Kaden is 4!

4 years old!

 

There haven't been a lot of birthdays, but I've been able to make their cakes every year.

THIS year Kaden had a vision as to what he wanted for his 4th birthday cake...

He wanted a pirate cake.

My first thought: "What the heck is a pirate cake? And how the heck would I make that?!"

Kaden and Owen helping with the birthday cake-- Kaden has become quite the helper in the kitchen. 

We even tried out our ice cream maker that Ben & I received as a wedding present. 

(And I have to admit that this has sat in the cabinet for way too long; homemade ice cream is amazing!)

 

I basically took Julie's vision and toys and came up with this to complete the Pirate Cake.

Kaden seemed satisfied.

Birthday success!

 

 

Papa looking thrilled to be at our house.  Sorry for the bad pic.  ;)

All of our kids around the new table

(Kaden, Luke, Owen, Ridge, Erika, Katie and Evelyn)

 Me, Julie and Laura cutting cake and scooping out ice cream for everyone.



Wonderland Park... Again

Getting a rain check was probably the best thing that could have happened.

We not only got to experience Wonderland (and all of it's glory) once but TWICE within a week.

AND we (Julie, Abby and I) took all 6 kids out to dinner at Jason's Deli on the 2nd night.

The BIG kids in our group included Luke, Katie, Erika, and Kaden.

Ha!

 

 

Owen might be a man of few words, but when Julie asked him if he wanted to ride with her he got his worried look, shook his head no, and she swears that he said, "I fall." 

(which makes sense, because he's taken a few good falls at the house recently)

Throughout the night Owen seemed fascinated with the rides, but whenever I asked him whether he wanted to get on (the boats, helicopters, cars) he would give a stern, "NO".

I finally convinced him to sit on the carousel bench with me and I think he had fun; no crying nonetheless. 

Look at those faces.  We didn't have to try to convince Luke & Kaden to get on any rides.

 Dividing & conquering.  Abby took her older daughter of 5 on a ride while I took Luke & Kaden on the sky ride and Julie wielded the stroller with the little ones. 

 

 "Don't worry Owen, Julie's GOT you.

You're NOT going to fall."

 

Ending the night (and the season) with the log ride.

 



Grandpa Comes to Texas

This was a good time for dad to come to town because he was between cuttings with his alfalfa and Ben was able to hang around and visit before starting back to school.

Dad also got to check out our new house AND experience his own guest bedroom/bathroom for the first time ever.

 

Going to an Amarillo SOX baseball game together.

 

 



Wonderland Park

Every since Kaden went to Wonderland Park last July (2012), he has been talking about going back.  We see billboards around town, commercials on TV and fliers on grocery receipts advertising Wonderland Park and Kaden has continually asked when we were going back...

 

The time finally arrived.

Kaden and his three friends riding the "Frog Hopper" as soon as they entered the main gate.

Kaden, Luke, Erika and Katie aboard the train

Since I was one of the few adult donning a wrist-band, I was able to ride a few rides that I might not have choosen myself... including the Scrambler.

the boat ride

Evelyn (tiny girl with red hair) was fearless and willing to ride all of the rides solo even though she just turned one last month.  I thought Owen might take her lead, but he was content being held most of the night...

Owen & Evelyn sharing a stroller.

(love this photo)

 

The best part of the night was when the storms rolled in.  Literally... This was the best part because the kids seemed content after riding/playing for an hour and 1/2... But since it started storming, they had to close the park and we all got rain checks!

 

... to be continued after next visit

Yoga Certification

excuses, excuses for not taking more pictures and updating the blog

BUT

in addition to the remodel & move, I decided to go through a real 200-hour yoga certification. 
So this has been a HUGE focus this summer. 

 

At the beginning of 2013 I talked with Ben and weighed all of the pros/cons...
I knew this certification would be a BIG undertaking but I came up with more reasons than not to finally take the plunge and go through the training.
 

1.  I knew I wouldn't be pregnant or nursing (this has been a huge chunk of the past 4-5 years) and a reason that I couldn't do this a few summers ago.
 

2.  The training was going to take 3 months (June-August) and literally only 5 minutes from our house (good trainings seldom come to Amarillo and a 200-hour yoga certification is almost unheard of).
I have a few friends with this certification, but they had to spend weeks/weekends in Denver or Dallas over the span of a year/years to get their entire 200 hours in. 
 

3.  A huge chuck of the class work would completely work with our family schedule with Ben home for the summer.  (for 9 weeks we met, our small group voted to do it early-- meaning every day, Monday-Saturday from 6-8 a.m.) 
This worked out great for the family as Kaden was rolling out of bed about the time I pulled into the garage each morning.  In other words, I had less "mom guilt" about leaving the house to take a course that would cut into our family time.

... We started on June 3rd and I will be completely finished in less than 3 weeks. 
I've been sore in places I didn't know I had and I would even go as far to say that some of our physical sessions were as hard, if not harder than some of my marathon training. 
And I'm so grateful I've been able to do it this summer.  

Still Remodeling...

 I can now officially add "wall texture" to my bucket list. 

While Ben was out of town, Julie brought her kids (Luke & Elanor) to join my two and we somehow managed to texture the kitchen and start on the utility room.  This is something that I never would have attempted on my own, but Julie did her own house and proved her skills in the boys' bathroom.

Absolutely love the picture with Owen in the background.

 finished kitchen cabinets with doors and new hardware

 

 If times get too hard or he can't teach school anymore, we discovered that Ben is an amazing tile cutter!  Check out the the cut he made around the window frame.

 The Boys discovering powdered donuts left behind by Lonnie & Brian.

 

Piecing together our new dining table & chairs. 

We finally have enough room in our kitchen to sit around the table as a family!

More Remodeling

Never-ending.

freshly painted cabinets & newly installed pendant lights

 

Ben & Lonnie laying tile in the kitchen and dining area.

Thank God for teachers having the summers off... to lay tile and do household chores. 

(Ben has been working like a dog on this house all summer!)

 

The living room begining to come together!  Ceiling and walls scraped & textured and painted.

 

boys' bathroom

 



Monster's University

Monster's Inc. has been one of Kaden's favorite movies... since he started watching movies; I can't count the number of times we've put that DVD in the player and watched it.  When we saw the preview for the prequel to Monster's, Kaden immediately got really excited and couldn't wait to see it.

 Kaden, Luke, and Danni in the photo booth as we bought popcorn/refreshments before the movie.

 In the theatre

 

Luke & Kaden at Monster's University

Owen is 18-months old!

At your 18-month appointment, you were completely mesmerized with the salt water fish tank at

Dr. Fletcher's office.

• You weight a whopping __lbs, and are __inches long. Your daddy & I had to laugh at your percentiles though: You are only in the 10th percentile for weight, the 50th for length... and the 75th percentile for your head.  Ha!

• You may not talk that much, but you seem to understand a lot.  Your favorite word is probably "BYE!!!" as you yell it when we are leaving a place.
• You love animals and talk in a very gentle, high-pitched voice when you see a cat or dog.  You love going to the zoo or seeing animals at the farm.

• You are a great sleeper.  You go down fairly easy at night (you enjoy being rocked and held) and sleep soundly until the sun comes up in the morning.
• 
• You are a fairly adventurous eater. 
• You love fruit-- the other day at the grocery store you sampled watermelon (nobody in our family likes it) and I ended up buying a big chunk because you liked it so much... and you ate the whole thing. 
• You eat spicy-- salsa and creole.  I made a spicy shrimp pasta the other night (with jalapeños) and you kept slugging down milk & reaching for more.
• You don't love meat in general, but will tear up a Robinson's chopped beef BBQ sandwich.
• 
• Sorry for the potty picture, but this is a classic example of how you look when you eat. 
• Every time you eat, you rub your fingers through your hair.  You take a bite with your fingers (sometimes holding a spoon in the other) and then immediately play with/stroke your hair.  By the end of the day we can see everything you've eaten all day.  Peanut butter, watermelon, cheese, banana... it's all up there. 


• We wash your hair every night, but there is always food texture in your lovely locks.

• If there is a dirty spot in the vicinity, you will find it... fall in it... or wipe dirt all over your shirt. No exceptions.
• We're not being pushy, but you've woken up with a dry diaper on several occasions.  I've set you on the potty and have given you snacks and you eventually pee.  Hoping you'll make the connection before your 2nd birthday.

• You love being outside. Even when it’s 100°F, you cry when we come inside and shut the door.  
• 
• Grandpa Cook's corn field

• No fear.  You climb things and aren't ever afraid.  (This causes your mom to have small heart attacks.)

 

 Photo bombing Luke & Kaden's picture