The Helper

Jocelyn is one of those toddlers who LOVES to open drawers and cupboards and pull out whatever is in them. She finds this is the best way to help me in the kitchen. It is not unusual at all for her to pull out a drawer and empty its contents then put them all back, then take them out again.

This weekend I was making dinner and Jocelyn thought the best way for her to help me was to focus her efforts on the silverware drawer. Typical, no big deal. I noticed that each time she pulled something out she would grunt then pause then say, "K". She kept doing that, but I figured that was her putting things back in, as is the highest drawer she could reach.

At some point I needed to throw something away and walked over to the trash can that just happens to be right next to said drawer and what did I find? A pile of her forks and spoons, my measuring spoons and some knives. She was taking them out one by one and placing them in the trash can. She said, "K" each time she set one down and went for the next. She was even trying to put more in as I fished them all out to wash.

It might be time for a trash can with a lid.....

California- The Farewell

Saturday we played and prepped for the Farewell and Jocelyn played.

Jocelyn loves to snuggle in her blanket from Grandma

Helping make things is her favorite (and the coffee cake being made is her mother's favorite)

See? Its her favorite

She tried to get the flowers to drink from the cup. For some reason they would not do it.

Using the watering can with Aunt Becky was better.

Sunday she wore her new dress from Grandma and even graced us with her "big smile" (that was, of course, after the farewell. She made sure to not sit through either of the two times Sara spoke.)

What, you want a picture of the actual missionary? Why would have one of those? Crazy I tell you. Believe or not, she was there. I just don't have those pictures on my computer. But if you MUST have one. Her it is. Sister Pulsipher and some of our AMAZING leaders (and friends) from Simi 3

Oh and I was there too. making funny faces with best friends. We just need Emily and the 4 of us are perfect.

California- Pumpkin Patch

The next day Jocelyn and I hung out together until Grandpa Pulsipher got home from teaching. Then the fun began. He took us to Underwood Farms and I don't know if these two could have had more fun!

She rode in a wagon

Then insisted on pushing the wagon

Drove a bus

I think this was Grandpa's favorite part

Climbed the "haystack" (then tumbled down)

Played in tunnels

Went down the slide. several times.

Picked the perfect pumpkin

And headed home with our loot, while cowing down on delicious California strawberries.

Californa- The Flight

Cory was scheduled to teach a class all weekend from October 20th-23. When I found out that Sara's farewell would be that same weekend I thought to myself that it would be nice to go if we had the money but we did not. I was bummed. Then Cory, being the wonderful husband he is, perceived my sadness and said he would use his money from his class to pay for me to go. Yay! Really. Yay. I NEEDED this trip.

Jocelyn loved watching the airplanes. She would yell "airplane!" and shoot her hand in the air signing it.

I was terrified of flying with Jocelyn on a packed flight. This girl HATES to sit still. And the flight was after her bed time. (sleeping at all with people around does not happen.) For the most part she did pretty well on the flight and with the help of a magna-doodle and treats, we eventually made it to LA. Both a little tired.

I was trying to navigate around the Delta portion of the airport while under construction with Jocelyn, a carry on and her car seat. Thank you dear stranger who gave me a cart to use!

The Bike Trailer, croozer kid for 2

I have more pictures but cannot get them at the moment as they are on my not working computer. However, it documents it.

For my birthday I asked for one thing. Money to get a bike trailer/jogging stroller. I wanted to work out with Jocelyn in tow so I had no excuses. I did not want a bike seat since they are not as safe if you happen to crash your bike. My sister had one and it seemed like the perfect solution. I did as much research as I could but there was not much out there. I just knew I needed it to be 1)durable 2) easy to use 3) comfy for any children using it. There is a lot out there. Ranging from $100-$600. I eventually decided I would get one kind of in the middle because I planned on using it a ton and not just to ride around the block. This is what I bought.
It is the Croozer kid for 2. It is the cheaper, chinese version of the most expensive $600 one. It was $450 and came with everything I needed. Most people will not pay this much. It is possible I could have found something just as good for cheaper, but from what I read, this was better for heavier use. I was able to get it and I have really loved it and the customer service I have received getting it from a bike store as opposed to online is wonderful.

Features I looked for and I like:

Bucket seats- A lot of cheaper strollers have canvas with not actual seat and I have heard the kids slide into each other. No idea of its true but I wanted something to avoid that

Infant attachment- you can get an infant sling so that you can still run before your child is 6 months old. I was dying to work out when Jocelyn was little and it drove me crazy. This should help next time around.

Space in back- we have gone to costco and fit all of our groceries in the back of this baby. It was grand.

Simple to switch modes- moving from trailer to stroller is simple and requires no tools. I even figured it out on my own.

Con- While it has a lot of space so that your children fit in it comfortable, it is too wide to fit through a typical doorway. This means that we have to fold it down to bring it inside. But it folds down really easily so its not that big of a deal.

We did have an issue where it was veering right when I was using it as a jogging stroller, but taking it to the shop was a quick easy fix and they will fix it any time. Which is nice.

And here are some pictures of us enjoying our rides, or rather Jocelyn enjoying our rides.

We rode up the canyon a lot this summer. And let me tell you. IT WAS AWESOME. Jocelyn loved it, I loved it, Cory loved it. This is Jocelyn "reading" her book. Never mind it is upside down.


Playing at the park at the beginning of the canyon, about a 5-6 mile ride from our house
Playing halfway-ish up the canyon- 10 mile ride from our house.

We had a blast and I have never been happier about a $450 purchase. It suits our needs. Hopes this helps anyone trying to decide on what to get.

Life lessons learned from X-Men

Warning: This post may contain random tangents and wondering off topic.

Last night Cory and I watched X-Men: First Class. Not so great in my opinion. The first two were the best. But it got us to talking. I guess he had watched a documentary on it and found out the comic book was actually spurred by the civil rights movement but the creators wanted to show that it is not just about race, but accepting people and all of their differences. Interesting right? Its almost like we get so focused on the specific differences we are not supposed to single out, that we do it even more so.
That then got us talking about being aware of groups but still leaving judgment to the individual. You may have met Cory before, you may have spoken to him and learned some things about him. Some of which might be that he is a marine, he went to Iraq, things went down and he is medically retired. He is not a big fan of those whom he had to fight against. But that right there is the key. Those he HAD to fight against. We both talked about how we feel it is all too common these days to generalize. Such as, "All those in the military are mindless drones who kill because they think it is fun. They don't care who are what." or "All military people hate Muslims. They don't give them a chance." or, as Cory pointed out some people who have never even fought in this war think, "All Muslims are terrorists." None of which are true.
Cory discussed with me how frustrating it is at times for people to lump him into the group of those who kill just to kill. He said that, while he talks about going back and killing people, it is to protect those he cares about. His friends in the military, his friends in Iraq that he made. Yes, his friends in Iraq. He made friends there. He has a picture of a friend from the Iraqi military in his wallet still. If people stopped threatening the quality of life and taking innocent lives for selfish reasons, he would have no desire to do so. He does not view his job or his actions as something he does or did for fun. It is something he sees as necessary for the protection of the things he loves most. And he was and is willing to die for them.
I saw some kind of Ron Paul add, and this has nothing to do with political anything, just the add. Talking about how we should imagine what it would be like if China just suddenly decided to occupy our country and they killed innocent people for no reason. It basically makes it seem like all the retaliation is just because we are being big bullies for no reason at all. When, in reality it is not that way.

Why can't anyone accept that it is not just black and white? That it is not just about race, religion, sexual orientation, look or ability. It is people, we are all people and need to be willing to accept each other . Is it smart to be weary of certain groups to an extent? probably. We do need to be smart and aware of possible threats, but be willing to find the good as well. Just because some guy with brown hair and blue eyes did something bad does not mean all guys with brown hair and blue eyes will do the same thing. Be open to letting people show you how good they can be. It is not about one kind of person or one group and how you should treat them. It is funny that X-Men and my husband has taught me this more than anyone else.

Funny things, still no camera

They may be little things, but they are funny to me. And even if they are only funny to me, I am writing them down because this is my blog.

Last night I took Jocelyn to the play place at the mall with a friend (because it is now cold and raining and no, I do not enjoy it like others do. I prefer outside and sunny.) She mostly spends her time going down the slide then running up the stairs then going down the slide. She is still learning to take turns. Most of the time she shoves her way in and tries to cut in front of the line and screams at me when I stop her from going down and tell her to take turns as if I have ruined her master plan.

But last night she climbed up the stairs and prepared to cut in front of the two children in line when a little boy, not much older than her, who was first in line decided to allow the other child and Jocelyn to go first. He put his hand around her back and gently allowed her to go first. I thought it was cute and later found out it was because he was quite unsure of the slide.

Well Jocelyn found this quite the gesture as well because the next time she went up the stairs she did her usual, push your way to the front thing but then stepped to the side and proceeded to "guide" about 4 other children (two of which were probably 5 or older) down the slide.

Of course the next time around she tried to cut in front of the very boy who gave her that idea. But it was cute that one time.