A Busy Weekend

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch this weekend. I don't know what it is about these places but I always love going. We also took the kids through a corn maze. Curtis was teaching Arabella and Hayden how to read the map. They did a pretty good job of finding their way around. I feel like it's just my kids but somehow everything turns into a competition. And they fought back and forth over who would get to the checkpoint first. Of course after a few checkpoints they quickly got tired and wanted him to lead the way. Tate wanted to chew on part of the corn stalk and tickle people with it. It turned out to be a good family outing.

Here's a picture of Hayden with his tie on for church. He's been so excited because his friend Curtis gave him a couple of ties. He looks so handsome doesn't he?

Okay, this picture of Flash is supposed to be with the hiking pictures but I can't figure out how to move it. Oh well. Curtis' batallion had a Fall Festival last Friday and the kids got their faces painted. They were so excited. That was the part they had remembered from last year. Arabella's is a butterfly, Hayden, a cat and I'm not sure what Tate is supposed to be. So this week we have all been sick with really bad head colds. For the first time in years I stayed home for 3 whole days and pretty much layed on the couch. Thursday was one of Hayden's off days for school so I had him and Tate both home. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was sleep. So I told Hayden if he and Tate would just sit down and watch Sid the Science Kid and Super Why on PBS then afterwards I would let them paint. I managed to get somewhat of a nap in and then had to let the boys paint. And this is what you get when you let a 2 year old paint.....

Needless to say we had baths immediately following our paint time.

And here's Hayden, our OCD child with not a drop of paint on him. It's scary how much he's like me. Since we have all had really bad head colds and have not been feeling well, we were quite excited when the kids got up this weekend and played by theirselves for a little while so we could sleep a little more. Arabella is quite good at taking control and telling Hayden and Tate what to do. So they were playing school as we slept in. When we got up we found they were at the kitchen table with the coloring books and school books doing their work. The crayons and markers were on the table and we see this.......Tate with marker all over his mouth and hands. Nothing a few baby wipes won't take care of. It was so worth the extra sleep. I'm looking forward to the day when they can all fix their own cereal and watch some cartoons.

As many of you know, hiking is one of the things our family loves to do. I used to hate hiking. But somehow through the years of Curtis making me go, I have learned to enjoy it. The kids love playing in the woods, as they call it. They have each been in a backpack on Curtis since they were a couple of months old. They love the leaves, sticks and especially playing in the creek. One of the best parts of our new house is that there is a trail right beside our house. So now on many days we take a walk down the trail and let the kids play around for a while. Curtis has even started teaching Arabella and Hayden names for the leaves and how to identify different footprints of the animals they find. I should also remember Flash, our 8 year old bassett hound is loving this freedom of running everywhere on the trail. He's not just stuck inside of the backyard fenced in all of the time now. Anyways, here's a few pictures I took on Sunday as we took one of our walks through the woods. You'll notice Curtis' orange hat that Tate has on. He's had this stinky old hat since before we had kids. I think every husband has one of those. We have pictures of each one of our kids on Curtis' shoulders playing with that hat that he always wears hiking. Another memory that we'll be talking about when we are old.

On Saturday I took Arabella and Hayden to Disneyland On Ice. I got tickets on the floor, 2nd row. It was great! The story line was that the Incredible Family was going to Disneyland. It had a great range of characters for girls and boys. I of course teared up hearing the music and remembering going to Disneyland as a child and thinking of when we one day will take the kids to Disneyland. One of those dreams every parents has. I had to distract myself to keep from crying the whole time. It was a great time and a good memory. Here are a few pictures of the show.

Ahhh....nap time!

I absolutely love nap time. I just told Tate it was time for his nap. He looked at Hayden and said "nite nite buber", walked into his room, got in his bed, got his blanket and pacifier and went to sleep. I went in to tell him nite nite but otherwise he didn't need me. I am so thankful right now for my friend Sally Warrenfeltz who told me about sleep training when Hayden was born and let me borrow her book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. A little tough love when the kids were 4-5 months old has led to such easy bedtimes. I'm just thankful right now for how much my kids love their beds. And now for a little lunch, Hayden time and mommy time.

All Moved In!

Here are pictures of the new house. Hard to believe this is military housing. In our 12 years in the army this is definitely the nicest house we've ever lived in. It's over 2200 square feet with a 2 car garage! It feels nice to see how civilians live. It feels like a normal house. So hopefully we'll be sticking around here for a couple more years and get some use out of it. We're also at the end of the cul de sac so we have the woods all around us, which Curtis and the kids love.


Can you believe this kitchen is in military housing? I love having so much room to move around and cook.

One day while we were at the old house we had a day with nothing to do. Those days only occur once or twice a year as all mommies know. Anyways, I was working on Tate's scrapbook-which only took me a year and a half to begin. I noticed the boys packing stuff in the hallway from one room to another. I finally decide I had better check it out and see what they're up to. Hayden informed me that he and Tate had decided Tate was going to move into his room now. This is something we were planning but not for a while. I look into Hayden's room and the boys had moved almost all of Tate's stuff into Hayden's room. No mind where anything should go, but his stuff is there and thus this is his new room. So I go along with it and when Tate takes his nap he only wants to sleep in Hayden's room. And since that day the boys have shared a room. So with a free room, I decide I will have my own room for scrapbooking. Soon after we find out we're moving. I decided to wait until the new house to put together my room. So here it is...here's a few pictures. I hope to spend some quiet time in there doing what I love. Of course all of it circles back around to my kids, but that's what all moms do.

Last Monday was Curtis' 34th birthday. His mom was here visiting with us. He opened some presents and cards and of course the highlight was the ice cream cake. The kids were so excited. It's so hard to believe we're in our mid 30's. It's even crazier that we have been together for half of our lives now (17 years now!) He always jokes with me that I'm older than he is. (Not so, he's 9 months older!) Anyways, it has become so much of a joke that even the kids know now that Daddy is in fact older than Mommy! They even keep track of our ages. Here's a few pictures of his birthday. I love you baby!

My mom, sister and Presley came for a visit this past week. We had so much fun with them. We took them to the Oktoberfest on Fort Bragg. They had so much fun riding all of the rides. Tate thinks he's just as big as the rest of them and wants to do everything they do. Of course Arabella being as fearless as she is rode most of the adult rides as well. We managed to get in a girls day of shopping and Curtis and I managed to go out to dinner for his birthday-without kids! It's always a blessing to see family. Curtis' mom had come a few days before my family got here. Tate was quite attached to Nannie the whole time she was here.

So yesterday Hayden's preschool class had a field trip to the pumpkin patch/farm. Since it was Columbus Day and Curtis and Aaron(our neighbor) were off work, we decided to let the guys take the boys on their trip, so good male bonding you know. They had a great time. They got to see lots of animals, get pumpkins and even see a little show. I managed to get a little house cleaning done and spend some time with Arabella and Tate.