Arbor Day

Where we live it is all trees. Moving here from Arizona was quite a shock. I realized about 3 weeks after we moved here that I was feeling quite claustrophobic here. In Arizona you could see forever. The only thing blocking your view was a house. Here, there are ginormous trees everywhere.  You'll be driving down a major road and have no idea that behind all the trees on your right is a major shopping area. I love it but it took some time getting used to. 

Since they love their trees, there is always a fabulous Arbor Day celebration. We are lucky because its a whopping mile from our house and a ton of fun. The kids love all the activities (and we love that it burns off some energy)!

 Kai loves these things (just not with a sister holding him the entire way down.  Plus, it doesn't look very comfortable. I'm surprised he didn't get major carpet burns on his knees)! He was hitting her the whole way down shouting "no yeeyah" (thats how he says Aliya)!

 See, he loves it!

 Taeya had fun doing the bungee run.

 They also had a fun petting Zoo. Due to my animal allergies I get to stay out of the pen (I am quite alright with that. Not a fan of random, stinky animals)!

 Kai was pretty timid. He wasn't too sure about all these animals! (I love this picture. I always think Kai is so big. He's got big ol' hands and feet. I love how little his hands look next to Tony's big ol' mitts).

 Tony has great patience and helped him eventually pet something.

Blake is fearless. I think Tony told him if he could catch the deer he could bring it home. He tried to carry that thing home! Thank heavens it kept getting away!

Oh boy!!!

I love my boys! They are completely nuts and so much fun! Their current addiction is our sandbox. It brings them hours of fun (and me hours of clean up -- I swear, we have as much sand inside as out. If I would dump all that I sweep up out in their box, we'd never have to get more sand).  Eating is a chore, they'd rather just play. Often we do picnics. One afternoon, this is what it looked like:

 Two ridiculously cute little boys eating their hot dog, gold fishies and bananas out in the beautiful weather.  From the back, it looked like this:

 B may just be a nudist when he gets older. He loves being naked. I've caught him like this too often. He says its because his clothes get all sandy. He then takes off his sandy clothes and continues to play in the sand box, in the buff. Lovely!

 I love this little guy. He is definitely my buddy!

And this little nut guarantees that everyday will be a fun one! I love you my little men!

Big boy!

My baby is getting so big! I cant believe Kai is two and a half. The other night he fell asleep on Tony. That hasn't happened in a good year or year and a half. Seeing him take up Tony's entire chest made me sad. I love him to pieces and want him to stay this age forever. Ahhhh

Blake is 4!!!

I cant believe I haven't posted this! I just found it in my 'to be published' area. Whoops! Anyways, Blakers is four. I cant believe it. He is so much fun and is such a nut. He's got a terrific personality and is  always ready and willing to flash you his 'lady killer' smile. He's got that naughty little boy gleam to his eye that always keeps me on my toes!

The boy is obsessed with jammies. He loves them. If I would let him, he'd wear them to school everyday. As soon as we come in the door from being out and about, he'll strip off his clothes and get a new pair of PJs on.

Daddy thought he needed a new fishing pole. It came in two pieces which he and Kai promptly used as swords ... seriously, they were just born with this gene that forces them to turn random objects into weapons!

Kai was eager to help Blake unwrap all his presents. Unfortunately Blake isn't the best to share so he did a lot of watching. You cant see this but its a garbage truck from Gma & Gpa T. The boy is OBSESSED. He loves them. He will sit on YouTube for hours (if we'd let him) watching videos of garbage trucks in action.

B wanted a 'cake' like Kai's (not a cake -- Brownies)! See the nappy dog on the table. He loves that thing. He totes that around along with two trucks - a minivan and a water truck. It is rare to find him with out all three items nearby.

He had some problems blowing out the candles. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson were in town so Grandma came to the rescue so he wouldn't light his hair on fire. He worked and worked on it.

Eventually he got it (we then had to re-light them so he could try it again)! We sure love you little buddy. Thanks for bringing so much joy, fun and chaos to our home. You always keep things loud and lively. We know we are in for a lot of fun when you are around. We love you so much!

Messy, messy boys!

We had a Christmas party for Taeya's DI group (destination imagination ... more to come on that later on) in December. Someone brought bright blue cupcakes (which they loved) and they got EVERYWHERE! Mercy, I was scrubbing blue frosting off my floors forever ... not to mention their teeth, cheeks, fingers etc. That stuff is toxic!

Cheese! Gotta love a kid who instantly poses for pictures. Does that mean I take too many pics?

"I'll get you my pretty"! I don't know why but that face makes me laugh!

Blakers especially loved them. Blue is his favorite color, well, dark blue garbage truck is his actual favorite color. Isn't he handsome in his glasses?

Dancin' Divas!

Just before the Christmas break, Aliya with her two best friends: Lily and Faith, participated in the local High School dance team fundraiser. One Saturday morning for three hours they got to dance to their hearts content. At the end of the three hours they put on a performance for their parents. The girls had SOOOO much fun. Anything these girls do they have fun with but getting a new pink shirt AND getting to dance was over the top for them!

Its amazing these three are best friends. They each have a very strong, dominant personality ... you'd expect them to clash big time. Why it works is beyond me but I'm grateful it does. We have adopted Lily's family as one of our Texas cousins. The kids get along great and we adore her parents. Faith is in Aliya's girl scout troop and her family is awesome. I love that my kids have picked out some pretty amazing BFF's. Keep it up kiddos!

Not that I need to add a disclaimer but I will: Aliya's outfit is entirely her. Girlfriend loves to come up with all sort of different outfits. Some days it is a huge hit, other days its a miss. Some days, well, she just is Aliya!

Not a drop ... wasted!

 Most of you know I LOVE PEPSI! It makes me happy, makes me feel better, makes me whole! Its been a part of my daily routine since I was conceived! My kids all know its MINE and do not touch. That being said, they know it, but don't always obey. This day old Blakers went to swipe a swig and spilled it. I was ticked! The boys, loving it but never getting it, did what any soda deprived kids do and lapped it up like a dog. My floors were filthy but I was slightly more okay with the loss. At least someone got to enjoy its sweet, bubbly goodness!

Weirdos!

Here I thought my girls had all the dress up/crazy personalities. Nope, my boys got it too. I am amazed at the things they come up with. This is Blakes favorite way to wear a cowboy hat. Not sure why but 9 out of 10 times he wears it this way. Poor Kai gets roped into the wackiness!

 Nice how when I pullout the camera and Blakey goes to pose, he grabs his brother in a choke hold. Also, Blake does not carry a 'purse' around but he usually can be found toting some sort of bag. A fair amount of the time it IS a purse, we just call it his bag. This kid doesn't care nor do I. So what that the boots he's wearing are pink, he loves them. Yes, his pet carrier is pink with feather boas at the end. It makes a great carrier for his ratty dog ... and 2 cars (he is never with out his favorite stuffed dog and 2 matchbox cars. The past couple months the cars have been a motor home, which he calls his mini van, and a taco truck. Dudes got issues)!

Boys, you are wacky but I love you!

Blake Thanksgiving Program

 This year Blake had a Thanksgiving program at school. It was pretty cute. I got a kick out of their little songs. My favorite had to be "Turkey dinner, turkey dinner. Pumpkin pie, me oh my" sung to "where is Thumb kin". He'd been walking around for a couple weeks singing it and I was finally able to figure out what in the heck he was singing. Here he is with a couple kiddos from his class. His favorite buddy is Jaxon, the fellow glasses wearing kid (Oh yeah, I probably should have posted separately about that too. Blakers got glasses the week before Thanksgiving. I was dreading it but he's done great. The Dr said he would ... I just didn't believe her! He looks darling and takes pretty good care of them. Well, pretty good for a four year old boy)!

Blakers only lasted a song or two. The other songs he was dancing around pulling fish faces! I figure the other kids in his class were struggling too, it was okay!

FEED ME!

I found this funny. In the weeks after Halloween, Kai was often spotted with a big ol' sucker in hand. He loves them. He is also ridiculously messy with them. I was sick of the sticky mess strewn throughout the house so I sat him on the island counter where he would be quaranteened. It worked!

 Notice his shirt? Its very fitting of this child! He's a moose. He loves fruit, yogurt, pancakes, treats ... just about anything you feed him I guess!