Ice Skating!

We tried a new activity today as a family...we were invited by a c0-worker and friend of Alan's to go ice skating with him and his family. We figured why not! Bailee went ice skating for the first time just a few weeks ago for a friends birthday (and really liked it), so she knew what to expect. But this was Braden's first time, and Mom and Dad's first time in at least 10 years! The kids were able to use these really cool walker things that they could skate along with and did really well. Bailee said it was easier this time because she knew what to do...she did great skating. Braden totally surprised us with how fast he got the hang of it and how well he did. He fell a few times but about 10 minutes into it he was practically running and seeing how fast he could go! Although Alan hasn't been in years, you wouldn't have known it by watching him. And as for myself, I was a bit wobbly at first but then remembered how to do it, and I didn't even fall! I didn't go very fast though! Alan even got out on the ice with Brikelle for a few minutes. She absolutely loved it and of course cried when he took her off the ice! We plan to take the kids again and eventually want them to be confident enough to skate without the walkers. What a fun activity!

Monday Makings

Bailee brought home a new library book from school yesterday and it was a story about The First Thanksgiving. It just so happened that our craft for Monday night was making Indian headbands! So, before starting our craft, I read the story and then we all created our own headbands. Brikelle put the stickers on all by herself...and then pulled most of them off within 2 minutes! Bailee and Braden want to wear theirs on Thanksgiving Day, I don't think Brikelle's will make it that long...hers has been ripped and taped and ripped some more! We had fun making them and then the kids and Alan put on funny little skits while wearing their headbands!

Tagged!

I've been tagged! The tag is to post the 5th picture in your 5th folder and then give a little explanation...I'll admit, I took a look to see what the picture was before deciding to blog about it! This is Christmas of 2004...Braden's first (9 months old). Alan had just returned about 2 weeks before from a 4 or 5 month deployment. We spent the wee hours of that morning in the ER with Braden. He woke up during the night with such a bad croupy cough that it was scary. Once in the ER they gave him a breathing treatment and discovered he also had a double ear infection. Thankfully he responded well to the breathing treatment, so after about 4 hours in the ER they let us go home. He looks good in the picture, but the poor little guy was pretty miserable for his first Christmas...and second...and third... Last year was his first Christmas without an ear infection...lets hope this year is the same!

Since it's the number 5, I'll tag 5 people...Brandie, Jinna, Karen, Kristin & Tamara

Monday Makings

Although we made turkeys last week, I just couldn't pass up the chance to make hand print turkeys for our craft this week! When else are you able to paint on your hands with a bunch of colors?! The kids had fun and the mom and dad enjoyed it too!

Growing Up

Today we made the big decision to take down the crib and put up the toddler bed for our baby. Although Daddy was excited about putting the bed together, Mommy was quite sad, as this means our baby girl is growing up and growing up fast. I didn't plan for us to change her over to the toddler bed until she was 2, but over the weekend screws kept falling out of the crib...it's literally falling apart! We've had the crib since Bailee and it was a hand-me-down so it's served it's purpose. Brikelle thought it was great once the bed was all put together and realized her freedom of a bed at nap time (one reason I always dread the transfer!). After being put back to bed 3 or 4 times she finally fell asleep and had a good nap. I was worried for bedtime but she did great tonight...didn't even come out of the room! I hope it continues that way!

Photo Shoot

This weekend we decided to experiment with our camera and do a photo shoot. Although I've taken tons of my own pictures of the kids this year, I never took them to a studio for their yearly pictures. The reason...a little baby girl we'll call Brikelle! I usually take them in the spring after their birthdays. Since it didn't happen this spring, I decided I would try to take them for fall pictures. I bought their outfits awhile ago and they've been waiting patiently in the closest to get used. Anytime I thought I had a good day planned, either someone would be sick or someone would have a big bruise or a big scab on their head! I think it just wasn't meant to be for me to take them and go through the stress and drama of trying to make a 20 month old cooperate and keep two others happy and patient while they waited for their little sister to stop crying and sit nicely! (This is a scenario I've had in my head...maybe I would have been pleasantly surprised...I doubt it tho'!). Well, since we have a nice camera now, Alan told me to forget the studio and lets take our own pictures. So for two days we got dressed up and headed out back and took hundreds of pictures. For amateurs I think we did pretty good...some pics turned out better than others, and little Brikelle reminded me why I never did take them to that studio! I thought I'd post a handful of the pictures we took.

Sa-Weet!!!

This is an item that Alan and I have wanted for quite awhile now. Well, the time came that we were able to make the purchase. So here it is...it got delivered yesterday and we are very excited! We also got a big ol' tripod to go with it. So hopefully it's time to say goodbye to dark and/or blurry pictures. Now, if we can just figure out how it works!!! It's kind of silly but I used our other camera to take a picture of our new camera!

The Flames

I'm a little behind on posting this, but Bailee's last soccer game was last Saturday. Her team was The Flames and aside from some drama at the first game, we had a really fun soccer season. We looked forward to the Saturday games. Bailee was blessed to get on a team with really awesome coaches...a husband and wife team. It was their first time coaching and they did great. They were super nice, fun and spoke gently. That's the kind of coaching Bailee needs...she's such a sensitive girl! All the kids on the team were good kids and it was fun to get to know their personalities and watch them during the games. The kids ranged from ages 4-6 (we thought 5 yrs old was the minimum you had to be otherwise we might have signed Braden up. But then again, we figured waiting until he's at least 5 would probably be better!) Bailee of course was the tallest player and her favorite position to play was goalie. It seems to be a natural talent of hers. We're amazed at how many balls she blocked, and as her coaches realized how well she did at goalie, her goalie playing time became longer and longer. Bailee scored two goals during a scrimmage game which was very exciting, but wasn't able to quite get the ball in the net during the other games. But that's okay, we just liked to see her out there having fun. At the last game, all the kids got trophies which was very exciting for them. Bailee is thrilled to have gotten her very first trophy! We would like to see Bailee continue with soccer each season, but we are letting the decision be totally up to her. Braden is really anxious to play soccer now (especially once he saw that the kids got trophies!), so we plan to sign him up next season.