MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We wish a very Merry Christmas to all of our loved ones.

The girls' Anuual Santa Photo

My friend Jen recently started a photography business, and I was fortunate enough to win a free photo session with her from a little contest she did. We had such a great time with her, and I was so pleased with the photos. I can't believe how big my little girls are getting! Below are a few of the pictures that were taken.

Our Wild Child

I had to post these pictures, because I think they are so cute! This is Ainsley ready for her gymnastics class. She added the Jessie boots and 80's headband. My little fashionista. She definitely has her opinion about what she wants to wear.

We just recently put her in this little gymnastics class. Guess what her teacher said after the first lesson? "She's a natural. You might want to start saving your money..." Surprise, surprise. She's always been our little monkey climbing and doing tricks on everything she can. I think she gets a kick out of scaring her grandma Shonnie with the tricks she likes to show off. I love that she isn't afraid to try new things.

Are those thighs to die for, or what?

SNOW!!!

We FINALLY got some snow this morning! Ainsley has been waiting anxiously for weeks, and would have been out there in her pajamas and bare feet had I not stopped her.

She can't wait for Cecily to get out of school so they can build a snowman together. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Let the Countdown Begin!

We are excited for the Christmas season at our house! Decorations are up (I think this was a record for me to have them up before December this year), and the kids are excited!

We recently sold our home in American Fork and moved to Highland, UT. We found a home to rent in a great neighborhood, and hope to be able to stay until we find a home to buy. We sure miss our old neighborhood and neighbors, but have felt very welcomed at our new place.

It is so much fun to see the girls' excitement for Christmas. And they are trying to be very good so that Santa will bring them some fun gifts. Funny story about that. The other day, Ainsley came into the bathroom as I was getting ready, and I could tell she was trying to hide a second string cheese behind her back, when she had just finished eating one.

I said, "Ains, didn't you already eat a string cheese?"

"No..." I knew that wasn't true, as I could see the remnants of the string cheese in her teeth.

"You know, Heavenly Father knows when you are telling the truth or not."

With an evil smile, "Who's Heavenly Father?" (Obviously, I'm doing a GREAT job teaching her the important stuff!)

So I tried another tactic. "Santa also knows if you are telling the truth or not."

She stood there for a second, contemplating that. "I'll go put it in the garbage."

She's such a character! I so love these little girls.

Anyway, this is just short, but I wanted to get something posted. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Got to Start Somewhere, I Guess!

Like I said before, I will hate myself for not journaling about our lives right now, especially while the girls are growing up. I feel like life is getting busier and busier, and I just am not making this a priority. So I'm just going sit down and make myself update about the girls for a few minutes. Nothing too profound or life-changing, but I sure think these girls are adorable! I'll probably be the only one to get anything from this post, but that's okay. This blog is for me, anyway!

Cecily, Ceci-Bess, Cec

Our 5-year-old (almost 6!) just graduated from Kindergarten.

Cecily has LOVED kindergarten. She enjoys everything about it. The learning, the teachers, the friends...everything! Three days before school started for the year, Cecily was accepted at Renaissance Academy, which is a charter school in our area. We decided to try the charter school out while we had the chance. I always have people asking how we like it, but since Cecily is our first child to go to school, I really don't know any different. I find the fact that when school starts in the Fall we will have our 3rd Principal in a year a little unsettling, as well as the fact that Cecily went through 2 Kindergarten teachers this year. Half-way through the school year, her first teacher decided she was needed at home (at least that's my understanding of the situation). I feel like the change was handled well, and the new teacher was up to the task. I am happy with everything Cecily learned in Kindergarten and feel that she is ready for first grade. We plan to keep her at Renaissance for first grade for the time being. If we end up moving farther away, we will probably rethink that, but for now we are satisfied with that decision.

Cecily at Graduation (above) and with her teacher, Mrs. Kerr (below)

Other than school, Cecily has been involved with dance at The Dance Club in Orem. She was on the Mini Starburst team this last year, and really loved all of the concerts and competitions she participated in. We are taking a little break from dance for the summer, but she is still dancing all over the place at home.

Cecily is still as sweet as ever. She is the best big sister to Ainsley. Yes, they do have their trying moments together (especially this week), but for the most part, Cecily is so kind and caring to Ainsley. She also loves to help around the house. She always wants to help me cook, and LOVES LOVES LOVES to do crafts. Too bad she doesn't have a more crafty mom!

Cecily is very responsible, and seems to always know what is okay and what isn't. She is anxiously awaiting her 6th birthday. She has been planning her birthday party for MONTHS! The theme for her party this year: Chinese. (What?!!?--I honestly think she's doing it for the fortune cookies)!

Cecily has also lost her first 2 teeth. She hated the fact that there was blood when she lost her first tooth, so her second tooth was literally flopping around in her mouth before I finally pulled it out of her mouth. Her tooth fairy really stinks, though. It was a close call with the first tooth (the fairy actually made it AFTER Cecily woke up and got out of her bed), and after about 4 missed nights with the second tooth, the Fairy left Cecily a note of apology and a pretty hefty payment. That fairy had better get with the program!

Ainsley, Ainsley Painsley, Stinker, Little Monster

As you can tell from her nicknames, our little Ainsley is not exactly like her big sister. But she is so stinking cute, even when she's just a plain stinker, that we can't help but completely adore her! And the fact is, she can be so darn sweet when she wants to be. I cherish those times she still comes up to me and rubs my cheek with her cheek or puts her chubby little hand on my cheek... It makes me sad that she is growing up so quickly! She just turned 3 in March.

Ainsley FINALLY decided to become potty trained two weeks ago. Scratch that. I finally decided to ditch the training pants and just put her in underwear and MAKE myself take her to the toilet. Yeah, that didn't take long. She's so proud of herself! She tells EVERYONE that she goes poop in the toilet. And by everyone, I mean EVERY PERFECT STRANGER WE COME ACROSS! Yes, Ains is still VERY friendly. But it's weird because there are some times when she gets really shy. I think she's a little like me in the way that I do not like to have the attention focused on me. I get really uncomfortable when it's not on my terms. She's the same way when we want her to "perform." But she has no problem if it's her decision.

Ainsley LOVES "school." She asks to go every day. She has been doing a sort of preschool once a week (it's mostly just playtime with other kids). She's very confident, if a little crazy, with other kids. She loves to sing, dance and pester her big sister. (I'll be honest. Ainsley has this shriek that REALLY grates on my nerves. And she only uses it when she's with Cecily, which is most of the day). She also likes to get out of her bed and crawl into Cecily's bed at night. Seeing those little cuties cuddled together asleep is so freaking adorable. I love it!

Ainsley recently decided to get out of bed during naptime. She went into my bathroom and got the spray bottle and scissors. I think you know where this is heading. I was folding laundry when she came out of her room saying she needed to go potty. I was so proud of her! I went to go help her, and I'm thinking, "Why is her hair wet?" I took a closer look, and could see the cut marks (her hair was in pigtails, so it was all still attached). Ainsley must have known, or realized it from the look on my face that she had done something bad, because she immediately started bawling. I couldn't get mad at the sweet thing! But it was awful to take out those pigtails and comb out wads of her beautiful hair! Luckily, most of what she cut off can be hidden by a major comb-over when we part it on the other side. Though, most of the time, it's pretty obvious what she's done.

I'm hoping that Ainsley grows out of this before she gets too much older, but she has a REALLY hard time stopping something she is told not to do. She always has to do it one more time. I think it must be the stubbornness in her. I don't know. But you tell her to stop doing something and she immediately does it one more time. And then she's done. Even if you threaten a time out or whatever you threaten. She still does it one more time. Crazy girl. But I love her. She is so much fun, and that giggle of hers...the best sound on Earth!

Oh, really?

Yes. The Tornow family IS still alive. I'm posting a few pictures from our recent trip to Disneyland.

I know I'm going to kick myself someday (okay, I already have been for months) for not recording the happenings of this last year better. The girls have grown so much and accomplished so many things that I have not documented. But to be honest, I've actually been struggling about whether or not I want to make this blog private.

I've mentioned before that the reason I blog is because it's my version of my journal. I really feel that it is important to keep a journal/personal history. I want myself and my children to be able to look back and remember joyous times as well as be reminded of lessons learned during times of struggle. I know that many of my blogging friends blog for the same reason.

However, I have found that I have a difficult time making my personal struggles public, and that kind of defeats one of my main reasons for having the blog, right? So I'm curious what my fellow beloved bloggers (and who knows if you even check my blog anymore since I update it so seldom!) think upon this subject.

Do you ever find it difficult to be completely "real" in your posts? Have you considered making your blog private? Those of you who have gone private, have you experienced many downsides for doing so?

Well, I am definitely leaning towards going private. But I probably won't make the decision right away. I do hope to get back into the swing of things and start posting again, though. (Maybe nobody will read those posts, and I won't need to go private)!