Dancing Austin

Austin loves to dance to music.  Aiden taught him this dance.

Taylor's Kindergarten Graduation

Can you believe Taylor is old enough to graduate Kindergarten?  She is going to all day school next year as  a first grader.  My little girls is getting so big!!!

Here she is at her first day of Kindergarten.  I love that she wears uniforms.  They are so cute and make it so easy to get ready for school in the morning.  She had an amazing teacher and instructor and loved going to school everyday.  This last year she learned cursive, reading, and both addition and subtraction.  Also, she learned a lot in science about the world and history of America.  She can tell you the deceleration of independence from memory, as well as fun poems like the three little kittens.  She made a lot of amazing friends and even learned some fun cheers that Dad uses at work too.

Every night Taylor had about 20 minutes of homework.  This would include cursive, math and reading packets.  Very quickly she learned how to fall asleep sitting up within 2 minutes of me mentioning homework.   The crazy thing is that she would skip dinner and sleep through the night whenever she did this, it was not fake sleeping.

Here she is at her graduation lunch.  She choose to go to Arctic Circle and play on the play set for lunch.  I am so proud of her and love my Missy Moo so much!

Growing Up

For the last few months we have been worried Aiden might need glasses.  I have terrible eye sight even with my contacts.  One day I asked Aiden if he could read the street sign for me and he could see even worse then me, so I knew it was time for an eye exam.

We scheduled an appointment for the next day.  Thad was going to be home late from work so I took all three kids with me to the store. The store just happened to be at the mall with a kids play area right outside the door.  While this seems like a great thing, it was my worst nightmare.  Austin refused to stay in the store.  I spent half the time trying to hold a kicking and screaming Austin on my lap and the other half chasing him down the mall, while were waited for the doctor.

Aiden finally was seen by the eye doctor and he got his first pair of glasses.  He was so proud to pick them out by himself and learn how to take care of them.  He has been doing so well, except for when Dad stepped on them and we had to get them re-adjusted and the time he lost them under the tree in the front yard.

He looks so handsome.  I remember my first pair of glasses and I did a terrible job on picking them out. Aiden has asked for contacts for his birthday.  I don't know if the doctor will give them to him at 9 years old.  I think I was 12 years old when I got my first pair of contacts.  Luckily Aiden only needs to wear them to see far away.  He takes them off to read or play on the computer.

Dress Up Time

Taylor loves to play dress up.  I never know what she is going to be wearing or what type of make-up or face paint she will come home wearing from friends houses.  She absolutely loves to be a princess, mermaid, even a zombie with black and green face paint with her best friends.

Austin is a polar bear and Taylor is a Unicorn

Taylor and one of her best friend's GiGi

Lately she has asked Austin to come play with her as well.  Austin wants to be exactly like his big brother and loves to play with Taylor but dress up is not his favorite.  He did finally find an outfit that he likes and can play dress up with the girls.

Austin the race car driver

All you need is a bike

Aiden is so excited that it is finally summer.  He loves to ride his bike and last night a friend brought over a small bike jump.  He spent hours riding his bike off the jump and trying to figure out how to go higher and faster.

We had at least 8 kids Aiden's age riding up and down our street going off the jump.  It was a lot of fun!

Rice Box

Our sand box broke this year, so we decided to try something different. We made a rice box, which requires a small plastic swimming pool, fifty pounds of rice and toy cars. 

We actually keep this in the house and let Austin play in it while we are working on other things.  Yesterday I thought it would be great for him to play with his construction toys and watch Bob the Builder.  There were two mistakes with this:
1. Austin does not like TV
2.  He hates the feeling of rice on his feet

It worked out well, because I was able to play in the rice with him for almost an hour.  By the end he was much more comfortable with the rice and would actually let me cover his feet (just for a second). 

The older two kids love playing in the rice box.  One of the best things about the rice box is that we can pack it up in a big bin and keep it out of the way when it is not being used.  Also, rice is so much easier to clean up then sand.

Austin's Big Bed

Lately Austin has been having a hard time going to sleep.  He wants me to lay down with him to go to sleep, which does not work with a crib.  Yesterday, Thad took down the crib and put up his big boy bed.  Taking down the crib was a little sad.  This is the first time in eight years we have not had a crib set up in the house.  My family is growing up too fast.

Austin was so excited to see his big beg.  He would stand next to it to make sure everyone knew it was all his.  He does not miss the crib at all.

Yesterday was a busy day so I thought he would fall asleep quickly.  Around 9 pm I laid down with him in his bed, turned on the lullaby's and tried to go to sleep.  Austin could not get comfortable.  He had pillows and blankets that I did not allow in the crib.  It was an exciting new adventure for him. He tried laying down in every different direction possible including ramming his head into my back and kicking the wall over and over again. 

I was determined not to get out of bed with him still awake.  I figured if I got out of bed, he would think that was allowed and it would be an uphill battle every night.  I almost lost the battle when Austin head butted me and cut my lip open.  I had a fat lip and blood on my hands, but soon after her decided to sleep on the pillows that I placed between the bed and the wall so he would not get stuck there.  Kids are crazy, they can be going a million miles per second to crashing in no time flat. 

Being such a worrier, I got up several times in the night to check on him.  He hardly moved the whole night.  Around 4:00 am I heard the click of a door shutting and see my little man running down the hall to our room.  He climbed in our bed, wanted a drink and went right back to sleep.  He was still asleep when I left for work this morning. 

Thad gets to put him to sleep tonight.