First Grade

Back to School time!

We went to Taylor's school for open house to drop off supplies and meet her teacher and see who was in her class. It was a success. We stayed for about an hour because Taylor didn't want to leave. She wanted to look at every little thing in the classroom.

She was super excited to see some familiar names and faces in her class. Including her best bud Colton. There are also 4 or 5 from her class last year (Alexis, Braydan, Cael and Dallas) that I recognized names for.

I think it is going to be a really fun year.

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This is Taylor with her new teacher Mrs. Frey

*S.I.X*

Taylor was super excited for her birthday this year.....turning 6 is so much fun!

This year she will:

Play her 3rd year of soccer

Enter 1st Grade

*Possibly* Lose her first tooth...still waiting on that though!

We are all looking forward to watching her continue to grow and succeed.

I Love You Taylor!

Play Ball

Last night was Taylor's first t-ball game of 2011. We traveled to St. Jacob. Taylor played really well. She hit great and fielded some balls. I couldn't have picked a better color. She wanted number 6 because she will be turning 6 this summer. It's going to be a fun year of ball.

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My All-Star

Little Slugger

Number 6

Happy Easter

Happy Easter 2011

Taylor - Nearly 6 years old!

Tyson - 3 years old!

Frame By Frame

After soccer today we decided to take the kids on an impromptu trip to the bowling alley. They did not know where we were going, but they were excited once we got inside. As soon as we got to the lane Tyson wanted to grab a ball and go. Never having bowled before ever he was great. He was so animated and excited and also a bit impatient (but what 3 year old isn't when it comes to doing something they want to do). I bowled a lot as a kid and its something I hope we can continue to do and do more often with our kids as well. The guy next to us asked how old Tyson was and said with that much passion he could do really well. They were entertaining everyone around us. I bet they would have done it all day if they could.

I had a great time spending the day with my family!

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Taylor and her ball, a 6 pounder. She would have loved the pink, but it was 8 lbs and we didn't want her getting hurt.

Tyson and the 6 pounder. He did awesome carrying that thing around and at one point even got up to the line and let the ball go before we noticed he had carried and used my 12 pound orange Garfield ball. Oops! Little Muscle Man.

Taylor was sporting some really good form in this picture.

Watching the first ball she rolled

Tyson mid jump watching his ball creep ever so slowly down the lane. I am going to try to upload video of him.

Big Feet for such a lil girl

Mr. Chunky Foot. He waddled somewhat like a penguin in these things and Matt asked if they were too big because it looked like he was wearing clown shoes. I really think it was just that they weren't as flexible as his tennis shoes.

Waiting for the ball to strike pins

Proud of his Roll

Taylor helping keep Tyson directed at the correct lane.

This pretty much described how he felt about bowling. He LOVED it. I should have snapped a pic of his big alligator tears after we told him we were done.

Taylor and Brady Meet Again

In July of 2005 two of the cutest kids were born.

The first time they met they were toddlers.

The next time they met they had both become a big brother and a big sister.

Last night was their 3rd meeting. They played hard together. Laughed and got along great.

Brady has grown so much and is a sweet little boy. Who knows what the next visit will bring.

He requested we come to Tennessee to watch him play baseball someday and I intend on taking him up on that offer when we get a chance. Tyson really enjoyed having boys to run with and I think he and Dane could be the best of buddies.

Taylor said it best when she said "I had a super awesome time". Next time we may have to plan ahead and spend a day together.

Thanks for taking time during your visit to get together with us.

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Brady and Taylor

Brady and Taylor and their little brothers Dane and Tyson

Happy Valentine's Day

This is the first year of many to come that Taylor gets to give out Valentine's at school. We worked on filling them out last night so that they would be ready to go this morning. There are 26 kids in her class, including her, so it was a lot of writing for these little hands, but she successfully completed them all. She took 2 extras in her pocket for two little boys that aren't in her class, but she played soccer with. She said they all play together at recess. They are good kids.

Happy Valentine's Day to ALL!

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Signing her name to all the Valentine's Before we write who they are to

Before school this morning with her little surprise from Mommy and Daddy

Winter Wonderland

This morning we woke up to about 10 inches of snow. It was the perfect opportunity to take the kids out to play in it for the first time *EVER*

Our yard seems to never get any accumulation because of the winds that blow from the big open field behind us, but today that wasn't the case.

It took a little time to get prepped to go out, but once outside we played for about an hour and a half.

The kids, threw, kicked and crawled through the snow. Sadly, it was NOT packing snow so no snowman could be made. It also made our snowball fight rather pathetic, but we all had fun.

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My bundled up snow monsters ... Taylor's eyes are super blue in all this white snow. LOVE IT!

He was smiling from ear to ear and looking rather fluffy in all his snow gear

Taylor's snowball

Tyson's Snowball....it should be snowfall!

He had a tough time walking in snow up to his knees...Guess its hard being a little guy, but he trudged on.

See those Baby Blues peeking out from under that hat

When I realized Tyson did not own a scarf I had to improvise and cut the leg off a pair of old flannel pants. I'd say it did the job quite nicely.

I should have snapped a pic after they came in with their rosy cheeks and noses. I think they really enjoyed playing in the snow. Here's to hoping if we get more snow that it allows us to build a snowman and get more pics than I did today.

So it begins...

Taylor attended her 1st friend birthday party today. It was for a little girl in her class. The party was at a really cool place called The Little Gym. Basically a gymnastic and tumbling place. It looked like a lot of fun. Taylor was being really shy and unsure of things at first, but then one of the girls that run the party helped her across the balance beam and her confidence shot up. Off she went. Later, they were playing duck, duck, goose and she got goosed, so she took off running and the clutz tripped and fell on her face. She cried of course, but she shook it off quickly and went back out there. I would call it a success. It is a glimpse into the future though because we are thinking about letting her do a friend party this year. Roller Skating, Bowling or some other fun stuff. Good thing we have until July to figure it out. I am definitely NOT ready for her to turn 6!

Snow Day Take Two

Today is the 2nd snow day for Taylor. Yesterday it was because of the snowfall, but today it is road conditions and Freezing Temps. She woke up today and says "Mom, What about school?" So, I told her "I guess we missed it, we didn't get up in time" she says "awww, I wanna go to school" then I broke the news that there was no school today. I really think they could have gone yesterday and today, but I guess the amount of kids that depend on bus transportation it just wasn't safe enough. I don't remember getting out of school unless there was a ton of snow. Oh well, hopefully we aren't making up too many days come the end of May.

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These are some of today's activities

1st off was me breaking out the 50mm lens for some pics...it has been awhile and I forgot how

much I really love that lens

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We ate waffles

Taylor Practiced her Letters (the school way)

Tyson played his game (he doesn't really play it much, but likes to have it in his hands like the big kids)

Tyson grew out of his sleeper...Literally! He was really concerned about it.

They played with the Toy Story guys like they do everyday

One of Tyson's Best Friends

You can't see it, but the water was like a shower on the smurf he was holding.

Little Ducky ... I love his chubby little fingers!

Pooh seems a bit out of place

A Little relaxation. Taylor plays her game and Tyson watches on.

Happy 3rd Birthday Tyson

Another Year Older Already

I can't even remember him being a baby

Happy 3rd Birthday Tyson...Mommy Loves You!

Born: January 6, 2008

9:30am

6 lbs. 11 oz.

18 1/2 inches

Giving Tyson Birthday Hugs

Celebrating Early

We had Tyson's birthday celebration tonight with MomMom, PawPaw, Mike, Katie, Eddie, Linda, Jon and Chris. With conflicting schedules tonight was the best night to get it done. I cannot believe my baby boy will be THREE tomorrow.

In the last year Tyson has grown in to such a big little boy

He loves to play with Taylor

He loves to go outside

He loves Huggly

He loves everyone.....Except Katie (even though she should know he really does love her too)

He FINALLY started talking this year and hasn't stopped since

Some of his favorite things these days are:

His Blankey

Toy Story

Chuggington

Toy Story

Playing with soccerballs, footballs, baseballs ETC.

Coloring

Toy Story

His Thumb

HIS MOMMY .... oh and did I mention how much he loves toy story, I think you get the point!

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Tyson at 2 years 364 days old

Of course one of Taylor

He really loves the idea of presents this year. It made Christmas fun and he was excited tonight too

Chuggington Trains

Opening presents is serious business for this little boy! He rips a piece of paper off and throws it away. Then repeats until he gets all the paper off and then moves on to the next present.

I grabbed a cake at the store this morning. It was Delish!

Singing Happy Birthday. He loved that part too!

A piece for YOU!

Ready for bed in his new jammies. He will wake up tomorrow and be a year older. Time to go cry because my baby is growing up way too fast.

Starting off the New Year by...

...CLEANING and ORGANIZING!

Next up on my to do list is organizing all the toys in the game room. I guess I could add a good deep clean to the kitchen, but it gets kept up with very well.

Will start upstairs with general straightening up after the downstairs is done

We will be getting ready to give Tyson his big boy room too!

This is a small picture for some reason, but this is a new storage shelf we bought. It is full of the kids stuff and a little of mine.

Top Shelf: waffle iron and electric skillet (2 of my christmas gifts)

2nd Shelf: left side is a stack of coloring books (can never have too many when you love to color like Taylor) and crayons in the pencil box in front of stack, middle is paint and paint brushes, extra crayons and colored pencils, the right side are 3 storage containers (1 with Taylor's stickers, 1 with her picture creations -- just ask my sister she makes a ton, and the other is construction paper)

3rd Shelf: left side is my stack of scrapbooking stuff that I use more regularly than the rest and the right side are 2 more containers of Taylor's foam shapes and Taylor's foam stickers. Misc coloring and drawing things stacked on those on the right.

Bottom Shelf is just a bigger bin for all Taylor's school stuff for this year so far.

Let's recap in case you didn't notice a trend. The whole shelving system could be renamed "Taylor's Coloring, Artwork, Sticker and School Storage Spot" Not to mention the travel color bag hanging next to it. Even her own little stool to reach all the coloring books.