Christmas program

Jed had his first Christmas program today!!! He did so well and it was so cute. The title was the ABC's of Christmas. Each child had a line that went with a letter of the alphabet and Christmas. Jed had his memorized the first day he brought home his paper, telling about the play. His letter was "J". They also sung a ton of Christmas songs and recited some poems.
The question I had to ask myself was when did Jed get that old? I sat and watched him sing and all I could think was he can't be old enough for all of this. It was just last year he had his first Christmas wasn't it? Everyday he surprises me with how much he is growing. I love that kid!!!!

Sorry about the sound, the camera didn't pick it up for some reason. His line was J is for Jingle Bells all shiny and bright. We are getting them ready for a sleigh ride tonight.

Bed time!!

I caught this on camera while the kids were suppose to be getting ready for bed and brushing their teeth. Sheldon wasn't home that night so I guess they don't consider me much of a threat and think they can get away with anything. Most of the time they are right!! :)

Finally Halloween pics!!!

OK, OK I know I am really slacking on this; it is two days till Thanksgiving and I am finally posting Halloween pics. Life really hasn't been that crazy either just a little busy getting the house done before holiday company gets here. We are getting really close to having the everything done, well exept the basement. It has been really fun watching it all come together!!!

Halloween was so much fun this year. Jed was really excited, I think it is one of his favorite holidays. Dressing up and getting candy what more could a kid ask for. He had been deciding what to be for months and months, but we finally settled on Wolverine. The claws he wanted to go with it were pretty expensive so he saved his money and bought one for himself and we helped with the other. I was very impressed with him, he worked hard to earn that money.
Evan on the other hand didn't really know what was going on until the day got here. And she couldn't make up her mind what she wanted to be. Luckily, she got to be both things she wanted, a kitty and a dragon. We went trick or treating twice on Halloween first to the mall and old town Twin falls and then later that night around the neighborhood. Evan may not have have know why she was dressing up, but it didn't take long for her to figure out what was going on. By the time we had gone to two or three places she was an expert giving her sweet smile and saying "trick or treat". She melted a lot of hearts and got a ton of candy.


It was so much fun watch them run from house to house. The excitement in my kids eyes is one of the highlights of my life!!!

Special Evan spotlight!!!

My little girl is getting to be such a big kid!!! Evan is talking more and more everyday, copying everything you say like a little parrot. It is so much fun to watch her grow up. She has had a few big changes in her life recently, first she gave up the "pacy." I got the idea from my sister and what she did to help get rid of it with her son. We went to the store and let her pick out any toy she wanted (within a reasonable price) . She picked a baby and a stroller. Then we took the toys to the check out lanes and Evan "paid" for them with her pacy. She was so excited when we got home and played with it all day, taking it for walks outside and many other motherly things. When night came though she had a big case of buyers remorse. She screamed and cried for her pacy. Sheldon and I reminded her over and over again that she had traded it for the new baby but it didn't seem to help much. She just threw the baby on the floor and cried herself to sleep. It was really hard on all of us but we made it through. It has been about 3 weeks and I would be happy to report all is well, but she is still struggling with the loss of the pacy. She has given up naps completely and has quit sleeping through the night. She is getting some new molar that aren't helping with the situation. I am hoping she will get use to it soon though and I will get at least a month or so of sleeping though the night before the next baby comes.
Which brings us to the next change in Evans life. Seeing that we are going to be adding another girl to the family in less than 4 months we thought it was time to get Evan out of her crib/toddler bed and into a big girl bed. I also hoped it would help her sleep a little better if she was warmer and had more room to roll around in her sleep. But it doesn't seem too so far. But she is loves having a big bed like her brothers. There isn't much too it though it is just a mattress on a frame but we did pick out some cute sheets that match the walls and a blue comforter which is her favorite color right now. It is so fun to watch her grow up and go through all these fun changes. I think it is going by too fast though. I know tomorrow will come too fast and she will be headed to her first day of school and all the other fun things that come with that. We are going to enjoy it while it last though, these are some cute years. Even if I don't get much sleep. This is just a little thing I caught on camera the other day during conference. We were all sing the rest hymn with the TV and Evan got out her little microphone and kept on sing after everyone was done. She sure keeps up entertained!!!!
And these are some I just wanted to throw in real quick. We had a porcupine in our back yard the other night eating some of the apples falling off our tree. Evan was the first to see it and said look "meow" then Jed ran to the window to see the cat but it wasn't a cat it was a porcupine. Then he announced it to us and we all sat and watched it wonder though our yard and eat anything it could find even the animal cookies Evan left out earlier that day. It was kinda fun, I have never seen one wander though a yard before.

Its a girl!!!!

I went to the doctors and had my ultrasound today and we found out that we are going to have another beautiful baby girl!!! So if you didn't know I was pregnant you do now. She is healthy and all is going great. My due date is February 8, we have lot of request to have her a little early to hit a few family members birthday but I will just be happy it she waits till February, to much going on in January, and I have had all my other babies a week or more early.
As many of you know Sheldon and Jed were hoping for a boy and to tell the truth so was I but now that we know its a girl all is well. Jed came to grips with it right a way and was excited to have another sister, Sheldon on the other hand is going to take some time to get use to the idea but it is growing on him already. Evan doesn't really know what is going on but she was really excited to watch the baby on the monitor and loves looking at the pictures now.
We are so excited for this new addition to our family and wanted to share it with all of you. Love you all!!!!!!

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa

The week before school started Sheldon and I went to California for a vacation; and my parents came to our house to stay with the kids. I just got some of the cute pics from my parents so I wanted to post them for everyone.
Jed went fishing again and caught 3 fish. He was so excited, he called us in California and told us all about it. He caught one with a worm and two with power bait. He loves power bait!! They also had a great time climb all the trees in the back yard. Jed had to have pictures taken of him and how high he could climb. Evan couldn't be left out of the fun so she had a few taken of her climbing not so high in the trees.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!!

Jed's first day of school

Well I know I am about a week behind everyone else on this but I guess it is better late than never. Jed had his first day of school on Aug. 24 2009. Everything went really well. He is in the afternoon kindergarten so the morning started out pretty slow. Jed was so excited and was ready for school about 8:00 that morning. Luckily another mother with her inpatient kindergartner came and knocked on our door at 9 hoping that they could play. So Jed spent most of the morning playing at a friend house. Then he came home had lunch and he and his friend rode scooters to school while we walked behind. When the bell rang Jed and all the other kids went inside. I followed hoping to get a few more pics and maybe help him if I could. But I was soon reminded that I was no longer needed. He was a big kindergartner and he could do it all on his own. So from a distance I snapped a few quick shots and left again. Leaving him there wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be for me. My little (I mean) big boy and I have been through a lot together and I thought letting him go, grow-up would be harder. But it just seemed like the next logical step. It was what he needed and he was so ready for school, that it made it easier on me and all I could be was happy for him. The walk home wasn't all tear free though, as we walked away Evan kept on asking where Jed was at and if she could play with him. When it was clear he wasn't walking back with us she broke down in tears and cried "I play Jed, please!" When we got home though I laid her down for her nap and she didn't wake up until after Jed was already home from school. While he was gone the time went by pretty fast, before I knew it, I was walking back towards his school to pick him up. The report was all pretty good except all of his friends were in the other kindergartner class, but he had already made one friend that day so all looks good.
Now it is a week later and he has already changed so much. I am need for thing less and less. He has decided that he wants to ride the bus to and home from schools instead of walk with his mom. And every day the report of how his day went is "fine" or "we didn't do much." Not the little chatter box he was on the first day. But then the "growing-up" has already begun and I am just the mom and happy to have the part!!!!

Loosing the first tooth

Jed lost his first tooth this week. He has two of his adult teeth coming in behind his baby teeth. So we have been working on getting them out. His sister was the one who first to loosen it. They were playing puppy, and she ripped a rope out of his mouth and all the sudden it was loose. We worked on it for a while and then yesterday he got it so loose that all I had to do was pull a little on the string around it and it flew across the room. He was so excited and couldn't wait for the night so the Tooth Fairy would come. But then when night finally got here, he didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take it because his dad wouldn't have been able to see it. So we drew a picture and left it on the dresser for Dad to see. Dad got home late that night and I made sure he saw the tooth. Even though Jed didn't put it under his pillow the tooth fairy found it and left a dollar. So it all worked out.

Memorial

After coming here to Oklahoma every summer for the last four years we finally went to the Memorial for the Oklahoma Bombing. It was a beautiful memorial and humbling. It is amazing how just one person can do so much damage!!!
They had a spot for kids to draw with chalk, in memory of the kids that died there. Jed seemed to learn a lot from it but Evan just wanted to draw. After 14 year and all the rain we got this summer we still had a hard time finding a place for the kids to draw. You can tell the people here still hold it close to there hearts.
They also had a field of empty chairs. One for every person killed and a name carved on each chair. It was so humbling to see it all set up that way. I think they did a wonderful job with the memorial, it seem to be a perfect way to honor and remember the victims of this tragedy.

Summer Swim Lessons

So summer time means hanging out at the pool for my kids and me. We have been taking swim lessons to give me some peace of mind with all the water we are around. It has been really fun. Jed loves it and has become a really good swimmer. He can swim across our apartment pool all by himself. Evan is still working on just putting her face in the water but she seem to be having tons of fun too!! The swim lesson run for two weeks, then you can do it again if you want the next two week session. Today was the last day for this session and they turned on the slide and let all the kids go down it. I tried but didn't get a very good pic of Jed coming down the slide, I was either to late or to early with the camera. Sorry!!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures I did get though.Evan with her teacher Miss LucyJed with his teacher Mr. Gilbert

Playing in the Rain

The weather here in Oklahoma is a little crazy. The day before these pictures were taken was a sunny hot day and so was the day after. But this day wasn't one of the rainiest days we have seen here either, it was still fun though. The kids are really loving having Cortney here to play with them and I think she enjoys playing with them too. Fortunately, I am the one behind the camera so I didn't get very wet.

It is so fun to be these kids mom. I love the way that just a little thing like rain can get them so excited and having fun for the whole day. Jed is the best at it, he has such an imagination!!! While we were out playing he "turned into" rain boy who has the power to control the weather but can only breath if he is being rained on. And Evan was right behind him, I don't think she knew exactly what they were playing but she chased him around the complex, until she found a puddle that is, then she splashed with Cortney until almost all the water was gone.