Countdown to Christmas...

Every year, I always have good intentions of making some sort of Christmas countdown for my kids, but never seem to think ahead in enough time to get it done.  Well, this year with Thanksgiving being on the 23rd, I thought about it in just enough time for December.  Yay!...

 Each pocket holds a little Christmas treat and then we have been taking turns choosing an activity to celebrate the season...

 It's been so fun to have some planned family time, built-in each night...

 Merry Christmas!!

Good-Bye Hostess...

We had to commemorate the last time we would ever eat another Hostess Fruit Pie.  These are one of Rob's favorite treats, not necessarily mine, but I do enjoy a good Twinkie every now and then...

Good-Bye Hostess!  We will miss you... but not your calories...

Late-Over Necessities...

I had to snap this picture of Ana, it was just too funny and cute.  She was invited to our next-door neighbor's house for their daughter's birthday party.  It was going to be her first late-over (where she got to stay there until 10pm, so exciting!)  Apparently late-overs require a lot of necessities, enough to fill a whole suitcase...

I know she'll think this is funny someday...

Ana Goes West...

Each year after learning about the westward expansion, the 2nd grade celebrates by having "Pioneer Day".  Ana was so excited for this day, she wouldn't stop hounding me until I had found an authentic bonnet for her to borrow for the day...

 They celebrate the day with old-fashioned games, food, artifacts and crafts...

Such a fun day for our Ana-girl...

My Second Life...

I always joke with Rob that I have a second life, but in a lot of ways that is exactly how I feel.  By day, I am once again a full-time college student, and by night I am mom and wife.  This transition back to school for me has been so crazy, yet so exciting and fun.  Those of you who know me well, know that I thrive on learning, so having the opportunity to be studying again, has been so awesome for me.  I wanted to document my second life a little for my kids... so that they will know that education such a privilege, even if it comes at the cost of having to be at the bus stop at 6am...

(These pictures were actually taken on my last day of school, when I didn't have to be at the stop until 8am, so just imagine that it is still dark out.)

I refer to the people that I ride with everyday as my "bus friends", it's always the same group of people that are commuting downtown for work everyday.  You get kind of tight with people that you stand out in the cold and dark with on a daily basis.  I've met some pretty awesome people on my bus adventures.  They even notice if you miss a day and ask if the family is okay the next day.  I've also come to love this time because it gives me the opportunity to read that I never seemed find time for before.  In this case, listening to a book... (Photo, compliments of my bus friend, Denise:)

This is the view as I exit the light-rail after my hour-long commute.  Heading onto campus for class...

And this is where I live on campus.  The West Classroom building is the home of the Teacher Education Dept, so I spend upwards of 8 hours a day in this lovely building...

And this is the view to the East as I walk through campus on my way home at night.  It's kind of fun to see the city all lit up at night...

  

And this is me on the rare occasion that I try to study at home...

I'm sure you all know how much studying actually happened here.  Thus the reason that I usually spend all day on campus.  So there you have it kids, my glamorous second life...

Hello Mr. President...

Normally, I don't think that people would be so excited about their son being voted 4th grade class president, but if you knew our Hayden, you would know what an amazing day this was for him.  Hayden was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was 6 years-old.  He has always been such a sweet boy, but somewhat socially separated from others.  He does a lot of quirky things, that as his family, endear us to him, but he definitely has his struggles as well.  This 4th grade year has been especially difficult for him, so this occasion was a huge bright spot for him.

All of the students in Hayden's class had to write and deliver speeches, everyone was a candidate for president. Hayden's teacher said that he was so confident and convincing when he gave his speech, something that surprised us all.  I'm sure that it was because he was whole-heartedly behind his platform (LOL)... 

Rob and I died laughing when we read his speech, it is so Hayden.  He is always begging us to let him stay home and "take a break."  His teacher said that he won by two votes, and Hayden said "The person I voted for came in second, and he's even the class clown."  He was obviously amazed that he was elected over the class clown.  Here is Hayden with his sweet teacher, Ms. Abarr...

We are so proud of you Hayden!  You are such an amazing kid...

Halloween 2012...

As a lot of you know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I think mostly because it's in the fall, and I just love fall!  This year's Halloween was a little low key for us comparatively.  We had a lot going on in the weeks leading up to it, so there wasn't very much preparing or decorating going on at our house.  I didn't even work on new costumes for the kids, which was kind of sad, but the kids didn't seem to mind.  They ended up finding plenty of things to wear in our dress up bins.  This is what they came up with for their school festival...

 I think that we are going on year number four with the piranha costume.  It's becoming a family tradition.  I can already foresee the kids reminiscing about the piranha as they look back on their childhood...

 

Rob and I went to a Halloween party as well.  Our goal for our costume was to make it for free, using only things that we had at home.  We succeeded with this...

Yes... that is our shower rod.

 The kids got a big kick out of it as well...

This is what the kids came up with for trick-or-treating...

 

We really did have a great Halloween!

My Baby Boy...

This picture reminded me so much of when our Hayden-boy was a sweet little baby,
crashed on our bed...

I can't believe how fast he has grown up...

First Field Trip and A Fun Run...

Sophie went on her very first field trip this fall with her preschool class to the pumpkin patch or "patch farm" as she called it.  She thought it was the most wonderful day of her life... riding a school bus, bringing her own sack lunch, and having her daddy come with her...

 

So long from the "patch farm"...

Sophie also participated in her first Fun Run at school.  She did awesome!  She ran and ran and ran...

 Way to go Soph!

Fun New Friends...

Our family was so sad to move from the street and neighbors that we have grown to love over the last six years... they will always be our very good friends.  But with all change comes many new and wonderful things.  One of those things for us is some fantastic new neighbors.  Ella and Maya just happen to be Ana and Sophie's same age, so it's like a built-in playdate everyday!  Wahoo!!

We decided to have a tea party to celebrate our new friends!



Teeth Be Gone...

Ana's gappy-tooth smile has gone from small to rather large...

due to the fact the her front teeth are finally gone...

What a cute girl we have!

The Tooth Phenomenon...

So Ana's teeth have been acting very funny lately... the front two.
They used to be touching, like in this picture from a few months ago...

But now they just keep sliding further and further apart...

  I guess the permanent teeth are trying to make some room for themselves.  In the mean time, I think that it is the funniest and cutest thing ever.  I guess only a mom appreciates their kid's crazy, gappy teeth...

When you see the following pictures, you'll realize why the previous picture (which was not a great one) was so hard to get...

And those were just a few of the pictures!  Seriously, you would think that we could get one good shot out of all of those.  What a kid!