Break Through!

Take a look at the outfit Josh is wearing. Nothing spectacular, but it is important.


Did you know that getting dressing by yourself is a VERY hard thing to learn? Well, apparently it is. Normally, when I ask him to try to put on his shirt, or take it off or whatever, his response is "that's hard to do." Not today! Today, he did it all by himself!

So, the importance of this outfit is, it is the first one he ever put on completely on his own. Yeah for Josh! He's such a big boy.

The Swamp

A few weeks ago, we headed over to the mall to play at the little playground called the swamp. I was shocked! Emily started crawling around, and climbing up everything. They both had a wonderful time. The toys in this playground are all squishy and soft. And there are no wood chips on the ground for Emily to eat. This is the perfect place for my kids to go have fun.

You can see that Emily is a little dare devil. She has no qualms about going down a slide, or the stairs for that matter, with no help. (She does the same thing with our furniture at home.)

Playing Dress Up

Sometime back in October, we were getting a little bored, so I pulled a bunch of clothes out of my closet that we don't use anymore and let the kids play dress up.

Josh wearing one of Daddy's old suit jackets. It almost fits!

Josh also found a shirt of mine that he thought fit perfectly. It was so comfortable, he sat down to watch TV (before the moratorium on it) while wearing it.

Emily didn't quite get the dress up idea, but she had just as much fun with the clothes.

Let's see what Mommy's skirt tastes like... mmm, good!

Peek-a-boo!

Halloween

Yes, I am that far behind on blogs. I am sorry. We took away television during the day, so I don't have much time to sit and blog, unless the kids are asleep. At those times, I like to be asleep myself. :)

For Halloween, we had a ladybug costume given to us, so Emily was a ladybug. Josh wanted to be Curious George, so I pulled out my brand spankin' new 30 year old sewing machine... my mom just gave me hers... and made it for him. I had a lot of fun doing it. I know, I know, Mom, you tried to teach me when I was young, but I'm just that stubborn. What can I say? Anyhow, I think it turned out quite well. The kids were so cute, and Josh had a blast. We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church and Boo at the Zoo at the community college zoo. (Which is essentially trick or treating in the zoo itself) Josh finally finished off his candy this week. (Thanksgiving week) Peter got in on all the fun and dressed up as the Man in the Yellow Hat.

Curious George, the Man in the Yellow Hat, and our LadyBug (Josh called her a "BabyBug")


Josh at Boo at the Zoo


Emily at Boo at the Zoo


I know this picture is random, but here's the explanation. At the top you see two big triangles. Below them, if you look real hard, you can see a face with eyes, nose, and mouth. Josh drew that... all by himself... with the intention of it being a face. He is soooo talented.

Republican Rally

On Saturday, I went to the republican headquarters here in Gainesville and made calls for a little over an hour to try to "get out the vote." While I was there, I found out that Sarah Palin was going to be at a rally only about 45 minutes away. So, Peter and I packed up the kids and headed down. It was a lot of fun. I heard there were about 7,000 people there on this high school baseball field. We had a great time.

And now for pictures of the really important attendees...

Josh enjoyed being able to run around in the dirt on the baseball diamond, and Emily just liked crawling around in the grass and eating it. Yum!

Homecoming

Here in Gainesville, the whole town shuts down for Homecoming. The Friday before, everyone has the day off... schools, lots of businesses, etc. etc. Anyhow, Peter had the day off too, so we had a great day planned for the family. So, Peter started off by going to work... Again, he had the day off, so he only stayed for an hour. :)

Then, we went to go vote. We also have early voting here. So, we drive up to the Library where we were going to vote. It looked like it was going to take 15 minutes to even get in the parking lot, so we decided to skip. Just didn't feel like standing in a long line to avoid a long line on voting day. I've heard that almost 2 million people have voted in early voting in Florida already and all.

Then we headed downtown to watch the parade. When we got there, we went into Jimmy John's to eat. YUM!!! That was my favorite sandwich shop in Provo, so I was so excited that we had it here. Then we went outside and lucked into a great parade watching spot right in front of the restaurant. Also happened to be in the rain, but that's okay. The kids had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, but both of them loved watching the police and firemen go by blaring their horns. Peter and I had a blast watching their faces. Would have been a great time for a camera. Oh well.

Florida went on to beat Kentucky 63-5 the next day. Finally, we're at a school that can win homecoming!

Tractor Carwashes.... Again

Josh's favorite thing to do in the evening is to build tractor carwashes and then take a picture of them. I shared one before, but I thought I'd do a collage of them because he does it all the time. He always makes sure to get a picture so that grandpa can see what he's been up to.

If you scroll to the next page on the collage, you'll get to see our little demolition crew as well. What teamwork!

Sorry it's been so long

So, it's been a while since I've spent any time on the internet. Sorry about that. I really don't have any pictures to go in here right now. Though I'm sure I could find any of a ton of pictures that Josh has taken. He really loves the "crama" (the camera) and would be just fine if I let him have it all day long.

A few weeks ago, I got a new calling. I'm the 1st councilor in the primary in our ward now. I am really enjoying this. On Saturday, we had an activity combined with another ward... Our boundaries changed last month, so we're doing a lot of things combined with the other ward in our building right now... anyhow, it was a lot of fun. We had several rooms with presentations on different parts of the world with lots of visual aids. At the end we had an African drum band play in the cultural hall. That was super neat. Even Josh was able to pay attention to some of it and sit still for a while. That is quite the achievement by the way.

At the activity, there was a marker to write name tags. Josh wanted that marker so bad, we bought him some for home. He loves them! He asks for them every single day. It is a lot of fun to find things that he really adores.

Emily is just growing and growing. She loves to get around everywhere. She can crawl and pull herself up and cruise along the furniture. If I'm not careful I could easily lose her for a little while as she explores things in the house. She has also gotten her second tooth.

Well, there's not really a lot going on right now. I hope everyone out there is doing well!

Spicy

I saw this on Coty's blog. So cute!

You Are Basil

You are quite popular and loved by post people. You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive. You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good.

What Spice Are You?

Emily Updates

Our little Emily is getting SO BIG! She is now almost 7 months old. I can't believe it.

Earlier this month, she started to get up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She would rock like a little maniac, and then fall on her face. In this picture, she is getting ready to do just that.

Then, we knew it couldn't be too long before she crawled. I know this picture looks just like the one before, but here she is actually crawling. I know, a video would be better. Sorry!

The very next day, I left Emily sitting in her crib so I could change the laundry. This is what I found when I came back. Now she's crawling everywhere and pulling herself up on everything.

Yesterday, she got her first tooth. Sorry, no picture. I can hardly see it myself. But it is so exciting. So much going on, and she keeps on going.

Since Vacation

So, here's a quick update on what we've been up to since we've been back from vacation this last month.

First of all, we had promised Josh we'd get a fish tank when we got back. So that was the first order of business. It was really cute. Josh knew that if we'd gotten the fish before we left, they would die while we were gone. So, for the few weeks before we left, when we'd go to Wal-Mart, he'd say "homa, fish, die" to let me know that we couldn't get the fish until after we went to Oklahoma.


Next, it was my last birthday ever.... I will forever be 29 now. :) Yes, I decorated the cake. I'm teaching myself. Someday, I'll get really good at it.


Josh's friend, Kai, had his first birthday party and one of their friends is a photographer who brought his super nice camera. This picture is priceless.


The other day, I walked out of the room and left the TV on. When I came back, they were just laying there, side by side, watching whatever cartoon was on.

Josh's new favorite thing to build. A tractor car wash. (This picture's for you grandpa! Now he wants to take a picture of EVERY tractor car wash for you.)

Guthrie

Our last stop on our trip was to see Granny and Granddad in Guthrie, OK. We had a grand old time there. Josh still talks about Granddad's new "geen tactor" and how he got to drive.

Josh and Emily in the wagon. Josh was making sure to keep Emily safe during the ride. He's such a good big brother.

Josh and Granddad in the "geen tactor"

4 Generations of Datins - Granddad, Great Granddad, Josh, Daddy, Great Grandma, and Emily


One day, we all loaded up and headed to the local bowling alley. Josh had never been bowling before, so this was quite the experience for him.

It didn't take long for Josh to get the hang of it. He was even able to carry the ball all by himself. Once he thinks he can do something on his own, there's no more helping him. Quite the little independent guy.

It sure takes a lot of concentration to get it just right. Look how serious he is about his game!

Bowling is sure hard work! Time for a break with Michael in Granddad's comfy chair.

Stillwater

Next we made a quick stop in Stillwater to see Elizabeth (Peter's sister) and her family.

Josh and Michael

Doughnuts are oh so good! Yumm!!!

Savanna and Emily

Sun N Fun

Josh's cousin Kaity had a birthday party at Sun N Fun while we were in Ponca City. The kids got to ride the kiddie rides while we were there. They each got 4 tickets. Josh LOVED the airplanes. He rode them 3 out of the 4 times.

Flying High

Ringing the train bell. "Watch out! Here we come!"

Camp McFadden

My Dad helps out with a nice little camp right outside Ponca. It's called Camp McFadden. If you ever happen by Ponca, I highly recommend checking the place out for a night or two. Anyhow, while we were there, we took a trip out to the camp to go canoing one afternoon. It was a ton of fun. Josh really had a blast this time. (Last time he was in a canoe, all he wanted was to get back to land.)

Hi!

Josh taking a turn at the paddle.

Here, Josh is trying to get the paddle back. Oops!

This is just a picture of the nice little pond we were on. We are in one canoe, and Heather and her family were in the other.

Putt Putt Golf

After our brief stop in Texas, we headed to the great town of Ponca City, OK to visit my parents. We were so happy to be able to see my cousin David and his family when they stopped by on their way to New Mexico. I wish we'd gotten pictures.

One day, we were able to go to the mini-golf course with the kids. Josh loved it for a good 5 minutes. I'd comment on his short attention span, but mine isn't much longer. :)

He's got the idea. Put the ball in the hole with the stick! Yeah!

Time for a much needed break! It's great that these golf course obstacles double as a bench.

This is how Emily got to enjoy the whole golfing experience. Looks like fun to me.

After about 4 holes, this is what Josh let us know what he really thought about mini-golf.

Texas

After we left Heather's place in Louisiana, we headed to Texas to visit Peter's brother, Doug, and his family. While we were there, Josh and the girls got to spend some time playing in the backyard.

Josh filling up the car. As you can see, he's been looking forward to putting gas in a car for a long time.

This is Kimmy. She just a few months younger than Josh. She obviously has something important brewing in that pretty little head of hers.

Later, we pulled out the pool. Kids and water are such a great mix.

Isn't it nice when cousins help each other out? Especially when it involves sprinklers.

I guess Kimmy wasn't quite wet enough! (Or maybe the adults egged him on...)

Ring around the Rosies

One more set of pics from Louisiana and then I'll move on. It's just so much fun to see 1-2 year olds playing ring around the rosies.

So much fun!

Then it was time to go. Bye Abby!

Bye Kaity! Love you guys!