Where does the time go

We have had a fabulous summer! The little sunshine we had was thoroughly enjoyed. I can't believe it's already September so I better post the last few months, before I get too far behind. I have to first start with Collin's new favorite game. He loves hide and go seek. He would play it for hours if WE had the attention span. I have to say his hiding skills are lacking a little, but he is 3 and I can't say I really want him to be too good or else we might never find him. This is one of his oh so tricky hiding spots :)




And although it may look like Marissa is using the same hiding technique she is in fact sleeping. We went to check on her the other night and found this, it was hilarious!



Aunt Cristy came for an awesome visit. We loved having her and it was fun for me to get to know her even better, I keep thinking of her as my "little" 15 year-old sister, even though she's 19 and in college. So it was fun to get to really know my beautiful, wonderful, smart, spiritual sister. I am so proud of her. The kids loved her and Collin still mentions her and every once she makes it into his prayers.






At the end of her visit we all mushed into our little car and drove down to the Redwoods to go camping with my whole family. I guess it was our first "Valenza family" reunion. We spent a week down there and got to sleep in a tent. It was quite the adventure. We had a blast and I did fairly well with the mess. Marissa was covered in a thick layer of dirt, but she was happy. The kids did awesome and we all loved the quality time we had together. You really can't beat the peace and beauty of the outdoors. What an awesome family we have! Here is a picture of Collin, Marissa, and Cayley in their camp chairs. Collin's favorite part besides sleeping in a tent was having a fire every morning and night.




Marissa is becoming quite the little independent woman! Much to our dismay. She is a mover and much more adventurous and daring than Collin is/was. She has figured out how to climb onto the kitchen table, how to make a mess of Toby's kitty food, how to get all cute outfits dirty, etc. you get the picture. She is a ham! We love her and she keeps us on our toes. She is a doll and she is so loving and cuddly, but man is she sweet and sassy! This is what happens when we let her feed herself...


I just couldn't resist! ha ha what a girl.


Again, what a girl


And even though these two can drive each other crazy already, there is sure a lot of laughs and love.


And just to show you that it isn't all fun and games, even though sometimes it sure does feel like I just get to play all day. These little munchkins sure wear me out. I love them so so much. I really can't believe how incredibly blessed we are and I love being home with these precious children.

And don't worry, Adam is around he just somehow never makes it into pictures. I'll have to work on that. We sure love that amazing man. What a good daddy and husband :) He does so much for us and we are lucky to have him :) Sorry, I had to brag and I'm allowed, it's my blog right!!!

We have a 3 year old among us

Collin is 3! He likes to remind us often. He is now a big boy, because he is 3. We don't quite understand where our baby boy went, but I guess time really doesn't wait for anyone does it. We so love this sweet, crazy, fun boy. He is just awesome! It is so fun watching him grow physically, but also mentally and emotionally. He just amazes us. He is so full of energy and life. He is very passionate about everything (a trait he gets from me of course :) and we have our share of ups and downs but he is just so special. He continues to make us laugh and smile. His new favorite thing to do is play hide and seek, oh, and go potty standing up. After about a week of work he is potty trained, not completely but he is doing so good. He really is such a big boy and we just love this crazy kid.







For his birthday we played all day. Once daddy came home from work we opened presents (it killed him to wait), then while he helped Adam put his trike together I made dinner; waffles, eggs, and sausage (his request). After dinner we played outside, then went to the park, ate cake, took a bath and read lots and lots of stories. A pretty perfect day according to Collin. It was so much fun and Collin kept telling us how much fun he was having. I am a lucky momma!

Our darling 1 year old

Yes, Marissa is 1! We can't believe it. Didn't I just have her? Well apparently not, but it sure seems like it. Isn't it amazing how the second child seems to grow so much faster. She is still our little doll baby. She isn't quite walking, but she does cruise along the furniture and takes a few steps on her own. She is sweet and sassy. She sure gives Collin a run for his money. So in honor of our little sweetie, here are several pictures from her first year and to top it off with a video from her 1st birthday, eating her cupcake. Yes, she loves food just like her momma.

March and April Collinisms

This silly cute boy!

• Mommy- "Collin are you a big boy?" Collin- "Not yet." Mommy, "When will you be a big boy." Collin (very matter of factly)- "When I'm nine."
• So we are starting seeds in the house and today some of them popped up. I called Collin over to show him the little green plants. He got down, looked at them, and said, "now we can eat them." ha ha. He didn't understand the waiting part.
• "Oh, that so cuuuuuuuuute"
• So today we drove by the shipyard (where Adam works). Collin saw the big boats and I told him that's where daddy works. He said, "When I big I work on big boats with Daddy and Steven (one of Adam's friends and co-workers)." He then proceeded to tell me he would work with Daddy when he is "tall tall, like a snowman". (Gotta love that creativity)
• "I'm silly Collin boy the Monkey"
• Singing the wheels on the bus and these are Collin's own verses... "the moose on the bus throw a muffin to the boy, etc...all through the town" "The wet wipe on the bus goes wipe, wipe, wipe... all through the town"
• Singing Old McDonald he starts singing, "And on his farm he had a mommy, ee-i-ee-i-oh with a clean-up here and a clean-up there." So I guess he notices that I try to keep the house clean after all.
• When we tickle him he now says, "I don't like it" while laughing of course.
• One night while we were putting him in his pjs his leg got stuck and he said, "get in Collin boy leggies."
• While playing with his trains, one fell apart and he said, "uh-oh sapettios" (spaghettios).
  

A visit from Grandpa & Grandma Valenza

So my parents came a few months ago, I can't believe I haven't blogged about it sooner. They came for a quick weekend, but it was such an awesome visit. We played lots of games, showed them around Port Orchard and Seattle, and just spent some wonderful quality time! It was a blast and we were sure sad that it went by so fast. Lucky for the kids and I, we get to go to California this month to spend more time with them. Isn't family just wonderful!

February Collinisms

It is so so fun to have Collin talk. We just love it. It is so nice that he can communicate with us and he says the cutest things. We just love that little voice.

A few things Collin says, that I'm realizing he got from me... "Wait a minute" when he is twisting on the lid of anything "Nice and tight" "Oh my goodness" When we put Marissa to bed he says "Sweet Dreams"

Collin got some Disney's Cars cars for Valentine's day. While he was playing with them he said, "Doc is sooooooo cool".

Oooooo pink. I liiiiiiiike pink.

While eating crackers. Collin- "I'm making a mess. I get my choo choo bib. I no get my shirt dirty."

Daddy- "Collin, can we go inside?" Collin- "No, stay outside." Daddy- "But it's cold." Collin- "I be okay."

Our Child Prodegies

Collin is finally starting to put words together and sing. He loves to be sung to every night. His favorite songs are I love to See the Temple and I am a Child of God. Here are our cute little ones performing a little duet and Collin singing his own rendition/hybrid song of I love to See the Temple and I am a Child of God. Don't you just love that sweet, innocent little voice. We are so richly blessed. Oh and of course our cat had to make his grand appearance...