Preschool Halloween Party.

 

 

 

 

Matthew had his first preschool party. It was so fun. They played play dooh, had a ghost craft, and did musical pumpkins. They read a fun book and then ate lunch together. I loved it! Matthew loves going to preschool. I have to say I love Matthew going to preschool. I wish it was everyday. Matthew is really struggling right now. I somedays don't know if we are going to make it. I am sure if you don't see me for a while you might want to come and see if he has me on control and demand mode. We just went to the ENT and they are going to take out his tonsils. I swear he is acting just like Christopher did right before he had his tonsils out. I hope it does the trick other wise I am in for a long next year. He loved being brother bears with Jack-Jack for Halloween. I love that those two really play with each other so well.

Kindergarten Nursery Rhymn parade.

 

 

 

 

Ethan was the cow jumped over the moon. I tell ya he is shy. This is the only way he would pose when he saw me. He loves it but gets so embarrased he wants to sink into himself. What a cute Cow jumping over the moon.

Happy Halloween

 

Christopher- basketball player
Ethan - power ranger
Matthew & Jackson- brother bears

Jackson was also a monkey and super Jack-Jack.

Okay, so Matthew costume totally won the award for funniest. I bought at Once upon a Child and not thinking I should try these on before hand. Got home and it was way to short and the head was abnormally to big. I couldn't look at him with out laughing. Oh well he loved it and I learned an important lesson. I think I have a picture with his hood on but I haven't down loaded those yet so this for now.

T-ball

 

 

 

 

Ethan started sports------

T-ball

I think he liked the idea of playing sports well t-ball, he was so cute out there though. This kid has the biggest heart but is so shy. I loved the picture of him right before he hits the ball. Its just so Ethan. We are going to try some other sports. I think he liked it for the most part. He was really good at hitting the ball and standing in his position. It was sad cause the coach lost his shirt and so the whole season he wore a different colored shirt which made him feel out of place. I felt bad for him, but now that its over he loves his baseball shirt.

 

 

Flag football------------

--------------What can I say this boy loves all sports. He loved football. He loved wearing the mouth gaurd and tags. I was really impressed with the coaches they worked well with the boys. They were really good at showing the kids how to play. He was able to win many of his games. I couldn't believe it when he got touch downs and pulled other peoples tags. This kid is good at sports. He must get it from his Dad cause I don't play sports well at all.

and more

 

 

 

 

Third times the Charm

This is the third time I have been to the Biltmore and it was my favorite cause I was able to just soak up all the rooms and information. They also had three new renovated rooms open that I hadn't seen before. So third times the charm.

This picture above is blurry, So sad we had some one else take it, so I guess that is what you get. Mom and I had a fun day in The Biltmore Estate when she came out. And rescued me from my stressed out life this month. I couldn't be more grateful that Dad let her come while he went to China on business. We had so much fun shopping at Ikea for staging stuff for my house to put it on the market this winter. We laughed our heads off at night. There is just nothing like your mom to help you talk through life and all those little things. I love my mom, So glad she go to come and play.


The flowers we saw were incredible. I think my favorite were these Japanese lantern looking flowers. It was so funny cause we actually brought one home that had fallen on the ground. And sure enough before lunch the next day Ethan had torn it apart. I was so bumbed over a little flower. I guess I wanted to show Chris when he got home from his interview in New York.







After the Biltmore we headed to down town Asheville. I laugh cause when Chris and I tried to do Asheville a couple of years ago, we did it all wrong. Now I know how wrong we did it. Mom and I went to this awesome restaurant called Salsa, and I have been trying to find an excuss to get back there ever since. It was a very unique mexican restaurant. That just had a very different twist to ever dish using a lot of veggies. We were so stuffed. I loved talking with mom the whole day long with out any kid interruptions. It was a perfect day.
To top it off with more shopping for a last minute shirt gift. I love the sweaters Mom thanks so much. Want to laugh everytime I think about that night and making my babysitter sleep over so I could take mom to the airport since I forgot that I had to take her at 5 in the morning. My babysitter was so sweet about it too. LOVE her.

Cars

 

 

 

 

Jackson 21 Months.

I can't believe my baby is so big.

He loves Cars, Cars, and as you can tell trains. This is all he wants to talk about ever. If you ask him what he is thinking he says "Carrrs". He always manages to cram a few more rolled R's in there. Making it all the cuter. This kid has me wrapped around his fingure and I think everyone in our family. We couldn't love and enjoy him more then we already do. What a sweet and happy kid.

Flick

 

 

 

One of the things we love to do at the end of the week is have MOVIE NIGHT together. This was a couple of weeks ago when Chris was actually home. We watch Monsters Vs. Aliens. The kids actually just loved it. I loved how cute they all looked lined up and snuggling together. They each had a bowl of candy and some popcorn so by the end it didn't look so cute but the memory is there.

Happy Halloween!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Matt sent this to me and I thought it was so funny! Thanks Matt for the good laugh.

isn't this just perfect

This is what I want to make, I think I am in total love with it. Oh, to find the time. But maybe this is what I need to actually get my work done and have the time to play.

Then once I find the time, how to pay for it. The planning of which arm to sell has begun.

I can hardly believe that Christopher is 8! Thats just crazy to me. I know I probably say that every year, but honestly it never gets any easier. He loved his birthday morning celebrations. He was so worried that this year he wasn't going to have a great birthday with his friend Noah gone. We went all out for him. He was so excited for his truck remote control car and had a few other surprises waiting for him from family.

The birthday treats were just really simple since I bought Jade a remote control car for the park(which he got to take home). I also made these that had a rice crispy square in each one with like four or five small pieces of chocolate. Then just put colorful paper bands around it with a topper on top.




We ate pizza for the first little bit and watched all the planes go around in circles over head the kids loved it. Especially Jack-Jack who couldn't hardly sit to eat.






Christopher wanted to have a remote control party. It was so awesome. His best friend moved this year and so with there not being a ton of boys his age he invited his brothers and a neighbor friend. We took them to Hobby park which is all you do there is bring your remote control planes and cars and us the tracks and runways. It was awesome. The dirt hill made for a really fun party.



Chris was on call and so he missed most of the party but made it just in time for cake.

This is our favorite kids birthday cake.

Ice Cream Cake

1 brownie mix(fudge style)
1 carton of ice cream (our favorite cookies and cream)- fun they each love picking something all there own.
whipped cream

Its as easy as it looks. Just takes planning cause you have to make the brownie in time to freeze the ice cream back up.

make brownies (in a spring form pan), let cool. While you are cooking the brownies take out ice cream so it can soften. Let the brownies cool then scoop out the ice cream and spread it on top of the brownie. I like my brownies a little under cooked so its really dense. Then put back in freezer needs a couple of hours. Then before serving put the whipped cream on the top and a candle in each spot.

He is so excited to be baptized Dec. 12 out in Utah. We had a fun time talking about it at lunch at Chic fila and ditching school. Funny combo now that I think about it.

Oh So Happy and Happy and Happy Birthday

Okay I have to say I had the best Birthday Ever. It might even come close to the one where Mom bought me a hamburger cake and had a surprise birthday party for me. It reaches that level or my favorites. It started on Thursday my actually birthday wasn't tell Sunday so ya, perfect. He came home from work with the huge costco chocolate cake and flowers and my favorite ones. Then Friday we had a date to Milners which they have my favorite Moravian cookie crusted Salmon can i say "Heaven has struck"(remember michelle saying that at the beach like a million times in the waves, so funny). Okay,, so it was just to perfect. Saturday morning came down to this amazing spread of presents and treats. He did so much better then last year were I came down to packs of gum and to white envelopes with i owe you presents. Did he make up for it or what. I think so. That card on the plate was pictures of people that were all in there thirties so funny. Micheal Jordan was playing baseball for the Diamond backs so funny. That kind of made me feel old. We finished out the day with the VA Creeper trail and the outlets in Boone. Thirty has been good for me so far. I can't wait to see how the rest of this year turns out with so much change heading out way. We are in the process of applying for a Retina fellowship which most likely with mean we will move one of 9 cities all over the country. I love change and mostly hate it all the same. It gets harder the older your kids get. I am just lucky to have such great and supportive kids. I love you Chris thanks for making my Birthday one to remember.

With a little of this and some of that.... Ta Da!

Well Chris to me and the family to the VA Creeper Trailer for my birthday. He knows how much I love it and biking for that matter. Its not the kind of biking you get a workout out of though. You seriously glide down the mountain for the first six or so miles. Its awesome, while going over seventeen or so bridges. There are rivers and trees galore. No its not Hebgen but when you live this far away its the next best thing. Christopher was worried there were going to be mascietos so funny how paranoid he is about bugs after Hebgen this year.



Ethan and I were buddies on the trip down the mountain. I have to say he has gotten bigger and it made a big difference as far as steering us down the mountain. He rode behind me on the tag-a-long bike connected to my mountain bike. He was just trying to see where we were going but the weight of his body would totally shift us across the path, so until I got used to that feeling I was a little nervous. The views made it all worth it. I can't believe how beautiful it is up there. I could just drink it in. Ethan is so happy all the time. He does things at his own pace, and with a bounce to it. It wouldn't be Ethan style if he wasn't always spinning and moving. He doesn't seem like he has a lot to say unless you get him all to yourself and then you better put your listening ears on cause he is going to talk a mile a minute and so softly. I love you Ethan thanks for having the biggest heart. I love all your hugs. The group picture is us at the top of the hill. Where we waited for Chris to come back up the windy mountain. I don't think I have ever been up such windy roads. Jackson threw up on the way there. He didn't understand what was happening just looked at me with those eyes and cried. It was so sad. Chris had to go down the mountain and back up after he dropped us off and I was glad it wasn't me. He said he was so sick after. When you are on a budget its worth the savings.




"Say Cheese"





Christopher is so much more independent these day. He is way into friends more then ever and trying new trick. He loves riding his bike so going down the VA Creeper trail was perfect. I thought he did so well. He has gotten so much stronger in just one year. Last year he was a lot slower this time around we were going at almost normal pace. I was proud of him for working so hard to get better. We took him around Salem lake a couple of weeks in a row before to help him get ready. He was tired at the end but finished it. Last year Chris was holding his bike and he was on the tag-a-long. Way to go Buddy!




I love these two companions of mine. We get closer everyday and I know this time with them will pass as fast as it did with the older two. I have to say Jackson has been the sweetest baby. I am having a hard time with the fact that he is getting older. I love that he is learner new words. He Doesn't just say go go all the time. Its Car, and every time we are in any parking lot or by anything that resembles a car he announces it. He is so awesome. Matthew is growing up as well. We had fun on this trip he and Jackson road in the back of the trailer all the way down the Mountain. Matthew helped throw a few rocks into the river.