2010

I put this blog on the back burner, and honestly it might just stay there. But, a few weeks ago I gave a lesson in Young Women's on journals and how important it is to keep one, and it made me remember this little online journal I have here. So, here is my attempt to complete the challenge I gave my girls to either start a journal or write in one they already have. Many, many things have happened this year that I want to remember, so here is 2010 so far in a nutshell.

Cicialy and I went on a mother / daughter date to the Nutcracker put on by the Houston Ballet(this actually happened at the end of 2009 but Cici looked so cute in her Christmas dress that I wanted to post the picture). Cicialy loves ballet and was so excited during the entire show!!!
I spent my middle school and junior high school years living in Mandeville, Louisiana. Every time February rolls around I reminisce about Mardi Gras with all of its traditions of parades, food, and fun. Last year I told the kids about how yummy King Cake was but never got around to making it. This year I made it and am sure it will now be a fun family tradition!

Another family tradition we now have is to take the family to the Houston Rodeo in March!!! Dan took a half day off of work and we pulled William out of school to head downtown and have some good western fun. The Livestock Show was amazing as usual (this year we saw a piglet being born, chicks cracking out of their eggs, and of course a Texas Longhorn or two), the kids couldn't get enough of the carnival (though Mom and Dad could : ), and the food was to die for. To top the day off we got to see a pro rodeo and then Dirks Bentley perform live.

William turned 6!!! If you can't tell this was our attempt to make the requested soccer ball cake.

My brother Matt is in medical school at Texas A&M and we were lucky enough to get to visit for the baby blessing of his first daughter. The kids love baby Hanna and can't stop talking about how cute they think she is. My grandfather, Papa, was also there and they loved visiting with their great grandpa.

Our neighborhood did another great Easter Egg Hunt Extravaganza complete with crafts, bouncy houses, petting zoo, pony rides, and ferris wheel. Will was sad that he had to leave early to make his soccer game.

Weston turned two in May. He is no longer a baby even though I try so hard to still imagine him as one. His favorite thing in the whole wide world is trains. That is pretty much all he plays with and all he talks about. Good thing we've collected enough Geo Trax sets by now to have our whole play room turned into train wonderland.

William finished Kindergarten in May and had a great year. He is excited about learning even more in First Grade.

Grandma and Grandpa Packer came for a visit. We had fun exploring Houston with them!!!

Cicialy danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in her year end ballet recital. She was soooooooo cute. Have a mentioned how much she loves ballet?! In the weeks leading up to her recital she was constantly reminding us that dancers get flowers after thier performances. She loved all the flowers her grandparents gave her (Cici was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents in attendance).

William participated on our neighborhood swim team early on this summer. I was amazed at how well he improved week from week and now he is a super strong swimmer. His favorite event was the freestyle relay. I wish we had a diving team on this side of Houston because that is where his real interest lies. I can't pull that kid away from the high dive when we go swimming.

In June Dan and I were lucky enough to be able to participate in the Stake Pioneer Trek as the programs and activities directors. It was a lot of work (especially the month and a half prior to the trek since we were on the Stake Trek Committee) and pretty stinkin' hot, but so much fun!!! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Finally, I just got back from a week at Girls Camp in Dequincy, Louisiana! Early on this year I got my dream calling of being the ward camp director!!! I loved getting to know the girls in my ward and doing one mutual night activity with them each month to prepare for camp. Our YW Presidency really wanted to make sure I was included in the program so I was even invited to attend YW with them each Sunday (and teach a few times). As girls camp approached I started getting so sad because I knew that once camp was over I would not be needed any longer : ( Much to my surprise I was called into the YW presidency just two weeks before camp!!! I am humbled and excited about this opportunity. At camp I was a counselor over a group of 2nd years. We had so much fun, but I am dead tired. I got up at 5:30 each morning to swim the mile and 1/2 mile swim with the girls and then went non stop until the wee hours of the morning.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's snowing in Houston! We can't believe it! The kids think its magical! William even got out of school early today because of the weather (was this really necessary - no - but kind of fun). Thanks to Cici's suggestion we are enjoying hot chocolate and looking out the window loving our one afternoon of snow for possibly the next 4 or 5 years. The crazy thing is that I was wearing flip flops yesterday.

(Cici is eating snow in this picture)

Nursery

Weston is finally old enough to go to nursery, and he did great! We dropped him off, stayed 5 minutes to settle him into things, left, and never heard a peep for the next two hours of church. He did escape at the very end though when another parent was picking up their kid. My friend found him running down the hallway on the complete opposite side of the church. I guess everything couldn't go off without a hitch : )

We had a great Halloween!

We hope all of you had a Happy Halloween. We sure did!

If you can't tell Cici is a peacock. I fell in love with the costume at pottery barn kids but thought I could make it a little cuter and a lot cheaper. Cici was sold on the idea after being told that her great grandpa and grandma Packer used to own peacocks. The headpiece was a nightmare to create but luckily I am married to an engineer. I thought she was so cute!

William was an astronaut again! We did make a new hat though.

Weston was our little cowboy/sheriff. His hat lasted on his head for about 5 seconds. Oh well, we tried!

Here are the kids at the end of our church's trunk or treat the night before Halloween. They had a lot of fun and got too much candy (and they still had trick or treating the next night to look forward too : ) Will and Cici enjoyed passing out candy when they were done making the car circuit almost has much as getting treats themselves.

Before trick or treating we enjoyed a dinner of spiders, eyeballs, jack o lantern grilled cheese sandwiches, ghostly gruel, and witches brew. The kids really enjoyed this part of Halloween.

Halloween was tons of work, tons of fun, and now we need to start thinking about what we will be next year (especially if I am going to be sewing any of the costumes again : )

I Don't Want to Forget This!

With William in Kindergarten and Cicialy at preschool and then a friend's house, it has just been me and Weston today! I am loving it! We've played, wrestled, and snuggled. Weston has also managed to destroy the house while I worked on preparing my church lesson for Sunday. After lunch I told my seventeen month old boy that we needed to clean the house and began to wipe up a counter. He immediately went to the sink, opened up the cabinent, took out a dust cloth, and showed it to me. I told him good job and that he could go start dusting the house if he wanted to (not really thinking anything of it). After I finished wiping off the countertops I noticed how quiet it was and went in search of Weston. This is what I found!

He was actually cleaning! He sure was proud of himself, and I was proud of him too! I'm glad he is finding the joy in cleaning at such a young age.

I Can Now Stop and Breathe!

Cici turned 4 this past Sunday, and her birthday turned into a weekend extravaganza. On Friday morning she had a princess birthday party with her friends. Since I waited until the last minute to prepare, I was up all Thursday night buying the food (heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and dip platter, princess punch) and party favors (rings, necklaces, bracelets, lipgloss), preparing the decorations (big flower pom poms), baking the cake (two-tiered circular pink cake with tiara on top), cutting out and sewing together the felt princess head wreaths each girl would get to decorate, making the princess ribbon dance wands, and setting up the games (pin the kiss on the frog, princess and the pea game, pass the poison apple, and search for cinderella's slipper). But it was worth it. Cici loved her party, and I think all of the girls had a lot of fun!

On Saturday we went as a family to McDonald's after Will's soccer game. Cici had been begging for the past week to go since the girl Happy Meal toys were Barbie themed. She was very excited that she got the exact toy she wanted (a mirror compact with comb)! I spent the rest of the day shopping for her presents before and after the General Relief Society Broadcast. I am grateful Macy's is open until 10 on the weekends! I got it in my head that I wanted her to be able to open a present of a new dress in the morning to wear to church since her birthday was on a Sunday. I went to the mall in the afternoon and couldn't find anything I liked except for an okay dress at Macy's. I decided not to buy it and look at Target after the broadcast. Well Target had nothing and by that time it was 9:45. I hurried back to the mall just in time to buy the dress before the stored closed.

Sunday night Cici and Will got to make edible princess wands (an activity that we didn't have enough time for at her party), we had Cici's birthday dinner (french dip sandwiches, Doritos, and rootbeer) and opened presents. It was a great weekend but she is definantly not getting such a fuss made over her next year : )

A couple of weekends ago my parents threw a little party for Cici at their house since they knew they would be in Europe for her big day. I think 3 parties is enough for 1 little girl!

(Can you tell how excited she is - she got exactly what she wanted!)

Cici's Big Week

Cicialy has been having a very exciting week full of momentous milestones. The first was starting ballet. For the past year Cici has been considering carefully what activity she would like to participate in when she got old enough. She threw out several ideas, thought about it, discarded a few, and then came up with the final three: ballet, gymnastics (especially after the olympics last summer), and ice skating (inspired from the Minnie Mouse vs. Daisy Duck scene in a Mickey Mouse Christmas). Throughout it all though ballet seemed to be the clear winner in her mind. She always wants to check out ballet books from the library and twirls around the house constantly. We tried out gymnastics this summer when a friend from church was taking it too, but despite having fun she wanted to take ballet this fall instead. So, ballet it is! On Tuesday morning you could just tell how excited she was, and it was so cute how she kept saying, "Mom, I'm just a little bit nervous." She did great and the next day asked if it was time for ballet again. I don't know if she'll be able to handle waiting a whole week inbetween classes.


And then today Cici started preschool! 3 other moms and I have formed a preschool where we take turns teaching using the "Mother Goose" curriculum. She goes twice a week for 2 and 1/2 hours each time. There are 2 girls and 2 boys in the class so it worked out pretty well. I'll let you know how it goes when its my week to teach. She seemed to have enjoyed herself this morning. Now with Kindergarten, Preschool, ballet, and soccer for Will coming up we are pretty busy and loving it!