Halloween

I had so much fun making the kids costumes this year! Admittedly, they are all the same basic pattern (I made it up) with some details added to each. Ayla's unicorn costume probably took the longest because of the mane, but Kellen's adorable chipmunk one took about all of 20 minutes to complete! We had so much fun doing this photo shoot with Ashley here in Abilene. The kids were so cute and she got a ton of great pictures with great lighting.
I love these kids.
When I have a bad day and reflect after they have gone to bed.... I realize how lucky I am. 

Sometimes I make the wrong choice and yell at them when I really shouldn't. But overall, we all get along fabulously!

We invited the Wicked Witch into our house after Halloween this year, and it worked out great! The kids get just way too much candy, and I end up eating it over and over again... so we started inviting the WW. The kids pick out 15-20 of their favorite pieces of candy, and the rest goes into one bag. They hide it somewhere, and leave a note for the WW. She has to find it and takes it with her, and then she leaves a little gift. This year she left walkie talkies (or Honkey tonkies as Colton calls them!). And a note... it was fun!

Soren's first birthday

My boy is getting too big. Just this morning he was deleting pictures from our computer... the little turd. Luckily I found them in the recycle bin! We had a quiet birthday celebration, with Papa and Granna and the Lucas's, our friends here on base. He loved his cake (decoration inspired by Pinterest!) and it was yummy. He also loved our spagetti dinner (I roasted veggies: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and such) and added them to the sauce. It was delicious! He turned one the day before we headed to Austin for the Tough Mudder (more on that later!) and he is walking, signing, and getting his 6th and 7th tooth!! Stop growing!!

4th of July in Astoria, Oregon

We had a fabulous 4th of July in Oregon. The kids enjoyed every minute... they loved the little fireworks, and LOVED the big ones. Kellen fell asleep on me while Tyler and his dad were lighting off fireworks. It was fabulous.

Colton's 6th Birthday

I still find it hard to believe my boy is 6! He is getting too old! Before we left for Oregon, we planned his birthday party, at his insistence, up at the Column. (For those who don't know, the Astor Column is in Astoria. Oregon... a tall lookout. Very cool) And despite his *injury from the night before, it went off without a hitch.   
The cake looked and tasted fantastic, the burgers were yummy, and all the sides were yummy that people brought. Colton enjoyed opening up his presents, and heading up to the top of the column to release some planes.
Thanks everyone for making it a great day for my wonderful boy.

*His injury happened at bedtime out at Grammy's house. He was running after Shelby, the dog, and tripped (?) and fell on a jagged rock (of course!) and sliced his brow open. Tyler and Grammy took him to the ER for 9 stitches! He was so brave!

Mother's Day (at the zoo)

I had a fabulous Mother's Day! I felt so special with my four wonderful little rascals celebrating for me! Tyler helped them pick out the cute garden (or kitchen) gnome for me! I am so excited to get to go paint him!!!

They woke me up a bit early (your supposed to get to sleep in on Mother's Day, right?) at 730am, but it was sleeping in an hour past usual... plus they had breakfast in bed! With a flower even.

And of course, chocolates were had. Tyler knows what I need.

The gnome is kind of a funny gift. Tyler HATES garden gnomes (he thought the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet" was pretty cute, and he thought the boys dressed as gnomes for Halloween was cute... but for some reason, he dislikes the garden variety pretty hard.... unfair! I think they are so cute! The travelocity gnome is just so cute! Anyways, he got me a gnome... he must really love me!

Then we went to the zoo.. one of our favorite things to do around here. The peacock is one of Ayla's favorite, and she always tries to get close. 

Do peacocks bite? or peck?

Isn't the mountain lion picture a tad scary? These 2 here will prowl and follow anything with wheels... aka kids in strollers!

Watch out!!

I am on day 3 of my 30 day vegan class... and completely loving it!!!

Today we had baked tofu with watermelon salsa (I thought it was fantastic) and a strawberry "cheese" cake for dessert. And for breakfast, I made this cashew cream sauce for over berries... it was to die for! I like this vegan thing... or maybe just getting new recipes and cooking new stuff is fun. Either way, I find it WAY more healthier than I was eating... which was pretty healthy to begin with!

Well, I better go help Tyler pack for our weekend camping trip (again!). We are gearing up for the big one next month!

Easter weekend

Easter weekend was such a great laid back couple of days. 

Saturday, first we dyed eggs... this time we just used food coloring, but I promise next year, I plan on doing natural dyes... I just didn't feel like going to the store :) Then we headed to Tyler's work egg hunt, where the kids made Easter bags, collected hidden eggs, and Ayla even got to ride Shine, a pretty white quarterhorse! The kids had a great time, and it was fun to see their excitement. 

Saturday evening, I had procured a babysitter for the night, so Tyler and I could go on our first date night in awhile! We had planned to see The Hunger Games, but the show time that we could go to was sold out! So we finally settled for the raunchy comedy "American Reunion", you know, the finale to the million American Pie movies! Can you believe it! We went on date night to see a less than average movie! Oh well, lesson learned. Don't go to Starbucks and enjoy a coffee before buying movie tickets :) 

But at least it was good company. 

So, here is a rundown on costs for our date night... 

Dessert and coffe at Starbucks:: $12 

Movie (that we really didn't want to see):: $17 

Babysitter for 4 children whO slept the entire time (minus the 5 or so minutes Soren was awake before we got back) :: $50 

Total:: $79 

The lack of interruptions:: priceless 

When we got home we had a couple screwdrivers (yes, alcoholic beverages, not the Phillips kind) watched some Forest Gump (to make up for what we paid to see!) and then headed to bed! 

Sunday, we woke up early to an Easter basket scavenger hunt that the kids LOVED! Tyler made little rhymes that we hid the night before, and I think it will become tradition. Then we had breakfast and had our backyard egg hunt, which was fun to watch. There is something about watching your kids discover an egg filled with candy. I don't exactly know why! Then, we lazily watched home videos all afternoon, which is so great to capture the kids' antics at different time periods! The similarities between these four is amazing! We finished off the night with a long walk to the loved train park, stopping along the path to climb trees and pick beautiful flowers. Such a nice family friendly weekend. 

And we still have tomorrow to spend together too! We made plans to meet some friends at the zoo, then Tyler will head to play a round of golf. My family is so fantastic! 

What fun traditions do you guys do for the Easter holiday?

Since we are not religiously affiliated, we tend to emphasize family togetherness and fun. Which in my mind, should be celebrated all the time, but it's nice to remember!

<--They don't look related, do they?! I love my boys so much! (And my girl!)

I just love his funny look... he loved laying in the grass.

 Ayla riding Shine. She was so excited and got right in line to get on... at first she was nervous, but she went the whole way without needing anyone next to her! I was so proud of her!

Looking for eggs in the backyard... don't you just love their outfits?

 This boy has such big blue eyes... he gets comments all the time on how gorgeous they are... I think they are too!

Sharing candy. What a sweetheart; at least when he wants to be!