Gotta represent

Friday the 21st was Apple Cup day at school. Maddie was SO excited! She has a cougar cheerleader outfit that is almost too small so she was excited that she could still wear it. She said that there was an equal number of kids in the class that liked each team but she was not very happy when the door holder kept repeating that the cougars stink when cougar fans passed by. Go Cougs!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. We went to our friends Jeff and Raegans and had pizza and then out to trick or treat. The kids were SO excited. Josh and I were excited too-Jake can't eat anything so we got all of his candy!( mean parents huh)

My mom got the kids glow in the dark jammies. They LOVED them. Thanks Hama!

Luke was a monkey. No candy in there buddy!

Maddie was an artist. She was so excited-she loves art.

Jake was Buzz Lightyear. This is his new thing. Buzz and Woody.

The group picture-Maddie, Jake, Luke, Tyler and Ava.

Poor Ava. She didn't like it at first. This picture captured half the night. The other kids going to the door and Ava hanging back. She did warm up at the end and hit a few houses herself.

Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to the Pumpkin Patch with my MOPS group. We had a good time and Josh was able to come too. We went on a weekday when they didn't have all of their special activities going but I heard they had monster truck rides. A definte for Jake next year!

Maddie and Jake on the cow train. They pull these cow cars by tractor-very fun!

Whats the funnest thing to do at the patch? Eat your zipper!

Too concentrated on driving to smile

By the end of the day Luke was a little tired.

Whee! Down the slide we go.

Jake-would you look at the camera?!

Luke 6 months old

Luke is now 6 months old. We can't believe how fast time goes by. He seems to be teething and looks like his bottom teeth will be coming soon. He is sitting up really well by himself and LOVES to eat solids. He doesn't seem to interested in moving though. Not making any moves toward crawling of scooting. Josh and I decided that was ok though. Crawling means gates and we are sure that Jake will kill himself trying to jump or climb over those things. Here are a few recent pics of Luke. As you can see he is a very happy baby.

Crazy little Jake

I know that some of you don't believe me when I say that Jake is a little crazy. Ok, not crazy but VERY busy. He loves to climb, jump off of everything and won't stop going until I tie him down so he will sleep. The other day I came in the room and Jake was upside down in Lukes Jumperoo jumping upside down with his legs on the wall. He thought it was the funniest thing-until he either brakes the toy or his head!

Go Seahawks!!!

So our kids know who they are to cheer for-Josh makes that very clear. Seahawks, Cougs, Mariners and Yankees. And the kids will tell you that Huskies is a bad word at our house-just incase that you didn't know that. Jake loves to cheer along with his dad for whatever team he is watching. Since it is football season, Jake wants to wear his Seahawks gear EVERYDAY! It is a constant battle not to let him take the shirts out of the dirty clothes. So here are a few pics of my boys sporting their gear.

something to think about

I saw this today and really liked it.

You can never really live anyone else's life, not even your child's. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself.

(Eleanor Roosevelt)

Growing up too fast

Luke is almost 5 months and is making my head spin. It is hard to watch him grow up because I feel that I don't have as much time to cherish his little achievments since I'am so busy with everything else going on. He started eating cereal, which he hated at first and is now loving. He is smiling and laughing and LOVES to be held. He sat up today for a minute or longer on his own and decided that he loves trains. Stop growing!

I have so many friends that are talented photographers. My friend Mary wanted to come and take some pictures of Luke. Here are a couple that I thought were cute.

The other kids loved their saucers to play in. Luke is no exception.

Here is Luke sitting up for the first time.

Luke has not been fond of tummy time. He normally lasts about 2 minutes and then wants to be done. Today I found his interest. He layed on his tummy for about 15 minutes and watched Thomas the train go around the track.

First day of school

WOW! I can't believe that the first week of school has already flown by. Maddie started first grade this year and is loving school already. She seems to like her teacher and is excited to be seeing old friends and meeting new ones. My little social butterfly has mentioned that her teacher has already had to tell her to quiet her voice and stop talking-it might be a long year in that department. Anyway, Jake and Luke have adjusted as well, not having her to play with. Jake pretends to go to dinosaur school-which he made up himself-and loves to eat his lunch out of his lunch box like his sister. I'am hoping to spend some time with Jake and teach him his letters and numbers which he seems to be interested in, but can't seem to get him to sit long enough to do anything. Maybe I should think about having school on his skateboard?!

Choosing the first day of school outfit was very important to her. This is what she chose.

Getting ready to walk out the door on the first morning. Can't believe I wasn't late. Jake was upset that he wasn't able to go to school.
Maddie in her first day of class. She knew one of the kids at her table so that made her feel a little more at ease.

Maddie turns 6

Maddie had a great 6th birthday. She started out the day with her choice of breakfast-cinnamon rolls. We then hung out and got ready for her girlfriends to come over and party! Maddie wanted an art party, so when everyone arrived they had a sketch pad and some crayons waiting for them. The girls colored, did a painting project, and beaded a friendship braclet. Then it was time for dessert. Madison decided that she wanted to have everyone make their own sundaes instead of cake, and no one was sad about that. Maddie chose M&M's, chocolate and caramel sauce, sprinkles, bananas, whip cream and cherries. I think sugar high was an understatement.

After the party we went to Red Robin for dinner-something Maddie asks for every year. We had a great time and she seemed to enjoy the day a lot.

Ice cream anyone?

Eating her birthday sundae

Luke

Luke just turned 4 months old and is getting SO big! He weighed 15 pounds and was 25 1/2 in long. He is playing with toys, finding his toes, and starting to eat cereal. I just can't believe how fast it has gone. He is such a great baby!

Hey-where did this cute baby come from?
I've finally found my toes!

Everything is going into his mouth.

First time with cereal. He did pretty good but was really hungry and not very patient.

I'am 3!!!

Jake's birthday was August 19th. He was the big 3. He was so excited and ready to party. We started off the day with cinnamon toast crunch-his favorite cereal, and then played for awhile. We decided not to have a big party for him this year, so a couple of the neighbor kids came over for lunch and we had a little party. Then after nap, we went to Red Robin for dinner. His sister LOVES Red Robin so I'am pretty sure that he was talked into that one. After dinner we went to Chuch E Cheeses for some games and running around. He had a great day and loved all of the attention. After it was all over he asks " When do I turn 4? "

Here are the boys eating pizza. Can I tell you how crazy a house with 5 boys can be?

He asked for cupcakes ( without egg of course ) and was able to blow all the candles out the first time.
Here we are at Red Robin. I told the kids he probably wouldn't be here on a weekday, but there he was. The kids were very excited.

Jake got very embarrased when they started singing to him. He was trying to hide.

He loves Bob the Builder and was excited to ride in his front loader.

And so here's the kicker. What 3 year old wants a skateboard? My son. He wants to be so big.

Jake is into Superheors and anything dangerous. So, here is where superhero meets extreme sports. You gotta love it-until he falls and breaks his head!

The Mountain

When Josh and I were first dating we loved going up to the mountain for just a drive or to hike. For some reason we haven't gotten up there too much lately...mmm Life seems to get in the way. So we decided to take the kids up for a hike and bike ride. The kids loved it and can't wait to do it more often.

Josh took the kids on a little walk through the woods. They saw a tree with some markings and Josh told Jake that is was from bear claws. Well, that did it for Jake and our hiking was over for the day.

It was so nice to be in quiet. Well quiet with our kids doesn't really happen but it was still nice.
On our way back to the car. Jake was getting really upset by the bugs and it was nap time!