Love Letters

I think we are officially ready for Santa to come; we've done pretty much every fun holiday activity I can stand! This is the Place Park, The Forgotten Carols, decorated a gingerbread house, did 3 separate Christmas countdown calendars, family parties, saw Santa at the mall twice, school programs, Thanksgiving Point lights, and a partridge in a pear tree!!!

Tate had his first preschool program yesterday and he was so excited! He couldn't wait to get up and sing....and boy did he sing! He just about shouted every song and did every action, he was so proud. I was proud of him too, going to preschool has been the best thing ever; and it's made him very outgoing and not afraid anymore.

You can't see him too well, but he's a little to the right of the teacher in the middle. I couldn't get good pictures, but Jord got some great film! I'm going to try and see if I can figure out how to put some on here, it was hilarious!

For the month of December, the Love's decided to do something "christmas-y" every week. So the first week we went to This is the Place park and it was so much fun! I definitely want to make it a tradition. A lot of the little homes are open and have different activities you can do; like crafts, a puppet show, dancing, etc. And the train takes you around to see the lights too. The kids loved it.

At the school house they taught us how to do a dance, so we each got a "partner" and the band played a song. This was seriously so fun, it was our favorite part.
I know I say it a lot, but I'm really loving the kids getting older. I feel like there's so much more we can do and places we can go. And they actually enjoy going too, they can stay out later and love to participate in stuff!

I've really slacked lately on blogging, which sucks, because this is my only journal. So I figure I'll do a post about each kid so I know what's going on with them right now!
Tate is getting much better these days about bad behavior. He still definitely has his moments, but overall he's acting a lot better! And it's nice, I can actually enjoy him and have fun with him now instead of just wishing it was bedtime:) He loves preschool, every day he asks if he has school, and how many minutes until we can go. Tate loves to color and draw. I'm obviously biased, but he's really good at it too. I love seeing his drawings because they are so cute and it makes me laugh! He's still a busy body; he would always be on the go if he could. Every day he asks where we're going and if we can play at grandma's, or Meg's or somewhere. But he really loves going to Hailey's (or as Tate says "Heh-wees") to play with her, they are the best of friends. He is a huge tease and just can't leave Marley alone! He loves to bug her and irritate her, just like a big brother I guess. But he can be really sweet and protective of her too. He is funny and silly just like his dad! Every day he cracks me up, it's been a crazy but fun 4 years!

Marley is now known as "the destroyer" at our house. She has reached that stage where anything she touches....turns into a mess. A few of the delightful things she's done recently are:
-poured a bottle of milk in the carpet....which still smells like a dirty diaper I can't get rid of
-writes on the walls, couches, herself, the floor, the entertainment center....anywhere BUT a piece of paper basically
-rips pages out of books
-any food given to her is smashed into the floor instead of eaten
-the second you take her diaper off she will run away and pee on the floor

Ugh, I can't believe it's already been a month since I last blogged. Once I get behind, then I just don't want to do it at all! So I'll quickly recap....

I'm getting depressed already thinking about winter coming. I love fall and Halloween, but it's the long cold weather after that I'm dreading. What are we going to do all freaking winter INSIDE? Since spring we've gone outside every day for hours running, riding bikes, jumping on the tramp, playing soccer and football, swinging....all that stuff. But what I will miss the most all winter are the little things only my kids can make me stop and appreciate!
-dirty scraped knees
-chasing their shadows..Tate asked why he can't ever seem to catch his:)
-picking up (and usually smashing with their fingers) any bugs....potato bugs, ants, worms...
-watching bees on the flowers
-laying on the grass and making shapes out of clouds
-jumping in ANY puddle they can find

THEN...
2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 house, 1 bachelors degree, many family trips, changing jobs, no money, still no money, lots of laughs,and lots of fights later......

It's been like 2 years since we've gone to the Love Ranch, so this past weekend all the Wakefield's went. Jord went with his brothers to the USC vs. Utah game in California, so I was a single mother....it was hard! We had so much fun and a ton of help, but the nights were hard because Tate was sick and Marley just would NOT sleep! Other than that it was awesome. Marley has never been, so it was fun to see her react to all the big (dead) animals there! And Tate was in heaven spending 4 full days of non-stop cousins! We never turned on the tv once, and the only toy we took was a scooter to ride on the deck. It was glorious to just have them run around and explore like kids should!

We don't babysit around here, we chicken sit! Brooke went out of town this week, so we offered to watch her 5 baby chickens. Most people have dogs, my sister has chickens! But the kids have been in heaven, they love feeding them, picking them up, and chasing them around the yard. They are super easy and kinda fun to have around....but I'm sure they'll just be happy to leave our crazy house where they don't get chased all day!

I was so upset because the last few days my camera died! I had brought an extra battery, but it of course was a dead battery...awesome. So I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, and some of the pictures are from Jord's phone.