Riding the merry-go-round



Looking at ducks



Feeding the birds



Spider-man all dressed up for the Halloween carnival at Gramma's school



"Princess angle fairy"



My little kangaroo!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Connor is all boy. Sometimes more boy than I know what to do with. I don't really understand the need to be rough and tough and loud but apparently it is a requirement of his at this point. He has also taken a real interest in drawing recently. He draws everything from pirate ships to camp sites to foot ball games. Not only does he draw these things, you can actually tell what they are! He also likes to write things and is always asking me how to spell words and how to make the right letters. He is very eager to learn to read and we have been working on letter recognition and sounds.


Sophie is starting to enjoy "jumping". Luckily today it was only off of the car seat. Yesterday, it was off of the couch. The day before that, is wasn't jumping but rather sliding head first off the arm of the living room chair. I'm a little worried because she doesn't just do this once. But rather repeats it over and over and over!!! I know children learn by repetition but does it really take falling on your head twenty times to realize that sliding off the chair head first is going to hurt??! At least she is a good sport about it and doesn't melt down every time she falls.




Laura, like any self-respecting, almost three year old, has taken to thinking she is a princess. Some times it is a princess angle fairy but I can usually get away with just saying princess. She likes to dress accordingly (see pictures). She almost always insists on wearing a dress and her idea of a matching outfit is a far cry from what I would pick. But she is happy and warm enough so I let her wear what she picks out (most of the time).

Some Recent Pictures

Fall leaves art project. This "required" way more glue than I anticipated and I have decided that although glue sticks are not very messy, they sure aren't very cost effective!!!


Sophie and her personal sized cucumber

Mammy

Sophie is trying sooo hard to talk these days. She is mostly done with her screaming phases. She used to scream all day. She'd scream and point if she wanted something. She'd scream if she didn't like something and she'd scream just for the fun if it too. Now she babbles nicely all day. She tries to say words but most of them come out as "DA" or "DAT". On Friday she started calling me "Mammy". She says it in such a cute little voice. The only problem is that when I put her down for a nap, and she doesn't want to sleep, instead of crying, she calls "Mammy, Mammy, Mammy". It almost breaks my heart to have to leave her there and to not go and get her.

Connor's Birthday

It is hard to believe that Connor is four! The time sure flies by quickly. Everyone told me it would when he was a baby but at that time it was hard to believe.
We had a BBQ for Connor an Saturday night. We had a bunch of family and friends over and had a nice evening. The secretary at Patrick's work loves making cakes and after she heard about the pirate ship cake I tried to for Connor's birthday,she had to try her hand at it too. I think it was the biggest birthday cake I have ever seen but it didn't quiet make the 60mi trip from her house to ours. Despite having the hull crack, the cake turned out phenomenally. Everything on it was edible, even the sails which were rice paper.

Our Little Builders

This morning we went to Lowe's, the local hardware store. Twice a month, they have free building projects for kids. Today they built a GMC truck. Connor and Laura each got their own apron, hammer and goggle that they got to bring home with them. I helped Laura read her blue prints and assemble her truck while Uncle Josh helped Connor. Sophie and Gramma watched. When the trucks were finished, each child received a certificate with their name on it saying that they had completed the project and a little badge with a truck on it to sew onto their aprons. They both had a great time and have been playing building ever since we got home!

Tea Party!

While I was making muffins for breakfast this morning, Connor and Laura decided to have a tea party in the bathroom! Sophie joined in and was soaked! I am very thankful that they chose the bathroom for the location of this tea party because there was water EVERYWHERE!!!

Summer

These pictures are in a really random order. There are pictures from the strawberry farm, the animal farm, making ice cream sandwiches, my table and chairs, the beach, the 4th of July and ice cream in Leavenworth! Oh, and cousins playing games one morning at Gramma's house.














It seems so hard to keep this updated during the summer! We have been spending a lot of time out side during the day. Patrick works 'till 7 and we usually wait to eat dinner 'till he gets home, so our evenings are rather short. The kids and I spent a week in eastern Washington with my mom and Diana. We went over for Auntie Colleen's wedding then stayed at Gramma's for the week. It was so nice to be in the sunshine. The heat took a while to adjust to (112 degrees F). It was nice to visit with family and to be able to just relax. We spent a lot of time at the pool and went to the beach one day and the water slides another. Connor was so brave at the water slides. I had him wear his life jacket and he did all the slides by himself! Even the advanced ones!!! I was a bit worried at first but he was fine and the lifeguards didn't seem to mind.
We have gone strawberry picking twice so far. The berries were delicious. I think we froze at least 35lbs of berries to eat through out the year. Sophie enjoyed sitting in the field, squishing berries and getting covered in dirt!
I have been working on cleaning out the house and the garage. With such a small house, there really isn't room for extra STUFF! It has been a lot of work, going through clothes the kids have outgrown and stuff that we "might use some day" but really don't need! I'm hoping to have a garage sale soon and then take anything that doesn't sell to the Goodwill.
A few days ago, I painted our table and chair set. It had been a hunter green colour and was getting a little chipped and beat up looking. Now it a periwinkle blue. I never really liked the green but I love the blue. I also switched the big table that went with the chairs, for a some what smaller one we had out in the laundry room. All painted the same colour they look like they were supposed to go together and it fits the kitchen much better.
We went to Jetty Island today. The weather was great and we all had a great time playing in the sand and the water. The tide was in while we were there but that made for nice warm water and there was still plenty of sand to play on.