Random September Fun!

The kids love "help" Daddy mow the lawn.  We might need to invest in a 2nd bubble mower next year so they both can "help" at the same time!

Thanks to 40% off coupons from Joann's Fabric and Michael's Craft Stores, we have been having lots of fun doing science experiments!  This experiment was all about colors and growing crystals.

After we completed all of the experiments, the kids had fun making their own experiments with the eye droppers. 

The kids were entertained for HOURS and HOURS!  It was well worth the $9 it cost for the kit.  And, we still have all of the eye droppers, bowls and test tubes.  After we ran out of the color tablets, we switched to regular food coloring, which was almost as much fun!

The kids are also good helpers in the kitchen...they took turns stirring the marshmallows (we were making rice crispies) and spinning the lettuce in the salad spinner!

Sienna was just barely tall enough...

Stephanie Klein Photography!

Here are a few of the pictures we had taken by Stephanie Klein Photography last month!  I wish the kids would smile better for pictures, but what can ya do???

Loon Lake - Spokane, WA

Back in August (yes, that's right..we are still doing August pictures!!), we headed to Loon Lake with Chris' family. His grandma owns a cabin on the lake and the last time Chris and I were there, Brayden was only 9 months old!

The view from the back patio! AMAZING!!! Here is the view of the cabin from the dock. Brayden loved sitting on the big yellow "lifeguard" bench!

Brayden and Sienna playing in the lake and sand with their cousin, Jack.

Chris, Brayden, Sienna and Cousin Brian decided to check out the row-boat! Although, Brian got bored quickly and ended up jumping out of the boat and swimming back to shore, leaving Chris to do all of the rowing!

Sienna wasn't too excited about the lack of warm lake water! I couldn't agree more...the water was FREEZING!

Brayden adores his cousin, Jack...he follows him everywhere, even if that means into the freezing cold lake!

We brought the kids' bikes, but their training wheels didn't do so well on the gravel road. So, they were stuck riding in circles in the driveway...

We hope to be able to go again next year...maybe the summer weather will be better and the lake water will actually be on the warmer side!

Random August Fun!

I'm back!!! Well, I wasn't really "gone", but I have certainly been busy! I thought I should try to catch up on the blog. Today I'm posting some random August pictures!

Brayden trying to "blast" me with his Nerf Shooter! I just love the look on his face. Boy, it is so crazy to see how much he's changed just since August!!!
Sienna and Daddy love to make snickerdoodle cookies together! Can you tell which cookies Sienna made?!?!?

In August, we met some school friends at the Oregon City Water Park. Across the baseball field was also a very cool playground. The kids were in heaven!

Sienna didn't like it when Brayden tried to get her with his water shooter!

Brayden actually ran into the water to pick up the cups they were playing with...I was impressed! Before they started swim lessons, he never would have even thought about rescuing the cups!

I turned 34 in August...how did that happen??? Right before Chris and I headed to downtown Bend for the night, I got a cute birthday picture with my kiddos!

My birthday dinner at Bourbon Street (Bend, OR). We had never been there before, but we were pleasantly surprised. :)

Next Up: Loon Lake (Spokane, WA) & Clackamas County Fair pictures!!!

Pumpkin Carving Night at the Preschool!

Last night we headed to the preschool for the annual pumpkin carving night! We didn't go last year because it is was too late (the kids go to bed at 7pm and it doesn't usually start until 6:30 or 7:00), but this year we decided to keep them up late. We only got there 7 minutes late and it was already packed! Since all of the tables were taken, we found a nice spot on the floor and Chris started carving away. After the pumpkins were carved, all the kids had a little parade outside to look at all the lit up jack-o-lanterns! Then we sang songs by a very smokey campfire...luckily it was only sprinkling on us!

I only had time to get one picture off the camera...maybe I'll post the rest of them later. ;) Here are the kids with their pumpkins!

Brayden's 5th Birthday Cake!

This is the cake I just finished for Brayden's birthday party at Pump It Up! Tomorrow he'll turn 5 and celebrate with 26 of his closest friends! Wowsers! That doesn't even include the babies and adults!!!

Accidents, Accidents & MORE Accidents!!!

Tonight Sienna got her first bloody nose and her gazillionth fat lip. She decided to do a face plant on the coffee table. I'm guessing if she could do it over again, she would probably NOT jump across the couch and launch onto the coffee table...face first. Guess we'll find out... This was just ONE of the accidents that has occurred in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, Brayden launched into the coffee table with his hip, resulting in a huge bruise. Not 5 minutes later, he fell on the coffee table, face first and ended up with a huge bruise and a swollen cheek. I'm thinking at this point the coffee table has got to go! ;) And, today we went to the preschool for a Safety Event (police, ambulance, fire truck, etc) and Brayden fell on the playground and skinned his knee and shin...blood and sand all mixed in together. UGH. Oh, and did I mention that both kids have fairly yucky colds this week?!?!?! I am so ready to go back to a healthy, accident-free life!!!

Brayden's 1st Day of Preschool!

Wednesday was Brayden's first day of preschool! This year Brayden is in Teacher Andy's 4's class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and Sienna is in Teacher Andy's 3's class (Tuesday, Thursday). Have I also mentioned that I'm now the preschool's Treasurer? This is going to be one busy year!!!
In the 4's class, they write their whole name in the sand!

Math games!

Brayden was so excited to be back at school! I hope that he always loves school this much!

I must say that it was MUCH easier dropping Brayden off at school than it was Sienna. Brayden has several close friends in class...it was so cute to see him sit right down and start chatting away. When I dropped Sienna off on Thursday, I was so scared that she wasn't going to want me to leave. She's such a mommy's girl and has NO IDEA how to play with other kids, without her "security blanket", Brayden. But, she did pretty good at drop off and did great after I left. HOORAY! Once she makes some friends of her own, I know I'll feel more relaxed. At least she told me that she "LOVES" Teacher Andy!!!

Sienna's 1st Day of Preschool!

Today was Sienna's FIRST day of preschool!!!! It's hard to believe that just 1 year ago, Brayden had his first day of preschool! She wouldn't put her backpack on, but she eventually decided to let me take her picture with her lunchbox. :)
I decided I should make Sienna's first day my first parent help day, too. Between Brayden's class (4's) and Sienna's (3's), I have 23 parent help days this year. I figured Sienna wouldn't let me leave, anyways, so I might as well make it count! Since we had to arrive 30 minutes early, Sienna and Ryan (his mom was also parent helping) helped Teacher Andy put all 15 name cards on the board!

Then Teacher Andy showed Sienna how to draw the first letter of her name in the red sand.

Then it was Sienna's turn to draw the "S"!

She surprised me and drew her first "S"...and it was perfect! I wish you could see it in the picture, but the "S" didn't really show up. Darn!

After signing in, the kids go directly to the math games table.

After math games, Sienna had fun playing with dye, eye droppers and ice cube trays!

Sienna's "Rainbow Girl"!

Snack time!

All 15 3 year old's eating their snacks!

What a fun day! I was a little nervous having 15 kids in the class (Brayden's 3 year old class only had 11), but they all did pretty good. Sienna even did good until snack time was over, and then she must have gotten tired because she wanted me to hold her and threw a small tantrum. But, I expected that to happen the entire day, so I still consider it a success. Now we'll just have to see how she does on Thursday when I drop her off...hopefully she'll want to stay and won't start crying! Tomorrow is Brayden's first day of school...I expect that to go smoothly since Brayden LOVES the school, and Teacher Andy!

Sprinkler Hopscotch!

One of the best water toys we have bought, has been this hopscotch "sprinkler"! You can adjust how high the water comes out, which is perfect for kids who don't like to get their faces wet! Of course, the weather didn't cooperate this year so we didn't get to use it much. These pics were taken back in June!

Even Chris took a turn, which was by far, the most fun to watch! haha!