Halloween

Too tired to eat...very rare moment for Alaina

Coloring, Ky's obsession

I love my shoes!

A typical laundry day. The scary thing is--the other half is still downstairs waiting to be washed...

Working together.

A very excited Ky...opening a gift from U. Adam & A. Liz

CANDY!!!! He was ecstatic!


A coloring book with tattoos! Does life get any better??

First trip to the dentist

Ky was Bob the Builder for Halloween

Alaina was a pumpkin

The playgroup...or most of the playgroup

From back left to right: Josiah, Ray, Taryn, Ky, Cora, Lana

Front: Alaina, Bryson

Missing:Alia, Evan, Laura, Teyla, Danny, Zack

Rocking like a SUPER STAR!

Trying to hit the pinata

Collecting candy

Loving Nana

Alaina likes to throw her food out of her high chair and then eat it on the floor. Perhaps it tastes better with floor lint?


This was the first halloween Ky dressed up. And honestly, all he did was go to a small party with my fellow mom's club. We (I) didn't feel the need to traipse him around the neighborhood for candy we didn't really want him to eat--not to mention candy we (Rob & I ) would end up eating :). Ky still doesn't know everything that goes on with Halloween so we decided just to leave it at that. I told him he was going to dress up for a party. He has been really obsessed with Bob the Builder, so it was easy to make him a homemade costume using a small tool belt we had, his overalls and a play fire hat that I put a Bob the Builder sticker on.

Alaina was my little pumpkin. I put her in her orange pj's and cut a little leaf "hat" out of felt and stuck her pony tail through it. It worked very well. And hey--she is cute in everything--so it worked!

I like the idea of home made costumes...and may instate that as a rule in the future. No store bought costumes, you have to be creative and make your own!

On Halloween morning, Ky and I had dentist appointments. It was Ky's first. And honestly his total time in the chair was about 5 minutes where they counted his teeth and brushed them. I really hope they didn't' charge a full check-up for him. Especially since they didn't take x-rays or anything. He did very well there.

After that we were off to our Mom's Halloween party. Ky had a blast playing with all his friends. Our entire playgroup was there. We meet every Thursday. And Ky has been playing with/growing up with these kids for the last 2 years. It was fun to try to get all the kids in the pic above. Us mom's in this group have become very close and I look forward to the many years in the future with our kids growing up together and *hopefully* maintaining some of these close friendships--but we all know how kids are....I have a feeling us ladies will stay close, I just don't know how the kids will be.

At the party they had a pinata and Ky had a blast hitting it. I am pretty sure he had no idea there was candy inside. So once the candy started falling--and it took a lot of work to break open that pinata--the excitement in Ky's eyes was exploding. He kept yelling--"Look Mom! Candy!" Nothing better than candy all over the floor for anyone to grab!

On to other things...

I know I have emphasized before Alaina's obsession for shoes--but it really is a serious obsession. I got her a new (used) pair of Mary Jane's and put them on her. She was so excited to clomp around the house in her new shoes. She also enjoys putting on everyone else's shoes as well.

We have been really struggling to get good professional pics of Alaina. She just doesn't want to sit still. She will also start crying. I had to take her twice before I got a decent picture of her at 1 year. The same thing happened with Christmas pics with Ky. An Australian guy came to take her picture and she just started screaming in terror. I think she was honestly scared of him. They brought in another photographer, but by then the damage was done. So I had to bring the kids back a second time to get the pics done. AND WHAT A CHORE IT IS! It is hard wrangling these kids into nice clothes, lugging them there, keeping them clean and nice looking and happy all for 1 decent picture. Not an easy job!UGH! I will have more info on xmas pics in another blog.

We have also discovered that Alaina is terrified of cats. We went to a friends' house for lunch and their cat came around the corner and she started screaming in sheer terror. Every time the cat came out she would scream and cry and run to me. It was TOO funny! Poor girl. Yet so weird! She is such a feisty and brave girl and yet cats and Australian men are too much for her.

So you probably think it is odd that i took a picture of our laundry, but I really just felt I needed to emphasize how much laundry I do. I do laundry once a week. Fly lady says "A load a day keeps chaos away", but I beg to differ. I only want to fold and put laundry away once a week, so I am going to just pick a day and do it all. I never imagined SO much laundry! And yes, I want to re-emphasize that that was only half of the laundry I did that day. AMAZING! And I will also say that I and Rob will rewear clothes twice. The kids---well-- often they end up in 2 outfits a day, so that never happens.

(Stepped out for a few minutes...)

Just put Alaina down...*SIGH* She is getting SO big. She is in that, not quite a toddler, no longer a baby, phase now. I try to do extra snuggles with her now before she goes to bed. And on the rare occasion she falls asleep in my arms, I just sit there and let her sleep. I enjoy her beautiful face and relaxed body. So precious are these moments as they are getting fewer and fewer. I sing to her now every time before I put her to sleep. I put her on my shoulder and often she will take both arms and hug my neck and lay her face against my face. It's almost like she is trying to absorb everything from the song-the vibrations, the facial motions. Sometimes she sings with me. I cherish these moments as I know she is no longer that tiny infant that would snuggle in my arms and long to be next to my warm body. She prefers to sleep on her own now. If Rob and I put her in bed with us, she crawls out. There is just too much for her to see and explore. And explore she does. She tears everything apart. Cleaning is impossible. Most of the child locks have broken on our cabinets and we haven't bothered to replace them--too much work to do, for them just to break again. So instead I just let her explore--which isn't' necessarily a good thing.

Alaina tries to say all sorts of words--though they aren't very clear. She says "mama" when she wants to be held--yes she tells Rob "Mama" when she wants to be picked up. This is probably my fault. I tried to teach her to say "Up Please". Instead she said "mama" and I thought it was so cute and picked her up. And now I still think it is cute and pick her up. She will learn soon enough...why rush things?

I was looking through some old pics of Ky from last year and I am also amazed by how much he has grown. I don't notice as much with him since the changes now are slower--and Alaina goes through much more drastic changes in a short time. He has really matured so much and is such a good and responsible boy. Very dependable as well. Tantrums--particularly in public--are rare with him. We have been dealing with some talking back, but we are working to nip that in the bud--and he has been improving.

He is sounding out words. He is starting to play games (educational) on the computer. His coloring is amazing! I am astounded by how well he does for 3 years old. (I have to scan some pics in--and I have a new scanner so I will do that soon!) He tries to use big words--and will often use them correctly! He has really started to do more independent play. He spends hours tracing letters and writing them on his own. He has begun subtraction. He can tell you all the days of the week. He can count by 10s to 100. He loves pointing out deciduous vs. conifers (tree types)--I know--kind of geeky--but hey the boy loves trees! He absorbs everything--which makes me all the more mindful of what I should and shouldn't expose him to.

I have started a new preschool curriculum with him that I am very excited about and he is enjoying. Right now we are learning about our body--and he loves the book I got from the library that talks about the different body systems. He knows his right from his left--I was MUCH older before I could figure that out! We go to the library twice a week. We are getting so much out of the library system with books and his beginning to read and our new curriculum. Every day with him is just such a joy. I really have been blessed with such a remarkable boy.

He is also very sensitive to me as well. He wants to know how I feel about things. (What a great husband/daddy he will make some day!) If I am having a rough day he will want to know what he can do to make it better. He is quick to apologize and give me a kiss. And he never holds back an "I love you!"--though for some reason they often come at awkward times (i.e. in the bathroom, trying to tie his shoes---by the way which right now he is currently trying to figure out.)

Well I probably have gushed on enough about my kids...but it was long overdue. I wouldn't trade them for anything. They really are the best kids in the world--for me anyway :) MOre updates to come (I know...I am behind again!)