Our "Free" year old

Last Monday was Kode's third birthday! He tells everybody now that he is "free". (We really need to work on those "th's"). We had a small gathering of some of his little preschool friends and called it a birthday party. That kid was super spoiled this birthday. I can't believe how many new things we have lying around our house now. Here are a few pics with his friends.

Eating cake and ice cream in the backyard.


Hazel watching as Kode opens the present from her. These two are such good buds.


We had such a Spiderman birthday this year. Thank you Jessica for the gooey mess that accompanied this present.


And what little boy's birthday party would be complete without dressing up and eating heart shaped honey sandwiches? I guess that's how it goes when you're constantly surrounded by girls. At least he isn't wearing a dress. And please note the masculine centerpiece.


Kode has been anxiously awaiting this bike. He found it in Steve's parent's shed months ago and has finally gotten big enough for it. He would always check it out when he visited their house and he would refer to it as his bike. He was a little nervous to ride at first, but he is a fast learner and loves it now. We went on a mile long walk the other day and he did awesome.


These hulk hands were a gift from my parents. We have had a lot of fun with them and I just had to see them on Ruby. She was just sort of enjoying herself.

Happy birthday to my sweet little three year old. I love you so much and can't believe how fast you've grown. I am so glad to be your mommy and am enjoying watching you learn and and figure things out around you. You always tell me that you want to be as tall and strong as your daddy, and at the rate you are going that will happen entirely too fast. Slow Down!!

Ruby is One!

Well yesterday was Ruby's first birthday. Wow that year went fast. I swear it goes faster with each child. We had a little family birthday party for her last night. (Not to leave Kode out, we also celebrated for him with family since his birthday is on Monday. But this post is for Ruby and I'll report on Kode on Monday). Ruby was so fun to watch last night. I think she enjoyed having so much attention, well, until everybody watched her eat cake. She just sort of looked at the cake for a minute trying to figure out how to eat it. It was too big to pick up, but I don't think she really likes her hands all messy either. She poked it a little and then she so leaned over to bite it. We all got a kick out of it and I think she thought we were so weird to be watching her. Or maybe she thought we were cruel for not helping her. Eventually I cut it up a little and gave her a plastic fork. She was excited about that and near the end just had fun aggressively smashing it up on her high chair tray. Thanks Lisa and mom for making a special girlie cake for Ruby. She took some unassisted steps for everyone but mostly just held on to my finger and walked around me over and over squealing the whole time. She was so much fun. She had plenty of help from other small, but bigger, children opening her presents. She loves her new noisy musical toys and can't help but dance every time they start singing. We also got her a swing for our swingset that Steve installed today. She already seems to love being out there swinging with her brother and sister.


Having so much fun!


Being spoiled with presents.


Cake Time!


Getting a little help from a friend. Thanks Fin.


We found the kids eating under here.


Lyda was desperate to find somebody to wear a birthday hat.


Didn't Lisa do a great job decorating the cake? I was so sad to cut it.


Yeah for the new birthday swing!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! We love you so, so much. What a blessing you are to our family. I can't imagine life without you.

Pumpkin Shirts!

I saw these shirts in the Family Fun magazine and thought they were cute. We invited a few friends over after school on Thursday and made them. The kids were so excited to wear them. I think they turned out pretty well.




Lyda and Zoey (Reese and Christi's) before school on Friday.


Kode and Hazel (also Reese and Christi's). Apparently the sun was too bright to look at the camera.

So quick instructions on how to make the shirts. I picked up a package of plain white tees and some Rit dye, specifically sunshine orange. If you're making one pumpkin in the center you just gather a portion of fabric from the center and rubber band it. For several pumpkins just take smaller amounts of fabric and rubber band them all over. (Make sure you don't put two right across the chest). Get the shirts wet before you put them in the dye solution that you've prepared. The instructions on the RIT package are pretty straight forward. After soaking for a while, take them out, rinse them and cut the rubber bands. Wash and dry the shirts and then you can either use permanent marker or fabric paint to put the faces on. I used permanent markers because I didn't have fabric paint, but the fabric paint will wear better. Pretty easy to do. If I can do it anyone can.

Catching Up

Last weekend was October Break which meant that Lyda had 4 1/2 days of school off. She has really been doing well in school so I wanted to make sure we had a really fun weekend. She had a half day last Wednesday and wanted to go the the Arizona Museum for Youth. We love this museum! We usually spend most of our time on the side that the kids can just run around and play in, but we take a quick visit to the exhibit side also. Such a kid friendly environment.


Ruby found herself in the mirror. I love how close babies get to themselves in mirrors.


Kode very seriously serving me pizza. We are not playing here, this is for real.


Lyda putting my money in the cash register. I love this place!


On Thursday we went to Payson to visit my grandparents. It was such a nice day and we really had a great time up there. Lyda, Kode and I had a great time at the park while Ruby napped at grandma's house. I really had a good time just playing with the kids. I typically just watch them play, but this time I didn't have a baby in my arms. It's been a long time since I've been on a tire swing. Thanks grandma and grandpa for letting us come visit and for being so patient while my kids touched every non-child-friendly thing in your house.


Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.


Lyda and Kode at the park. Kode is so afraid of heights but really wants to be big enough to touch the sky he says. So there is a bit of fear behind this smile. And I swear I comb his hair sometimes.



We took a break on Friday and just hung around the house. But on Saturday we went to the Rail Fair in Scottsdale. The kids all enjoyed riding on the little train that goes around the park. Kode and Ruby were not big fans of the carousel. Steve and I weren't either, man we're getting old!


See, I told you I comb his hair sometimes.