First Day Fun

Here's our crazy Kade Monster on his first day at preschool. Kade and all his classmates in a line up!Kade's redition of himself (with lots of help from his teacher)!

Heavy Drinker

Keian loves to take drinks out of Scott's HUGE mug.

And thought he was pretty cool doing it while I was taking pictures!

That looks like a Joker smile.

11 Months Old

I've said it before and I'll say it again. . . where does the time go? How can this angel baby be one month shy of a year old? Keian knows Kade loves these goggles so he thought he was pretty hot stuff wearing them himself!

He doesn't like hats or anything like that but he'll put them on for a minute just to get a reaction.He was just giggling away . . .

This smile lights up any room! And look - 6 teeth!

Keian has learned , "Ni, Ni" which means Night Night and he is pretending to lay down and go to sleep.

Always putting stuff in his mouth! Ah, this is a stage I will not miss. He isn't supposed to have hat ball - Kirra and Kade know if he bites hard enough he will get a piece off, but I wanted him to stay put so I bribed him.Rear view -

Another item into his mouth. He loves this car remote - thank goodness it is made for tiny kids and the antennae is all encased so he can't ruin it or get hurt.Keian is so BUSY these days and will be walking before we know it! He loves to stand and cruise around the furniture, but he still uses he gimpy leg crawl to get places as fast as he can. He will give slimy kisses, loves to eat (I mean really eat - this kid is tough to satisfy), barks like a dog and tweets like a bird. When I was feeding him the other day he looked up at the light above the table and said, "Yite". He loves to give snuggles and pats and is thrilled beyond measure when his Daddy comes home from work. He is all about being in the middle of any wrestling match - we are trying our best to teach him to be "soft"! It's not working - but we'll keep trying. I love being Mom to this wonderful little guy!

I think. . .

My washing machine threw up all over the floor!This is the worst part of returning home from a trip.We had an awesome time in California and Kirra and Kade keep asking when we are going back! I'll try and get some more details and pictures up soon.

Definitely Sick

When she can fall asleep on the couch with Kade and Keian going full force all around the room. Poor girl! She terribly dislikes being sick, especially since it means having to stay home from school.

09-09-09

We have this amazing friend. . . her name is Kris and she loves any excuse for a party - a woman after my own heart! This one was to celebrate September 9, 2009 or 09-09-09. We had a NINE course dinner just like Kris made ten years ago on 9-9-99 (there have been subsequent celebrations on each of the 'same-number dates' each year). Before dinner Kris said she'd heard some people make comments like "you don't have anything better to do than to spend all day in the kitchen planning and preparing a 9 course dinner" - but she let us know that she did all this because she loves us! Traditions are part of what makes a family unique and helps your children remember the love they felt at home. Kris does an incredible job of creating and carrying out traditions and I am grateful to be a part of some of them. We will always look back on 09-09-09 with fond memories and know that we are loved!Course #1: V8 Fruit Juice - 8 fruit juices, plus one cranberry ice cube = 9

Kirra and Kade enjoying the first course.

Elder Thompson and Elder Wells - both Idahoans and great guys!

Course #2: 9 finger foods

Course #3: Soup with 9 crackers

Course #4: Rolls baked in the shape of a 9

Course #5: Salad - nothing fancy or having to do with a 9 because I brought this course and didn't know it had to have something to do with 9 - but I should have. This is Kris we are talking about!

Katie, Kendra, Maddie, and Kirra

Bubbas

Course #6: Sorbet - to cleanse our palates before the main course

It might look like he didn't like the sorbet, but he kept wanting MORE!

Course #7: Main Course - the cheesy potatoes were in a box that said there were 3 cheeses and since Kris used 3 boxes that equals 9.Chez and Kris taking a break! We were all getting so full! Course #8: Cheese and apples - notice the cheese cut into shapes.

Course #9: Another course provided by me, so nothing fancy in the way of 9

This was the course Kirra and Kade waited for all night!

Yum! I don't think he could have gotten much more in his mouth!

Thank you to the Steel's for a FUN night! We love you guys!

FOUR Years

That's how long I have either been pregnant with and/or nursing my boys. Crazy! I didn't wean Kade until he was 22 months old - at which time I was three months pregnant with Keian. And you know what? I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

20 Days Before Kade was born - May 29, 2006
19 Days Before Keian was born - October 4, 2008
This is the only good picture we have of my belly in the last month. He came so fast there wasn't time for those 'going to the hospital pictures' we have of Kirra and Kade. Kind of scary how much bigger I was with Keian - guess I can use the excuse he was #3 and a whole pound heavier than Kade.

What Does a Dog Say?

My Girl

All decked out to go to school. Two bracelets, a necklace. . . .

And a flower in her hair. Oh, how I love this princess!

We Had a Little Tadpole

We had a little tadpole
His name was little Lightming
(Kade's way of saying Lightening)
We put him in the backyard
And the sun was too hot for him.

OK - so I shouldn't be writing poems about what horrible pet caretakers we are - but we didn't have much time to get attached. Kade is in a little mom's co-op preschool and Sharee told me that she would be sending home a tadpole on Tuesday. I got all nervous because I don't know what to do with tadpoles. So when I dropped off Kade I told Sharee not to send a tadpole home with him, but she asked if he could still make a habitat (the lesson was on homes). I thought she was just going to send the tadpoles home in a bag like you get fish at Walmart (sorry Sharee for not giving you more credit to start with) so I said it would be fine if it came home with its own place to live.

Kade was excited about his little tadpole in a plastic container habitat and on the way home we talked about names and Kade immediately named him "Lightming". He was a cute little tadpole and since Sharee sent home some food I thought we would be just fine having a pet for a few weeks. We had to run some errands so I quickly drove home and put the little tadpole in the kitchen so he wouldn't bake in the car (see. . . at least I was thinking about him). When we got home Kade saw the tadpole in the kitchen and said, "It has to be in the backyard for him to grow legs and turn into a frog!" He raced Lightming out the back door and put him down - in the shade. Well, that spot didn't stay shady for very long and I didn't have the foresight to predict the tadpole would be baking in a short amount of time.

When Kirra got home Kade was excited to show her the tadpole and I'm not quite sure if she ever saw it alive, because when Scott got home Kade took his daddy out there and Scott came back in and said, "It's upside down" (well, he spelled it). I totally thought he meant the container so I asked the kids why they turned over the container. Scott quickly corrected me and said, "No, the tadpole." Oh, I felt awful that I couldn't keep a pet alive for more than half a day! Thank goodness Kade didn't have a proper amount of time to become attached to Lightming. I think we'll wait awhile before we attempt to be pet owners again.