a look back

yes, i've been bad.

and i wish i could say i'll be better.

but i'm not sure i will;).  life is busy.

so here's what's been going on around here these past months.

marryn

turned 7 back in september.

got her ears pierced.

loves loves loves 2nd grade.  and is doing great.  already whippin' out multiplication facts on us.  (7x6=... anyone?)

was her class's first student of the month for responsibility.  then forgot her homework folder at home the next day.

played soccer again.  and shocked us with her competitiveness...

had her first dance recital in both ballet and tap.

has lost all 8 front teeth.

reganne

turned 5 just before halloween.

is learning all the letter sounds in preschool.

loves playdates.

received a *target* american girl doll from santa.

also had her first dance recital.

blew us away in soccer.  although she's not as competitive as the one above.

christian

just as lovable as ever.  and naughty.

still working on night-time potty training...(any advice?)

after much prep about what to ask santa for-he went his own direction and asked for a squirt gun.

santa brought him a nerf gun (and he was plenty pleased).

finally got a haircut.
and no longer in nursery.  now a sunbeam.

kellen

oh, my not-so-much-of-a-baby-anymore kellen.

loves cars.  loves them.

says very little real words.  (cars is one, as is movie-as in "i want to watch the cars movie.")

got his first haircut.  glared the entire time.

will eat cereal consistently.  everything else...anyone's guess.

has to buckle his booster seat every time he gets down from the table.

loves to wear shoes.  anyone's shoes.

meet the spider family

big spidergirl

 little spidergirl

spiderboy

 spiderbaby

found all the costumes at party city back in july for $5 each.

kellen's was a 12-18 month size and a bit snug.

christian's was a big boy's medium and well, he'll be able to wear it years to come;).

and the girls were swimming in the leggings, so we replaced them with tights.

but overall, not a bad deal.

captain america

this boy kills me with his cuteness.

yet all the same drives. me. crazy.

gets so excited over anything with superheros.

is picky about what he wears.

in desperate need of a haircut.  again.

thinks boy ballerinas are so silly.

and is almost completely potty-trained.

(days, since before he turned 3, nights...so close.  i hope.)

while the girls are away

the boys play.

in their jammies.

  the boys and i have been having some fun while both girls are at school.

we still miss them,

we're just making the most of out time together.

although our little tramp will be out of commission for awhile.

our first big snow came today.

sticks and ...shorts

while visiting my family over july 4th,

we made a little day trip up to grand mesa.

these pics of christian were just too funny not to scrap.

made with studio calico kits.

our little bobblehead

he's dancing to christian's happy *4th* birthday card from grandpa dave.

yes, christian turned 3, not 4;).

we all, including grandpa (who did realize his mistake after he sent it off) had a good laugh over it.

today

today is his last day being 2.

although he thinks he's been three for awhile now.

i'm going to miss this two year old.

he was so much fun.

i hope his threes prove to be just as much fun.

history tells me it will be a challenge.

{photo by marryn}

parade fun

we spent the 4th over on the western slope with my family.

{also know as cherry days in paonia.}

love this shot of the kids at the parade.

my dad had gotten all the kids ice cream cones.

my kids were in heaven.

my little niece dehcaley however did not want hers.

so i ate it.  no asking me twice.

wonder if she was regretting that...;)

small town parades are fun.

lots of horses.

lots of trackers.

lots of truck pulling trailers.

and lots of candy.

it was a good, good day for my kids.

this was my favorite.

joe and i couldn't decide if the tracker was 83 years old.

or the farmer driving it.

how I shower

a movie.

a pack'n play.

and a 4 year old waiting to shower and get dressed herself.

and thank you for all the comments (both here and on facebook) from my last post.

kellen is doing great.

and we are doing better.

10 months

This little guy.

10 months old now.

A terrible sleeper.  Terrible.

Finally got 2 little teeth to peep through.

Crawls on all fours.

Pulls himself up to stand.

Climbed some steps.

 Loved and picked on like crazy.

{courtesy Reganne}

{And doesn't Christian look so proud of his *artwork*.}

LOVES his baths.
Eats.  Finally.

And some stats.

6 months:

16 lbs (25%)

27.5 (75%)

9 months:

16 lbs, 6 oz (5%)

27.5 (50%)

Yes, our little stick boy.  But like I said, he's starting to eat.  Alot.  I'm not huge on solid foods at 4 months.  I don't feel they really need it.  I hear often that 6 months is a better age.  And that's when we started him.  But he was just not interested.  Seriously.  A couple bites and he was done.  And it didn't matter what.  So we just followed his cue.  And right around 9 months, he decided he was ready ready.  Although still not a big fan of the cereals or green veggies.  Loves his little puffs though.  And still loves nursing.

christmas recap

{The picture was blurry and they were sent out about 3 days after Christmas...}

 {The best part of this year's Christmas, a beautiful real tree...}

{Four coordinating stocking; two new, two old...} 

{Look what Santa brought...}

 {Yes, all in last year's Christmas jammies...}

{So excited about her bike, didn't mind that she didn't get the Belle dress she asked for too...}

soccer

 We signed the girls up for soccer this past Fall.

They loved it.

Joe, being the sports fanatic he is, researched different leagues and found what he thought was the best one.

They would play with girls their age close in location (no traveling across town for practice or games).

They would play 4 on 4, no goalie.

They would play with their coaches on the field as refs and to help guild them. 

They didn't keep score.

{4 on 4 with the Coaches (but only our coach pictured), Reganne has the ball.}

Marryn did really well.  She never scored a goal, but honestly, only a few girls on her team even did.  (I know they said they didn't keep score, but secretly, we all did-her team was not very good;).)  She was on an under 6 team and none of her teammates had played before either (we think they might have divided teams that way as well).  She was a great hustler.  Always running after the ball.  She did have a few chances to score, but didn't quite make it in the goal.  She plans to "play soccer next year in 2nd grade, and then will do dance in 3rd grade."  ha ha.  She's too funny.  Here's a typical little *play by play* , fighting for the ball, breaking away and then missing the goal for whatever reason.  (Her coach is in the gray.)

{These last 2 would have been great pictures if they weren't out of focus...

Love her look on this last one, like that girl was going to smack it right in her face;).}

Reganne was on an under 4 team.  I believe there was only 2 of those teams, so they played against alot of under 5 teams.  She did great, especially as the season went on.  In her last game she scored 6 goals!  Or *scores* as she calls them.  Still.  We'd tell her to get the ball and kick it in the goal and she would.  She even stole the ball from her own teammates to do so;).  Of course when you're playing with a bunch of 3 and 4 years olds, there is not a whole lot of defense happening.  Here she is with her first goal (that's her coach in the blue shirt guiding her along).  She was ecstatic, only I didn't get a great picture of her afterwards, I was too excited too!  

We're contemplating playing in the Spring since they both loved it.  But we've been warned the weather is not the greatest...  

Plus I was relieved when it was over.  My schedule is full enough;).

And next year we might be adding another one.  He'll be old enough.

We had a hard enough time keeping him off the fields as it was.

{All pictures from second games on Sept 18th.}