Talen's photo shoot

I wasn't planning on taking pictures of Talen, but he jumped into the frame and said, "Mommy take pictures of me now." So I did and besides the breakfast crumbs on his face - they turned out pretty cool.

Kendal Photo Shoot

So I'm still learning how to use our camera and I'm not nearly as good as Jared, but I'm learning - so disregard the inconsistent lighting, color and blurriness.

Not Quite

Talen built this train track all by himself for the 2nd or 3rd time ever.

He kept saying, "Mom, I'm going to build a track for you, look mom, this track is for you." I kept saying "okay, let me know when your finished." So he finished it and said, "Look, look, look mom I built a track for you!" It was so cute and he kept asking me where the rest of the tracks were and I was trying to explain to him that we didn't have anymore tracks. I love the way it was engineered - it just made my day.

It Actually Snowed in Virginia?

Yes it actually did snow - the 2nd maybe 3rd time this season -but this time it actually stuck a few hours! We were completely shocked when we woke up to find this beautiful layer of sparkly snow on the ground - We got the kids fed, Jared left for school, and I told Talen to hurry and get dressed so we could go outside and build a snowman. I didn't have any gloves - I know I'm a horrible mother - we've never needed to buy any - it just doesn't get that cold here - and so I thought about putting socks on their hands but figured they'd be off so fast and wondered how much they'd actually do to protect their hands.

Anyway we finally got outside and all the snow had almost melted - I was so disappointed. All that was left that hadn't melted was the snow that was still in the shade. Well we played for a few minutes until I realized that both their shoes hadn't held up - and that their feet were soaking wet - so we went inside to warm up our toes and noses. It was fun but didn't last. I really wanted to build a Virginia Snowman. (Virginia is so inconsistent today's weather was 70 degrees)







If you noticed that Kendal has different bows in her hair in every picture there is an explanation - I'm trying to set up a little shop on etsy to sell bows and so I was trying to kill two birds with one stone by letting the kids play outside, take pictures of the snow and get pictures of my merchandise. If you want it check it out the site is kenjakinsboutique.etsy.com
Getting their toes warm and watching a bit of PBS after playing hard in the "snow" - more like slush if you ask me.

poor little guy

A few days ago we found this on our way up the stairs to go to bed. Most likely around 11:00 pm or so.









Sometimes he has a really hard time falling asleep at night, and it looks like this time he just wanted to come down the stairs and snuggle with mommy and daddy. We keep telling him he can't fit through the gate, but he still tries. It broke our hearts. Then we got over it and took these pictures. He was so out the flash from the camera didn't bother him in the least. So sweet.

Fun at the Park

This was Kendal's first time at a park where she could actually walk and play on the equipment by herself. We haven't been to a park in like 3 months due to weather, etc. So it was fun to see her play with her brother and play on the playground. It makes me crazy how big she is getting - she's like a toddler now and not a baby - I hate seeing my babies grow up : ( Could someone out there just freeze time a bit - so all of us moms can enjoy our babies a little bit longer?

Our little Drama King

Show me a Silly face...






Show me an Angry face...









Show me your happy face...





Show me your Nervous face..










Show me your scared face....





What a little actor!

Messy Messy

Kendal has been feeding herself since she was about 9 or 10 months old ( with her fingers)- but we didn't give her a spoon until she turned one. And you'll see why below. Let's just say Layla always knows where to start cleaning up after dinner. It's hard because I like to feed her so she doesn't have to have a bath after every meal, but it's so nice that she can feed herself - but the cost is food in her hair, food down her back, stains on all her clothes, and a gigantic mess to clean up afterward. That's my big girl.

Talen started school!

Talen and I started doing "school" a couple of weeks ago. It all sparked because during the week of Christmas Talen hadn't taken a nap for 5 days straight and so I was convinced that he was done taking them. I wondered what I could do with him to help his days feel more structured and full (now that he wouldn't be taking a nap), so I went down to Ben Franklin and bought a Magnetic Calendar (which he loves) and no we do Calendar time, Letters, writing, numbers and counting, and sometimes music time, where we'll dance or sing. We do it for about 45 minutes a day and then he goes down for "quiet time" which usually ends up being a nap - which is great for me because I was not ready for naps to be over.

Drawing one of his newly learned letters the T... He has a very low 2 year old attention span so it is not uncommon for him to practice his letter writing while laying down, and it's close to nap time.








Cross your T , good job.


























The letter T is a pretty special letter...























"Ta Dah...
Teeeeeeees!"













5 Letter Q's - One of the ways I get him motivated to write letters is tell him to draw a "daddy Q", a "Mommy Q", a "Talen Q", a "little bitty Kenny Q" and then Daddy asked him to draw a "Layla Q" (which is off to the far left - and was the last Q he drew) He drew them all himself and they are all quite perfect in size relative to the size of the family member they represent, you'll notice that Layla Q is slightly smaller than mommy Q, but bigger than Talen Q - quite remarkable. Oh and by the way the letter Q is his favorite letter to draw... over and over.... and over..... and over and over and over again.

Now we have the letter E...
























The way I taught him to draw the letter E was I told him to draw a line, and then to give the line a foot, a belt, and a hat, and surprisingly it made perfect sense to him and he draws them quite well.








... and a funky weird deformed Letter E, with 3 belts, or is it an E within an E - hmmmm - still pretty good.










Overall I'm very proud of my little student and I'm pleased with his passion for "school" and his hard work (he totally loves it and looks forward to it everyday)









Talen: "Mommy are you gonna be my teacher"
Mommy: "Yeah is that ok?"
Talen: "No, you're a mommy"
Mommy: "Can I be your mommy and your teacher?"
Talen: "Ummm... ok."

A Thought

It has been said that Selfishness is the cause for most sins - lying, cheating, stealing, swearing, adultury, idolness, etc - it's all because of selfishness, and that if we could just learn to be selfless the world be a much happier place - more pure and full of joy. Everyone struggles with it because the world teaches you to look out for numero uno, to make money, to do what feels good, to guard your feelings, to guard your stuff, and to do ultimately what is good for yourself regardless if it is unethical, immoral, or just plain inconvenient. Care about yourself first, and then whatever you want second and third and so on.

Getting married is a good step towards becoming less selfish - something you'd never really see coming until you were actually there living the experience. It's impossible to have a good marriage where selfishness is involved. Having kids is the next step towards selflessness and I think is the ultimate step - with every child that comes, the more selfless you get- your almost forced to get more and more selfless whether you want to or not because you're spreading yourself thinner and thinner giving all the time, energy, and love you have left.

I think the real test is being able to be selfless while enjoying it. Doing it because you have faith in the blessings, and because what motivates you is pure love, even when it's rarely fair, and rarely appreciated or noticed, and even when the pay off is never worth the work that you put into it. Doing it purely because of the love of Christ. Never wondering what you're going to get out of it, never feeling sorry for yourself and wishing you could have more time for yourself, giving up your life to share the love of Christ with those around you (with your family being the first recipients). There's a saying that says "God couldn't be everywhere at once and so he gave us mothers" - that's a tough burden to bear- trying to be as Christ-like as possible serving and loving it - never complaining, never wishing your life were different; performing pure service because it's the right thing to do. It's seems so daunting and impossible - to not actually fake it with a smile on your face (secretly wishing you could be somewhere else doing something you actually enjoyed), but to actually become that Christlike person- where you really do enjoy it and where there's nothing you'd rather be doing in all honesty.

Maybe someday after my 10th kid (Yikes) I'll learn what it's like to be that person.

President Hinckley was and is of my heroes. He inspires me to be better and to me he was a perfect example of selfless service. He has been gone now for almost a year (January 27, 2008) but I think his life legacy will inspire many for years and years to come.

"Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds" - President Gordon B. Hinckley