Jacey is a little Tea Pot...

One of the 6 or so songs they did. She sang so loud it was really cute! 

Quite a performer!

Like all of us moms, I am quite impressed with my kids. They seem to surprise me in different ways all the time! What is so fascinating to observe is your child's strengths (and weaknesses) as they grow and learn more things. I also find it fascinating the things that my children are good at that I am not, and vic-a-versa. 

As a mom, I am really hard on myself because I want my children to be better than I am. So when I see Jacey want to give up on on things I cringe inside and push her harder to be something she doesn't want to be. I am not proud that I do that, but I can't seem to stop myself 100% of the time. Believe me when I say that I do try. But it is hard for me! She is HUGE on self discovery. And I am HUGE on teaching her. Example. She was writing the numbers 1-20. She kept forgetting or not wanting to include 13. She has trouble saying it so she just figures she can take that number out and substitute another 14. This bugs me because it reminds me of myself. When things get hard in learning, sports, and even friendship I will put my own spin on things or just change the rules. I am NOT a quitter - I am actually pretty competitive. But I do like to change the rules to benefit me! :) LOL However, when she is good at something - she'll do it all day and night long! 

One thing that Jacey is amazing at is performing. I am not a performer. So I simply shake my head and laugh because she must get this from her dad! I am proud of her, she is amazing. But I have such a hard time understanding where she gets this bravado! DARN I am trying to put the video on here but it's not working for me! So I'll try later! 

Out with the old, in with the new...

New Preschool Year!!! 

What a difference a year is! Top is Jacey's first day of preschool 2008, below was her first day in 2007! They grow too fast!!! 

It seems like every summer I fell great! I love summer! I love the camping, the outdoors, water and swimming! I love everything about summer! And it seems like there is always something new! New bathing suits, new flowers blooming, new bugs inside! I love that rejuvenated feeling! Well last week was Jacey's first day with her new teacher in her second year in preschool. I love her new teacher - she says such kind things and is really active with the kids. 

And in following with the theme "out with the old, in with the new" and the idea of how that goes with children growing up too fast... and NOT to leave the spotlight on Jacey, we got Teagan a bigger big girl car-seat this week. She LOVES it and loves the fact that she has a fancy cover and her big sister doesn't! LOL She is growing so fast! 

Went to Point Reyes for Fathers Day...

It was a lot of fun! We just camped one night because Jacey had dance pictures Saturday morning so we didn't want to miss that! 

After the shots we hopped in the truck and went to Dillon's beach which had become one of our favorite spots! The weather was hit and miss. Nice but not super warm. We all loved playing in the sand dunes. 

Then on Sunday we took a long (we thought it was going to be quick) drive to Point Reyes to see the light house! The

 light house was 300 steps down a steep cliff! It was a great workout!! Jacey was a huge trooper and loved every minute of it! Teagan - well she was a 25lb weight! LOL But she only cried when you put her down! We had a great time playing in the sand celebrating the worlds greatest daddy! 

300 Stairs down - 300 stairs up! I carried Teagan down so that I wouldn't have to do the up trip! LOL Happy Fathers day!!! 

Watch out Jacey! That whale is going to eat you! LOL 

Who is Jamie?

So in that section of the blog I didn't have enough room so I am posting it here.

I totally told about my kids and I didn't say who I was. Sometimes I get lost in the excitement of them and forget there is a me. :) 

So here I am on paper:

I hate describing myself. Some of my labels: I am a mom. A wife. A teacher. A friend. A partner.

I am liberal and very open minded. I love politics and wish I had more time to truly get involved in them. I love volunteer work and helping others - wish I had more time for that too. I loved (before I made the choice to stay at home) to teach. I love to think of creative ways to make learning fun! I love kids. I like TV - not gonna lie. I love trashy reality shows! Like the bachelor or any show that give old fashion chemistry and romance a try - love it! I love to read. Any best seller out there is good for me! BC, Before Children, I read at least a book a week! I miss reading. I like traveling but I like to control my environment so I don't feel out of control and I have found with traveling you have to be a little more easy going and I have a hard time with that. I love making lists and planning things. I love parties and get together and wish I had them more like when I was in Colorado. I love poker. I am pretty good at texas hold'em but I haven't played a lot since I have moved back to California. One thing I miss about Colorado - the women and our poker friends... they seemed less focused on beauty and materials and more focused on having fun and being real. I have finally got back into gardening - still not as much as I use to but I love having our own little garden and growing things the girls can eat right out of their own yard! I LOVE California! I have moved away long enough to know there is no other state like it. I love warm weather and the sun on my face! I love green grass and flowers in my yard all year round! I like camping (in our small little trailer) and boating. I love the water - any kind of water makes me feel at ease. I wish I were more green and I am trying to be more aware of my environment and how to make it more healthy. I am trying to make myself more healthy and be a good example for my kids. I am trying to live in the NOW and not let so many things get to me. Because I let a lot get to me! I am way to sensitive. I am a team player! I love organized anything! I love team spirt and getting involved. I am not overly competitive but I do think there are winners and losers but we need all the players to make that happen! I strongly believe that everyone has their own strengths. I think defense's win championships! I love football! I think basketball 

is monotonous and baseball is a blast to play but if you have to watch it is about 5 innings too long! I am not huge into individual sports because they seem kind of self centered. I don't like the Olympics at all. I get annoyed when I shouldn't. I sometimes talk before I think about it and sometimes I wish I would have talked when I hold things back. I let things bug me that are out of my control. I love having good friends that are on a deep non-judgmental level (which is very hard). I find it hard to have a lot of "surface" friends that I don't have a connection with. I love honesty and I am not big on secrets or sneakiness. I wish I was a better confronter and could confront people on many levels of conversation. I hate that I always think, "I should have said..." 

I love my husband because he's the only person who I feel doesn't judge me and loves me for exactly who I am. He is the best listener and calms me down like no other. I think his love is the most honest and pure of any that I know. He choose to love me and commit to me. To me that is one of the best feelings on earth. No one asked him to or told him it was the right thing - he just does. And every day I am amazed that he isn't sick of me! I love that he loves me even though he 

doesn't have to. I love being with him and my girls. I am horrible about remembering dates, geography and how to get around without a map! I am not good at receiving compliments. I know there is more to me but that's it for now!

 

My friend Steph made me remember...

Yet another thing I don't have time for! LOL 

I forgot I started this blog thing and never kept it up so I am back at it because Stephanie's made me remember the reason why I wanted to do one in the first place. 

So here we go again. Trying to get into it. The blog thing. It's midnight and I should go to bed but this is truly the only time when I can be on the computer and not feel the slightest bit guilty that someone's needs are not being met. 

It has been a long time since I last blogged. The kids are growing so quickly! I re-read my last blog and Jacey was watching the letter factory. Now she can write all the letters and is writing and reading small words. They grow so fast! 

This is a picture of Jacey and Teagan on the day of Jacey's 4th Birthday Party. Jacey was so excited that the sillies were attacking! Which happens quite often when she's excited or nervous. Let me fill you in on them to let you know who they are and why they are so amazing! 

They are great girls and I couldn't ask for anything better. I am amazed at how different they are! Jacey is very literal (everything is black or white, yes or no),  intuitive,  dedicated (she has a strong sense of friendship and thinks and worries about them a lot. Most times I think that already, at 4, friends are her number one priority), sensitive (which works against her being so dedicated to friends - she's hurt quite often), helpful (once at school the teacher said everyone need to pick a job pertaining to an airport and she wanted to be a flight attendant because they help the people), sporty with a flair (she can hit a ball right and left handed while wearing heals and a tutu!) and pretty funny. She has a presences about her, much like her dad, where people gravitate towards her and love her. She's a true leader like her dad and has learned in the past year how to turn leadership into a positive thing rather than a bossy manipulative thing. I am enjoying watching her grow with a self esteem and self respect that I don't know if I have ever had or do have. She's comfortable in her own skin and loves being Jacey! I HOPE HOPE HOPE she is always this way! I learn so much from her every day. 

Teagan is a silly character! We all laugh with her or at her a lot! She is pretty stubborn but has a heart of gold! She knows what she wants and exactly how she wants it, but hasn't yet learned the right way to explain that to the rest of the world. She is so expressive that she doesn't talk to much but makes a lot of funny faces (which leads to the laughs). She (opposite of Jacey) has an amazing imagination! She can play for hours by herself; creating little games for herself! And (opposite of Jacey) will NEVER watch TV. Which, at one time, I would have thought was great - but sometime TV can be a nice little break for everyone! She's a true scorpio, she's so sweet and loving you could eat her up and while your are cuddling the sweetie she stings you right on the -. She is very adventurous and throws caution to the wind daily! At 16 months she climbed up the play structure in the backyard without me watching - I only knew when she fell! I know great mother! LOL But Jacey was quick to fill me in on the details! And when I asked Teagan how she got up there - she just climbed up again! NO FEAR! 

Time to quit bragging about the kids! Now that you know them - my stories will be easy to understand! I hope.