Summer happened so fast...

This summer was so much fun with Londyn! She's at a fun age and does so many sillythings. So, this picture tells a funny story! With Tagg being gone, I've had the pleasure of taking care of the lawn and making it the greenest it's ever been! Sorry Tagg, but it's true, you kinda turned our yard into a brown, weed fest last year. :o) Anyway, I'm a perfectionist in a lot of things that probably doesn't matter. Sad, but I can admit it. Well, it takes me awhile to get the sprinklers set in just the right spot so that it waters the corners AND the flowers. So, I move the sprinklers around, run up onto the porch, stick my leg through the railing and turn the water on with my foot, run back onto the sidewalk to make sure it's where I want it. If not, I run back up and turn the water off and re-position them. I repeat this several times until the three heads are all in the right spot. Apparently, Londyn - being the observant child that she is - thought she could save me a few steps. :o) As I was re-positioning one of the heads, the water turns on! I scream, and back away, and then notice Londyn with her foot through the railing, turning the water on. Then, I hear laughter behind me, and see that Kris (our across the street neighbor) saw the whole thing. How embarrassing. I still can't believe that Lou could reach it and actually turn it on. The little stink! :o)



It's always fun to have cousins over! Luckily, Londyn has a few bikes to share. Indee even hopped on my bike and pulled Londyn and Mia behind her in the bike trailer. I was pretty impressed cuz it was a little big for her. If you know Indee though, you know that she was determined to do it! We sure wish we were staying here, these cute girls and family just moved to Ririe. And Penny & Eric finally moved back from Portland to Tetonia. So, we have been spending time with them and it's been a blast! At least we won't be too far away.



We've spent a lot of time on the phone with Daddy, too! Every time my phone rings, Lou rushes to it and says daddy, daddy, daddy until I answer it. I'm glad she's at this age while he's been away. She's not quite old enough to really realize that he's gone for so long. But yet, she's still at the age where she'll snuggle me so I'm not so lonely. :o)

P.O.S.T. and ATC

I've realized that I am WAY behind on blogging! I'm sure most of you know that Tagg has been hired to be a Trooper for Idaho State Police. It was a lengthy process, and it's a long training schedule, but it will be so very worth it in the end! Tagg began POST (it stands for Peace Officers Standards and Training, a.k.a. Police Academy) on July 19th in Meridian. He was there for 10 weeks. I must say, it really did go by quickly. He got to come home on the weekends, which of course flew by! He didn't get home on Friday night till about 9:30 and would have to leave on Sunday at 5p.m. Tagg was elected Class President, so he had to speak at graduation. He did a great job and we were so proud of him! Thank you, Jan and Jerry for coming and also to my mom and Grandma Sakota and Kris and Holly for driving there and back just for graduation! We really appreciate all of our families and friends support! Tagg was then able to come home and be with us for an entire week! We kept it very low key and just enjoyed having him home.

Now Tagg has started ATC, which is ISP's advanced training academy. It is BRUTAL!! They started with 9 officers for ISP, and before ATC even began on Monday, Oct. 4th, one quit that same morning!! Then, on Tuesday...Day Two, another one quit at noon!! Grr!! I know I have no clue how hard it really is, but quitting, really? I shouldn't judge, but considering the fact that Tagg almost didn't get hired really ticks me off. He was initially told no, they could only hire 8 and that he was #9 or 10 and they didn't have the budget for all of them. This is a long story, but I want to "journal" it. In addition to the 8 that they hired, they hired 4 laterals. Which means, these 4 were officers for different departments so they didn't have to go through POST, since they already had completed it. They just had to go through ATC. So, those 4 started ATC in March and two weeks into it, someone quit. Well, they called Tagg to see if he was still interested and he was hired! Good thing too! :o) They also decided to hire one more person, so that made 10 and 3 laterals. Well, the second week of POST, one of these 10 ISP guys also quit!! So, I'm just a little shocked that after such a grueling hiring process, someone would just drop out! I am just thankful that Tagg was hired and that he's doing so well. (And to think they almost passed him up) So, the upside to these last two that just quit, is that we may get to be in Region 5 instead of 4. That means, instead of Burley, we may be in Pocatello. (These two that quit were assigned to Poky.) And we could be assigned any city within the Pocatello Region, which could be as close as Shelley. So, that would be great...the closer to home, the better. Back to ATC, Tagg has said this is the hardest thing he's ever had to do! They yell at them and try and break them down. He's physically and mentally fatigued! He said the first day, they had to max out on Leg Presses. Then, the second day they had to do "Rabbit Runs." You start by all holding a rope, in a single file line and run. Then, the person in the back has to run to the front. They had to continue doing this for 2 miles. Ugh! They were up to a 6 mile run in POST and Tagg has heard that they'll finish ATC running 13 miles. ATC graduation will be Dec. 23rd, just in time for Christmas, YAY! Here's to hoping that these next 12 weeks fly by!

Summer fun!

It's been a long time since I've posted! So, I've got a lot of catching up to do. Lots of pics for this post, but also a lot of journaling, so just skip all of that. I just need to start blogging more before I forget. This has been a fun summer for the most part. Londyn will be two on the 25th and I seriously cannot believe it! This is a super fun age. She's learning new things and I love to be the one to introduce her to those new things. She is finally talking more than signing and it's been a blast to hear her put things together. My three favorite things she says is, "Mmm, nummy!" "There it is" and "Oh, cute!" I was getting her dressed this morning and she stood up, looked down at her shirt, and said "oh cute!" Then when I came outta my bedroom after getting comfy's on, she said it again. Too funny! So, here are a few things we've been doing to keep ourselves busy while Tagg is away. I'll post more about that later.

This is Londyn's first time playing with play-dough. We had so much fun and it even came with a little duffle bag to store everything in. She loved rolling it out and then cutting out shapes.

If you remember, she got this fun musical bike for her birthday last year from two of our neighbors. It has absolutely been one of her favorite things! I've had it in the house for her to ride around, but decided to let her ride it outside. As you can see, she was super excited!

Okay, seriously I'm not an artist AT ALL!!! So, please don't laugh at my sorry attempts for side-walk chalk kitty and puppy. But hey, at least Lou knows what they are right? :o) She loves to color and side-walk chalk is no different. She'll bring me the chalk and say "Meow?" then after I draw the kitty, she hands it to me again and says, "ruff?" She will then go play for a bit and then come back to say hi to the cat and dog. She has even gotten down on her belly to say hi and give them kisses.

My friend, Heidi was so nice to give us this fun slide. Sadly, it's the only backyard toy since we know we're moving, Tagg won't let us get anything yet so we don't have to pack it up. :o) But, this has been great to keep Lond entertained. She'll throw her ball down it and then run and get her baby cuz she wants to share the fun. Lond will sit there for a minute sometimes with her arms up and will say, one...two...three (kind of says it anyways) and then slide down.

And what's a summer without bubbles? I found a little bubble maker that I thought you could just set on the ground and it would blow them out. Oops, that's what I get for not reading the directions. You have to dip it into the bubbles and then it's like one of those mini fans. Luckily Tagg was there to get it working for us. Lou was loving it, too!

Londyn's Many Faces

Londy will bring the remote to us so we can turn on her shows. She is addicted I tell ya! But, what's not to love about The Backyardigans or Little Einsteins?

Every time we grab the camera and tell Londyn to look at us, she squints her nose and breaths in and out really fast. I'm glad we've got a few on camera now since she usually stops by the time it actually takes the pic.

This cute little face is a new one. She'll go around dancing like a crazy person and sing. She'll also do this face and say ooo, ooo, ooo a bunch as she's doing tippy toes or spinning in a circle. :o)

She loves to brush her teeth, which is an easy way to get her hair done. People always ask me how I get her to hold still and honestly, it hasn't been an issue. I just sit her on the bathroom counter, turn on the water just a tad, and she takes our toothbrushes in and out of the holder and also puts them under the water. I also think it helps that I've been doing her hair since day one. So, I think she's just used to it. I'll even ask her, "Londyn, should we go fix your pretty hair?" And she taps her hand on her head and walks right to the bathroom. She's a pretty good kid. Friends and family keep reminding us that we'll never have another "Londyn". And Tagg says, "then why try for any more and risk gettin a naughty kid?" Hmmm...

Updates on Lou

I haven't posted anything about Londyn for quite some time. Actually, since she turned one. Londyn started walking at 13 months. She is 16 months now. Crazy! She's a funny little girl. She likes to tease you, especially Tagg. She is at that stage where she loves to sit on things. She loves her Dora chair she got for Christmas, she likes to take my sewing container and sit on it by her activity table, and if she has a box, she drags it all over and sits on it. She's also at the age where she likes to stand on things, like the containers and boxes. Londyn also loves to sing and dance. She will do Ring around the Rosie all by herself, sings and does the actions for Monkey's jumping on the bed, and Monkey's swinging in a tree.



My friend, Katie Wells, has been taking some photo's for my new hobby business. She's awesome and if you're looking for a photographer, click HERE to go to her blog. This is one of my newest patterns, a cap sleeve dress with a sash. I love it!

See that nasty red crusty thing on Londyn's forehead? Yep, it's Impetigo. She did so good not scratching it and took all of her Anti-biotic. It took awhile to heal up and got pretty nasty. It started out looking like a little zit and then she bumped her head on the corner of our computer desk and it all went downhill from there. It got really yellowish and filled with pus, it was nasty! I'm glad that the meds worked and is all healed up. :o) This is the Dora chair that she loves. She also love the piano. She keeps us pretty entertained and she is a very mild mannered girl.

Londyn is a smart little girl! She catches on very quickly and is very observant. This is her signing "more". She knows a lot of signs now and people are so funny when they see her sign, they are amazed. To me, it's not a new concept. I was impressed when one of my friends started teaching her daughter a few signs like more, please, milk, etc. I have always loved Sign Language and knew that I wanted to teach my kids. Some people say it can affect them in not talking cuz they'll just sign, but it has been so helpful during this stage cuz she can't talk yet. So, we'll see how she does. Some more signs she's learned are: Thank you, sorry, I love you, milk, candy, more, baby, brush your teeth, cheese, eat, all done, please, again, no no.

One of her many faces. She was teasing Tagg, he wanted kisses and she would get off this little car and start walking towards him and when she was in arms reach, she'd hurry and run back to the car. I think she thought she was "safe". Tagg bought her a basketball hoop and she's a little short for it, but she will sit on the couch and we'll put the hoop next to it and she will "dunk" it in. She's so funny. Tagg was watching a basketball game and Londyn came into the room and as she did a guy hit a three point shot and the crowd was cheering. Right when he made it, she said, "OOOhh." Then the other team went and scored and she said it again. Do you think she's been to basketball games or what? :o) Don't get me wrong though, she is still very much a girly girl. She still loves her babies and must sleep with one of them. She likes to play dress-up with our clothes and hats and shoes. This is such a fun age!