Summer Fun

Summer is here, so time to get wet and wild! Caden got a CARS slip N slide from our cousins for his birthday and we got it out last week and he had a blast---good entertainment for 30 minutes if not more. Brynn looked too cute in her swimsuit--she enjoyed splashing in the slip N slide pool, but once the sprinkler was turned on, she wanted no part of it--so she walked around and sat in her swing--and then practiced climbing stairs--she LOVES stairs!
Mommy enjoyed cooling off in the slip N slide as well--I know you are all sad that there are no pictures of that! The 11 million dollar water park opened in Salina--we have driven by several times and hope to go try it out soon--Caden is very excited to go!

How come little ones look cute with their tummy's sticking out? :)

Time to get wet--he didn't slide much--just ran and then got wet enough he fell down!

One very happy boy!

Austin, TX--Lake House

Vacation # 1--yep--this summer we have more than one! Memorial Day Weekend we headed to Austin, Texas to meet my brother and sister-in-law at Lindsey's Aunt and Uncle's Lake House. Austin is a few hours closer than Houston, so we were happy to go a little closer since we were driving! We left Friday around 3 and arrived in Dallas around midnight--would have got there about an hour sooner, but ran into some yucky traffic! Traveling was ok--we moved Brynn to the back of the van so mommy could sit with her and piled lots of toys, books, and food right beside mommy to keep Brynn happy. Caden was wonderful--he had his movies! We spent the first night in Dallas at Uncle Clay's house and then kept going in the morning--we did get to sleep in a bit, so did not arrive at the lake house til about 2:30---even I was ready to get out of the van!

Taking a break for riding in the van at a little park in Gunthrie, TX--we had fun throwing the football around--but the mosquitos were awful there and we got many bug bites--YUCK!

Catch Daddy...

Arriving at the lake house--we got to meet a lot of Lindsey's family and see the beautiful house--then it was time to see the lake. Caden got to experience his first boat ride--we got to see many high dollar houses around this lake!

Caden on the dock--ready to go.

Relaxing and good converesation on the dock.

Caden on the front of the boat with Aunt Lindsey, our new nephew dog Cooper, and Lindsey's sister Kelsey.

Enjoying the boat ride!

Brynn was bright and cheery back on land--she got many compliments for her easy going manner!

Brad, Lindsey, and the newest addition--Cooper!

Brynn having some of her favorite Daddy time!

Layne and Caden on the jet ski--that was wild seeing my 3 year old on a jet ski, but he liked it--even waved at people--until Layne hit a wave and they both got very wet--he was then ready to get off. Caden also tried tubing with Aunt Lindsey--I don't have any pictures--I missed it, but Lindsey's Aunt took some and hopefully I will get them soon! Caden was not too sure of tubing, but he tried it--even bounced a little, but then was done.
He told me later, "I did not like tubing so much Mommy--it too dangerous for me! I do like the boat though!"
I also got to go on my very first jet ski ride as well--it was fun, but I am with Caden and prefer the boat!

Good food and family fun!

Layne and I and the kids--plus Brad and Cooper stayed in the bunk house beside the big house--it had two sets of bunk beds and a bathroom--it was great to have our own area.
Caden was very fascinated by the deer head!

A pretty shot of the dock.

Our kids enjoying outside time!

Caden playing in the sandbox there.

Our family... and now it is time to be back in the van again...

We left Monday around noon, stopped and ate some yummy BBQ, and then headed on to stay the night in Dallas again. We made really good time and were even thinking of stopping to see a few Dallas sites when Brynn puked all over herself and the carseat--she must have gotten a little carsick or something because she seemed fine and was fine afterwards, but man, did it stink--so we headed straight to Uncle Clay's to do laundry and clean up. We made good time the next day and after stopping to play in a park in Wichita, got home around 6--the kids ran straight for their toys--I think they were tired of being told to quit touching everything at Uncle Clay's house!
All in All--good vacation--we really enjoyed the lake and seeing family, just not the drive as much--next time, we are flying--or staying at a lake in KS!

Graduation Weekend

This past weekend we got to celebrate several graduations! A good family friend of ours, Dylan, graduated from my school Southeast of Saline--so we enjoyed his party and dessert buffet on Saturday. On Sunday, our cousin Sarah graduated from Belleville--although we skipped graduation, we made it just in time for the fun party at her house! Sarah will be attending Bethany College and we are super excited to have her close by--so told us she would love to baby-sit! Dylan made it into the architect program at K-State--so he might be building our house one day. A great weekend of seeing friends and family and eating wonderful food that we did not have to cook--woo-hoo!

In the last week, Miss Brynn has finally decided to do the walking thing and we are now officially doing more walking than crawling!

Brynn and Sarah at her graduation party.

Cousin Chris--and Uncle Curt got roped into playing basketball and football with Caden--he was hot and sweaty afterwards and loved every minute--thanks guys!

Chris helping Caden get a slam dunk!

My other kids--1st grade

Who remembers their first grade field trip??? Who remembers how exciting going on a bus ride was? Well, last Friday we took our 1st graders to Rolling Hills Refuge--weather wise, it was perfect! Taking kiddos through the zoo was pretty enjoyable as well--we split into our three classes, so it was a little more manageable, but oh the joys of riding a bus!

Thank goodness Rolling Hills is only about 30 minutes from our school as it was loud talking, laughing, and giggling from the moment they stepped on board. To top it all off, we had to have at the top of the lungs singing.

Here is an example--The Wheels on the Bus--many verses!
The top pick of the day by far was this:

MCDONALD'S, MCDONALD'S, A KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN AND A PIZZA HUT, A PIZZA HUT, A PIZZA HUT, A KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN AND A PIZZA HUT--MCDONALD'S, MCDONALD'S

This was sung at least 10-15 minutes on they way to the zoo and a good 10 minutes on the way home--are you jealous yet?? Oh the joys of teaching...and we still go til next Thursday!

A day with Aunt Kristi

The last weekend in April, Layne had to go to Chicago for a couple days for a powder show, so I took the kids to Manhattan for some Kristi Time. It was the weekend of amazing weather--so we headed to the Manhattan Zoo. Smaller, but beautiful zoo--tons of trees, a great playground, and a decent variety of animals. We enjoyed a Burger King sack lunch and then toured the zoo. We all enjoyed being outdoors and soaking up the sun! After the zoo, Kristi had heard on the radio that they were having activities going on at the Hey Baby store over by Target, so we drove that way and they had a fire truck and ambulance for kids to go through and a free jump house. Caden had fun looking at the vehicles and made several stops at the jump house. After naps--taken by all of us--we treated Kristi to dinner at Valentino's--a yummy Italian buffet--with icecream! Thanks for the fun day, Aunt Kristi!

Kristi and Brynn eating lunch.

Climbing on the playset.

Trying to figure out how to use a straw--or maybe just chewing!

This is how Caden ate his lunch--cheeseburger in hand, chasing the bird!

Caden and Kristi posing with the Tiger.

Kangaroo--check out the tongue!

Time to drag out the hats!

Beautiful Peacock!

Feeding the sheep at the petting zoo.

A fun statue with a bush growing as the body.

Driving the fire truck.

A picture with the Manhattan fire truck.

Looking at the ambulance.

Taking a quick break to say Hi to Aunt Kristi in the jump house.

Sunday--Daddy's home and it was nice enough to eat outside--
Daddy thought it would be fun to do see no, hear no, speak no evil---it was close to working!
Welcome back to the party, Daddy!

All about Caden!

April 26, 2010
Caden is 3!

For his birthday meal--Caden had a chocolate shake--and cheeseburger and fries!
Chocolate shake was definitely the highlight!

His birthday smile!

An awesome poem book about trucks from our daycare provider, Valerie!

For his 3 year old check-up, Caden weighed 31 lbs, 2 oz. and was 37 inches tall. He is in the 40th percentile for weight and 30th for height.

Favorite foods: Anything with meat and/or noodles! Some favorites include hot dogs, roast, cheeseburgers, spaghetti, and chicken lo mein noodles from Dillons!

He loves, loves, loves trucks and cars, baseball, basketball, and football and is outside any chance he can get.

Caden is a great counter to the number 10--at times up to 20, knows his colors, shapes, and phone number. He impresses us often with his sense of directions--he knows where to turn to go to Valerie's house---and tells us if we take a wrong turn, he knows which church is our church, and the other day when I took the kids to see Layne at work, pointed out to me where Valerie's husband works. Sometimes Val and the kids take lunch to Roger, her husband, but Val said it had been a couple weeks--wow!

A funny lately---our Parents as Teacher lady came to our house this week and did Caden's 3 year old test and Brynn's 1 year old test. She was seeing if Caden could balance on 1 foot--he did--not for long, but he did. LaNell started to write some notes and Caden was jumping up and down saying, "I can do both feet in the air!" LaNell told him that if he could get both feet up in the air, he would pass the test with flying colors. Caden stopped and looked at her and then laid down on the ground and put both feet in the air and said, "Look, LaNell--both feet in air!" We all laughed very hard and told him how impressed we were with his problem solving! And he did do very well on the test!

Caden also has an amazing love for books and stories--especially at night time. After stories, we say prayers and always do "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep." He has started to ask what is die like. We are telling him that you go to heaven to be with God. Tonight, he asked me again what die was like so I asked him what it was. He said it was to go up. I asked him how he knew that--his answer--Pastor told me! I guess he does listen at church!

Caden--we love you! Your joy of playing and learning new items is amazing! You do test many buttons, but you are also a great helper, friend, and big brother! We are so blessed to have such a healthy, happy boy!

All About Brynn!

April 22, 2010

Our little girl is officially a year old! We had her year check-up on Monday and she is healthy and growing. Brynn was a trooper and had shots and blood drawn for this check-up, so thank goodness for daddy--mommy can handle shots now, but holding her down to get blood drawn is not for me! Our Dr. recommends it to be done, so it is done and over with now and we can enjoy all the joy and fun she has brought to our lives!

Height=29 inches long, 50th percentile
Weight=20 lbs, 7 oz, 40th percentile

Teeth--she now has 6 teeth--4 on top and 2 on bottom

Brynn is eating all people food and has been for about 2 months now. She is just like her brother and loves anything with noodles, but also enjoys grilled cheese, pizza, pancakes, and green beans. Also like her brother, she is not too into fruit--Caden eats apples and applesauce and right now, Brynn will eat applesauce and some fruit yogurt--what weird kiddos! I keep trying different types of fruit with her and she spits it right back out, so we will see!

Just in the last week, Brynn has started letting go of items and taking steps by herself--I think we are up to about 6 steps, so getting closer, but still prefers crawling. Brynn goes to sleep around 8:00 and sleeps til about 6:30ish. We are still doing one night bottle, but the rest of the day she is using a sippy cup--she also transitioned to whole milk great!

Brynn's favorite words are still da-da and daddy--she will say ma-ma, but daddy is differently the pick of the day. She also says Kee--for kitty, and Ut-Ohh--is another favorite especially when it involves dropping her sippy cup or other toys on the floor. Brynn is also a pro at clapping and letting us know when she is done eating! She does her best to stay right up with her big brother and loves to do whatever he is doing--most the time he handles that ok. She loves swinging in her swing outside and we go for stroller rides almost every night--she pulls herself right to the front of the stroller and takes in all of the sights!

Most days she is a happy and loveable little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!

A year ago she was born!

And now she is one...

We took brownies to daycare for her treats!

Her birthday breakfast--pancake or french toast stick--one or the other!

A stroller from Mommy and Daddy for her baby.

Layne and I with the birthday girl!

Birthday dinner--Chicken Lo Mein Noodles--and brownies!

Stuffing the brownie in!

And the final bear picture of the year!

Too cute!