bunny couldn't talk and that he was so big and that he looked like a big stuffed animal. She cracks me up! Mackinsie was a little more hesitant to meet the Easter Bunny as you can see in the picture. Kirstin still isn't quite sure what all the fuss is about but has decided that it is fun to put the eggs into and out of her basket!

We caught you on film, LeOra!

Kirstin's Pony Tail

2009-03-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

I finally put Kirstin's hair into a pony tail the other day for church. I must say she looked adorable!!

We love to Exercise!!

2009-03-22T13:07:00.001-07:00

Anyone who knows RJ knows that he loves to exercise. Well, this love of his has tricked down to his girls. We all love to exercise and the girls really get into it. To them it is not work, it is just fun! We like to, at least once or twice a week, do a family workout evening where the girls will do a little obstacle course and then RJ and I will do our workout. I took pictures of one of these evenings. The obstacle course started with the girls holding on to the rings and making an L while counting to 10. Then came the balance beam.

Then they crawled through the tunnel on their bellies. This one was lots of fun.
Next came the box. They were to climb on to the box and then get down.

LeOra interpreted it as jumping off the box.

Then they grabbed their kettle bells and walk all the way down to the fence. Then they had to run to the rings and do it all over again.

We had them do it three time and then they just kept going!

They wanted to do it again and again.

Now it is Kirstin's turn.

We probably should have her go up in weight if she is just going to eat it!

Now that Mackinsie is all done exercising she is ready to pose for the camera. By the way, I did not come up with the attire for this workout. LeOra decided that they should wear their swim suits and shorts.

Now it is Dad's turn! ( He kept telling me to stop taking pictures. I said that I had to because it was for the blog. ;) )

What a stud!

And yes I did work out that evening as well. RJ just doesn't remember to take pictures as well as me. Besides, do you really think I would post pictures of me working out on my blog! The rest of the pictures are from another exercise session we did a while back.

What season is it?

2009-02-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

Those of you who have been out to this part of California know how beautiful the weather is all year round. It is very temperate since we are so close to the ocean. This makes it very tricky when talking to a four year old about what the seasons are. Here is an example to elaborate. The other day we were riding in the car to story time at the library and this is the conversation LeOra and I had.

LeOra: "Mom I just saw some leaves on the ground and falling from that tree. It must be fall."

Me: "Well, no it is actually winter time."

LeOra: "But I thought it was cold in the winter time?" (the weather that day was sunny and warm)

Me: "Well, yes it is usually cold in the winter. But is depends on where you live as to how cold it gets. Here it doesn't get as cold as other places."

LeOra: "So is it summer because it is so warm today."

Me: "No it is still technically winter. Look at that tree. She the one that has no leaves on it. That is what happens in the winter, there are no leaves on the trees. In the spring there are blossoms and flowers on the trees, in the summer there are bright green leaves, in the fall the leaves turn color and fall off the trees and in the winter time there are no leaves on the trees. "

A few minutes later.

LeOra: "Look mom it must be spring now. That tree has pretty pink blossoms on it."

I suppose that is what I get for using trees as an example of what season it is. There are things blooming all year round here. The weather is wonderful, but very confusing!

Where did the time go?

2009-02-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

Alright, so it has been a while since my last post. I have no idea where January went! (Or half of February for that matter.) Here in the Ziegler house hold we have been very busy.

We started out the month with a foreign exchange student from Japan. His name was Takahiro and he stayed with us for only three nights. He was with his student group for most of the time and we really only had Saturday to give him a California experience. We started out the day with a walk on Pismo Pier and then on Pismo Beach. He and the girls made sand castles and then he wrote their names in the sand in Kanji. We then took him to the Pismo Outlet mall where he was very excited about all the deals he could get here in America. We came home and had pizza and then he made Shiratama dango for us. It is a dessert that is little spongy balls mixed with fruit or dipped in honey or chocolate sauce. They were very delicious. Then I had to go to work while he and RJ stayed home and watched some American movies and ate more American junk food. It was a lot of fun and the girls liked having someone here. LeOra still asks me about Japan and it's culture.
I think the one above and the one below are LeOra. There is often two ways to write things. I forget what the first picture is. I think it is Takahiro's name.

The rest of the month was just filled with good ol' little girl fun. This is a picture I took at Costco. It was the first time that I put Kirstin in the cart and she just looked so cute.

Every time the girls take a bath Kirstin crawls over, pulls herself up and splashes and plays with the girls. She usually comes out soaking wet and I don't know why I don't just put her in there with them. It so cute to watch and full of giggles.
One day LeOra came running down the hall, giggling, while wearing her daddy's boots and sun glasses. I thought it was way cute and as usual she was willing to pose for the camera.

Look very closely at the little smile on Kirstin. Do you see the two little bottom teeth that are coming it? They are there! My little girls finally cut her first teeth. She has grown up so much lately. She is nine months and I can't believe it. In addition to the teeth, she has started giving kisses, pulls up on everything (the garbage can is her favorite), won't touch baby food and will only eat what we are eating. I don't really blame her for that. She loves her sisters and love crawling into their room and playing with them. I know when she has gone in there because I hear LeOra and Mackinsie saying, "Hurry, hurry pick up the polly pockets so that Kirstin won't choke. She is crawling in here to play."

Besides days filled with glittery crafts or going to story time at the library or dance class or the park, that is what we have done this month. Hope your year started out as fun as ours!

Happy Birthday Mackinsie!

2009-01-07T09:41:00.001-08:00

This past weekend my Mackinsie turned 3 years old. I can't believe it. How time flies by. For weeks prior to her party I kept asking her what kind of party she wanted and she would say a "Yellow Party." I have no idea where she got this idea but she stuck to it. With all the princesses in our house I thought she would say a dancing princess party or a tinker bell party. No, she wanted a yellow party. I even suggested those things and she went back to a yellow party. So a yellow party it was. I didn't want to do just a boring yellow cake so I asked her if I could do a yellow flower cake or a yellow butterfly cake. She chose yellow flower. I must admit, I did have fun doing a "yellow party." I thought it was so cute that that is what my little girl came up with for her 3rd birthday party. During her party as she looked at the yellow cake, yellow streamers, yellow balloons, yellow plates, yellow napkins and yellow table cloths she said, "I LOVE YELLOW." Of course what made her party so much fun is that her cousins all came. She loves her cousins too!

She got lots of presents from her cousins and grandparents. Thank you!!

I suppose this is what I have to look forward to in 10 years. She got a little "Get ready" set with pretend make up, curling iron, blowdryer, brushes, etc. As soon as she opened it she decided she needed to go and "get ready." Notice she is at my vanity because that is where one goes to get ready.

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-30T15:55:00.001-08:00

RJ bought the girls such cute Christmas dresses I had to take them to the studio to get pictures taken. Yes, I said RJ picked out the dresses. However, this experience reminded me how stressful getting pictures taken can be; timing three girls so that they are fed, rested and happy all at the same time is tricky. Not to mention the hair primping and then constantly worrying that they would mess it up. All the stress though worked out. The pictures are cute and the girls look adorable. (In my unbias opinion!)

Our Christmas

2008-12-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Grandma Ziegler came to be with us and the girls were thrilled. They were at Grandma's side the whole time she was here. Christmas Eve started with us making Gingerbread Houses. I had no idea how to make them but luckily I married a man who is an expert. When I asked him if he had done it before, he replied simply, "Honey, I have made Gingerbread castles." Little did I know this about my husband. Then we had our fancy candlelit dinner of chicken cordon bleu (made from scratch). The company was delightful! Grandma got the girls all dressed up in some of their fancy Christmas dresses and did their hair. They were very excited for their dinner. Then we told the story of the Nativity with pictures and acting it out with the nativity figurines. Maybe next year we will take on acting it out ourselves! Finally each girls got to pick one present and open it just to make sure they are ready for the morning. The next morning, Mackinsie crawled in bed with us at about 7:30 while I was feeding Kirstin. I think her 2 year old brain forgot that it was Christmas. However, at 8:00 LeOra was up and she came running into our room yelling "Let's go wake up Grandma and see what Santa brought us." She did not forget. Then it was on to the present opening extravaganza. This was the first year that the girls just tore into their presents with out a prompt or help or asking. It was fun to see the excitement. LeOra got the Barbie Diamond castle doll and princess polly pockets with a prince that she asked Santa for. She also got some clothes and other fun toys. Mackinsie's favorite present by far is the make-up bag full of lip gloss from her cousin Ethan. (I think DeAnne had more to do with it.) In case you don't know, my little 2 year old LOVES lip gloss to say the least. She has had a nice thick layer of gloss and that bag in her hand since she opened it yesterday. Kirstin was more interested in the curly ribbon on her presents than the presents themselves. I think her sister's helped her unwrap while she played with the bows. Remind me again why we buy toys for babies and don't just give them the bows and boxes. After playing with our toys and taking a nap we were off to the Mankins house to play with their new toys. Luckily they got Rock Band and I am hooked. I am going to be really good this year so that Santa will bring that to me next year. It is so fun! RJ even got into it. That was our fun filled Christmas holiday. We loved spending time with family. Most of all, I love Christmas Eve when we retell that special story of the Nativity next to our brightly lit Christmas tree. I am grateful for the birth of our Savior, the example and teachings He gave us during His mortal ministry and His death, which provided for us a way to be with Him together again. Merry Christmas to all of you!

Breakfast with Santa!

2008-12-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

Every year on the Air Force base, we participate in Breakfast with Santa. They serve a yummy breakfast, (ok so it was from a box french toast sticks and sausage, the kids loved it), we get to go talk to Santa one on one and then take pictures in his sleigh. This year was even more special because the girls performed with their dance class. They were so cute in their pink leotards and pink tu-tus. It was a very fun morning.

Mackinsie is whispering to Santa that she wants a Cinderella. She was a little shy but after Mommy reminded her of what she decided she wanted to tell him she whispered it to him. LeOra ran in and told him quickly that she wants a Barbie Diamond Castle and the Peter Pan returning to Neverland movie. In fact she ran in so quickly to tell Santa this that we couldn't even get the camera out in time to take a picture of it. Then we took some pictures of the girls in Santa's sleigh.

Here are a few pictures of the girls working on their crafts that they had. They each got to make a bracelet and color an ornament.

We have a little video of the girls doing their dance but we can't figure out how to get the videos from our new camera to down load right. As soon as we do we will post them. Merry Christmas!

My Quickly Growing Baby

2008-12-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention on my last post that while we were in Arizona Kirstin started to sit, crawl and pull herself up on everything she can. In fact, the first day we were home, I went in to get her out of bed and she was standing there, practically hanging over the side because I hadn't lowered the bed all the way down. I didn't think she would be doing that so soon. Needless to say, I lowered it immediately. It looks so cute to have her standing there when I come get her. She is getting way to big, way to fast.

Because she is down there already, we might as well put her to work. RJ called her our Cinderella Baby.Also this crawling has enable her to get into more mischief! Again, thank Heaven for shatterproof ornaments!

Wouldn't you like that Christmas present under your tree!

Because she is so cute, she doesn't get into too much trouble.

Her favorite toy is this little piano that she can sit at and pound away at that the stars light up.

She can play quite well among the chaos that is surrounding her.

Also this little girl took quite a liking to her Grandpa Pay. He was very proud that by the end of our stay there I could walk into and out of the room and she could care less. Quite an accomplishment for a baby who LOVES her mommy!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

2008-12-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

We headed off to Arizona the week before Thanksgiving and spent two weeks there helping Grandma Pay recover from knee replacement surgery and visiting family and friends from both sides.

We went to the zoo with the Ziegler side of the family. It was very fun and included feeding giraffes, ducks, and swans, the petting zoo, and a carousel ride. RJ almost hit a swan up side the head when it tried to bite Mackinsie. Don't mess with Daddy's girls! This is a self portrait of Kirstin and I, again, to prove that we were there! The Petting Zoo

Uncle Kreed and Luke.

Walking with Grandma Ziegler

Roasting marshmellows is always fun at Grandma and Grandpa Pay's house.

We took a tour of Cerreta's Candy Factory with Grandma and Grandpa Pay and Aunt Andy. LeOra made a chocolate pizza and Mackinsie got to make a chocolate christmas tree.

Then we helped Grandma and Grandpa Pay decorate their Christmas Tree. It was good practice for decorating our own. Thank Heaven for shatter proof ornaments!

A slumber Party with Aunt Andy is always tons of fun!! Thanks you for our matching PJ's. The girls love them.

A Weekend with Cousins!!

2008-11-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

For my kids, a weekend with cousins is the best ever! We live near some of our cousins and over the weekend, Kelli and her family came to visit us from Utah so there were even more cousins! We had a bon fire on the beach, a Santa Maria BBQ, and saw the monarch butterfly park. It was a lot of fun and it was so good to see Kelli and her kids. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

First on our Halloween agenda was to meet DeAnne and her kids and Steve and his kids at the Village for some trick or treating. The Village is in old town Arroyo Grande and is full of little shops and restaraunts. All the owners sit in front of their shops while the kids trick of treat. There are tons of kids and it is lots of fun.

Doesn't Velma look like she is having a blast.

Belle is always ready to pose for the camera. Isn't she a beautiful princess!
The whole group...almost. Steve and his group had to leave before we got our act together to get a picture and Megan was passing out candy in front of Brisco's.

Reaping the rewards. And yes, Mackinsie's mouth is full of an entire Reese's peanut butter cup that she just stuck in her mouth.

Next we flew over to our ward party for some games and Trunk or Treating.

Here is our Supergirl!

Now she is trying to steal some candy from her sister's jack-o-lantern. Very sneaky!

Dorothy ran into the Wicked Witch at the Party!

Here is Mackinsie the next morning and yes she is still wearing her constume. Even as I am writing this she has yet to take it off.

"Special Halloween Family Home Evening Party"

2008-10-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our "Special Halloween Family Home Evening Party" and it was lots of fun. Our girls love to have parties and this one was especially spooky! We started the evening with everyone dipping their own carmel apples. Then we moved on to carving our pumpkins. We were going to do them all but in the end only had time to do the "daddy pumpkin". Then we turned off all the lights in the house and turned on just our jack-o-lantern and one string of festive pumpkin lights and told scary stories while we ate our carmel apples. It was lots of fun. Things like this are getting so fun the older my girls get. They get so excited. I loved hearing LeOra's scary story about a little girl who got stuck in a jack-o-lantern. RJ told a story about 2 little girls in a spooky forest looking at all the spooky trees and seeing what was in them. LeOra loved it but Mackinsie got a little nervous even though in the end it was just a fluffy bunny making all the noise. (Daddy added that part as he saw Mackinsie snuggle in my lap more and more.)

I love how are girls are looking up to their dad. So cute!

Mackinsie couldn't wait to take a bite out of hers, whether it had carmel on it or not!
And don't ask her to put down her chocolate peanut butter ball while dipping her apple. After all she is a girl and can to many things at the same time.

Looks delicious! This was a picture RJ took of he and Kirstin. Not bad for holding a baby and snapping a picture.

Next came carving the pumpkins. Daddies are the best at that. Here are RJ and the girls planning out what our jack-o-lantern would look like. LeOra took much more interest in it than Mackinsie.

My poor husband is so out numbered and I will illustrate why (besides the obvious). He built such anticipation prior to removing the top of the pumpkin and being able to get out all the "gunk" to only hear "gross" and "don't make me put my hand in there" and "you do that daddy". LeOra finally stuck her had in once and pulled out a tiny bit of gunk and then said, "I don't think I want to do that again." We couldn't talk Mackinsie into putting her hand in there at all. So poor daddy had to take out all the seeds himself. I did help him scrape it at the very end. Not all the girls in this family are to prissy.

I think LeOra is making the same face at the jack-o-lantern.

If any of you have spent any time around Mackinsie lately you know how obsessed she is with lip gloss. She carries it around everywhere and sleeps with it next to her bed. She always has glossy moist lips and apparently she thought that our pumpkin needed to also. Here she is putting her lip gloss that she got from her cousins this weekend on the pumpkin. Doesn't he look better now!

See I told you I help take out the seeds. And no I did not eat it.

The final product. I love the heart shaped ears. This is definitely a house of girls!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

I know that I have been posting a lot lately but we have been doing fun things and I can't help myself. On Friday, RJ had the day off so we decided to go to Avila Valley Barn. They are a Farmer's Market that also has lots of animals to feed and yummy treats to buy. Also during October they have a hayride out to thier pumpkin patch to pick your very own pumpkins. Here we are on the hayride out to the patch. The girls loved it.

When we got to the patch we all got to pick a pumpkin. Some of us had a hard time getting the one we wanted.

But with a little help from Daddy,

Victory was ours!!

RJ, of course, tried to find the biggest one. I think he did pretty good.

I was looking for the prettiest one.

Mackinsie just picked up the first one she saw and carried it around until she was tired.

Kirstin got the littlest one!

Next we fed the animals. If you ask someone who works there, they will give you a bag of food to feed the animals for free. Our girls love to do this. Even Kirstin got in on the action!

LeOra loves the baby goats. She says they are so cute. She makes it her personal crusade to ensure they have all had enough to eat.

Halloween Preview

2008-10-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

We go to story time at the Library every Thursday and today was the big Halloween party. They were allowed to dress up for this spooky story hour and then were given a treat bag at the end. We have been going to story time with our cousins, Ashleigh, Evelyn and Chelsea, and our good friends, Tyson and Kelsey. Here is a group picture of everyone. I couldn't resist taking some pictures before we left for story time. Mackinsie is so excited to be Dorthy. We have been watching the movie so that she can really play the roll. We were singing the Wizard of Oz song while getting ready to get in the mood (and distract her while doing her hair). In the basket is her beloved puppy dog, Bobo, playing the roll of Toto.

LeOra decided she wanted to be Belle after our Aunt Van and Uncle John gave her this adorable dress. She is such a poser lately in her pictures. She knows how adorable she is and you can tell!

I was pretty proud of her hair. I thought it looked just like Belle.

Kirstin just hung out in her exersaucer during all this flurry of activity. She will get to join in the fun next year!

A Day in the Park

2008-10-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

After Grandma and Grandpa Ziegler left we decided to go to Waller Park and feed the ducks.

As you can see those were not shy ducks. They would come up and take the bread out of our hands! I can't believe LeOra had the guts to let them. Of course there was a girly squeal let out as soon as the duck got the bread. Mackinsie, on the other hand, was ready to get in their with them.

Just a quick picture to prove that Kirstin and I were there!

As these picture show, you are never to big, and I mean BIG, to play at the park. RJ is such a great dad! He loves playing with and just being with the girls. We are very lucky!

Grandma and Grandpa Ziegler's Visit

2008-10-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Ziegler came to visit us for a quick weekend trip. Unfortunately the weather didn't let us go for a bon fire on the beach, so we had to improvise. Making Carmel popcorn might make up for not having s'mores.

LeOra's job is to make the Carmel sauce while Mackinsie and Kirstin's job is to pop the popcorn. The picture does not capture the excitement of the popping corn. Usually our girls are popping with it. This is definitely one of our favorite treats.

On the last day of their visit we went out to eat. I just snapped a few shots at the restaurant. This restaurant is called Kay's and has delicious salads and sandwiches. It is in old town Orcutt and definitely has that "mom and pop" feel to it.

We had to take Grandma to dance class with us to show off what we have been learning. It is so fun to have someone come watch the girls. They absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately all fun weekends have to end. We can't wait for the next visit! By the way, I think Grandpa Ziegler was hiding every time I had my camera out. Sorry that we missed you in all the pictures grandpa. We loved playing with you and seeing you.

Some of our favorite things.

2008-10-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

LeOra has really started to love to draw. She can do it for hours. Below she is displaying her talents with water color. This one was so good that she had to put it on her wall!

I love her pictures of people. They are so detailed; the hair, the eyebrows, the eylashes, eyes, smile, fingers and fingernails and toenails. She said that this was a portrait of her. They look just alike, don't you think?

This is some of her work she did during conference. The flowers picture is of her cousins, the Mankins, then there is a beautiful raindow and again, her self-portrait.

My girls love to dance. They will put on some music, get dressed up and dance, dance, dance. Their favorite music right now is the Chipmunks soundtrack. If I knew how much they would listen to it, I don't know that I would have purchased it!

My girls both love lip gloss. Kinsie is especially obsessed with it. She constantly asked to put it on and sometimes will sleep with it. RJ blames me for the obsession. But she looks so cute with her shiny lips.

This is a pictures with Mackinsie's beloved Princess Baby. She is dragged around all day and slept with at night. I am not sure why she loves her so much. Maybe because she has blue eyes and crazy blonde hair just like her!

More dancing!!

Our most favorite thing is to play with our cousins, grandparents and friends so come and visit us!

Funny Face

2008-09-24T21:46:00.001-07:00

Yes, that is my 4 month old doing a fishy face. She must have older sister's who teach her (by example) funny faces all day long!

My Dancing Princesses

2008-09-24T15:45:00.001-07:00

LeOra and Mackinsie started dance class this week and they love it. It is called Kinderdance and they teach them beginning ballet and tap dance. They look so cute in their leotard and tutu and tap or ballet shoes. They love showing daddy all the new dances they did and things they learned that day. They are very cute in my unbiased opinion.

Here is a sneak peak of what they have learned after two whole dance classes.

Silly Baby!

2008-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I lay a blanket down for my little baby. She just rolls all over the place, as you can see. But she has fun doing it!

Kirstin has also learned how to blow bubbles this week to add to her constant babbling. Her sisters think she is very funny.

Finally!

2008-09-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Roll making. LeOra's rolls are the little tiny ones on the right. She rolled them all by herself and was very proud. We even entered them into the baking contest and she won a ribbon. (one of the judges was her daddy!)
Our new family on Kirstin's blessing day. RJ is very out numbered!

My sweet new baby Kirstin who her sisters love to call "Kirstin coo". It sounds very cute coming from a toddlers mouth.

LeOra reading to Kirstin. I love Kirstin's little snicker!

Running through the sprinklers!! "It's my lucky day" said LeOra.

My three beautiful girls!

Daddy is way fun to climb on.

Nothing better than the combination of beach, campfire, cousins and friends and smores!

I am finally starting up our own blog after much peer pressure from friends and family. I think I am finally giving in because I love how easy it is to tell everyone what we are up to and see our quickly growing girls. I hope that I will keep this up to date. My three girls do not give me a lot of time on the computer. For those of you who I have not talked to for a while, we are in CA and are loving the beach and the beautiful weather. Come visit anytime! Here are a few pictures to catch you up on our summer.