Grand party

My Sister Melissa and her two girls came for a visit this last weekend. We have not seen them in over 4 years so we were really looking forward to this! My dad and Cathrine decided to have a big grandparents party with just the grand kids and give us siblings a chance to catch up. They were taking the kids to the children's Museum in Olympia which was having a Halloween boo bash. I don't think they realised what they were getting into with 5 kids and a place so crowded with kids. Melissa and I were taking bets on which child they would loose! When they got back I could tell that they had had enough and when asked when they would take the kids again they both said they would wait a few years. It was really good for the cousins to meet and get to know each other.
This is the first picture of us sisters in over 4 years. Melissa seems to do this every time we take pictures together.

While all the kids were at the grand party we went out to eat. Daniel saw us eating and wanted something too. Melissa doesn't like pickle so she gave hers to Daniel. As you can see he loved it!

He loved the pickle so much he really got mad when we tried to take it away!

This is the best I could do to get a picture of the costumes. They really had a hard time standing still!

Noah and McKayla showing off their old men rattles they made.

Okay, Kendall wanted me to let you all know he is against putting this picture on to blog, but it's my blog and I just couldn't resist! This is a total black mail picture! My sister Melissa made these really cute hair things for Emma and I was teasing Noah about them. He really thought we were being silly putting them in his hair. So sorry Noah!

It was a very busy day with meeting new cousins and a big "grand" party we were all very tired. This was a rare moment of calmness and you can really see just how tired we all were. All the kids are use to early bed times and I think this was taken about 8pm.

Poor Uncle Joshua is the favorite uncle which means he is the one that is treated like a jungle gym!

My dad's house is very small and with 6 grand kids plus 6 adults it was a pretty full house. I am amazed Daniel was not trampled to death!

So, we told the kids to act a little crazy and pretend to attack Grandpa Bill and Cathrine, which didn't take much convincing. Alina stood on my dad and jumped on him just as this picture was taken so the look on my dad's face is real.

Getting this pictures was an amazing thing as it was the end of the day and the kids were sooo tired and hyper.

Noah seems to have lost something!

Look at that cute new grin! Can you tell what's missing?

Happy Day, Noah has Finally lost his first tooth! We have been waiting for this tooth to come out since August! After dinner he came to me and said that it felt strange and I could tell it was just hanging by a thread! He wouldn't let me near it but after a while I convinced him to let me look closer (with my fingers). Out it came and he was pretty excited!

Forts

I have mixed feelings about forts. They keep the kids occupied for hours on end which is great. Usually it is Noah who wants to make one. He starts out with "Mom, can we make a fort? We will both play in it really nice and not fight". Translation; "Mom I am going to make a fort and Emma can help make it and play in it till she breaks it and then there is going to be a big fight!" Usually Emma "breaks" it pretty quick because it is made with every blanket and sheet we own and she's 3 and clumsy! So it is a rare thing for them to make a fort cause I don't like the screaming and yelling which comes with it every single time!! They also like to use all our dining room chairs and they get really upset when it's time to eat and they have to take down the fort. Well today they made a fort in my living room while I was working on dinner and cookies for family home evening. I didn't know they were doing this cause they got smart. See, it is a true give away that they are making a fort when my chairs start to go missing from the kitchen, (They didn't want me to know what they were up to this time.) Noah came in and says "Aha! Now our fort can stay up all the time and we can still eat dinner!" As you can see he used all the living room furniture to make his fort. I give up!!!

Daniel update

Noah and Daniel having a little wrestling match!

Some of you have asked how Daniel is doing since his surgery. As you can see from the above pictures he is doing great! I pulled the last of his stitches out this week and his head looks so good. Once his hair grows in you won't be able to tell he had the surgery! He is starting to crawl and is such a happy little baby! I was so excited when he was starting to move around better last week, but now I am starting to remember what it's like to have a baby that can crawl! He is into everything! The kids are learning really really fast that they can't leave anything on the floor. He is into the "grab anything within reach" phase too. I went out with some friends to Red Robin the other night and took Daniel with me. The waitress must not have been to familiar with babies, cause she kept setting things in front of Daniel. He got to the ranch dressing faster then me and got it all over the place! Yuck! Oh well, that's life with kids right!

Squash Beast Harvested

Well we finally cut off all the squash from our beast. In the end we got close to 70 pounds of squash. Some of the blossoms didn't turn into anything. (thank heavens!) Here is Emma with all our squashes. Now if anyone can tell us what kind of squash they are we would love to know!

Field Trip

Emma's preschool class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch this last Thursday. They all had a lot of fun and it only rained a little when we first got there. It was kind of nice as they had the pumpkins all out on the lawn and it wasn't some really really muddy field like the one we went to last year. This is us getting ready to go on a hay ride. Emma of course wasn't so sure about the whole thing and held on pretty tight! We went to the pumpkin patch during Daniel's nap time so he fell asleep while on the hay ride and slept the whole time. My back was killing me by the time we left cause I carried him in the sling (20 pounds is a lot to carry around for 2 hours).

So this is Emma's preschool class, yes she is the only girl. I have started letting her bring one of her baby dolls with her for play time. These boys can get really rowdy when they are together and Emma is not use to that. Trying to get them all to sit together at the same time for a picture was a very very difficult task!

In the end Emma picked out this little pumpkin. I know in all the pictures she looks so serious and not very happy, but she really did have a good time and really enjoyed herself. She has been going through this phase where she doesn't want to smile for anyone and acts all shy around everyone.

Being a Mom

Dinner took an extra long time to eat tonight. I got it on the table later than usual and was kind of trying to get the kids to eat fast so I could get them to bed and have some "me" time. Kendall was out fixing the car. Daniel was sitting by Emma at the table and she was doing her best to make him laugh (I think she was just avoiding her bowl of soup). She had Daniel laughing that cute belly laugh that makes him get the hiccups. So I had a hard time getting upset enough to make her stop and eat. I have a saying when the kids give that special smile or that cute laugh "It makes my heart happy". Sometimes I feel like I could just burst with joy at their giggles and smiles. Being a mom can be so hard and frustrating at times, but then again it is the most joyful thing in my life. I love my kids and love being their mother, even when they drive me crazy I wouldn't trade it for anything.

We Have a tooth!

Daniel has been a little cranky, okay a lot cranky, this week. So I have been checking everyday for that long awaited first tooth. Well today it has arrived! I am so excited, just thought I'd share the latest milestone in Daniel's life. I was begining to think he would never get teeth!

Emma's Hair

So after 3 years of bad hair days I have decided that I am going to change that. I see on my sister's blog that she has some sites that show how to do cute hair do's. I got brave today and tried one. This might seem simple to some but for me who is very hair challenged it was a big thing. Yes, I did use a curling iron on her hair for the first time in her life. She had soo much fun sitting in front of the bathroom mirror and watching me. I am starting out simple and may someday get to the point I can do some of the things my sister does with her girls who always have cute hair!

Advantages of not having a working car

1. I have more time, cause I am not out running around town.
2. I am saving money, cause I can't go anywhere to buy stuff.
3. My gas bill is nonexistent.
4. My husband gets to work on something mechanical. (which is a good thing for a mechanical engineer to do.)
5. We get more exercise, cause we walk everywhere.
6. Not having a car for a while, even one I wish would die (and stay dead), makes me happy to get it back when it is working again. It's true when you go without a car for while it make you happy and content to drive anything!
7. Ummm....

Daniel is 7 months

I just got Noah and Emma into bed and then looked at the calendar and realised that Daniel is 7 months old today. It is amazing how time flies! We are so grateful that he is doing so well and the surgery is behind us! He has recovered very fast! He was rolling over and moving around a lot before the surgery, but has not been getting around as well since coming home. I think his tender head has something to do with that! He was also sleeping through the night, but is not now! He wakes up at least twice each night and then is up at 5am! I am wondering if they nicked the part of the brain that controls sleep! :) He won't take those long (much needed) naps either. But we love him and are so grateful to have him in our family!

Blocks and hair

Daniel was happily playing with blocks until....he saw something better to play with.....

Daniel has been into pulling Emma's hair lately! She is usually really careful to not get to close to him, but she got distracted by the blocks. He is squealing with delight at this moment and Emma was very calmly (I was impressed by her calmness, she usually screams) trying to get him to let go. I figured she had it all under control so grabbed the camera.