Rohnie update

Our big boy is soooo much like his dad.  He started Kindergarten this year, and while I was worried about Tay, I wasn't at all concerned about him.  He has been ready for quite some time.  He loves school, and is doing pretty well.  That endless energy can get him in trouble at times, but, we expected that.  I haven't been too impressed with his teacher though.  She is very unorganized, and they have a lot more play time than learning time.  I was really really mad for awhile about it, but, I am powerless to change it, so, we've just decided to try and make this year as positive as possible.  He is quite popular, and well-liked by all the boys and girls in his class.  He is also almost a head taller than everyone else.  He comes home with a new hole in his jeans every. single. day.  And, he grows out of his jeans just as fast as he ruins them.  Thrift store jeans are now my best friend for him.  At least for now.

 Crazy hair day at school.  He actually won the contest in his class for this hair do.  It was just a classroom vote, and, he didn't win a prize, but, he was really happy about it!

 He turned 6 the beginning of November.  We did a family party, and a real friend party this year.  This was his first friend party, and he loved it.  I have been pretty nervous about throwing him a party, since, little boys can get pretty crazy.  We ended up with 6 boys, and it was mayhem.  I quickly learned that while I know little girls' parties, I was totally out of my element with all these boys.  Jake took over from there, and I was so happy I did it on a day when he was home.  They loved him.

  

 We played pin the sticker on the Super hero, and had a pinata.  Then, we just ate, and let the boys play.

 Here's the whole group of crazies.

Rohne really wanted a sword cake.  I was at a total loss, but, my wonderful mother-in-law came through, and helped me put together the cake.  It turned out so awesome!

Tay Rae, our girl

Because I'm still playing major catch-up, I thought I'd just give a little update on each of the kids.  Taylee turned 7 in August, and started First Grade!!!  It was a rocky start, to say the least, but, after 3 months, she might be getting into the groove now.  We  moved houses, which caused us to switch schools as well.  This was a very hard transition for her.  She is extremely shy, and does not take to change very well.  Although, socially, she still struggles a little, we were very very blessed that she has such an awesome teacher, and she is doing awesome academically.  She follows all the rules, and just loves being in the classroom.  When I volunteer, I am always pleasantly surprised at her participation, and how happy she seems at school.  What more could you ask for? 

First day of 1st Grade.

 Crazy hair day at school.  She really wanted pink hair, so we searched around, and after Grandma finally found some, she kind of chickened out.  She does not like to draw attention to herself.  So, she settled with just a little stripe.  I thought it was cute.

 She turned 7 back in August.  We celebrated by having just a small friend party with her besties.  We went to Red Robin for some lunch, and then came home and played, and had cake and ice cream.  Her big present, was getting her ears pierced earlier in the day.  She did really well, only a few tears.  And, she has done great about cleaning them, and twisting them.  No infections!

 Her 3 best friends.  All very very sweet girls.  I loved her birthday this year.  It was very low-key, and fun for all.  4 girls is a perfect number!!

 Of course, the boys were there as well.  Parker and Rohnie couldn't be left out of the action.

I find myself worrying about Taylee more so than my boys.  Maybe because she is the most like me.  She loves her beauty sleep, worries a lot, gets anxious, and stressed out, wants everything to be perfect, etc.  But, she is my constant ray of sunshine, and is more and more becoming my little girlfriend, instead of just my little girl.  Just stop growing so fast!    

Photo Session

My parents courageously made the 17 hour journey to our neck of the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  It was Heaven.  Pure Heaven.  (More on that later)  My mom has a really good camera, and is quickly becoming quite a talented photographer.  She snapped some pictures of us on the way back from Snoqualmie on Friday.  We loved how it turned out by the trains. Out of at least 50 pictures, we got a few that turned out.  It was a little trying. . . Here's a few of them.

Halloween 2011

It was a good Halloween this year.  Usually we have many things leading up to the real Halloween day, but, this year, we didn't have anything.  Our ward opted out of having a Trunk-or-Treat (boo) this year, so, we just had the kid's school parties, and then Trick-or-Treating that night.  I thought it was a good idea to help this year with both of the kids school parties.  I was up making lots of cupcakes the night before.  And, it lead to a very busy day too.  I think the kids were excited to have me there though, and it's nice to finally be able to put faces with some of the names I hear so often.

These are Rohnie's 2 best buds at school. They both have much older siblings, while they are the youngest in their families.  Long story short, Rohne likes them a lot, but, they've taught him some not so great things, which we have had to correct at home.  Oh, the joys of public school! 

 This is a picture of the whole Kindergarten class.  I felt like I didn't really need a picture of everyone else, but, I figured Rohne might enjoy it later. . . 

 In Tay's class, I was in charge of the station where they got to decorate the cupcakes.  Her party was much more organized, and way less chaotic.  Her teacher is absolutely amazing!  While I have been very unimpressed with Rohne's teacher, I am thrilled with hers, and this party just demonstrated that even more.  Typical first grade style, most kids just piled on the frosting, and sprinkles, and ate rather quickly.  Taylee took the entire 20 minutes making her frosting smooth, and artistically placing her sprinkles to make a real design.  I was quite proud.  She didn't even have time to eat it.  We had to take it home.

 Our little dragon-boy, Tristan.  We actually didn't even have a costume picked out for him, because he DOES NOT like to keep them on.  He seemed to get into the spirit of things that night though, so, I picked out the very warmest one, and he was happy.

 In true leopard and Ninja fashion.  This was right before we went out to Trick-or-Treat.

 Here's one with the dragon, with his trusty security blankie of course.

 The kids made off with an Awesome amount of loot.  Apparently, in our neighborhood, they go all out.  It was absolutely amazing the amount of kids.  The sidewalks were crammed full, while the streets were also lined with cars.  It's a great place to go because all of the houses are so close together, and many of the houses were decorated.  One house served hot cocoa and cider, there was a swamp monster, foggy smoke, strobe lights, spooky music, witches, you name it.  I even heard that there was a chainsaw murderer lurking in the bushes.  (I'm kinda glad we missed that one.)  We went with one other family, and after a good hour, the kids were complaining that their arms were too tired from hauling all the candy, so we went home.  Whit went with me and the kids this year, while Jake stayed home to hand out candy.  I thought we had enough to hand out, but apparently we didn't.  We ran out of candy after only 45 minutes.  I guess we'll know for next year!



Carving Pumpkins October 2011

 We carved our pumpkins for family night last week.  Everyone had a blast.  It's nice that we can almost trust the older kids to carve theirs all by themselves.  It's less work for the parents!  And, more pride for them.

 Of course Tristan was right in on the action.  He was most interested in the pumpkin guts.

 Oh, I love my crazy kids!

 This is how he spent the entire time.  Dumping the seeds from one bowl into the other.  Don't you love the gloves?

And, the finished product.  Quite the sight!

Pumpkin Patch October 2011

So, I figured that I've gotta start somewhere.  Expect these posts to be completely out of order, but, hopefully more coming in the near future. 

 'Tis the season that makes those drizzly, depressing days all worth it here in the Pacific Northwest.  Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year.  The falling, multi-colored leaves, the brisk morning runs, the lush green grass, pumpkins, corn mazes. . . . I love it!  We made our annual Jubilee Farms outing on my birthday this year.  It was perfect.  We left with 3 wonderful pumpkins, and huge smiles!  It was a great birthday!



Poor Computer

So, I know that many of you have been wondering, right?  Where are all of my wonderful posts?  My computer hard drive crashed about a month ago.  I cried, then cried some more.  Mainly because of the lost pictures, and all of my Primary files I had worked so hard on.  So, now, I have no computer.  My sister graciously lets me use hers sometimes, and Jake has a work one, but, let's just say, it's very limited.  Thank goodness for my iphone, or I would be completely shut off from humanity.  (At least it feels like that.)  Here's hoping to Jake getting a humungous sale, so we can buy a new computer for me.  Or just cough up the extra hundred bucks, and see if mine can be salvaged. . . Decisions, Decisions.

My Baby Turned 2!!

 Tristan turned 2 last week.  We celebrated with a very low key party, including a few presents and cupcakes.   

 This boy loves balls and trains.  So, we got him a little soccer goal, which he really enjoys, and some balls.  Aunt Whit got him a Thomas Train, and Percy too.  He was in heaven. 

 He was a little apprehensive about the hot firey candles at first, but, he eventually blew them out.

 Here's my wonderful attempt at making baseball cupcakes.  They turned out alright.  Not fancy, by any means, and you can tell which ones the kids helped me do.  But, Trist knew they were balls, and that's all that matters.

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for awhile to say hi, and bring a few gifts.  Grandma also knows his love for balls, and brought him a golf set.  I'm sorry to say the golf clubs have now turned into swords, and they spend most of their time on top of the fridge in "time out."

He is by far my spunkiest, most energetic, craziest child.  But, I'm thankful every day for him.  He keeps me runnin', and tries to drive me insane, but, I'm still here.  Happy Birthday Baby Boy.  We love you oh so much!!