The Magical Pumpkin Patch

At Halloween the kindergarteners heard a story about a magical pumpkin patch. Then we all went on a walk to "find" the pumpkin patch which was down the street from the school. The kids all thought it was a lot of fun to find this patch which was in the backyard of a house down the road. They all got to pick their own pumpkin before returning to the school. Here are a few pics of the kids that day.

Evan and his pumpkin.

Evan and his teacher, Mrs. Wolff.

Mrs. Wolff's Class.

Connor & Evan's birthday party!

I'm only a few months behind on this. This year the boys both wanted to have Pokemon birthday parties. Rather than having 2 parties less than a month apart we opted to do a joint party for the first time. Why haven't I done this before?? It made my life a lot easier!! I guess I was hung up on the fact that they should both have their own party...but if they don't care then why should I?

So anyway, they had a Pokemon party with lots of their friends and family. It was at the end of September and the weather was great so we had it outside. We even rented a bounce house which all of the kids enjoyed! They both got spoiled rotten!

On their actual birthdays we still tried to give them a special day with cake and presents from us. Both boys got a Nintendo DS this year from us which they LOVED!! They are both little video game junkies!

In this pic you can see Connor giving his little bro instructions on riding his new big bike! LOL Evan got a new bike for his birthday from Papa (my dad). He had always had Connor's hand-me-down bikes in the past and was so proud to have his own NEW bike!! I love this pic of the two of them.

The First Day of School

Well, the first day of school went better than I could have imagined! Both boys jumped out of bed and couldn't wait to get outside to watch for the bus. Evan didn't seem nervous AT ALL and when the bus pulled up he ran up the steps without even as much as a look back at mom. :( I did call to him as he boarded the bus so he could at least turn around for a pic. There is NO WAY that a photo obsessed person like myself is going to let the first day of kindergarten pass without a picture of him getting on the bus!

I had to go to the school that morning anyway as I was helping with the "BooHoo breakfast" for kindergarten parents. I ended up going down to where the kids were arriving on the buses to take pictures for the yearbook so I couldn't resist snapping a few more of my monkeys arriving for their first day. Again, Evan saw me but couldn't have cared less!! He just wanted to get down to his classroom! Ok, ok....I *know* that this is a great thing that he's excited but it's still a little sad for mommy. After all I've done for that boy for the last 6 years....can't he even *pretend* to be having a little trouble leaving mom behind? Sniff, sniff!

They were still in a good mood when they got home and both said they had a great day! I sure hope it continues!

Keith and I went into Connor's class on Friday for his birthday. We took in cupcakes and juice for him to share with his class. We stayed till the end of the day so they didn't have to take the bus home and we got an opportunity to talk with Evan's teacher about how he's doing. She said that he's had a couple little issues but is adjusting well. She said he was really excited one day because he had done something good and got to put a marble in the class jar. I think the class gets a reward when the jar gets full. He hasn't cried at all and has only had a couple minor little mood swings when he didn't want to do something or he was frustrated. She said she was very happy with how it is going so far. I must admit I'm relieved but I'm trying not to get too confident that the worst has passed!

Hey Brittney!

A few weeks ago we had a visit from my cousin, Lucy, and her daughter, Brittney. We had a nice visit (we don't see them nearly enough!) and while we were out for lunch one day we took some pics on my camera phone. I know Brittney checks out the blog so I had to post this one for her... :)

September already??

I can't believe the summer has already come and gone. Tomorrow is the labor day holiday but it doesn't feel like it should already be September! It's been a good summer but it has gone by too fast!

This next week is going to be a BIG week in our house. On Wednesday school starts and my *baby* will be a kindergartener! Sniff, sniff. How is that even possible? Yeah, I know that he could have gone last year and that he's nearly 6 but still....he's my BABY! He seems excited but I am a nervous wreck... When that school bus pulls away I am gonna be crying my eyes out! On Tuesday I go with him to the school for an hour for him to meet his teacher and take his supplies in. His teacher's name is Mrs. Wolff. He went in a couple weeks ago for a 2 day program for kids who might have trouble with the transition. He had a good time at that so I am hoping that it means that I am overreacting about how bad I think this might go...

And then next Saturday Connor turns EIGHT! Yes, eight. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant. It amazes me how grown up he has become and I love the conversations I have with him now. Don't get me wrong, when he and Evan are screwing around he still acts like he's 4, but when it's just the two of us we have some really good chats. He's going into third grade and is excited to go back and see his friends. A couple of his really good friends are going to be in his class again this year so he was happy to hear that.

So tomorrow is our last day to relax a little before our life goes back to that daily routine. Hope you all are having a fun long weekend!! :)

Cub Scout Camp

Again this summer I was able to spend a week with Connor at Cub Scout Day Camp. I was a Den Leader and had a great group of 9 boys. The theme this year was "Super Heroes" and it was a huge hit with the boys.

In the first couple pictures you can see the boys with the "Spirit Stick" which is a big deal at camp. The camp directors decide which den gets it based on who shows the most spirit by being the loudest and most enthusiastic while doing their den cheers and participating in activities. Our den got it twice during the week and the boys loved having it!

The boys did a lot of activities: woodworking, crafts, nature, games, archery and sports. Archery was definitely the favorite although playing dodge ball with the sports directors was a close second!! The last day of camp each den had to do a skit in front of the whole camp and parents and the boys did great! I have to say, in my unbiased opinion, that my boys absolutely did the best!

One day during siesta after lunch a fireman was there to talk to the boys about what he does. He also had the truck there and he let the full tank of water on the truck spray out from the top like they do when they are fighting a fire. The boys thought it was GREAT and all ran out to play in the water! It was a great day for it as the temperatures were in the high 80s and 90s all week. And no shade...

It was a great week and I look forward to doing it again next year! Connor had to buy a camp t-shirt for his little brother too so they posed for me with them on for the last pic...

Connor's new bike

Connor is one happy kid today! He's been bugging us for a new bike for a while as his has gotten a little small for him. We hadn't planned on getting him one today, instead we went to get him a new bike helmet since he's outgrown his. When he saw this bike he just loved it though. It was at Walmart and he earned a $30 gift card for selling popcorn for Cub Scouts and he hadn't spent his birthday money from last year so he ended up buying it for himself! (Mom and Dad got the new matching helmet for him though!) He just loves this bike and thinks he's so cool!

A visit from Kelly & the girls!

July has been a busy month for us. Right after the Watts family left my friend Kelly and her two girls, Nicole and Megan came to visit for a few days. Kelly and I met online a year or two ago and have gotten to be good friends. We enjoy it when she visits and the boys look forward to spending time with the girls. Most girls have cooties but they really like Nicole and Megan!

While Kelly was here Amber and Katie and their kids came over too and hung out one evening. It was fun despite the house being overrun with kids! (I took the pic below of Carrie that night and think it is just so adorable!! ) Kelly and I even got to escape to the casino one evening where I quickly lost $20. We had a trip to the mall, had lunch at the food court and went to get Kelly a pedicure with all 4 kids and they didn't even make us crazy!! Amazing!!

It was a great visit and I'm looking forward to when Nancy and Kelly both come in August! We must be crazy to be planning to spend a week together with all of those kids! They're not bringing hubbies and Keith will be away for work so it'll be just the 3 of us with 6 kids. We don't stand a chance!!

Fun with the Watts Family!

We always love it when the Watts family comes to play with us! It's especially fun now because as the kids get older they get along better and the adults can just relax rather than chasing the little ones or playing referee for the older ones!

And of course Nancy and I enjoy our favorite pastime:

We didn't have any exciting plans this time, we mostly just hung out at our house and went swimming. The boys loved riding the 4 wheeler.

And thanks to Nana, we were able to enjoy and adult evening out. We went out for dinner at the Center Street Grill and then went to a couple of bars (Hey, does that qualify as bar hopping?? Maybe we're not so old after all!).

Taste of Buffalo

Does it get any better than a girls night out with good friends, every food imaginable, and wine slushies?? I think not! A couple weeks ago Nancy, Amber, Katie and I had a kid-free, hubby-free, day out at the Taste of Buffalo. It's a really cool food festival (the 2nd largest in the US) where there are tons of vendors, each with 3 or more food options to choose from. They were each required this year to have one "healthy choice" but we stayed away from those! LOL It's really neat because you can try foods that you wouldn't normally try. The only bad part that it was unbelievably crowded. Apparently most of Buffalo had the same idea. Oh well, with a few wine slushies you can handle anything. If you haven't tried a wine slushie, I highly recommend them.

I'm not sure how many wine slushies Katie had but as you can see, she got very close with a large gekko. I hope her hubby doesn't stumble across my blog...

Everyone loves Marineland!!

Evan petting the beluga whale!

The boys watching the killer whales.

The commercial says "Everyone loves Marineland!" and I'd have to agree! We try to go every year and the boys absolutely love it. I must admit I rather enjoy it myself. Keith has been really busy since he's transitioning from one job to the other, so the boys and I went with our friends Amber, Rachel and Erica to Marineland the week after school got out. It was a good week to go as the kids in Canada were still in school so the park wasn't that busy. Good thing for us since we were traveling with four kids who haven't yet mastered that whole patience thing!

We had a great day and the kids even all behaved! :) They loved going on all of the rides, Connor especially enjoyed the one where it takes you up in the air and drops you. No, not that huge one you see in the commercials, the Sky Screamer, it was a smaller version. No way Mom would let her baby on that thing! Maybe someday, but *I* am just not ready for him to go on that one! Evan isn't what you would call a daredevil when it comes to rides, he prefers the ones that go slower and....well, the boring ones! But he had a good time on them anyway.

The deer park is always one of the boys favorite areas. And Mom loves it cause I always get the coolest pics of them in there. They love petting the deer and feeding them those ridiculous deer pellets in an ice cream cone that cost $2 a piece! That is my only real peeve with Marineland--you've already paid almost $40 per person to get in and then every darn animal you see (deer, bears, fish) you have to pay another $2 each to feed them. Ok, so you don't *have* to pay it but just try telling my kids that they can't. I guarantee it won't be pretty. And since I' ve already paid $120 to get the three of us in there I'm not gonna risk a giant meltdown that will ruin the rest of our day. I think the people who run Marineland prey on this fact!

They love the whale, sea lion and dolphin shows. And of course we paid the extra $8 each so they could pet and feed one of the beluga whales. You can't go to Marineland without petting the whales, right??

Now, if you ask the boys what their favorite thing was they would both say the same thing--"When the killer whale pooped!"

Admission to Marineland: $120

Petting and feeding animals: $30

Hotdogs, fries and drinks for lunch: $25

Overpriced crap in the gift shop: $50

Seeing a whale poop: PRICELESS!!

Feeding the deer.

Connor after being splashed by the killer whale!

So it's been a few months since I updated again.... When you go this long it's really hard to remember what has happened since then! I will make an attempt though...

The boys completed another successful year of school. Connor had a great year and did really well in 2nd grade. He learned so much and he had a really fun teacher. He's reading above level for his age and does really well with math too. He's made many friends and enjoys school, though he would never admit it! Once again I volunteered in his classroom every week and I enjoyed spending time with the kids.

Evan finished another year of preschool and will be going to kindergarten in the fall. I think I'm more nervous about it than he is. I know he has to go but I am not convinced that he's ready. He's very smart, so I'm not concerned about his academic abilities, but he's immature and still very attached to me. Hopefully my worries will be unwarranted but I'm freaking out a bit!

The boys are both playing soccer this year. Connor is on the Raiders and Evan is on the Risers. They both enjoy it but Evan had a bit of a rough start! He's getting into the whole routine now and seems to like it more. That's Evan's team in the group pic, he's the one in the center with the ball.

The biggest news we have is that Keith is starting a new job later this month. After 18 years with the company he was at, he decided to take a job at another company. It seems to be a job perfectly tailored to him and he's excited about it so hopefully it'll be a good move for us. For the first six weeks he'll be working in Portland, Oregon but after that he'll be working from home. He's off for two weeks now in between jobs and is going to be starting construction on a home office. His new position will be as Wireless Technology Leader for Welch Allyn. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that it all goes well! This is a big change for us.

The company that I am a rep for changed it's name from Country Bunny Bath & Body to Jordan Essentials. I love the new name and am hoping it gets me motivated to get my business growing! You should check out my website, www.jordanrep.com/8661, we've got some really great new products! And yes, that was a shameless plug... :)

I was elected president of the boys' school PTO (parent teacher organization) recently. I'm a little stressed out about the amount of work involved but I am looking forward to it too. I'm already at the school so much, why not take the final leap? I am also considering applying for a sub position with the school district, hopefully eventually working into a teacher's aide position. I would like to do something now that Evan will be in school full time but I still want to be home after school and during vacations. I probably won't do anything about that *real* soon, maybe next spring.

Our big summer project this year is landscaping. After 4 years of living in a house in an empty field, we thought it was time to do something about it. Keith has been busy working out front and it's looking really great! Once it's done I'll be sure to show pictures of all of his hard work. He's hoping to get the front yard completed tomorrow so he can move on to his home office project. I hope he wasn't planning on relaxing during those two weeks between jobs!

Yeah, yeah...

Ok, you can all stop emailing me now! I know that I haven't updated since January. What can I say?? I've been busy!!

Seriously though, I promise a new entry in the next week filled with lots of juicy details! Certainly you can hold on for a bit longer, right?? :)