Contest

I should be updating my blog, considering I haven't made it past Halloween, but instead I'm going to be participating in the Invisalign Teen Bright Smiles Holiday Photo Contest with Dumb Mom for a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift code. Check it out at.... Invisalign Teen Bright Smiles Holiday Photo Contest.

So, here's my little Ryan with his quirky little watermelon face that just makes me smile every time I look at it!

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'Tis the Season

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Happy Halloween 2010

As usual, it was a struggle committing to the costume. When we finally did, we had one strawberry, one Buzz Lightyear and one Woody, both from Toy Story. Oops...Woody costume now sold out. Oops...Buzz lightyear wings sold out. Ebay came to the rescue on the wings, but not the Woody costume. So, we settled on Batman. I was a little worried that he would change his mind after I had ordered it, considering his aversion to blue these days. Have I mentioned that before? For some reason, Kyle just up and decided that he DID NOT like the color blue. Turquoise blue is ok. Regular blue, as he calls it, is NOT! That means no blue cups, no blue snack bowls, no blue anything. Anyway, we went with it and all was good when it arrived! Phew!

We started off the Halloween festivities 2 weeks early with our annual trunk or treat! Nana even got to join in on the fun this year! The kids had a ball going from car to car. Ryan was the leader, that kid was on a mission this year.....get as much candy as possible. His Motto, "Screw the little Halloween pencils, spiders (a.k.a. non candy items) and give me a stinkin' lollipop!" Something about lollipops this year, he was all over it.

Then, the week before Halloween, the kids had their parties at school. Kyle's class is too cool for the parents now that they're the big kids of the school. We just had to send stuff in, so I quick took this pic of him with one of his teachers when I dropped him off in the morning!



Ryan's school on the other hand had a big to do and all the parents were invited! Grammy got to join in on this one. It was fun to see all of the kids in their costumes. They all paraded in and sang us a few songs. Ryan had been singing his Black Cat song for a couple of weeks, but when it came down to show time, he was too busy trying to whack everyone with his wings!





Afterwards, the kids indulged in lots of treats and had a chance to run off all that sugar on the playground!



Mommy even got to go to a Halloween party this year! Daddy was in England for two weeks during all of this, but fortunately, he made it back the day before Halloween. Anyway, Auntie Julie and I decided to go out to a party. Let me tell you....adult costumes are are a rip-off! So, I justified my costume with the fact that the boys could play with the accessories :) They thought it was pretty cool, as you can see. They ran and got their gear on. Don't you love Ryan's boots? He wears those around the house All. The. Time.





And finally......Halloween night! I thought it would never come. We carved our pumpkins, of course. Kyle helped dig his out, but Ryan wasn't too keen on getting his hands dirty. Here they are from left to right: Mommy and Daddy's, Kyle's, Ryan's, and Katie's.





We trick-or-treated this year with a couple of their buddies. I don't think anyone was excited to go :)





They had so much fun going from door-to-door. They lasted a good 2 hours or so. Here they are sorting through their loot!





I was actually a little disappointed this year. It seemed like there were more dark houses this year and a lot of houses that ran out of candy. I really shouldn't be complaining since they got more than enough candy, but it's Halloween people! We don't even trick-or-treat in our own neighborhood anymore for that reason.

Well, I must tell you that I'm good for another 365 days as far as Halloween goes. Happy Halloween!

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The Missing Tooth

It's been a long time coming. I think it was just about 6 months ago, we were at the dentist and he told us that Kyle had a loose tooth. Well, it finally came out. I picked him up from school and half way home, he said his tooth came out. I asked him if he had it and he said no, it must have fallen in his seat. So, I told him not to move and we'd get it when we got home. Well, I searched all over and couldn't find it. Come to find out, he thinks it may have fallen out on the playground and he just noticed it when we got in the car :) Ok, no problem. Fortunately, moms think of these things way in advance. I told him a few weeks prior that if he lost it or if by chance he accidentally swallowed it, the tooth fairy would still come. Phew! Meltdown avoided. Score one for mom! So, we wrote her a letter, explaining what happened and tucked it under his pillow.

He was so excited! I'm surprised he fell asleep so quickly. The next morning he came running into my room with a note in one hand and a 5 dollar bill in the other! Yes, the going rate is no longer a quarter :) The note was from the tooth fairy thanking him and letting him know that she found it exactly where he had told her he had lost it. Again, so excited! Here he is....toothless!



The one right next to it is pretty wiggly, so I guess there's another $5 in his near future! One down, 19 to go! Yikes!

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7 Months Old

Katie is another month old! She's busy, busy, busy rolling across the room these days and she's quick, too. You put her down and she's off! Check her out!

Now that she can really roll, she's figured out how to roll on her belly at night with the sleepsak on. That means she's been sleeping a lot better! Phew, it's about time! Unfortunately, she no longer wants to be rocked to sleep much anymore. Boo hoo! I loved rocking her to sleep, staring at her sweet little face. Why does she have to grow up so fast? Let's see, what else is new? We've graduated in the food department. She's pretty much been through all of the vegetables and fruits now. I'd say squash and applesauce are her favorites. She loves to pull my hair. Not the best time to be letting my hair grow out. Now I know why lots of moms cut their hair short, not just for the convenience :) And the big news....she's cut her two bottom front teeth! Check out these two chompers (and the drool)!



We've also gone through our first cold this month. I ended up taking her to the doctor to get her checked out since she had SO much congestion. Turns out it really was just a cold, but I was a little shocked to find out my little baby now weighs 23 lbs!! Huh? That's 3 lbs. in just 5 weeks! Gotta love my little chunk!

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Playing with the Big Boys

Ryan started soccer last weekend! He was so excited to finally be old enough to play! He's been sitting on the sidelines for the last two years, watching his older brother play. They have two classes that run at the same time on either side of the field, so Kyle's age group plays on the one end and Ryan's plays on the other. What? I don't get to play on Kyle's team? That's when the excitement left. After a little coaxing from Daddy, we got him out there again and he was doing great. Look at him go! He got the ball, brought it down the field, and set it up in front of the goal. Way to go Ryan!

And then....I'm not really sure what happened. It seemed like they were all standing in front of the goal for 5 minutes and forgot how to kick. It was gridlock. Unfortunately, one of the kids from the other team figured it out and started to take it back down the field which meant we had one unhappy little boy!





The poor kid tried so hard and just wanted to score a goal. He did end up scoring one later on (thank goodness). If he hadn't, I think that might have been the end of soccer. It's always fun to watch this age group. It's all about building coordination!

As for Kyle, he's having a blast with soccer as usual. He's in the 5-7 year old group this year, so they'll be building on their basic skills. I think next year, we'll put him on a rec team if he still wants to play.

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Pumpkin Picking 2010

We took the kids last weekend to pick out their pumpkins. Who would've thought they'd have so much fun. We didn't even go to the pumpkin farm, we just hit local spot that the boy scouts run. Here's Kyle being his wild and crazy self!

And here's Super Ryan trying to move the pumpkin of steel!



And Miss Katie was just hangin' out with all of the pumpkins!



Here are the boys and the pumpkins they picked! They loved pulling/pushing the wagon. They proceeded to go down every aisle at full speed. The guy working there just sat back and laughed at these two having a good time!



Katie even picked one too! Is this a good one?

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Happy 5th Birthday Kyle!

5 years old? I have a 5 year old? Yikes! I looked at him the other day and asked him why he couldn't just be 4 forever. He kinda looked at me like I was crazy. Anyway, he had a fabulous birthday this year. Many celebrations as usual. We started off with the big party at the house. This year's was a dinosaur theme. Amazingly enough, like the week after his 4th birthday, he told me he wanted a dinosaur cake for his 5th birthday and he stuck with it! Unfortunately, I didn't get to attempt it myself, since we had to attend a wedding the day before, but it was a super cool cake and I think he was really excited when he saw it!

Of course, we got the bounce house again! It's like a staple around here for this party. I do have to say, it keeps everyone entertained and the Moms and Dads are always happy because their kids are always worn out by the time they have to go home.





Kyle got tons of presents from friends and family. This year, he asked for a remote control monster truck. We were a little hesitant to buy one for two reasons. One, because we thought it might be a little too complicated. Second, because we were afraid it would be destroyed in 5 minutes. We were wrong. He figured that thing out instantly. I don't why we thought different. The kid can operate the Wii controllers in both hands and then switch them up. He's ambidextrous. Anyway, he LOVED the truck. He tore open the paper and screamed, "IT'S JUST WHAT I WANTED!" Every parent loves to hear that! Here he is with his new truck :)



As I mentioned, he got lots of presents such as a real set of golf clubs from Grammy and Papa, a real outdoor tent from Nana and G-Daddy.





He also got lots of games. This is the year of games. He LOVES to play games and he's really good at them too. A couple of his favorites are Headache, Trouble, and Sorry. Everyday after school, he begs to play games. I don't mind, I like board games, except we also have to monitor the destroyer (A.K.A Ryan). He doesn't quite have the attention span yet for somw of the games, so he gets a little bored or frustrated.

We can't have a birthday around here without multiple celebrations. So, we had the yearly trifecta: the party at the house, the celebration at school, and the real birthday day celebration. Lucky boy.



Well, I thought I'd take a few pics of my oldest baby! Here he is at 5 years old! So grown up! Happy 5th Birthday Kyle, we love you so much!

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6 Months Old

Katie is officially 1/2 year old! This month she weighed in at 19.6 lbs and 26 3/4 in., still falling in that 96th percentile! This has been quite a big month for her. She started on solid foods. She's the first of the three that actually liked the rice cereal and didn't just dribble it all down her chin!

She can also now sit up. Of course, she still throws herself backwards, so you need to be nearby, but she can sit all on her own. Way to go Katie!



She is also now the proud wearer of a cranial band to help fix the flat spot on the back of her head. She's been a trooper, it hasn't really bothered her much. She has to wear it 22 hours a day for at least two months, so I guess you just get use to it. One of my good friends painted it to give it a little style. She looks pretty darn cute in it, I think.



Let's see, she can also roll both ways now and is still one of the smiliest babies I know! She LOVES to spit (I mean blow raspberries) and grab those little toes any chance she gets!



Happy 1/2 Birthday Katie!

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All Dressed Up

Ok, this is just pure blackmail right here. He will see this photo again at his wedding some day! Doesn't he look pretty?

We were over at his friend's house for a play date and this was the ensemble he came up with! What style!

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Trouble

With a capital T! I'm having Deja Vous. I might have written about Mr. Trouble before! Oh well, he's back with a vengeance! We've hit a little rough patch around here with Ryan. I think reality has finally set in and he's realized that he's not the baby nor is he the oldest, so he's stuck somewhere in the middle needing a little attention! Who can blame him? This is also why I think we had a little trouble with the start of school, a lot of change to deal with for this little guy. He's quite the actor, though. Really, someone should give this kid an award. He can mope like no other about anything and everything. Have you read the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus? This is Ryan....

Seriously, he looks exactly like this, all hunched over with arms dangling. He even says exactly that, "I never get to do blah, blah, blah!" Now, one would think that we've read this one too many times, but in all honesty, Rick and I both hate reading this book. We avoid it at all costs. So, I took this opportunity to throw it in the garbage, whether it has anything to do with it or not! I would love to take a picture of him so you could see that he IS the pigeon, but I'm trying to discourage the pouting. So, you'll just have to take my word for it!

Anyway, back to Mr. T. As I mentioned, he's been needing a little more attention. So, he decided one afternoon to express himself.....ALL OVER MY WALLS!



Lovely, huh? All I can say is, "Thank you WD-40!" It came right off! I think I'll be monitoring the crayons/markers/pencils a little more closely! Oh did I mention, I later found crayon on the train table and on the couch. He was a busy little bugger! I know we're just in a little phase. Little is the key word here. Let's hope it ends sooner rather than later because he is wearing us out!

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