Happy 2nd Birthday, Landen!!!

Today Landen turned TWO! Oh my, that cannot be right! I remember being pregnant. And I remember sleepless nights...to think he is two already is so sad to me.  I guess it's because he's the baby and I know he's the last! We had an Elmo (and Sesame Street) birthday party tonight and he had such a great time!  He got TONS of Elmo stuff which just made his day.  It was so cute watching him open all of his presents--he loved it every time he opened a box and Elmo was in there! I made his cake and although it came out pretty good, I wasn't 100% pleased.  The icing was a little runny so it wasn't very smooth.  Thank goodness Elmo is supposed to look furry, huh? Plus, red is the absolute hardest color to dye icing and so he isn't quite the red I wanted, but guess what? Landen loved him and that's all that matters! He was so tickled when he saw his Elmo cake!

Elmo Cake! Not perfect, but just right to a 2 year old! :)

Landen's new hat and singing Elmo (p.s. he insisted on putting the hat on himself!!)

Reading one of his new books--he said it was a big scary dog (it's Clifford)...

New guitar like Bubba!!

His new Elmo blankie my Mom made him--he would NOT let it go!! We had to fight to get this pic!

Cake-cake time...I couldn't get the paper off fast enough for him!

All of his new Elmo goodies! He was in heaven!! And no two were the same!! :)

The First Six Weeks!

I just realized I didn't post a pic from the first day of school and it's already the end of the first 9 weeks.  I have to say that life has been going at lightning speed lately and I just can't seem to keep up.  I used to blog at least every other day or so and now I go weeks without a post--it's just crazy and chaotic around here.
So, here's a pic of the kiddos on the first day of school--and their 9 weeks report cards were just fantastic! Weston has all A's and is doing phenomenal in school! Kylie has all A's and one B, but I know she can bring it up if she just tries a little harder! She really enjoys class and her teachers as well!
And not to be left out, Landen started "pre-school" after Labor Day.  He's in the 2 year old class, so I don't know how much you can call it preschool, but to him, he is going to school.  The first day, I asked him if he wanted to go to school and he asked if he could ride the bus with Kylie and Weston! It was just so cute--he thought he was going to BIG school!
So, great job kids on the first 9 weeks of school! Now, if Mom could just keep up with all of this stuff.....

Da Boys!

I thought this was a sweet picture of my boys from the other night and I just had to share!

CRASH!!!

Last Friday, I had just eaten lunch with Richie and was heading back out of Greenwood when I stopped at Denver/Center St intersection light.  I had just gotten stopped when I looked up in my rear view and see a big truck coming very fast right at me.  I knew he wasn't going to get stopped.  I pushed hard on my brake and braced myself (of course all of what I described happened in about 3 seconds).  The man ran smack into my van and my head ended up hitting my head on the steering wheel. The impact also pushed me into the vehicle in front of me, but luckily she didn't have to much damage.  It was so scary! I haven't been in many accidents and I've never been hit quite that hard before.  I called Richie who had headed back to the office and luckily he wasn't too far and turned right around and was there in about a minute. Then, while the officers were working the scene, a driver wasn't paying attention (probably checking out the wreck/damage) and rear ended the car in front of him in nearly the same spot as my wreck.  His impact caused damage to the 3 cars in front of him.  So, in less than an hour, there were 7 cars in a wreck!
 Now to just deal with all the administrative stuff that comes with having a wreck in a company vehicle.  Even though it wasn't my fault, there is still a lot of paperwork to do--mostly because I carry medicines in the car and they have to be accounted for and I certainly don't want to give out damaged medicine.

Run Weston Run!

A few weeks ago, Weston mentioned that he was interested in doing cross-country.  He ran the 4th of July 5k with me and did an awesome job! So, I was all for him doing it! Well, he brought the paperwork home and we signed up.  He now practices 4 out of the 5 days each week and his buddy JT is also on the cross country team! The guys have really bonded through their running time and Weston always comes home and gives me a report on how great they are improving every single day! He seems to really enjoy it and I am so proud of him for taking the initiative! I can't wait to run another 5k with him!

Fall Baseball!

Weston is playing fall baseball this year and the season has just gotten started! A couple of weeks ago when I went to pick him up from practice, he got in the van and handed me his new uniform shirt.  I unfolded it to get a good look at it and here's what I saw.....OOPS!

Kylie's Cheer Award!

Kylie is doing Pittbull Cheerleading this year.  She loves to dance and after a couple of years of competitive cheer and then a 18 month break from it, she was ready to get back into the cheer scene.  So, at their practices, they have an award they give to one girl from each color's squad for their teamwork.  Well, they only had one of the awards at their first practice, so they decided to pick one girl from all 3 squads and KYLIE got the award.  She said they gave it to her for helping some of the other girls with the dance routine.  I was just so proud of her!!

Kylie's 9th Birthday!

Kylie opted for the "no big party, but nice gift" birthday this year and so we took her out to eat to Fuji's and Goody's with her friend Aaron.  We had a great dinner and after-dinner yogurt! Then, a few nights later, we had the "family" birthday where my parents/grandparents came over for pizza and ice cream.  Nothing fancy.  Her present was a new chair for her desk in her room.  It's a really nice and cute zebra chair that matches her new room decor! It's hard to believe that she's already 9 years old.  Time is passing much too fast....She had a great birthday and got lots of birthday money! She even got her very own hair straightener and blow dryer which she loves! Please pray my house doesn't burn down..... Happy Birthday Kylie-Bug!

Sleepy Head

Ever since we let Landen "cry it out" several months ago, he does AMAZING at nap and bedtime at home! It was so hard to do those few nights, but well worth it! Now he sleeps "like a baby"! And yes, that is a pacifier in his mouth--he only gets it at nap and bedtime (in fact, it isn't allowed to leave the bed), but I really need to break him of it....UGH.

My Lil Bro Turns 24!

My baby brother celebrated his 24th birthday a couple of weeks ago.  His girlfriend threw him a surprise party--Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme!  He loved the Ninja Turtles as a little boy, so she really went all out for the party.  We were also able to keep the party as surprise and used Kylie's birthday as the cover for getting him to my parents house.  It was so funny because that day was his actual birthday (13th of August) and he was SO mad that I would schedule Kylie's party for that day when her birthday is the 16th.  He never said anything to me, but had made comments to my Mom about it--he was pouting all week! I LOVED IT! I gave him so much teasing for that once he showed up for the party! Here a few pics from the night!

Jordan's cake that Joy made--she did an AWESOME job!!

Jordan in his TMNT "outfit"!

The cake and cupcake table! Joy's sister even hand-painted the balloons!

Swim Fun!

I am once again weeks behind on all of my posts! I have been finishing up my projects for a class I took this summer and with that, work, kids, kids starting school, etc, I am so behind...on everything!
So, here's some fun we had....3 weeks ago!
Diane and Eric brought sweet baby Jordyn and Brayden over for some cookout fun and swim time.  I found the cutest little "beach" pool at Wal-Mart and it was the perfect size for Landen and Jordyn.
We had a great time with them! We also learned in the process that our BBQ grill was finally toast.  It has been slowly showing signs of wearing out, but that night I knew it was time to get a new one!
Here are some pics from the evening!

Jordyn loved the 4-wheeler

Landen in the pool...well, standing BY it which he did the first half of the evening!

Landen running under the palm tree! He loved this once he got in!

Jordyn and her 4-wheeler.  She would cry if Diane took her off of it!

Jordyn in the pool...such a cutie!

Jordyn, Brayden, and Eric

Did I mention Jordyn LOVED the 4-wheeler? :)

Cutest pic of her!! :)

Summertime at the Lake!

Saturday we spent the day at the lake with Laura, Craig, and JT and had such a great time! I just love going and could spend every weekend out there if the hubby would let me! I love the time away from home because you are "forced" to relax--just float and have fun! Here are some pics from the day!

Craig on the tube!

Weston on the tube...while it wasn't moving behind the boat! LOL! He's not big on the whole tubing/boat thing...baby steps, I keep telling myself.

However, he was all about the front flips! 

Splash!!

I MADE IT UP ON ONE SKI!! At least long enough for a pic! :)

The boys!!

Richie on the tube...I LOVE driving while he tubes! HEHE!

And this my friends, is what the lake is ALL about...just chillin'!!

JT on the tube!! He caught some SERIOUS air on this ride!!

Me and Laura posing...er, uh, what the heck Craig?? It was a good pic!! LOL!

CRAIG!! 

Me and Richie

Me on the kneeboard--love when my camera girl comes so I can get some pics!! :) Thanks Laura!

Richie tubing--and me trying to throw him off!

Lovin' the Lake!!

Last weekend we went with my brother and his girlfriend and a couple from Richie's work to the lake.  We haven't ever done anything with this couple before, but have gotten to know them over the last year or so.  Well, they are an amazingly sweet couple and were so gracious and thankful to be invited with us to the lake! I didn't manage to get a lot of pictures at the lake as we were having fun and relaxing, but here's a couple!  My brother took his jet ski and they zipped around the lake as we went skiing, tubing, and knee boarding.  I was able to get up on the knee board on my very first try EVER! So excited because it's kind of hard--lots of arm strength needed and I don't have any! :)  I also got up on one ski 2 different times--something I have been working on.  I can ski on 2 skis all day long, but 1 ski tends to kick my rear! Fun times! I'm ready to go back to the lake!! P.S. I'm all cut up on my blog!

Eric on the Tube!

One of Eric's many attempts at the knee board!

Kylie's Hair Cut

Kylie has been growing out her hair to cut it for Locks for Love.  Well, it has gotten pretty dried out this summer (and has a slight green tint to it). She has also been begging me to just cut it off as it's so long and driving her crazy with all the tangles.  So, I decided that by the time we cut off the split ends, etc, there wouldn't be enough left for Locks for Love.  So, I caved and let her cut it off like she wanted! She was thrilled!!! And boy did it start to curl right up! All the weight was gone and her curls bounced right back!

Here's the BEFORE shot..keep in mind her hair is still down past the bottom of the pic when you compare the AFTER. Her hair is curly here from her braids she had in at her softball game.

AFTER! She got at least 6-8 inches cut off! She is SOOO happy! 

4th of July 5K!

I had my one year anniversary of running 5k races on the 4th of July! Last July, my time was 31 minutes and I knew I could beat that, so I set a goal of 28:14 or better for myself since that was my time on the same course in December at the Yule Run.  Well, I ended up running it in 28:47.  I was disappointed! :( But it was pretty hot! However, Weston ran his first 5k with me that day! He trained for about a month and the whole time he was nervous that he would get lost during the race.  I kept telling him, "Mom will be in front of you and if you run during the race, then there will always be someone behind you, so you will be just fine." WELL, HE FINISHED BEFORE ME! He caught up with me about the first mile and stayed with me until about the last mile.  I could tell he was holding back so I told him to go for it! He finished with a time of 28:15! I was just so proud of him! Also, my Uncle Kenneth who has Parkinson's Disease ran the race as well! I was so proud of him for finishing the race. He is 70 years old and has ran races all of his life.  After he was diagnosed, he took a little break from running and made his comeback at this race.  His son came to watch him, too.  I had tears in my eyes when I saw him there to run!  My Uncle Lionel also ran, so we made the race a family affair! :)
After the race, I took the kids down to the square for the Freedom Fest. I only managed to take one picture at the festival because I had my hands full with the 3 of them! I was able to snap a picture of Landen's first horseback ride! He loved it!
 Later that evening, Richie and I brought Landen back down to see the fireworks.  At first he was scared, but then he started to enjoy them.  Fun Day all around! :)

The Family Run

Me and Laura--Before

Me and Laura--After

Landen on Horseback!