Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

I swear it's been Halloween every day this week. Between all of the Halloween activities/parties/dinners/trick-or-treating/pumpkin carving/etc, we've been busy. Luckily, I forgot my camera for the majority of these events so you only have to endure a few pictures :)


Monday, October 4, 2010

Firsts

We've been keeping busy around here, primarily attending to the activities of these two crazy kids. Tate had his four-year check up last month and is now 39.5 inches (45%) and 34.8 lb (35%). Tori had her eighteen month check up and is 31 inches (45%) and 20.6 lb (5%). Both are happy, healthy kids who got to experience some "firsts" this past month.
First day of Preschool:
Tate had been looking forward to preschool for weeks and asked me every morning if it was "preschool day" yet. He always gets a little nervous on the ride there, but is bursting with excitement when I pick him up and tells me all about his day. He loves his school and his teachers.
First NFL Football Game/Major League Baseball Game:
Phil took a quick trip to Denver a few weekends ago with my Dad, brothers, uncle, and cousins. They went to a Colorado Rockies game and a Denver Broncos game. They had a lot of fun and we missed our daddy. Lucky for us, Grandma came down to keep us company.





First Broken Bone:
Does this look familiar to anyone??? Tori fell off the arm of the couch last week and broke both bones in her arm near her wrist. This is the same hand that was wrapped in a similar splint for two weeks in July due to a cut and stitches on her ring finger.


The splint, which she wore for a few days while the swelling went down.


The sling, which she wore for approximately 37 seconds total.


The cast, which will be worn for 3 1/2 weeks.

First Haircut:
Aunt Andrea cut Tori's hair for the first time last week. She took off all of about an inch, but it's still a milestone considering the stark baldness this girl was born with and maintained for the first six or seven months of her life.
First Motorcycle Ride:
Grandpa gave Tori her first motorcyle ride this weekend. She is already a fan of the 4-wheeler and will take off running toward the nearest exit yelling "Ride! Ride!" whenever she hears the motor start. Good thing Grandpa is willing to feed her need for speed.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Birthday Boy

My baby boy is growing up! We celebrated four, fun-filled years with our Tater-Bug on Labor Day. We kicked off the festivities with lunch at one of Tate's favorite places, "The Restaraunt with the Grapes on it". Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

For those of you that know Tate, you know his favorite food is bread. So he LOVES Olive Garden for their never-ending breadsticks. I'm not sure if he knows that they do serve other food.

Tori agreed that the breadsticks were pretty dang good.

Some of the gang enjoying lunch.

After we had our fill of breadsticks, we met up at the bowling alley. Tate has been begging us for months to go bowling again and said that was what he wanted to do for his birthday. So we invited some of his favorite people and headed to All-Star Lanes.

It was a successful afternoon of bowling. The highlight was when Tate bowled a spare. His reaction was priceless; he was so super-excited. I was sad that I didn't get it on tape. It was pretty cute. He still talks about how he knocked all the pins over.

Of course we enjoyed cake and icecream afterward. This is Tate's "Dinosaur Dig" cake.

Tate waited as patiently as possible for a four-year-old to open his presents. I love his face in this picture. He is absolutely ecstatic to have received Lightning McQueen and a few friends. Thanks, Oma & Opa!

Just making sure he didn't miss any details of those fabulous gifts.

Don't you love how Tori is just going to casually walk off with a package twice her size?

Tate with all the loot. Yes, he is one spoiled kid. Thanks to everyone that helped remind Tate how much he is loved.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Success

I know. It's beautiful, isn't it?

My first attempt at making bread ever. Mixed and kneaded lovingly with my own bare hands. It was surprisingly simple, satisfying, and tastey. It left me feeling quite domestic. I may just try something crazy, like turning old curtains into kids playclothes or making brownies from scratch.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game





We headed out to the Bees game a few nights ago. The weather was cool, the ticketes were cheap, the game was exciting, the seats were good, and the Bees won. Not a bad night at the ball park.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summer of Fun

To appease my brother, who seems to think that my children have entirely forgotten his existence since he has been in Texas all summer and that he will soon forget theirs if I don't post some pictures soon, I have posted just shy of a kajillion pictures, serving as evidence of our summer activities.

So here's what we've been up to lately:


Eating popcorn in our skivvies.



Keeping up on our summer reading.


Reuniting with the West Side Class of 2000. I can't believe it has been ten years! We had so much fun catching up with everyone at the reunion. There were actually two or three other classmates in attendance that aren't pictured here. Out of a class of 45, I didn't think the turnout was too bad. Besides, all of the cool people were there :)


Enjoying the Famous Preston Night Rodeo with Grandpa.


Enjoying the famous Preston Night Rodeo Parade.


Enjoying the Famous Preston Night Rodeo Parade in the rain.


Dressing up in our Sunday Best.


Running through sprinklers.


Drying off after running through the sprinklers.



Previewing the Pioneer Day Parade floats at the South Towne Expo Center. (Very cool and completely free)


More summer reading.



Participating in the Primary 4th of July Parade.



Keeping cool in the summer heat.



Loving the water.


Mowing the lawn - you're never too young to start.



More summer reading - and check out the hair. So cute, but extremely time consuming and frustrating. Haven't attempted it since.



Watching Uncle Matt and cousins, Lucas and Noah, in Peter Pan. LOVED it!


Racing in the Mountair Mile: A multi-sport children's race.


Running in the run/walk portion of the race.


Rolling in the bike/trike/scoot/wagon portion of the race.


Visiting the dinosaur museum.



Strolling around the neighborhood.


Giving dad a lift.


Watching Toy Story 3.


Celebrating Father's Day with Opa.


Testing the capacity of all household boxes, baskets, and containers.



Working up the courage to try the water slide at Mom's company's summer party.

Continuing the previously mentioned capacity test of all household boxes, baskets, and containers.


Trying to figure out what exactly Aunt Andrea does with her doll-head from beauty school.


Playing with our buddies at Wheeler Farm.