Hayden's 8.

Hayden's 8th birthday was a true hit. We had his friend party on a Friday night and his family party the following Sunday. It was perfect. He was all smiles and as you can see, he chose to do Star Wars Legos as his theme. That's a tough one to come by when finding party favors, so we made our own and they were FANTASTIC if I do say so myself. I can't believe my little boy is 8. His favorites include: Wii, baseball, Star Wars Legos, Mariners, UI Vandals, Green Bay Packers, Popcorn and thankfully he still loves cuddling up with me in the morning or whenever I ask him to. I love him and so thankful he's mine. Happy Birthday, Buddy.

Laser Penguins

Pass me the ball, I'm open!
More ball handling skills than his mama!

Laser Penguins!

Going in for the lay in.....

H played basketball again this year. It was so fun to see his improvement from last year! He was the team's "defensive specialist" as their coach would call him and was often placed to guard the tough kids from the opposite team. The coaches for this year were phenomenal. We really enjoyed having them coach H. H liked them too! Here are a few pics from the season. Go Laser Penguins! They finished 6-4. Not bad for not winning one game last year! :-)

First try at ice skating....

All Smiles!


Go Miss K!!!!!

Watch out! I can't stop!!!!!

K was invited to a classmates' birthday party this last weekend. It was held at the local ice skating rink. I've realized that we've started into the realm of getting invited to birthday parties to children I don't even know. For instance, I told the wrong girl Happy Birthday at this party... I had no idea who the kid was! Ooops. So much for me trying to be on top of it. The mom of the little girl was kind enough to invite H as well.... it didn't cost a thing to her as she rented the whole facility for the party.

H and K did a fantastic job for their first time on skates! I was really proud of them! They kept getting up when they would fall and ask for more! I love it!

Happy Hearts Day

The kiddos and I on Hearts Day!

H and K with their gifts from mommy and daddy!

Gram brought over some goodies!

H's Valentine's Day bag from school.....

K's box from school....

Gary (my Father in Law) sent K and I flowers... he's done that every year for the last few years! So sweet!!!

Valentine's Day is always one of those holidays that are fun to celebrate, but I truly feel like it's Valentine's Day every day with my family. All of those hugs, kisses and "I love yous" through out the year makes this holiday just seem like another day. True, it is fun making the kids' valentines cards with them. They are so giddy getting them, especially Kennedy this year. They must not have opened them at school. We opened them at home and after each one, "(Gasp - big sigh) I always wanted one of these!" It was the cutest thing. Here are some pics of our Valentine's Day. It ended with a nice family dinner (Bry's side) to celebrate our neice's 10th birthday at Gambinos!

Catching up....

Animoto.com

Halloween 09

I bring to you a butterfly and a Bumblebee (Transformer, that is!) Halloween was a kick! Weather was great, the kids got a bunch of loot that mommy and daddy dug into. It was a fun weekend!

A day at Greenbluff....

The kids are ready for lunch....
They LOVE this wiggle worm!

Our perfect pumpkins!

Mom, the kids and I headed up to Greenbluff for a day in October. (Bry was hunting!) We hit it at the PERFECT time! It wasn't busy yet, the sun was shining and we did it all!

Fun at the Fair.....

As I'm patiently waiting for Kennedy to fall asleep today, my dad emails me reminding me to update my blog (Thanks, dad!) So, I'm posting a few posts today, trying to get caught up! We conquered the fair on a Sunday this year. It was perfect. The weather was sunny and bright. There wasn't a lot of people... and the rides were filthy. I had my handi-wipes and hand sanitizer in tow!!!

I think this is the last year Hayden can go on the kiddy rides. He's too dang tall! Luckily, he and daddy like to ride the big scary rides. I can't handle them anymore!

Fall Soccer 2009

The Black Spitter Snakes

Pink socks and all....

Get it, Hayden!!!

Soccer came in slowly (it always gets off to a late start.) And both Kennedy and Hayden are playing. Of course, little Miss K had to play because big brother is! Now, at the end of the season, I'm hearing from her, "I don't want to play soccer." Sorry chica, you signed up, you finish. One more game for her - whew!

H is loving the game. Averaging about a goal a game. It's so neat to see he and a teammate call for the ball from one another, pass the ball and get assists and/or a goal. We'll see what he chooses to play next fall....soccer or football????

First Day of School

Hayden's a 2nd grader!!!

We LOVE Teacher Starla!

Kennedy and her best buddy, Nico.

All decked out in her pink.... ready for PRE SCHOOL!!!!

This is always such a bittersweet day for me. One I look forward to as my kids love getting dressed up in their new duds, but it means the end of summer for me and the time I get to spend on a daily basis with H and K. H started 2nd grade this year..... and he was so excited. There are only 20 kids in his class and he has a wonderful teacher who teaches a bunch of Science and Art! Kennedy started her first day of pre school the day before my actual day so that I could actually hang out and take pictures of she and her teacher! Once I snag Bryan's memory card, I'll upload a few more he took of H at Lena!

The finished product.....

Our new dining room chandelier

The kitchen appliances and flooring

Another angle

The dining room table

Another angle......

Well, it's 99.5% done. The .5% that needs to be finished is a couple of transition strips need to be placed and I need to finish a tad more painting. (I probably should try to get the painting done before school starts!) For those of you who don't know, we tore up our carpet, put down pergo in the living room, kitchen, dining room, hallway, stairs, and downstairs. It was a lot! I also painted a Pottery Barn sage green in all of those rooms minus the downstairs. It's been a chore!

We updated our appliances, updated our chandeliers in our dining room and entry way (OK, entry way needs to still be hung, but we have it, at least!) and got a new dining room table. I gotta admit, it's starting to look sharp. But, now, I want new living room furniture and new carpets in the bedrooms. Is that so wrong? Enjoy the pictures!

GO MARINERS!

And now batting for the Mariners..... GRIFFEY JR!!!



Well, it was all about the hype and we loved it! Unfortunately they lost to the rangers 6-4, but it was a great game! We're planning on going back next year for a long weekend with Bry's brother and his family... taking in 2 games and staying at the same hotel which is right across the street. So EXCITED!

A wonderful family vacation...

I can't believe it's been this long since I've last posted. One would think I'd have a lot more time on my hands with it being summer and all. We took a nice family vacation to the Oregon Coast and Seattle. Our first stop was in Hood River for the 4th of July. We then jaunted over to Lincoln City to meet Dad, Meredith and Clay. It was such a nice break from reality and the ocean and beach were just perfect. From going out during low tide and finding starfish and anemones, to flying kites and playing in the sand, Lincoln City was a fantastic time.



We then headed up to Portland for an evening and made it into the zoo.... but kept going the next day to Seattle and took in our first Mariners game. It was definitely exciting for us all! Hayden had such a great time!!!! Kennedy was just more interested with the nice family sitting behind us!!! Enjoy the pics.....