Saturday, December 10, 2011

2011 Christmas tree does not lack character!














noah and thomas' MARIO party

love these birthday buddies. this year it was Thomas' turn to choose the birthday theme and he surprised us all and chose... "Mario"! so, here are Thomas and Noah with their "Moo Moo Meadows" cake from "Super Mario"!

Pam hostessed the Mario party and she was so creative being that our town didn't have very many Mario decorations to choose from. She even found matching Mario shirts~ which was a huge hit for our Noah! Both our boys are really into coloring so they loved coloring Mario sheets together!

Here is Noah opening one of his LEGO gifts. I love this pic because Thomas looks so proud of his gift and he's so excited for Noah to own the "Ice Dragon"!

and money is always an exciting gift... these 5 year olds loved getting a $5 bill!

Noah's 1st sleepover!

Noah was born on the day after Thanksgiving (one of the few Black Fridays where I wasn't in the least bit sad that I was missing out on a deal!!!) and this year he turned 5 on Thanksgiving Day. And it just so happened that his favorite friend/birthday buddy, Thomas, was going to be at our Thanksgiving dinner! They were both so excited to spend the WHOLE day together and then it was topped off with their first sleepover. You see, Thomas told his mom that he didn't need any cake or gifts for his birthday... his only birthday wish was to have a sleepover at Noah's house! We thought this was so adorable and it was a perfect idea since Parker's first sleepover was also on his fifth birthday! Thomas came home with us and the boys spent the next hour playing Noah's new "Super Mario" game. See the smiles below, they are obviously having loads of fun gaming together!

At midnight, we finally shut off the lights and these 3 friends enjoyed their first sleepover! We love that our 5 year old has such a cool friendship with Thomas!

plow crew is complete



Kep's li'l winter business turns out to be a bonding experience for him and the kids. Parker has been shoveling along side his dad for 4 years, Noah for 2 years and now Savannah

has joined the plow crew. They all love bopping to Kep's tunes in the truck and shoveling hard to make some extra money for our upcoming trip to Disneyland!

new backyard + fluffy November snow = tonz of fun













Saturday, November 19, 2011

mismatched missy


Savannah has just recently wanted to help pick out her clothing. So, on days I know we are staying home ALL day... I send her down to her room and I'm always amused by her choice clothing! This pink sweater cracks me up, especially when it's combined with a black/grey and red puppy turtleneck... but she loves it! Oh Savannah, you keep us smiling!

pirates and tinkerbell go trick or treating

our 2 silly pirates and an all~Alaskan Tinkerbell! Costumes take on a whole new form and people have to think hard about what we're trying to resemble but it's all in the name of... warmth!

What a fun night this was for our kiddos! The Young Life clan decided they should all rummage through their closets and put together some pirate costumes... I think they all turned out really cute!


Then, they piled in the back of their pirate "ship" which they decorated the day before.

pumpkin fun

2011 was a much more laid back year for pumpking carving... it's so handy to have them help clean out their pumpkins! Parker was so proud as this was the first year that he carved out the whole design. So, here they are with monkey, R2-D2 and silly face!

We've made it our new tradition that on November 1st, we start the pumpkin~moose~eating competition! They each take their pumpkin outside and predict which will have the best location where the moose will choose their pumpkin to munch on FIRST! In years past, the moose would always come munch while the kids were fast asleep but THIS year... she came at dusk (hence the blurry pic)! All 3 stood by the window and watched her gnaw away on Parker's FROZEN silly~faced pumpkin! Too fun!

pink 'n purple girley

our girl loves pink and purple and it just so happens that she recieves a lot of pink 'n purple hand~me~downs! a few weekends back... we went on a family rabbit hunt and it cracked us up that our girl was indeed not looking much like a hunter, but she was happy to be wearing this many of her fav colors!!!

mountain bike "transformed" to road bike

Kep spends a lot of time on his road bike during the summer months and we love going to watch him race. I am proud that our kids have such a healthy example of how exercise can be fun as their dad definitely has a passion for road biking. So, when Parker asked Kep if he could also get a road bike... the answer would be "yes" even if it meant they would have to "build" one to fit Parker's height. A few summers back we bought an old black Trek mountain bike and Kep did some researching and figured out how to "transform" it into a road bike. Voila... there you go! Parker insisted on having the bright red tires and handlebar tape to match!

here is a pic of the 2 of them on the trainers in the garage before the li'l red handlebars were added. I could not believe my li'l seven year old spent 45 minutes riding HARD on the trainer... he's just like his dad! ;o)