ANOTHER HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

It seems like the blink of an eye....

How fast time goes...

I feel like her first day of kindergarten was not so long ago...like learning to ride a two-wheeler was just yesterday. I remember moving when she was in second grade and staying past the move date so she could be there for her Valentine's day party. I loved her third grade teacher, and who she became in her class. She is a fighter...and battled until she not only won but masacred her cancer diagnosis! She had the same fourth grade teacher that her dad had back in the fourth grade...and I remember that she developed a love for writing, and first read Harry Potter.

Middle School, full of turmoil, more-or-less started and then ended with a girl just trying to figure out who she wanted to be, and where she fit in.

So far, high school, has proven to be a bit of a roller coaster...OK...a lot of a roller coaster...but, we are making it through.

This year, she seems to be making some strides! We just have to have LOTS of patience...and try to remember and understand that she is a teenage girl...we have to pray and remind ourselves that she will someday NOT be a teenage girl. :)

I wish with everything in me, that she would HEAR me when I tell her about how little the drama will matter later. How is doesn't matter at all what you wear or who thinks what. That fitting in, is so so much LESS important then standing for who you really are. That what we find, as adults, to be admirable, and stand up has NOTHING to do with who has a cell phone, or is dating, or has had sex, or has done drugs, or who was homecoming queen.

That life gets deeper, and harder...

That it gets so much better.

***

***

***

We went to Red Robin tonight...a family tradition...

They embarassed Karman...also a family tradition. :)

I am all about getting a picture of the ridiculously yummy big bites of birthday happiness.

Even the little kiddos got to join in! Our Red Robin gives little sundaes to the other kids at the table.

Presents were great, as they always are.

She got a couple CDs, a shirt and sweater as well as a gift card from my parents.

Shoes, jeans, fleece and a couple of shirts for debate from us...

But her main gift was a certificate entitling her to choose between getting her ears double pierced, or a class ring (which she really wants)...

She was very excited!

Happy Birthday Karman.

We love you!

And it begins....

Apparently,
There are a few girls "crushing" on my son....

I am not quite sure how this starts...
Tyler is just one of the nicest boys you would ever meet.
I mean he has his moments, don't get me wrong...but in general...he is so sweet, and innocent.

Last year, we had an amazing kindergarten class. I bonded with all of the kids, and most of the moms. I was there a lot...and I adored the kids, how the kids treated one another, and how they interacted, and our teacher!

We miss them...

Tyler has had a hard time with missing his teacher, and trying to understand so many more expectations that come with being a first grader, plus some kids just start to lose their innocence so quickly...and that can be hard.

However...
Monday...
in his bag I found
ALL of these
***
***
***
***

Then on Tuesday...
there were more....

I asked Ty about why they gave them to him....
And, he said..."I guess they just love to."

Oh...
I love him!

My First Grader....

My baby!
So NOT a baby anymore...

I am not normally a school picture fan...as I have no control over the outcome...
I mean I usually like them, but not often love them...

It is usually a forced smile...messy hair...or dirty clothes...

This year though....
OH MY
Love Tyler's........
it is just a picture of a picture of course...
*******
*******
*******

He said the photographer told a joke about a spider.

Apparently it was funny. :)

Love the real smile, and how adorable he looks!

*(Karman got retakes...hopefully they will be great too!)

Harvest Festival Makeover...2009

Our Harvest Festival is a great elementary school carnival...
The kids adore it, and it is really a great example of how wonderful our school and community are.
However...it has been the same for YEARS!!! It hasn't changed since Karman was in elementary school...and there were so many games, that needed to be trashed and re-done, and others that just needed a good ole' makeover.
So last year we offered to do just that.
It became QUITE a project for the hubby and I.
Kevin built 3 games from scratch, and did an absolutely AMAZING job. He truly does surprise me....I fully know how talented he is...but things like this, remind me, fully!
He essentially has no training in how to do any of this...but he kicks them out, as though he does it everyday.

Anyway, so we talked a lot. We came up with and designed the games.
Kevin built...I painted and decorated.
They came out GREAT and were a HUGE HIT on Saturday!


This is a Beanbag toss. It is HUGE...about 6 feet tall.

It took me days to paint it...

One layer at a time...and the surface was pretty rough, so it soaked in all of the paint.

Once it was done, though, it was so cool!

This is the fishing game.

It has been a game there for years, but it always fell over, and was just AWFUL as it was. Everyone hated having to work in it.

Kevin built this one with sides, and a top, so that the person hiding inside clothespinning on toys, couldn't be seen. (After the point that this picture was taken, I added sand to the bottom where it is painted brown.)

This one also took a VERY long time to paint. The fish especially.

At the school, each class is given a booth to "run". The parent volunteers for each booth are brought together by their classrooms. Each class then makes a poster for their booth, which become advertisement in the halls for the week prior to the carnival, and then get moved to the gym, and act as the signs to each booth. So our booth was the lollipop tree.

I made the poster...

I had the kids decorate lollipops...and then I put them on a tree.

Ty is pointing to his lollipop that he colored.

Here is the lollipop tree that I made-over.

It was just awful and falling apart before...pretty ugly too.....

So here it is all re-done.

And here it is at the actual harvest festival....all set up with lollipops.

FINALLY......

The absolute hit of the festival...

The very first game I came up was a football toss.

Together this is what we came up with...

It is 7 feet tall...and unbelievable!

Everyone loved it....and it was especially good for the older kids.

This is the best picture I got...the better one is on my cell phone.

There is a really cool stand that he made too that you can't see.

Here is the beanbag toss set up at the carnival...

And the fishing game as well!

It was a really good day...and everyone had a great time!

I am pretty proud or our work. :)

All about some soccer...

It was our second to last game of the season!

We have watched our son this season in absolute awe! Seriously, he is just a different boy then he was last year.

I mean he plays!....like really, PLAYS!

And, he is G-O-O-D!

He is still super nice too of course...and with that comes being a little bit timid about taking the ball away from others....especially the girls.

BUT when it is free...LOOK OUT!

Others, sometimes don't share his "be nice" strategy! He ended up on the ground after this encounter. :)

It was a great game!

This particular game was no score...but with those come good lessons!

Next week will be the final game, and the party where Ty will get his trophy and pictures!

The Pumpkin Patch 2009

The Hunt was on!

Tyler searched and searched, and found the perfect one...

And....for the first time ever Karman wasn't with us. She had a debate tournament to go to...so...Ty and Maky picked her a perfect pumpkin!

Kevin found one for me right away....the rule is, that the kids can pick any pumpkin they can carry. I couldn't carry this one....I broke the rules.

Makylie LOVED her little cutie! She was so proud!

Then we played for a little while. Ty had a soccer game, so we didn't stay as long as we normally do. They did however, have a great time!

They posed for pictures, and did the "pumpkin slinger".

This is a GIANT wagon filled with large pumpkins....makes for a great picture op!

This is just one of my very favorite things to do with the kids.

For me, it makes the season feel complete.

It makes it feel like fall...which I adore!

And I adore all of them!

A first real haircut!

My baby girl finally got her first real haircut.

A few months ago, we did get her some bangs cut...but she had never had the rest of her hair touched. I don't know why the picture doesn't show it, but the ends of her very long hair were blonde, even though she NEVER was...so I just had the hardest time cutting those off!

She loved the salon treatment from our favorite hair stylist, Heather.

Heather even just got a kids car for cuts, and Maky was the first to use it!

She didn't love the hairdryer...

It was so so worth it though....

This is how adorable it looked....

Ahhhhhhhh.........so cute!

I just love her so much. She makes me smile every minute!

She just seems so much bigger these days...

and having a big-girl haircut just makes it feel so final to me.

I don't know why...it just does.

Silly...I know.

I adore her...all of her!
All of the time!

My Littlest One....

Everything about this little girl warms me.
Everything....
Her tiny little voice, her crooked smile, her soft skin, her cowlick in her bangs, the way she says "me" instead of "I"...and..."boybewie" instead of "blueberry". I adore the sparkle in her eyes, and her chubby lip...leftover from scar tissue due to a big fall long ago. She has a mole on her ankle, and a scar on her tummy...I love them.
I even love her fits, and the way she stands up for herself to her brother.
I melt when she bats her giant lashes at me. I love that I am her number one desire for her every single need, especially when she is hurt. I love her smell, her toenails and her giggle.
I love how she loves her daddy...
I...could seriously go on FOREVER...
I love that she loves me this much too!

I adore the one-on-one time that we now get to spend, for more-or-less, the first time ever.
I am realizing that she is becoming, SO MUCH, a little person.
Sometimes, it is hard to take in...but...for now

I just spend, every minute breathing her in.

Just a little DIRT!

The weekend BEFORE we went to Leavenworth...it was time to continue the yard.

We needed a GOOD heaping layer of nice quality top soil to finish off what had turned out to be a VERY time consuming, expensive project...

On Thursday, October 1st.....

THAT we got......

A bit of dirt.....

Quite a bit of dirt...

ummmm....OK....a DARN LOT of dirt...

TOO much, in fact...20 cubic yards

but we have a lot of yard, and we know we can find a place for all of it.

Watching the truck was pretty fun for the kids.

We were left with this.....

So then we did a lot of this....

And a lot of this.

ALL day on Saturday! Literally!

Our wonderful friends Mark and Erin came over and helped us ALL day. Erin and I filled wheel barrels of dirt...one after the other....again and again...and Mark moved and dumped the barrels, and Kevin spread (and of course did everything else as well). This is after we cleared out and beautified the ground before laying the topsoil...removing all roots, sticks and big rocks. We ended up calling it a day after 6pm. Kevin and I were up at the crack of dawn continuing...and then Mark came back over and helped again. Eventually...it was done.

Next step...

Kevin is building a retaining wall, and we will fertilize, lime, seed and peet moss it...to hopefully get some grass growing before we freeze up for the winter.