Fun at "The Farm"

I know I'm kind of going backwards, but, I have so many things to post. It is what it is!
A couple weeks ago, we went to a fun place in Snohomish called "The Farm." We have had a tradition to go to the Pumpkin Patch every year with Jake's brother, and his family. This year Jer & Mo decided to plant their own pumpkin patch, (it turned out awesome, by the way), so we chose another activity instead. It was so fun. We toured a large Corn Maze, which thanks to Jake and Jer's trusty map skills, we didn't get lost once! There was also a Hay Maze, with a slide that fell into the hay - the kids loved it, a duck race, corn to swim in, play toys, and farm animals to pet and look at. It was such a great day, and a fun way to celebrate the beautiful fall season.

Enjoy the pictures! Tristan spent most of the time in the stroller, because that boy loves to run away from Mommy.

I'm so glad our kids love their cousins so much!

Very typical for around our house. "Rohnie, give me a hug. I love you!" "Okay, if I have to."

The babies loved the hay maze. There was also a GIANT tube slide that they went on. I was surprised they weren't scared a bit!

I kinda wanted to hop in the corn too. I looked way fun.

Happy Fall everyone! I love this season!

My Little Taste of Heaven

My sister, and nephew have been visiting this past week. Here's the babe. Can you say pure deliciousness?

The Boys

It seems like a lot of my posts have been about Tay lately, and I didn't want the boys to feel neglected. Not that they care. . . but, for prosperity, ya know? These guys, actually, take up most of my time.

Rohne has always been my challenging child. He definitely knows how to push my buttons, and loves to mess around, and be extremely defiant. He'll deliberately do something wrong just to see how I'll react. It's fun.

He's in Preschool this year, 3 days a week. His teacher keeps him in line, which he doesn't like, but, I know it is good for him. It has definitely been an adjustment. He didn't want to go, period. I would keep him home, but, he has a hard time learning from me. He just gets too frustrated with me, and loses his cool when he can't do something. Plus, he thinks I'm boring. It's been a good distraction for him while Tay is at school. I already feel bad for his Kindergarten teacher next year. But, we love him!! Jake's parents keep telling me that he is so much like his daddy was at that age. And, they survived, right?

Tristan is almost 15 months, and we call him the "One Man Wrecking Machine." He, singlehandedly, turns my house upside down in a matter of minutes. He runs everywhere, climbs on everything, and loves to destroy. It seems like every picture I take of him, he doesn't have clothes on. That's because he doesn't wear them much. If I put them on him, he ruins them. He keeps me very busy! I love his big personality, and he's still quite the snuggle bug when he wants to be. He loves music, and dancing, and recently Jake discovered that he likes to watch "The Wiggles." He loves suckers, and all day long, he will lead me to the candy bowl, on top of the fridge, and point, and whine for one. It's gettin' a little old. I am trying to enjoy him every minute, and not let him make me too crazy, because I need no reminding that he is our last child.

Liberty High Cheer Camp

Tay, and her cousin, Samantha participated in a Mini Cheer Camp last Saturday. They spent 3 hours with the Liberty High School Cheerleaders, learning cheers and dances, and then got to show their stuff at the Football game on Friday. They had a great time. Tay was a little overwhelmed at the game, where there were lots and lots of people, and the Marching Band was VERY loud. But, she liked it. And, always tried to do the cheers just right. Back in the day, if you would have asked me if my daughter would ever become a cheerleader, I would have said NO WAY! But, I don't mind now. Whatever she wants to do, and shows interest in, she can do. Maybe we'll have another cheerleader in the family after all. (My Mom was Head cheerleader, and Holly will love me to mention that she was on the great Spirit Squad.) She's just takin' after them! GO TAY!!

When I was looking around at all the other little girls, I just couldn't believe how cute our girls were. Don't you agree?

We'll Ride Painted Horses, with Wind in our Hair!

Oh, the annual Evergreen State Fair! We love the Fair! We'll always remember the laughter we'll share. The sooner you sleep, the sooner you wake, Tomorrow we'll go to the Fair! On Saturday, we loaded up, and headed to Monroe, to attend the Fair, and had a fabulous time. Jeremy and Monique, and their kids came with us this year, which made it lots of fun. We spent way too much money, pet the animals, ate fair food, and rode rides. Well, I didn't ride rides, they did. Too many bad memories of my Lagoon days. . .

This is how the babies spent the day. They got a little grouchy at times, but, loved all the commotion. It was a little overcast, and a tad chilly, but, that meant fewer crowds, and no sunscreen!
The first Kiddy Ride was the Rollercoaster. Everyone had fun. Samantha and Tay rode together, but, I couldn't seem to snap a picture of the girlies.

Here's the kids on the bouncy cars. Check out Jake behind the kids! He's gonna love it when he sees that picture on the blog. Next to him is his sister, Jessi, and her boyfriend, Aaron.

2 little buddies. Rohne actually loved this ride.

Sorry Parker, the bar cut you off!

Jake wants to get the Unlimited Ride Pass every year. But, he always always makes himself sick, and wishes that he hadn't. Next year, we ARE NOT buying him the pass!

Whitney was smart, and just went on a few rides that looked really fun to her. I think she liked this one.

My little sheep.

They had a FREE place for the kids to ride toy tractors. We spent a lot of time here.

The Petting Zoo is always a hit. However, during this, I was holding a screaming 1 year old, Jake was riding rides, and I was stressed out of my mind!! We didn't stay long. Sorry kids.

I made Taylee touch the pig for the picture. She would much rather just watch everyone else touching the animals.

Tay on the Carousel

I thought we would get outta there without paying to ride a pony this year, but, on our way out, the kids glanced them. They sure like those horses, that just go around and around in a circle. Go figure. Also, check out our school pride displayed on Rohne's shirt. BYU played the season opener against Univ. of Washington that day, and they won!! Go BYU!

And, finally, finally, right before we left, Tristan fell asleep. A long day, but, worth the effort!

First day of Kindergarten

My first-born, and only girl started Kindergarten today! I have been a little emotional, and stressed out about it. I am so glad that we decided to keep her back, and send her this year, though. She has grown so much, and matured this year, and I really think that she's ready. She was so worried about sleeping in, and missing the school bus this morning, so we said we would put a clock in her room, and set the alarm. Well, we decided against setting her alarm, and just set ours instead. She heard ours go off at 7 sharp, and rushed right in, to get us up.

While I was getting her ready, I asked if she was excited? She answered: "I think I'll get used to it, Momma. I will be a little shy for the first few days, but, I'll try not to be." So grown up.

I took her with me to the mall school clothes shopping last weekend. She is such a diva, and loved trying on all the different clothes. I did buy her some pants, but, you can bet she mainly will be wearing skirts, and dresses. This was, by far, her favorite dress. She has been waiting and waiting to wear it the first day of school. I'm thinking she made a statement. I just had to curl all her hair, to complete the look! She asked me, after she looked in the full-length mirror this morning: "Don't I look Fashion?"

So, I had fully planned on taking her, and picking her up the first day of school. But, after talking to a few experienced moms, and her Kindergarten teacher, they all said to just put them on the bus that very first day. Don't follow the bus, or walk them to the classroom, and it will make the transition a whole lot easier. So, I did it. I can't believe I did it, but, I did! She came home from school on the bus saying that the ride was her favorite part. She didn't say much else, but, there were no tears, and nothing negative. She even made a new friend. Hooray for Kindergarten!

Pinkalicious Birthday Party

We had a Pinkalicious Party for Tay's Birthday this year. I had been planning it for awhile, and had so much fun putting it on. If you haven't read the book, and you have a little girl, go out, and buy it. There are now 2 sequels to it too, and they are all great. Our book is very well read, and still a favorite.

So, the decorations were all things pink. I kind of went all out. But, it was fun, and Tay absolutely loved it.


Believe it or not, I made these flower pom poms out of Tissue paper. There were big, and little ones hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen, and dining room. I think I made 9 of them. I am sooo not a crafty person. But, they looked really cute at the party. I think I will put them in Tay's room when she has her own room back, and make it "Pinkalicious" as well.

Here's the cake made with the help of Whitney, and my mother-in-law. In the book, the little girl eats so many pink cupcakes, she turns pink. We tried to get the cake to look just like the one in the book.

We made little pink cupcakes too.

All the food was pink, and red too. I dipped these strawberries in pink candy, and put them on a stick with a pink marshmallow. They were a hit.

We also had pink lemonade, pink jello, watermelon, and bagels with pink cream cheese.

A tower of pink cookies. I made the tower myself. Just with paper plates, and cups. I was quite proud.

I also made these pink heart-shaped Rice Krispy treats, and put them on a lollilop stick. They were a little soft, so they kept falling off the stick, but, I wasn't about to do them over. They tasted yummy though!

We had 7 girls for the party. I initially only wanted 4 or 5, but, this was actually a good number. There was no fighting, or contention, and it never got too crazy. Maybe 6 year olds are getting to be more mature, too, which made it easier.

This is Lauren, a friend from our old ward, and our new friend, and next-door neighbor, Emily. Emily is also in Tay's Kindergarten class. They get along really well.

Sweet cousin, Samantha, patiently waiting until it's Tay's turn to open her present she brought.

Cutie Meg. The girls can't wait until they get to dance together at Ballet next week!

See, calm, and laid back. Just what a great party should be!

She loved all of her presents!

Because Rohne is such a little brother, and PEST lately, my idea was to invite some friends for him to play with, so he would stay out of the girl's hair. This worked pretty well. He interrupted a few times, and didn't let us forget he was around!

Handsome Parker boy, with a sword, Ready to bug the girlies.

I was so worn out from this party, I decided that parties are only allowed every Other year. But, Rohnie's already planning his "Snake-Eyes" party. How in the world can I pull that off?