Brayden's 4th Birthday!

We were finally able to celebrate Brayden's 4th birthday on Sunday. His party was originally scheduled for the previous Saturday, but we had to postpone it due to fevers, colds, soccer games & 2 cases of the swine flu! YIKES!The last 2 years we had Brayden's party at Pump It Up, but this year we decided to save money and have it at home. I was a little worried about how we'd keep so many kids entertained, so I bought a pinata and a Pin the Tail on the Donkey game. As it turns out, most kids don't want to put the tail in the wrong spot...Brayden was the only one that didn't try to take the blindfold off before "pinning the tail on the donkey"!

Here is a random collage of the kids brave enough to wear the blindfold. Even Chris and his brother, Rich, gave it a try. Although, they cheated just as much as the kids...they used their hands to feel where the kids had put their tails.

After the game, it was time to eat cake! This was by far the hardest cake that I have ever made... I plan on taking a fondant class before attempting Sienna's cake in June!!!

We finally got a family picture where everyone was looking at the camera...AMAZING!!!

Happy 4th Birthday, Brayden!

After cake, it was time for the pinata! I bought a pinata stick, but as you can see, it wasn't very strong. I think the pinata might have been demolished sooner if the stick would have been stronger!

All of the little boys had the funniest faces when hitting the pinata:

After the little kids had 3 or 4 turns, we had to bring in the BIG boys! It even took Brian and Jack several tries to break open the pinata...we definitely got our money's worth!

It got a little crazy once all of the candy hit the ground!

Time for presents! This year I actually had a hard time keeping up with Brayden! In previous years, he'd get distracted and want to play with each toy he opened. I guess he's growing up!

Before bed, we let the kids have a little treat. Since we hadn't cut into "Mike", we let the kids choose what part of him they wanted to eat. Brayden, of course, wanted to eat his big eye!

Mike was actually a big rice crispy treat, covered in marshmallow fondant...YUM!!!! The kids liked the marshmallow fondant better than the cake & buttercream frosting.

Only six more months until I need to start planning Sienna's 3rd birthday!

Brayden's 1st Field Trip!

Brayden's preschool class headed to Teacher Andy's house to pick pumpkins, ride ponies, and snack on yummy pumpkin bars! I'd like to say that it was tons of fun, but Brayden kept complaining the whole time that he was cold and wanted to go home! I guess he takes after us...we all would have rather have been sitting in front of a nice warm fire. :)

The kids never cooperate when we want to take a family photo. This was the best out of 3 pictures...
There was a ton of stuff for the kids to play with. Sienna's favorite table was the corn table. In fact, she didn't want to leave to pick out a pumpkin, so we only came home with one pumpkin!

The kids hammered golf tees into pumpkins...what a great idea!

Sienna was so excited when Teacher Andy brought her pony, Rudy, out. On the other hand, Brayden wasn't interested in Rudy, at all. Sienna blends right in with Brayden's preschool class...she's the same size as most of them (she's wearing the pink hat)!

Sienna waited very patiently for her turn to ride the pony.

Even though Brayden didn't want to ride the pony, he finally decided to give it a try. I'd like to say that he had fun, but he never cracked a smile! I was totally suprised by his attitude because the 2 years that he rode the ponies at Fir Point Farms, he loved it! You can check him out here: 2008, 2007. Brayden with Teacher Andy:

Sienna must have waited for about an hour for her turn on the pony. But, her turn finally arrived and she was all smiles! I was actually surprised she was so excited because her pony ride last year didn't go all that well!

Sienna and Teacher Anne:

After the pony rides, the kids took a break to have a snack in the barn.

Teacher Andy's 3 Year Old Class: Brayden, Logan, Gavin, Emily, Teacher Andy, Ava, Koen, Hunter & Ben. Front row: Sam, Brianna & Tyson

Sienna's Big Girl Bed

After several nights of being woken up by Sienna yelling, "Tuck Me In!", we decided it was time to see how she'd do in a big girl bed. It was just fifteen months ago that we transitioned Brayden from a crib to a big boy bed. How can it already be time to transition our baby to a big girl bed?!?!?! I think that Chris and I were both dreading this a bit...Sienna has always been a bit rebellious, so we weren't sure if she would stay in her bed. Not to mention that she hates change...especially when the change has to do with her and sleep.

I wasn't exactly sure what Sienna was going to say when we asked her if she wanted to start sleeping in a big girl bed. Sienna always refers to herself as our "small baby"...she never wants to be a big girl! But, to our surprise, she was really excited to sleep in a "big girl bed". Maybe it helped that I had gone shopping that morning and bought her new bedding, which she immediately wanted to open and sleep in. She was not very happy that she had to wait for me to wash it! Oh, and did I mention that we had to take down Brayden's old crib (she had been sleeping in it since January since his mattress goes lower than hers), as well as put her crib together. What a task! But, with Brayden's help (he actually helped take the screws out of his old crib and put the screws in Sienna's new bed), we got it done fairly quickly.

Can't you just see Sienna's excitement??? Since the bed has been in the garage for the last 10 months, the kids cleaned it with baby wipes.

The bed was finally ready...Sienna was extremely excited to climb in!

Brayden was so excited that we let him climb in, too!

So far, Sienna has slept great in her new bed! She woke up at 7:00am the first morning (30-45 minutes earlier than usual) and the second morning she slept until her usual time (7:45am). She's also taken 2 great naps! Here she is taking her 2nd nap...she looked so cute and cozy that I hated to wake her up!

Happy 4th Birthday, Brayden!!!

On October 19th, 2005, 3 LONG days after my due date, Brayden finally decided to make his appearance. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long! Some days it's hard to believe that it has only been 4 years since Brayden joined our family...I honestly can't remember what life was like before we had kids!

Brayden's first celebration of the day included frosting chocolate cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting and Halloween sprinkles. What a fabulous breakfast!

Brayden's masterpiece!

Make a wish!

There's just something about our kids and frosting...they both eat the frosting first!

Brayden has been such a trooper since I had to reschedule his birthday party. Tonight we'll have Grandma & Grandpa Boley over for more cupcakes, tomorrow he'll have a small party at school and on Sunday, Brayden will get to celebrate his birthday with all of his friends!

Random September Pictures

Grandma Boley's Birthday
Sienna, Grandma Boley & Brayden!The Kitty Condo
It doesn't matter how many times the kids are put on time-out, they won't stop playing on the kitty condo! They climb all over it and then jump off onto the floor (which I might add is very close to the fireplace) or onto the couch. I'm just sure the kitty condo will be the reason for our next trip to the ER!

Naps
The kids love to take pretend naps...if only they liked to take real naps!

Wine Tasting
A few weeks ago we headed to the Gorge for a little wine tasting. We made it to Phelps Creek, Viento, The Pines and Naked Winery. Oh, we also stopped for lunch at Double Mountain Brewery. YUM!!!

Viento was our favorite winery of the day! They have only been open for 6 weeks...it was quite the find and we can't wait to go back!

Safety Roundup
Back in September, Brayden's preschool hosted a "Safety Roundup". One of the fun things the kids got to do was turn the water on and off on a real fire hose!

Even Sienna got a turn with the hose!

Both of the kids also got to sit in a real police car! We tried to get them to sit in the backseat, but they said it was too hot (the backseat is hard-as-rock black plastic!). It was 95 degrees and they were looking right into the sun...don't they look like they are having fun?!?!?

The Flower Farmer - 2009

After going to Fir Point Farms for the last 3 years, we decided to check out a new pumpkin patch this year: The Flower Farmer. The only downside is that they didn't have pony rides...looks like we'll have to head out to Fir Point Farms this weekend for the kids' annual ride.

I love to look back at old posts to see how much the kids have changed. I think it is amazing how much Brayden has changed in the 3 years since we took him to his first pumpkin patch. I honestly don't remember his cheeks ever being that chubby! He was 11 months old and I was pregnant with Sienna, but we didn't know it. You can also check out our 2007 & 2008 trips to Fir Point Farms.

I was really excited to take the kids to the Flower Farmer because of their boo train. What we didn't realize is that you actually have to pay for a train ride to get to the pumpkin patch and Straw Mountain. For the 4 of us, it cost $17. I was hoping for a cheaper pumpkin patch experience, but once we got on the train, I realized it was well worth the $$$!

Brayden, Chris & Sienna waiting for the train to pick us up. Brayden, me & Sienna waiting for the train. We actually had to wait 10-15 minutes, which was pretty torturous for Brayden!

Sienna & Chris in front of the Flower Farmer Store. Sienna loves, loves, loves to be held...all day long! She loves to tell us that she's our "little baby". Yea! The train finally arrived!

Brayden & Sienna were SO EXCITED to get on the train.

The kids were really excited to go through the dark, scary tunnels (well, it was dark until I started taking pictures).

Our first stop was the petting zoo! Brayden wasn't too sure about petting the animals. Sienna was very sure about not petting them...she clung to Chris and didn't get down even once!

The next stop was Straw Mountain, probably the best part about the Flower Farmer!

Before I knew it, Brayden was almost to the top and Sienna was halfway up! About that time, Sienna started to get a little scared so Chris went up to help her the rest of the way up.

I tried to get a picture of the kids with the pumpkins, but after numerous tries, this was the best I got. Sienna was too interested in the cool pumpkins and Brayden just wanted to go back to Straw Mountain...

There was a maze in the bottom of the mountain that the Chris and the kids went through. I didn't go in, but it was apparently pitch black...you couldn't see a thing! Once the kids found the short route from one door to the next, they started going through by themselves. As you can imagine, I was a little scared every time they went in! After awhile, Sienna went in by herself (more panic!) and Brayden quietly waited around the corner from the door Sienna would be coming out of. As soon as she started heading out, Brayden jumped out and scared her. I seriously think that she jumped about 3 feet! The look on her face was priceless! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready the first time and the following pictures are of the kids giggling when Brayden jumps out to scare Sienna (they did this over and over).

Straw Mountain even had some cool tunnels that Chris and Sienna checked out.

On the way back to the Flower Farmer Store, we rode in the caboose! I wasn't sure we were all going to fit...it was TINY!

What a FUN day! The Flower Farmer will definitely be on our list of Pumpkin Patches to visit next year!