Holiday Happenings

Holy moly, I can't believe we have less than 2 weeks until Christmas.  As you can see, I have gotten pretty lazy when it comes to blog posts.  I think that's because Facebook is so much more convenient for me to take a quick picture or write down a funny quote the kids say that I want to remember.  My goal is still to keep this blog updated and turn it into a spiral family journal for the kids to have when they go off to college, or whatever.  Hopefully college though.  So far I have no worries about Braedon, but Adi on the other hand.  Well....she's so pretty...;-)  Yeah, that was really mean.  Adi is doing just fine!

Since I last posted, we have gone trick or treating, celebrated Thanksgiving, and have been knocking things off our Christmas bucket list.  In addition, there obviously have been millions of little things in between!

Before Halloween we spent a day at Remlinger Farm where we rode lots of rides, picked out pumpkins, and ate hot donut holes.

The kids love this place and they always leave happy but exhausted.

Braedon has been Star Wars obsessed for the last few months.  Oh my goodness.  When this kids falls for something, he falls hard.  I have never been a Stars Wars fan, but let me tell you, I now know all about Anakin and how he turns into Darth Vader, how Padme had twins Luke and Leah before she, "lost the will to live," that the jedi's have blue light sabers and the bad guys have red...all about the Death Star...yeah, I can pretty much go on and on.  You may think that he has convinced me to like Star Wars.  Well I can honestly say... I DO NOT.  Maybe its the fact that I get nailed with a light saber  on an almost daily basis.  Let me tell you, those things are no joke and it hurts when you get clipped.  Peyton can agree with me.  She's been sleeping with one eye open for months.

Was I surprised when he said he wanted to be Darth Maul for Halloween?  No.  Now on the other end of the spectrum I have Miss Adilyn.  She is the girliest girl I know.  She would live in this Sophia dress if I let her.  I constantly see her checking out her reflexion in the oven, she is always properly accessorized, and she definitely has the capabilities of turning into a complete mean girl.  She has an opinion about everything, especially every outfit I pick out for her, which usually ends up with me storming out of her room in a huff to avoid doing something that would have CPS knocking on my door.

Most evening look like this.

Oh wait, wrong video:-)  Derek is going to kill me when he sees this;-)  I meant most of our evening look and sound like this!

Anyways, we had a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home where we enjoyed a mix of lots of down time and time to get some unfinished projects done.  Last weekend we got our Christmas tree and decorated it, which the kids always love.  Adi spent the rest of the night rearranging it to make it just perfect.

Every year I make a list of fun Christmas related things to do and we try to do one each night.  Some of the things on our list include decorating cookies, making a gingerbread house, drinking cocoa in front of the fire, listening to Christmas music, getting a picture with Santa....and a whole bunch more.  The kids love this little tradition and so do I!

So even though my posts and updates have been lacking, I can tell you we have still been busy having fun and getting into all sorts of Shenanagins!

Until next time...

Adilyn Paige

Even though Adilyn had her birthday about 3 weeks ago, I still never got the chance to really celebrate her on our blog.  I like to take the kids' birthdays as an opportunity to write down specifics about them that I want to remember forever!

First, her stats:

Height: 37 7/8 inches tall
Weight: 32 pounds

This girl is one little bundle tightly wound with spunk, energy, attitude, but also lots of love.  She is outspoken, somewhat bossy, and definitely follows her own tune.  At the same time, she gives the best hugs, tells the funniest stories, sings anything on her mind, but still loves her blankie and thumb:-)

She has a love for dresses and pretty much wears them day and night.  We have already had fights about what she is going to wear to school.  She has an opinion and knows what she likes.  She is 3.  Although recently, I have been able to get her into some leggings, just in time for the rainy, fall weather.

Adi is very motherly and loves to take care of her baby.  She will feed her, change her diaper, and take her for walks around the house.  It is so cute to watch her and her imagination grow.  She makes me laugh everyday.  Multiple times a day.  This girl is a crack up.

She started pre school this fall and loves it.  She is so independent and will pretty much do anything that she wants, all on her own.  She potty trained herself, completely.  Just like that.  Meaning I was planning on doing it sometime in June and she decided she was going to do it before then.  And I thought Braedon was easy to train.  She is patient and always figures out a way.

Adi's likes at 3 years old:

Playing with her dolls
Singing anything and everything
Dresses that twirl
Her blanket
Going for walks, lots of walks
Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches
Broccoli
Painting and coloring
Helping me clean the house
Chocolate
Little Einsteins, Curious George, and Caillou
Bubble baths
Bacon
Getting her nails done

Adi's dislikes:

Getting her hair washed
Having to do something she doesn't want to do
Most vegetables
Sharing her toys
Wearing pants

We love this girl to pieces!!!

Summer wrap up, Adi's birthday, back to school!

When I last posted, we were right smack in the middle of summer.  We were having so much fun living up our warm, summer days and we didn't slow down!  We went on a couple camping trips with a lot more pool fun, park dates, water fights, grilling, and ice cream eating in between.  I am going to leave you with a picture dump from the rest of summer.

Mini golf!  Baeo loved it and Adi was bored;-)

Visiting the Tri Cities.  Hanging with Grandpa P.

Camping at Banks Lake!

Grand Coulee Dam.

Adi turned 3!!

Camping on Orcas Island.

First day of school!!!

Summatime!!!

It is definitely summer here in the Pacific Northwest!  We have been so lucky to have countless days of sun and temps in the 80s.  So what have we been up to on our last summer before Braedon will be in school full time?  Lots!!  I have enjoyed this summer so much hanging out with my two little sidekicks:-)  Things we've done that have totally made our summer?

-Preschool graduation!!!  My baby is now a kindergartner.  Sniff, sniff.

-Spent a hot and sunny day at the lake with some friends.  Lots of swimming, splashing, chip eating, and boat riding!

-Visits from the ice cream man that ended with huge smiles and a whole lot of stickiness dripping down our chins and our elbows.

-Park play dates with our awesome friends.

-An awesome 4th of July that included our first block party with awesome neighbors, good food, and lots of fireworks.

-Countless afternoons playing in the kiddie pool, having water fights, and water sliding.

-A family reunion with lots of cousins, sleeping in a tent, S'mores, and more water fights.

-Adi's first wedding where she pretty much stocked the bride in her pretty dress and cried because she didn't catch the bouquet.

-Warm summer nights staying up way past bedtime, riding bikes in the street and playing with neighbor kids.

-BBQ'n on the weekends that always included delicious, sweet corn on the cob.

-Couch naps at 5 in the afternoon because playing all day is just so exhausting.

-Raspberry picking and spending the day at Remlinger Farms.

Things to still look forward to?

-Two more camping trips, one of which is at my all time favorite place...Banks Lake!!!

Now for some pictures.