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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

2 1/2



In a few more days Landon will be exactly 2 1/2 years old so I took him on a little photo shoot today.  He is at the age where getting a good photo of him his hard.  He never wants to hold still and he was also immersed in his role of dinosaur.  Whenever we go somewhere he always has to have something to bring along.  I try to discourage him from doing it because then we have to worry about keeping track of the item.  Today it was his beloved puppy dog which I was thankful about.  It was almost his T- Rex dinosaur.  Chris brought that puppy to him when he was a day old and we were still in the hospital.



The second of the only two good shots I managed to capture.  We sure love this little boy!  He is a lot of fun and keeps the whole family entertained.  When we say family prayers he likes to go around the circle giving everyone hugs and kisses.  Afterwards the older kids like to compare notes and see who got the most love.  Ashlyn used to do the same thing.  I think it is so sweet.




I had to share this one because it shows his smart aleck side so well.  I kept telling him to look at me, (which he mostly chose to ignore) but at this point he stopped and very pointedly looked at me for a good 30 seconds.  





After our summer vacation in June, Landon gave up his nap.  He still needs it but will not nap.  I have tried several different strategies including my laying down with him.  I would fall asleep only to have him shout wake up in my face at top volume.  Somehow he knew that his soothing sounds machine made him sleepy because he would immediately turn it off as soon as I laid him down.




In the last couple of months he started just collapsing in exhaustion where ever he might be. I started to suspect a growth spurt. This was confirmed after we missed two weeks of church.  When we put him in his pants and long sleeved shirt for church they were about two inches too short.  It is hard to tell when shorts get a little shorter but not so much with pants!
 



Snoozing on the staris.





Often he will fall asleep in the evenings in the recliner with Chris.  I think he thought if he laid by Chris's feet he would be more able to fight the Sandman.  Sometimes he falls asleep in the car.  I have found if I lay him on the sofa he will sleep for an hour or so BUT if I put him in his bed he pops up immediately!  What is it about males and sleeping on the sofa???




The best part of the day is when Gavin & Ashlyn come home from school.  The worst part of the day is when we drop Whitney off at school.  He has tried pleading, demanding, delaying and tricking her into staying in the car without success.  But he has not given up!




Landon is the king of sound effects.  He makes sound effects for everything and he is LOUD.  He loves imagination play.



He loves his Ashlyn!


In case you were wondering, yes, he is still a mischief maker.  He has a sandbox but decided digging in potting soil would be much dirtier.  Covering our walls with his artwork is one of his main past times.  It's not completely his fault since his siblings are always leaving writing implements around to tempt him.




Helping himself to some Nesquick.  I have photos of all of the kids helping themselves to Nesquick.  A chair is still his best friend and tool.



I wish I could say he was fully potty trained, but he is not.  In spite of the fact that he is completely capable.  More often than not staying dry through the night.  Getting out of the tub to pee on the floor and then getting promptly back into the tub after finishing.  Demanding a diaper change while in mid flow.  He actually did great for a few days until he decided it was too much bother. *SIGH*  Hopefully he will decide he wants to do it sooner rather than later.


Monday, October 10, 2011

SeaWorld



The prebirthday celebration continued at SeaWorld!  Here is Ashlyn with her free pass.  Thanks for saluting the heroes (and their families too) SeaWorld!  She was one excited little girl!





We had to have a photo of the SeaWorld themed bug.



Ashlyn feeding the dolphins.  Her favorite part of the day!




Ashlyn & her Mama Mia. Ashlyn says, Mama Mia is what you call your Mama when she starts to get old.  Then she told me, "but when you wear your make up and your hair down you don't look so old." 



Pleeeease Moooommmm? Can I keep him? I just barely managed to say no to that irresistible face.




Ashlyn wanted a stuffed Shamu, Shamu wallet and Shamu headband.  Managed to say no to this face too.



First row, front and center for the soak zone at the Shamu show! 




And as you can see they were thoroughly soaked.




Gavin & his spider monkey. Love my boys!



Ashlyn's and her new polar bear friend.  Thanks Daddy!



Landon impatiently waited for his turn to visit with Zoe and the Count. 


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Ashlyn's Birthday Vacation/Pre-Celebration


One of Ashlyn's many birthday wishes was to stay at a hotel for birthday.  The kids have a week off school for fall break the week prior to her birthday so we decided to take a quick trip to San Diego.  Ashlyn still talks about how she misses Alabama.  One of the biggest things she misses about it is the beaches.  The first thing we did upon arriving was go to the beach.  The water was too cold for swimming but we still had fun hanging out.  As we drove away Ashlyn declared California beaches inferior to Alabama's beaches. That girl's heart still belongs to Bama!  I thought it best not to point out that it was Florida's beaches she remembered so fondly.



Look Mom!  A seashell!!!

Whitney is never one to miss out on having her picture taken.


Landon loved the beach! He takes such joy in everything he experiences but sand & mud are a lethal combination for him.  He actually got down and started rolling around in the sand like a dog at one point.  Then he discovered the joy/humor of throwing mud at all of us.




After we were done enjoying the beach we headed back to our hotel for pizza and swimming.  Also on Ashlyn's wish list.  She specified many times that our hotel must have a pool.



Sunday, September 11, 2011

Back to School 2011


August 8th was the first day of the 2001-2012 school year for my kids.  Gavin is in Mrs. William's fourth grade this year.  When we went to the open house I noticed that Gavin was not much shorter than Mrs.Williams.  Mrs. Thelen his gifted teacher said he can't grow anymore cause she doesn't teach kids taller than her.  Ashlyn is in Mrs. Howard's kindergarten class this year.


Ashlyn and her giant backpack!  I always forget how big they look on the kindergartners.


Gavin at his desk.  Ashlyn's teacher was not allowing parents in the classroom.  I guess she was worried about getting a bunch of over anxious parents out of her classroom.  I swung back by Ashlyn's classroom to sneak a peak through the window on my way out.  She already had her glasses on and was hard at work coloring. 


Whitney started the 7th grade at Tortolita Middle School.  There are around 1,200 7th and 8th graders at her school!  This is just mind boggling to me!  The thought of that many kids is just crazy to me.  Notice the shirt, it reads: Chick with Brains. That's my girl!


I teased her about coming in and taking pictures in front of her locker and the school sign.  I really wanted to. . .but decided not to set her up for that kind of humiliation.  I have been driving her to school in the mornings and it has become our time together.


We drove Ashlyn & Gavin to school that morning.  Landon was so sad when Ashlyn got out of the car too.  He just cried and cried for his Ashlyn.  He has been really clingy with me since the kids started back to school.  I think he realizes I am the only constant now.  Despite Ashlyn's large smile exiting the bus she is not a fan of the bus.  Most kids love the bus at first but not her!  Gavin is the bus driver's helper and helps all the kindergartners with their seat belts.


Ashlyn is a shopper!  She begs me to buy her new clothes whenever we go to any store with clothing.  I took her to Carter's to pick out an outfit for the first day. She was having a very hard time narrowing it down to one outfit.  But once she found this shirt that was it.  Whitney was not a fan at first but then when she put the leggings with it, Whitney said, "Wow, that's really cute together!"  She does have style.


Completely and utterly exhausted after her first day of school!


Friday, September 9, 2011

Gavin's Pool Party



Gavin opted for a pool party this year to celebrate his 10th birthday.  He had been wanting some aviator sunglasses for some time and finally got a pair.  The first time he wore them he told me,
"These glasses look really good on me!"  He wasn't really bragging more like stating a fact.  We waited to have his party till August 5th so that his best bud, Quinn could make it.


The party was at the YMCA's pool.  The kids had fun swimming and horsing around.


Having fun!



All the kids were doing the mediating man pose to go down the slide.




Landon's main concern was consuming as much soda as he possibly could.




He actually fell asleep when I made a quick car trip home after the strap of my swimsuit broke.  Thankfully nothing was exposed.  Amazingly he stayed that way even after I moved him to his stroller. 



We looked at several bakeries for a cake and nothing was really tickling Gavin's fancy.  He finally picked out this Transformers cake because "Landon would like it."  It looked nothing like the cake in the book that we thought we were ordering.  He was right, Landon loves his robots! He has spent a lot of time carrying them around and playing with them.




The swimming seemed to really whet the kids appetites though cause they all ate big pieces of cake!


Jessica's Visit

 
We had the pleasure of having one of Whitney's best friends, Miss Jessica Calvert come all the way from Maryland to visit.  Whitney & Jessica became friends while we were stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  They were both in Mrs. Raichle's third grade and have been great friends since then.  Jessica is such a fun and lively girl.  We really enjoyed having her visit!
Whitney had always been the taller one but Jessica was thrilled to find that she is now the taller friend!  Not by much but definitely taller.  Even though the girls are now the mature age of 12 they got out the littlest pet shop toys for old times sake. 
We visited some underground caverns in the area. 


We also made a trip to Breakers, a local water park.
 

I thought this was kinda funny, Whitney working on her tan while Jessica tries not to get sun burnt.  Jessica is a redhead with gorgeous creamy white skin, skin that does not do well in our strong desert sun.