First Grade

Monday was the first day of school--the first day of 1st Grade!! My baby will be gone ALL DAY!!

It was a rainy messy first day of school!

Rainy/foggy days make for yucky pictures too.

The bus picks Tyler up at 8:26am and drops him off at 4:24pm. What a LONG day!!

Hallie and Tyler--after they got off the bus--on their way into their new class! YES--this year they are in the same class.

Becky and I followed the bus to school so we could take pictures of the kids. There were a few other parents like us. Video camera in one hand, digital camera in the other!

Mrs. Adkin's and Tyler on the First day of School!!

And, sitting at his BIG BOY desk. Last year they sat at tables. This year a real desk! When we went the week before to meet his teacher and see his classroom, Tyler opened the desk and saw books. He sat at his desk and asked if he could "do some work." We hope he always wants to "do work!" We'll see in a few years!

The other new thing this year is eating lunch at school. Day 1 was hamburgers. He ate at school--a hamburger and a rice crispy treat! Day 2 was soft tacos and he ate that. Day 3 he took his lunch and he said he liked that too.

He is already asking me to come to school and eat with him. He would have had me come today, if he had his way. I have held him off until Friday. (I thought he should get to know the routine and figure out the lunch room before I came.) But, there is no way around it---I am going to lunch on Friday! And, Tyler is counting down!! Now the big dilemna---do we eat the school's Pepperoni Pizza or do I bring Happy meals??!!!

I am just glad I am loved enough that he WANTS me to come to lunch with him. I am happy to go!!

More pictures

When it's time to take the kids' pictures together---- my biggest challenge...what to have them wear. The problem is...EVERYTHING in Paige's closet is PINK and does not "go" with anything the boys have. So, this year we opted for K-state. We had K-state pictures made of the boys when Jaden was 2 weeks old, but Paige has never had K-state pictures! So, it was time!!

This is our favorite!!

This was a challenge to get this stance---hence why they are slanted a bit. It's the best we could get!!

We ordered 3 different poses and we are going to hang them in the basement in the kids' toy area! I think it will be super cute, next to the K-State bar Steve has!!

New Pictures

Summer Birthdays for Jaden and Paige and Back to School..... means time to go to JCP for pictures!!! I used to go at least every 6 months to get pictures taken, but now that the kids are getting older, they don't change as much in 6 months to warrant pictures taken so often. So, I am thinking we might do August pictures every year and they can be BACK TO SCHOOL pictures for the kids. Then, in the Fall, I like to get family pictures taken for Christmas cards. So, what to do....

So, here are our latest pictures!!

This is his ornery look--so him!

This is his sincere smile! So, real!!

So cute!

She told him to hold his collar up---just not Jaden :)

Happy Little Guy!!

Here's a funny about Paige. On the way to get our pictures taken, I noticed we had not done Paige's fingernails or toenails. OH MY!!! Steve of course didn't think it was a big deal. I of course did. So, I made him drop me off at the JCP salon so I could buy a $10 bottle of pink nail polish (NO----I have never bought a $10 bottle of nail polish before) and then I painted her nails and toes while we waited for our pictures!! You can't tell as much in these pictures, but the ones I bought, you can see her fingers a lot!! I was glad I bought the nail polish!!

Tyler says Paige looks Sassy here. Wonder where he's heard that?

This is Steve's favorite picture!

This is my favorite!

SO--there's our kids in August of 2009!! In the Fall, I think Oct., we are having Meg Duerkson take our pictures outside for our Christmas cards!!

"real cookies"

I knew the day when come when something like this happened....

First--some background on our house. We love COOKIES and we love COOKIE DOUGH even more. So, we almost always have a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough from Sam's in our fridge. Or, we have the break-a-part cookies on hand.

So, today--
I got out my Kitchen Aide mixer to make some semi-homemade cookies (semi-homemade because you use a cake mix, but there is still 5 other ingredients!!) First, Tyler says, " You're using that for cookies?" Then, he said several times, "That's not how we make REAL COOKIES. We're suppose to get the cookie dough from the bucket."

I was just cracking up! I decided a long time ago, it's not HOW you make something, but just that you are making SOMETHING for them!!

We love our cookie dough from the bucket---and honestly, it is quite good :)

Shaving Cream FUN!!

9 bottles of shaving cream +

$11 and some change =

an hour of Summer FUN!!

It started very innocent!

I only pulled out a few of the bottles of shaving cream and sprayed the kids' picnic table with it. They played in it for a bit with their hands.

Nothing too crazy. I was actually thinking---well you guys are no fun!!

Then, I let them spray the shaving cream themselves....more fun!!

Then, I told them they could get it on their bodies.

Now it was getting more fun !!

Each time I pulled out a new bottle, they got excited all over again!

And, then it got CRAZY!!!

We did this while Jeremy and Sydney were here, which was a good idea, because Jeremy and Tyler definitely enjoyed it the MOST!! The others liked it too, but not this much!

Look at Tyler's face----pure delight! That makes it all worth the mess.

The fun was over, we were out of shaving cream---

time to get hosed off!

Then, Steve just sprayed down the picnic table and the grass and the mess was cleaned up! No big deal!!

At our house---I have all the crazy ideas (or learn them from other's) and Steve is never super excited about my crazy ideas. But, he agreed it wasn't that bad! And, the kids had a blast! There faces when I told them they could get the shaving cream on their bodies----priceless. They thought I was the BEST mom (and Aunt) ever!!!

So--thanks to Meg Duerkson for posting this on her blog. She did this with her kids, which then sparked me go out and buy the "supplies" the day I read it!!

How FUN!!!!! We'll do it again sometime, for sure!!

My niece and nephew were here for over 2 weeks in July, which meant we got to do lots of things we probably would not normally do. These are pictures of one of those things---going to a Farm and riding the tractor.

Not only did we get to ride behind the tractor, the kids got to all DRIVE the tractor. and more than once. Man did they have fun.

Aren't these boys so cute. They had SO MUCH fun together. Wish they lived closer.

Even little Paige drove the tractor.

We went to Ginny and Dwayne's farm. Dwayne said Jaden had the MOST FUN of all the kids---driving the tractor.

Does he look serious or what!! He even put his seat belt on, only Jaden would do that.

Then they boys were trying to TOUCH a cow. They got pretty close, but they didn't get to touch one. I've never been IN a herd of cattle. Have you? (well, and I still wasn't, I didn't know when they took off towards the cows and once I figured out what thy were doing, was taking pictures!)

The cousins---minus Mason. Not sure were he was!!

There's Mason---with Tyler trying to hold him and "take care" of him.

And, the 2 girls...sitting on their chair in the trailer, behind the wagon. We just drove in circles in the field. over and over and over so each kid could drive. and remember, they drove more than once!!!


Side note: Jaden and Paige NEVER miss their naps. They may lay down late, but they always get their naps. They just need them. You can TELL when it is nap time. Especially Paige, she gets whinny and will sometimes ask to lay down between 1 and 2 pm.

Well, never say Never. For whatever reason, neither Jaden or Paige slept on this day...

And, after dinner, we found Paige laying on the cot inside the little "cabin" on the Farm. I am SURE, if we hadn't found her right away, she would have gone to sleep. It was the funniest thing!!

So, that was our adventure On the Farm. We are "City" folk, but we had fun on the farm for one night!! and we'd love to do it again!!

Jaden's b-day

WOW---I did so good keeping my blog up to date and then I left for my Premier Rally and I have been playing catch up since then! Jaden's birthday was Tuesday the 14th and I left at 5:30am on the 15th for Rally, for the rest of the week.

So---Here's Jaden's 4th BIRTHDAY PARTY pictures!!

My 2nd cake, I have ever made! Of course, our theme was Basketball---Jaden's favorite "thing", if you will!! I of course am learning as I go. I want to buy a cake plate of some sort. I don't like the cardboard wrapped in foil. There are other things I need to learn too, but not too bad for my 2nd time!

Presents: High School Musical movie, a horn for his bike, HSM basketball, K-State baseball bat/ball, sports coat hook, Barney DVD's, Basketball music CD (maybe his favorite!), Planet Heros space-ship, money, Target gift cards, .... It was a good day!!

The guests:

Uncle David and Aunt Amanda

Grandma and Grandpa Roth

Uncle Scot and Aunt Stephanie

Grandma and Grandpa Balzer

And MY cousin, Terry, was able to join us! It was fun having him there!

Great Aunt Barb and Great Uncle Jim

And Jaden's big gift was a real basketball goal outside.

Jaden's last gift he opened was his High School Musical basketball. We then told him to go outside and show everyone how he could dribble. So, the family filed outside and waited for Jaden to come out. It was the funniest thing....

Jaden came out, finally saw the basketball goal and just started shooting baskets, like the goal was nothing new!! It was so cute!!

Happy Birthday Jaden! We love you so much!!

You are so cute and fun! Your smile brightens up a room and makes ME smile!! I love having you sit on my lap. You love to ride your bike and play outside. You are not a follower. You will swing or play outside by yourself, but you also love to play with kids! Leah Wilkinson is one of your best friends and you have started going to her house for "play-dates". You love to watch High School Musical and listen to music. You can clean your room by yourself, which amazes us. We can't wait to see what you learn this year!!

We love you lots,

Mom and Dad