Random Family Fun

Working From Home
For the last few weeks, Chris has been working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays (his company recently came up with a new policy). Not only do we save money on gas, but the kids get to see their dad for an extra 2 hours a day! We bought Chris a table to work at in our bedroom since there was no way he'd be able to get even a minute of work done in the office (aka playroom). Luckily we had procrastinated getting rid of our extra office chair, monitor, & keyboard. Chris says he actually gets more work done at home than at the office! The kids are always very excited to see daddy coming down the stairs at lunch, or meeting us at the car when we get home after our morning activity. Of course, that means they are a little disappointed the other 3 days of the week when Chris is at the office...33 miles away! I appreciate the help with lunch and the days that Chris walks down the stairs promptly at 4pm (he usually doesn't get home until 5pm since he works 7am-4pm). wohoo!!! Here are the kids spending time with Chris after eating lunch as a family...
Reading
A few weeks ago (yes, I'm really behind in pictures!) both kids pulled out the same Elmo book and started reading them, side-by-side. How sweet!Drawing
Sienna normally follows Brayden wherever he goes and does whatever he is doing. However, the other morning she had decided to do her own thing. Well, Brayden wasn't having any of that! He ran over to Sienna and asked her to come draw with him. Being the good sister that she is, she headed straight into the office, plopped down on the floor and started drawing!

Let's Rock!

Brayden's new favorite phrase is "Let's Rock!". Until yesterday, I had no idea where he had gotten that from. As it turns out, it is from TV (big surprise)! Brayden drags out his keyboard, guitar, microphone and drum to play. Sienna usually plays one of the instruments but on the night I took pictures, she decided she was just going to dance to Mr. B's music. Here he is singing us a song while playing the guitar!

Dancing!

More dancing!

It never fails...Sienna likes to do a lot of spins while she's dancing and she always ends up falling down!

Cuddles
Brayden has never been a cuddler so I'm fairly happy to say that Sienna is the biggest cuddler on the planet. However, the only time I can get away without holding her or having her sit on my lap, is when she's playing with Brayden. Luckily she also likes to cuddle with him...if only Brayden liked to cuddle with her! He's fine sitting side by side...

But then Sienna starts to get a little too touchy...

And he absolutely draws the line at Sienna trying to rest her head on his shoulder. Personally, I thought it was so sweet!

Our 3rd Annual Trip to Fir Point Farms!

For the 3rd year in a row, we went to the Fir Point Farms pumpkin patch. Every year I have plans to check out a different pumpkin patch, but it never fails...we always end up at Fir Point Farms. If you are interested in checking out our first 2 visits, here they are: October 2006 and October 2007. I always think that it is fun to look back at old photos to see how much the kids have changed...maybe it's just because they are my kids. ;)

Family Picture
Every year we try to get a family picture in the pumpkin patch. Of course it is impossible to get a picture with both kids looking at the camera at the same time! First Chris tried to get a photo of me with the kids... We tried and tried... (well, I guess this picture didn't turn out half bad)
And we tried some more...
And then we gave up and tried for a family picture. Once again, we didn't get one single picture with all of us looking at the camera. Sienna was more interested in checking out the pumpkins than she was in taking the picture. ;)
Pony Rides
This was Brayden's 2nd year in a row riding on the pony. When the kids were getting buckled in, there was a little boy on the pony in front of Sienna who was crying because he didn't want to get on the pony...poor kid! The thought that Brayden or Sienna would be scared didn't even cross my mind until then. Of course, for the 2nd year in a row, Brayden rode his pony like a champ and had a great time!
Even Sienna seemed pretty open to the idea of a pony ride...All was well as the kids and their ponies walked around and around...
Then, all of a sudden, Sienna stuck out her bottom lip and started whimpering (click to enlarge)! Luckily she wasn't so upset that she couldn't finish the pony ride. We tried distracting her by asking her to wave at Brayden who was on the pony behind her. She'd stop whimpering just long enough to wave to Brayden and then she'd go back to whimpering. I guess she thought that pony ride was a little too long. Hopefully she'll have more fun next year!
Apple Cider & Homemade Doughnuts
Our next stop was to check out the farm's delicious homemade apple cider doughnuts! Brayden devoured his very own doughnut (big surprise!) but Sienna wouldn't touch hers...she just wanted to run around. I'm pretty sure she was saying "Grandma, it's time to go see the pumpkins!!!"
The Pumpkin Patch
Both Brayden and Sienna were pretty interested in the pumpkins...Brayden found something interesting about this pumpkin that he just had to point out to Sienna.Then Sienna decided to find her own pumpkin! I just love this picture because Mr. B looks so grown up! Not to mention that he's actually looking at the camera and smiling...what a miracle!
Sienna and I decided to take a little stroll through the pumpkin patch...
One minute she's up and walking and the next she's down on the ground! She actually fell 2 or 3 times at the farm...I guess she needs more practice walking in pumpkin fields!
Of course, all of that falling down didn't stop Sienna from starting a game of chase!
She's pretty fast for a 16 month old!!!
Luckily for me, I have longer legs than she does. ;) She thought that it was pretty funny when I caught up to her.
Although, she wasn't quite as excited when I scooped her up, ending her little game!

Brayden's 3rd Birthday Bash!

Saturday we celebrated Brayden's 3rd birthday with family and friends at Pump It Up. This was the 2nd year in a row at Pump It up...you can check out his 2nd birthday pictures here. What a difference a year makes! Last year we had to help Brayden on the obstacle course, up the slide and catch him as he came running out of every inflatable. This year Brayden could have cared less if we were there...he could do everything by himself! How did my baby get so grown up?

Brayden's Lightning McQueen CakeBrayden's Lightning McQueen Invitations
This was by far my favorite invitation that I've made...and it actually took me the least amount of time to create!Brayden's Lightning McQueen cake took much longer to make than Sienna's crown cake. I was up until 11pm the night before making it...those of you who know me well know that I'm usually in bed by 9pm! Pump It Up - The Obstacle Course
Unlike last year, Brayden was able to have fun on every single inflatable...all by himself. It actually made me quite sad that he no longer needed us! Here he is completing the obstacle course all by himself:

Pump It Up - The BIG Slide
Brayden and his friends all had fun going down the big slide...I must have taken about 50 pictures of everyone going down! For some reason Brayden likes to go down all of the slides on his tummy!
Sienna went down the big slide TWICE! Her first trip down was with Grandma Boley and her second trip was with Chris. From what I hear, she enjoyed the slide with Grandma...but as you can see by the look on her face (click to enlarge), she wasn't quite as excited to be going so fast down the slide with Chris!

Pump It Up - Random Pics
Brayden's friend Anne had fun pushing Sienna around in the little car...
and Brayden, too!

Sienna had fun bouncing with Grandma Boley!
But she preferred playing with Aunt Kari and the toys...
Sienna took a break to relax with Grandpa Macnab...
Grandma Macnab...and me! It is hard to believe that exactly one year ago, she hung out in her carseat for the entire party...she was only 4 months old!
Random fun in the big bouncer!

The Group Picture!!!
Pump It Up - The Party Room
Doesn't Brayden look excited to be in the BIG Birthday Chair?
We must have been boring him with all the birthday fun! Although, to be fair, he did have a rug burn on his elbow (from the slide) that he wasn't too excited about...
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Brayden, Happy Birthday to you!
Before we even finished singing Happy Birthday, Brayden was blowing out his candles!

Sienna eating cake with a fork...what a big girl!
Brayden and Anne saying goodbye after the party...aren't they too cute??? Things to remember for the next birthday cake: dark colored frosting stains mouths, tongues & teeth!
Family Dinner/Presents
After the party, we headed home to have dinner and open presents with Grandma & Grandpa Macnab, Grandma & Grandpa Boley and Aunt Kari & Uncle Rich. I think Sienna had just as much fun opening presents as Brayden did. Luckily Brayden didn't care that he had so much "help".
Even Stella helped open presents!
Sienna's favorite "present" was a Sesame Street bag...she played peek-a-boo with it! She'd put it on her head and then take it off...she thought she was so funny!
More presents!
Brayden's REAL Birthday
Sunday morning Brayden opened his birthday presents from us. He is so funny when he opens presents...he pulls one piece of tissue paper out at a time...it takes him forever to open presents!
I couldn't believe that Brayden could actually lift this box out of the sack...it was filled with heavy wooden Thomas Train tracks, a gold mine, a crane, 4 trains, etc...I could barely lift it! ;) Brayden got tons of cool toys for his birthday, but one of his favorites is the 100 piece floor puzzle from his friends Anne and Michael...he loved it so much that he wanted to put it together 3 times yesterday! Grandpa Macnab made Brayden a huge magnet board..I think it ended up being Sienna's favorite present!
Saturday morning the kids got some cool party favors at their friend Brooke's 2nd birthday party. They got some cool wrist bands (they are creating a new fashion statement with their pajamas!) and Brayden got a parachute dude that he had fun throwing up in the air.
Grandma & Grandpa Boley got Brayden a bowling set for his birthday. Last night he had fun trying to knock down all of the pins!

What a fun, but busy weekend! We also went to the Fir Point Farms pumpkin patch on Sunday...look for those pictures coming soon!