Year in Review...

I had to gather up some photos from the last year to give to my parents for their Christmas letter/blog, so I figured I post them here, too.

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Three Kids in our Family

Mindy and Rob had our family for Christmas this year. They sent us a really awesome christmas decoration (they told us to open it early) that was packed in about 10 pounds of shredded paper. Rob decided that it was a great idea to open it in the middle of the living room floor. And thus we see the mess that took him over an hour to clean up. Here are the 3 kids having a wonderful time with the paper - they say that little kids would prefer the box and the paper to the gift - true in Rob's case as well. But don't get me wrong the kids loved the snowman decoration, they promtly took it outside and plugged it in on the porch so that we wouldn't be the only lame-o's on the block without outdoor christmas decorations.

Grandpa's Possum

We took a trip home to Pipestone for Thanksgiving this year (a slight change in plans, Mom and Dad were supposed to come to Denver, but Mom hurt her back so we decided to make the trip there instead). Upon arrival to their house at about 11:30pm. Dad proceeds to tell us that there is a ferocious animal that has died in the middle of the front yard. Rob of course had to check it out and found the biggest possum I've ever seen. When Hayden woke up the next day, Grandpa told him that there was a dangerous, ferocious animal in the front yard, but wouldn't tell him what it was. The conversation went something like this:

Grandpa: What do you think it is, Hayden?
Hayden: I fink its a bear.
Grandpa: I don't think so, what else do you think it might be.
Hayden: I fink it might be a deer.
Grandpa: I don't think it's a deer.
Haydens: Well, it wooks wike a deer.
Grandpa: Well, kind of.
Hayden: Yep, it's a deer.
Grandpa: Why don't you get your shoes on and have your Dad take you outside to check it out. Then you come and tell me what it is.
*Hayden goes outside with Rob to see the ferocious beast, and then comes back into the house*
Hayden to Grandpa: Yep, it's not a deer.

Hayden Loves Letters - Literally!

Hayden amazed us today when he decided that he was going to teach himself how to write some words. He's been practicing sounding things out lately, but we didn't know that he could write them as well. He loves letters so much - he'll tell you that he LOVES the letter "H" and any words that start with "H" as well. Hmmmm, I wonder why.

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Our "Thankful" Tree

To celebrate thanksgiving this year, we decided to make a thankful tree (another great idea from familyfun.com) We glued papers to autumn leaves, cut a branch off of our front yard tree and "planted" it in a pot with some rocks. Everyday in November we've been writing things that we are thankful for and hanging them on our tree. The kids loved making the tree and leaves for FHE and it's been great to talk about the things in our lives that we're truly thankful for.

The first day that we were writing down our blessings on the leaves, I asked Ana: "What are you thankful for?" she replied, "Ummmmmm..., Rocks!" So we wrote rocks down, then I asked: "What else are you thankful for?" she thought for a minute and said, "Umm, trees!" I wrote that down and said one more time: "Tell me one more thing that you're thankful for." She thought again and said, "Ummmmm, Jesus!" It's moments like those that make ME thankful for being a parent.

How Time Flies...

It seems like just yesterday we brought Ana home from the hospital, and now she's almost 3! These are the most recent photos of our sweet Ana.

Halloween 2007

The Pokemon and the Princess were ready to go trick-or-treating from the moment that they woke up on Halloween. We had a great time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with some of our neighbors and friends. It was a beautiful night to be out - the kids didn't even need coats!

Ana's First Fingernail Polish

Ana was so excited to paint her fingernails for the first time, she almost hyperventilated in anticipation. It was pink with sparkles or "swarkles" as Ana calls them. We painted them as part of her princess costume for Halloween.

Halloween with our Friends

We have been having lots of fun with the kids that I babysit during the week. From trips to the pumpkin patch to a fun-filled Halloween party. We've had an action packed October.

Slightly Out of Character

Rob and I went to an adult Halloween party with a bunch of our friends. It was a blast - we had so much fun planning our costumes. It's pretty scary what parents will do when they are away from their kids...

Caramel Apples... Yummmm!!

For Family Home Evening treats this week, we attempted to make caramel apples. The kids loved it and they tasted awesome - I especially liked the ones with nuts - Yum! We were all a mess by the time that we were done, but it sure was fun!

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, we took the kids to pick out pumpkins at the patch and had such a great time! They had a big sand box full of corn kernals for the kids to play in - they were having so much fun that they didn't want to come out when it was time to pick the pumpkins.



















They had pumpkin mountains for the kids to climb on and pumpkins to pick and take home. The weather was awesome, just cool enough for long sleeves - it was the perfect autumn day!

Decorating for Halloween

Hayden is so totally stoked for Halloween this year, it's been fun to find out the things that make him the most excited. We made a list of all of the fun things that we wanted to do to decorate our house and we've been doing one each day. First was the paper chain to count down the days, next were the pumpkins on the cupboards, then the clothespin bats and the footprint ghosts, and tomorrow is a table top haunted house. We'll definitely be in the spirit by the time Halloween rolls around!

Everyday a Princess Day...

At our house, everyday is a princess day. Ana and the two other 2 year-old girls that I take care of dress up in our "pwincess dwesses" every single day. Here is just one of the occasions. Poor Hayden gets stuck playing with these princesses until he goes to preschool at noon, so he often plays the handsome knight who either saves them from dragons or he is the dragon and chases them until they cry. Here he is just being his sweet self and leads them all in a game of ring-around-the-rosie.

Hayden's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe that we have a child old enough to ride the bus and go to school. Hayden was so excited to ride the bus on the first day, I think more excited about that than about preschool itself. He gave me a hug, said goodbye, and didn't look back - what a sad day for Mom. I wish that he would have atleast missed me a little, I guess a sign that he's ready to move on to bigger and better things - like finger painting and storytime. So I followed the bus to school (because of course I couldn't just let him go by himself,) and he did just fine. He followed his teacher right into his classroom and smiled and waved at me as he went past. All I could think was, man he's gotten sooo big. So the bus brought him home from school and I asked what he did at school and all I got was: "played." I had to pry information out of him - I guess that's the difference between boys and girls - girls gab. But I did get out of him that he loved it and that he definitely wanted to go back. He's been in school for two weeks now, and I'm starting to get more stories from him. Mostly that he is making friends on the bus and that it was so-and-so's birthday so he got to have cupcakes for snack, obviously the highlight of the day. His teachers say that he is doing great, although the last time I went to his class his head teacher said to me: "I'm so glad that you came today, I was going to call you." "Oh really, what did you need?" I replied. Then she asked, "Does Hayden hear alright?" "Yes, he hears great, when we had him screened they told me not to whisper anything when he is in the next room because he hears like a bat." Then she said, "Oh, that explains alot, he must be having selective hearing then. Today I was trying to get his attention and he acted like he couldn't hear me, when I finally did get his attention, I asked him if he could hear me and he told me that his ears were turned off." I reassured her that he hears just fine and when we got in the car to go home, I asked Hayden why his ears were turned off and he said, "Dhey just turned off by demselves." Then I asked, "Why did they turn off?" And he replied, "Dare was girl music on." So apparently "girl music" causes selective hearing. We thought that was pretty funny, but made it clear to him that when he was at school he had to keep his ears turned on. Ana and I have really been enjoying the one-on-one time that Hayden's preschool time has given us. We try to do special things that we normally don't get to do when Hayden and all the daycare kids are around (she usually wakes up before the rest of the kids from her nap, so we have Mom and Ana time.) Her favorite thing to do is paint.

Camping at Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

A couple of weeks ago, our family went camping in the mountains. It was the first time that we had taken Ana camping and she absolutely loved it. We went on a hike and both the kids hiked a mile and a half on their own - it was so much fun. Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park is really beautiful, there are tons of trails and cool places to see. We decided to buy an annual pass so that we can enjoy it more often.