Ginger Bread Houses

Traditionally we decorate ginger bread houses at the Christmas cousin party but this year the cousin party was post-poned until after Christmas so we decided we better keep the tradition alive.
Ethan's final product. He is getting pretty good at this.
Here is Addy getting creative
Even Ethan's cute friend got to join in on the fun

Brody was hilarious he was mostly laughing and eating, not so much decorating.

Addy's First Dance Performance

What a cutie. Addy was so excited for her first performance. She was so adorable dancing up on stage. She was super serious and was even giving the girl next to her a scowl when she wasn't doing the right dance moves. It was pretty funny. Way to go Addy!!!

So I took this picture of Ethan a few weeks ago before he left for school. He is so cute every day he puts on this hat and scarf with his jacket and heads out the door. I had to get this on film so that he would remember this. Ethan will be 8 next month and I can hardly believe it. He is so excited to get baptized. I love how innocent he still is. He has to have a big bear hug every night before he goes to bed or he can not sleep. I wonder how much longer he will continue to kiss me good bye on the cheek and give me a big hug before he leaves for school. I am enjoying it knowing that it will not last forever. I never thought I would survive Ethan being a toddler but now I can hardly believe the sweet kid he has become. I will definitely enjoy it while it lasts.

Fall Fun

Sorry there are tons of photos but I have not been very good about posting, so here is our fall in a nutshell.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN



Cute little Brody was so excited about his shark costume. He would wear it around the house and he wouldn't let me take it off, but of course on Halloween he refused to wear it. He wouldn't put on the jacket so we put on the hood and got one picture and the costume was off. That's what you get with a two year old.
Here are the cute cousins at the cousin Halloween party. Their favorite part was the freeze dancing. It was so cute to watch them all dancing. Even Brody got in on the fun posing every time the music stopped.


SOCCER SEASON
It was Addy's first year and she looked so cute in that uniform
Yep she is playing but don't worry she still has time to strike a pose.
This was the second to last game and she finally touched the ball. The whole season she just ran around as fast as she could not really caring where the ball was so this was a huge break through.
This is Ethan's cute team. I got to coach them this year and they were a great group of kids. They really improved throughout the season and it was so fun to be a part of.
CASCADE SPRINGS
So we went on a fun little hike, it is hard to believe that I have lived here all my life and never been on this fun little hike. It was perfect for the kids to walk around and even stroller friendly.
Grandpa hanging with all the kiddos

Big Man on Campus

Happy 2nd Birthday Brody!!!

10 fun things we love about Brody at age 2

1. We call Brody the Big Man On Campus because he has to do everything that the big kids are doing. Size and age don't matter to him he just follows along and most the time he can keep up.

2. Brody love his white blankies. He sleeps with them every night and if he ever needs to be calmed down the blankets come in handy.

3. Brody still drinks milk out of a bottle because he refuses to drink milk any other way.

4. Brody refuses to sit in his high chair now so he joins us for dinner on a big chair now.

5. Brody loves animals, he will run up and pet every animal he sees. (Even the stray cats at the park, who meow and chase us to the car because they don't want Brody to Leave.)

6. Brody loves trucks, he is always carrying around a truck with him almost everywhere that he goes.

7. Brody is still my biggest snuggle bug. He loves to give hugs and kisses.

8. Whenever he says goodbye to someone he always blows them a kiss.

9. Brody loves loves popsicles he is constantly pulling me over the the freezer begging for popsicles, he would eat them all day if I let him.

10. Brody loves his big wheel and will ride it around the house. He also likes to take it full speed down the drive way which is very scary because he lands right in the middle of the road.

We sure enjoy Brody and he always keeps us on our toes and is in need of constant supervision. He is a very busy boy and loves to get into everything. Life wouldn't be the same without the Brodster around.

These pictures were actually taken the week before his birthday. Poor Brody had to have 8 stitches in his pinky finger after the wind blew the door shut on it. He was such a tough guy the nurses said that he barely cried. The only time he really started crying was when he saw me right after they had put the stitches in. He had to complain to someone, it might as well be Mom right.
Let the Party Begin
Addy was so excited about Brody's birthday she helped pick out the cake that we were going to make and she helped make all of the cupcake animals. We may have a party planner on our hands.

Sad News

We had to say good bye to our sweet dog Zeke last month. Don't worry he is still alive, just living with another family. I had to leave the house when the new family came to pick him up because I was too sad to deal with it. Zeke had adopted us as his family five years ago so it was hard to let him go. This is how the story goes. The neighbors had found him at the pound and when they went out of town we took care of him. After the neighbors got home Zeke would sneek into our house every day through our dog door to hang out with us. It was a fantastic way to have a dog, we got to have all the benefit with out any of the responsibility. The neighbors fed him took him to the vet and the groomer and we enjoyed him everyday. Finally the neighbor suggested that we keep him since he seemed to like us better anyway. So from then on he was ours, until we found out that he had been peeing all over our upstairs. Every time we left him alone he would pee upstairs or in my bedroom. I didn't know what to do he had a dog door so he could go outside any time he pleased, he was simply peeing to show us that he was mad at us for leaving him. There was no way to keep him from doing this so we decided that the only choice that we had was to give him away. So Zeke we miss you dearly and hope that you are enjoying your new family.

New School Year

It is hard to believe another school year is here. Summer always goes by too fast. Even when I was a kid I was never ready for school to start and I wanted it to be summer forever. I have to admit that it has been nice getting back into a schedule. It has been fun to have some alone time with Brody. I am sure that he has appreciated the alone time too.Here is Addy with her cute carpool friend Nic. She wasn't thrilled to go back to school but she had a good time anyways.
Addy picked out her "famous" sweater to wear on the first day. Anything she thinks is cool she refers to as famous.
Here is Ethan waiting for the bus. I have the same picture from last year, now he is just a little bit bigger. It is hard to believe I am the mother of a second grader.
What a great group of kids, they have always been so good to look out for Ethan.