Ice Skating

First trip to the ice skating rink.  Alex was nervous (as expected) and Johnny was a maniac (as expected).  He would ask me to pull him along as fast as I could and let go so he could catch some speed, or spin him around in a circle.  He fell down more times than I can count but he also improved a ton and was skating better than any of us by the end.  He asked if we could put a skating rink in our next home, or at least in his room.  It was hard pulling him away, but the rest of us were getting sore ankles.  We had a lot of fun though (and thank goodness for camera phones). 

And I know, I know...Christmas picture right?  I'm getting there, these were taken a couple of weeks ago. 

Alex's 9th Birthday

I know this is very late...sorry Mom.  Here are some highlights from Alex's 9th Birthday.  The day before her birthday I hung nails on her wall above her bed.  She had posters up there already so I just put the posters back up so she wouldn't see the nails.  Then while she was sleeping that night I went in and hung some elephant pictures I printed and framed for her room (she loves elephants).  She was very surprised in the morning.

Brad brought her home a bouquet of flowers after work which made her day.  Then we had a pizza party with family that evening, it's so nice to have lots of family around to celebrate with!



Johnny was very excited about his gift for Alex, a big rotating disco light.  It was a hit at the party.  She also got teensiest pet shop, a fashion drawing book, fairy chapter books, "high" heels, her own suitcase, a new purple soccer ball, paint by number posters, and a new pink scooter.

And Christmas is just around the corner.   :o)

She helped me make rainbow cupcakes, delish! 

Kind of funny that we all wore Alex's favorite colors for her birthday and she picked out a blue and green outfit for herself.  Another year older, but still my baby girl.  Love you Alex!

Family

I am thankful for my family!

Derby...Part 2

 Painting the Mystery Machine took a lot of patience.  Alex did a great job with it though and she was very proud of what she had created.  The girls made derby hats for them to wear at the race and fancy ties for their Dad's to wear.  Alex came home with two awards!  One for "the most mysterious" and one for "the Dad's favorite".  The girl's favorite was the one with all of the Littlest Pet Shop on top.  :o)  First place went to the Oregon Ducks car and second place went to the BSU car.  Go figure...  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall with my camera that night.  I will have to check with her leaders to see if they have a picture of all of the cars.  So much fun!

Daddy Daughter Derby...

Alex and Brad recently went to a Daddy Daughter Derby for Activity Days.  When the girls were told of this upcoming activity Alex came home with the car kit and said "Dad, I want to make the Mystery Machine!"
My computer was getting upset at me for wanting to post so many pictures at once so I'll post more pictures shortly.  These are of Brad and Alex getting her car sketched out, cut and sanded.  Alex was really nervous but she had faith in her Dad and gave it a go.  So cute!

Better late than never..right?

For Halloween this year Alex was a Hula Girl.  She wore a dress that my grandma brought back for me, from Hawaii when I was Alex's age.  Johnny was a fierce little ninja.  Monday night is not a good night for Halloween.  We had school that day AND on Tuesday so there really wasn't any time for pictures or partying since they had school the next day.  We did make it to their Nana and Papa's Trunk or Treat Saturday though and then to our's Monday night and they made the rounds around the neighborhood.

This year we used powertools to help us clean out our pumpkins.  It went so fast, I'm loving the person who invented the pumkin gutting drill bit!  The kids chose their pumpkin pattern and Brad and I carved them.  Next year I think I'm going to have them pick patterns that they can try carving themselves.  Most of the fun is in the creating!  Alex helped scrape away the rough edges once her's was done.

Monday was freezing and the kids insisted on going to the trunk or treat without many layers on.  Of course they were frozen after just a few minutes and so they raced around the cars collecting their candy and then sat and ate it in the car for the rest of our time there.  They quickly added more layers once we got home before going around the neighborhood.

Busy but fun week...

Two Saturdays ago Sariah and I flew out to Cali for Anna and Jason's wedding.  Matt and Vanessa drove up from So Cal and we had a nice weekend celebrating this event.  I took the pictures at the wedding with a little help from my talented cousin, Shelly who also flew in for the wedding.  Anna and Jason looked great and Rogan was so adorable in his tux.  A short trip, but worth it!

Then Wednesday Alex and I had a Mother/Daughter pedicure activity at the church.  We ended up with matching sparkly lavender toes.  She's also been working with her Dad lately on a car for the Daddy/Daughter Derby coming up in a month.  Gotta love Activity Days!



 Wednesday, Brad also flew to Utah to recruit at BYU for work.  So we took Nana with us to the Ringling Brothers Circus on Friday.  All I could take inside was my ancient point and shoot but it's better than nothing.  We went early for the pre-show so the kids could meet the performers and participate in some of the activities.  I wish I could've taken pictures during the show, it was pretty amazing but alas, it's against the rules.  Both of the kid's favorite part was a clown act between some older clowns playing nice band music and a younger clown rocking out to Black Eyed Peas on an ipod.  He ended up "swallowing" the ipod in the end and controlling it with his tummy.  Funny that a transition act was their favorite.  But Johnny also really liked the death dome with the motorcycles riding inside a dome cage and the ninja who jumped blindfolded through a flaming ring of knives.  Alex really like the high wire act and the elephants.  Oh, they both also really liked the dog acts which were pretty cute.  They watched the show with their clown noses and silly hats on the whole time while eating $10 bags of cotton candy and popcorn.  I think we spent as much on "stuff" there as we did on the actual tickets.  And if the hats didn't come with the snacks they would've walked out of there with nothing but their free clown noses.  Oh well, I guess they need to make money some how.  It was fun and I'm glad Cathi could go with us, every one had a great time.

Alex started another season of soccer and is doing great this time around.  She really enjoys her team and has shown lots of improvement already.  This last Saturday she had pictures and two games in the afternoon.  It was a long, hot (97 degree) day.  But all of the girls pushed through and did a great job.

And drum roll please...................Johnny lost his first tooth!
It took forever for it to come out since it became loose and he was very impatient.  He asked me almost every day to try and pull it out for him.  He REALLY wanted that money from the tooth fairy.

An evening on the lake

Just before school started we got to go out for an evening on the lake with Jason and Suzy. 

The weather was great, the lake was quiet, good food, good friends and a great time!

First Day

   I thought this day would never come.  August seemed to drag on forever since we planned most of our excursions during June and July.  They weren't quite as excited this year as I was and I think Johnny was a tad bit nervous.  Just lots to remember and he doesn't want to disappoint his teacher or any possible new friends.  His closest friends all ended up in other classes but he did know some of the kids in his current class and he knows the teacher already because Alex had her in 1st grade as well.  I snuck in at lunch to see how it would go (and because I forgot to send money for hot lunch that day) because Johnny usually spends his entire meal time talking and it takes him an hour to eat.  I figure he will just have to learn the hard way that if he doesn't eat enough and eat it fast at lunch he's going to be very hungry by the end of school. 
   Alex couldnt' wait to wear her new cupcake shirt (it even smells like cupcakes) with her cupcake earrings and Johnny was excited to have something new at all since he usually wears hand me downs from his cousins.  Hand me downs are awesome and he doesn't complain but he felt pretty special that I bought him some brand new shirts just for him.
   Over the weekend I made a couple of batches of salsa and today I'm making peach/raspberry jam and maybe some just raspberry jam as well.  I'm trying to use up the fruit I've picked at friend's houses and the vegetables in my garden.  I'm thinking I will have to make some spaghetti sauce as well because my tomato plants are still producing tons.  I love the routine that school provides and the peace and quiet I get now during the day.  I have a very long list of things I want to get done now that I have a little more time.  We'll see how it goes.  3 hours, 36 more minutes until they get home.  I'd better get crackin!