Random November Pictures!

I thought I would take pictures of the kids with their "Build-A-Bear" animals to give to Grandma Boley.  Grandma B was the one who took them to build (& buy) their animals.  I thought I'd have the kids made picture frames out of construction paper.  We finished Sienna's, but we never did finish Brayden's frame.  One more item for the "to-do" list!  I thought the pictures of the kids turned out so cute that I just have to share them with everyone!

The kids received some money for Halloween, so we headed to Costco to see what they wanted to buy.  Luckily, they both agreed on this princess tent!  They did have a boy version that was black and grey, but I talked Brayden into this one because I thought the other one would be too dark.  The tent ended up being MUCH bigger than I thought it would, so after a few days in the office, and then a few days in the living room, I couldn't stand it any more!  So, we rearranged Sienna's room and it is no longer driving me crazy! :)  Unfortunately, when we buy Sienna her big girl bed with our Christmas money, the tent will probably have to go away...there just won't be enough room in her room.  :(

We watched Brayden's best friend, Logan, before swim lessons one day and then we met his mom and 2 sisters at the swim center.  It was the first time we had ever had 3 kids in the car and I thought they looked so cute!  Of course, I only took one picture and Brayden was right in the middle of blinking!  But, it's cute of Sienna and Logan, at least!

Swim Lessons with Ava and Logan!  We enrolled the kids in 2 different fall swim sessions with their friends, Ava & Logan...they had so much more fun swimming with friends!  All 4 kids were basically scared of getting water on their face when the lessons started.  After just a few short sessions, they kids were spashing each other like crazy...it was amazing!

Brayden jumping in!

Sienna jumped so fast, we missed it!

We took video of the kids going on the rope swing...someday I'll get around to posting the videos, too!

Brayden's Random 5th Birthday Celebrations!

We celebrated Brayden's birthday at preschool on the 18th, which started the week of the never ending birthday celebrations!  Sienna and I brought cupcakes for him and 14 of his classmates!

The next morning was Brayden's real birthday.  Since his birthday party was that night, we decided the best time for him to open our presents was after breakfast.  Luckily Chris was working from home that day, so it worked out great!   We gave Brayden a Trio Batcave and a couple of Trio Batman Accessories.  I think he was pretty excited!

I didn't want to make another cake for Brayden's family party, so we made more cupcakes!  This was the birthday that just kept on going and going and going!

Brayden was acting silly because he was so excited to open MORE presents!!!

Sienna was being pretty silly, too!  Please excuse her pajamas...she REFUSED to put clothes on.  I have no idea where she got her stubborness...Chris and I aren't stubborn at all! ;)

Brayden was so excited about a Star Wars Trouble game from his cousins (& Aunt & Uncle)!!!!

Brayden talked for MONTHS about this Buzz Lightyear that he saw at the Disney Store.  Nevermind that he already had a Buzz at home!  Although, I do have to admit that this one is MUCH cooler than his old one.  At least we have 2 now so the kids don't fight over him anymore.  :)

What a fun week of birthday celebrations!  Pretty soon I'll have to start planning Sienna's 4th birthday party, and I just don't think I'm mentally ready for that!  I think I might actually try to make her 3rd birthday princess castle cake after the holidays...she never did get one since I cracked my rib the day of her birthday party and I never got around to finishing it!

Brayden's 5th Birthday Party!!!

Brayden is REALLY into Star Wars this year, so we searched the internet for a Lego Star Wars cake.  Once we found one that we both liked, I did my best to copy it.  Here is my final creation!

This year we decided to have Brayden's "friend" party on his actual birthday, which just so happened to be on the same day as Sienna's pumpkin patch field trip.  Talk about a VERY long day!  27 kids (not including babies) were able to make it to Brayden's party!  I think Brayden felt pretty special on his big day!

Brayden, Sienna and his good friend, Koen!

Sienna had a blast on the obstacle course!

Here are MOST of the kids that came to the party!

Brayden and me with the Star Wars cake!

Brayden got some pretty cool gifts from his very generous friends!

Sienna felt a little left out, so she decided to help him open his gazillion presents!

It was such a great party, and the kids had sooo much fun!  And, I had a great time getting to know some of the other mom's from Brayden's class better.  But, we were all ready for bed when we got home...it was one of the longest days ever! 

Brayden's Preschool Pumpkin Patch!!!

Brayden's class field trip was the very next day!  I won't bore you with too many pictures, but the kids did decide to venture out more and not spend the majority of the time digging in the dirt.  ;)

Brayden's little pumpkin!  I tried to talk him into a bigger one, but he was set on this one...

Brayden and Sienna got sucked into playing in the dirt AGAIN...but at least it was different dirt that the day before! ;)  Brayden's best friend, Logan, is in the bottom right corner (wearing a hat).  

Brayden and Sienna decided the scarecrow needed a bit more "stuffing"!!!

Sienna, Brayden, and his two best "girl" friends (Ava & Brianna) thought the cows might be hungry.  But, the 3's class happened to feed the cows a ton of hay the day before and they were still stuffed! ;)

Brayden's class picture!



Sienna's Preschool Pumpkin Patch!!!

Sienna's class field trip fell right on Brayden's 5th birthday!  Teacher Andy knew it was his birthday and at the end of the day, Sienna's whole class sang to Brayden!  To top it all off, it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day!  The sun was out and it wasn't even all that cold for an October morning!

Sienna and the pumpkin that she picked out from the pumpkin patch!

Teacher Andy had several different activities for the kids to do, but Brayden and Sienna spent most of their time shoveling dirt! 

Although, they eventually took a break from the dirt to play with the play-doh.  I guess I should add that they also did quite a bit of swinging!

Sienna's 3's class picture!

We ended the morning with a nature walk around Teacher Andy's farm.  On the way back up the hill, I caught Brayden and Sienna holding hands!  Words cannot describe how I feel about these 2 kiddos!  They really are the best of friends...I can only pray that they remain so close as they grow older.

The next think I knew, one of Brayden's best buddies, Sam, joined them (they were in the same class last year).  I tried to get Sam's sister, Ava, (who is in Sienna's class this year) to join in, but it all fell apart at that point.  Maybe next time. ;)

Halloween Fun!

I decided that I should get caught up on pictures because it's almost Christmas and I haven't even posted our Halloween pictures!

This year, we decided to keep the kids up late (they are usually in bed by 7pm) and head to the preschool's pumpkin carving night!

Brayden & Sienna with my cousin Mark and his son Canon (Mario!) 

Chris did an EXCELLENT job carving the pumpkins!!!

This year, for the first time, we ventured out of our neighborhood and went trick-or-treating in Mark & Janis' neighborhood.  I must say, their neighborhood is HUGE and the kids got way more candy than they used to get in our small neighborhood!

 Janis pulling Sienna and Canon in their wagon!

How cute are these guys trick-or-treating?!?!?!  They seem so grown up now that we don't have to go to the door with them!

Stay tuned for the preschool's pumpkin patch pictures...up next!  )

Brayden's First Visit From the Tooth Fairy!!!

We had our first visit from the tooth fairy last week!!!  Brayden lost his first tooth, just 5 days after we discovered it was loose!  The tooth fairy was nice enough to leave him two $1 gold coins!!!



Clackamas County Fair - August 2010

Every year, Canby Community Preschool has a float in the Kiddie Kaper Parade that kicks off the Clackamas County Fair.  Last year we had just joined the school, so we didn't participate.  Since I am on the school's executive board this year, I decided to take the kids...despite the fact that I had VERTIGO!  I had just been to the doctor the day before and was on drugs, but we made it there safe and sound.  WHEW!

If you participate in the parade, you get into the fair for free that day (before 1pm).  Since it was a Tuesday and Chris was working from home, he took off from work early and we walked to the fair!  To my surprise, the kids had a BLAST!  I wasn't sure how many rides there would be that they could ride on by themselves, and the last time we went to Oaks Park, Sienna wasn't really enjoying most of the rides.  Luckily, we got quite the deal on the tickets for the rides.  Before 3pm, you could buy a "pass" that allowed you to ride on 7 rides for $15!  If I remember correctly, that was about 50% off the normal cost of 7 rides.  So, we bought the kids each a pass and let them go on as many rides as they could.  Because they went on a few rides that took less tickets than others, we actually got a few extra rides out of our "pass".

Sienna is scared of roller coasters, so brave little Brayden went all by himself!  If you enlarge the pictures (click on them), you'll see just how much fun he was having!

WHEEEEE!!!!

Brayden had so much fun that he wanted to go again!  Sienna decided she wanted to try it, but, as you can see by the look on her face, she wasn't having nearly as much fun as Brayden! ha!

Brayden even tried comforting her during the ride...he's the best big brother!!!  I didn't get a picture of it, but during the last few seconds of the ride, Sienna actually started to enjoy herself and even had a smile on her face!  Of course, when we asked her if she wanted to go again, she quickly said "no"!

One of the rides/games the kids did was a hammer game.  No matter whether you hit the hammer hard enough to ring the bell, you got to pick a prize.  The kids came home and were hitting everything in site! Unfortunately, Sienna's doesn't hold air for long, but Brayden's is still going strong (3 months later)!

I had such a fun day at the fair.  I'm not really a big "fair" person, but watching my babies go on all of those rides by themselves was so much fun!  Next year will be the last year that we can get into the fair for free (it will be the last year we'll be at the preschool), so I hope that we'll be able to enjoy another fun day at the fair for less than $30!