November 2011

Well, I guess it's time we left October and pumpkins and finally let you in on the twins 2nd birthday!!!  I know, can you believe it!!  They are TWO!!!  Addison had gotten the hang of the Happy Birthday song when it was Braydens's birthday, oh ya, and then my birthday.  So, when she realized it was HER "happy day" she was just so excited!!!

Andrew on the other hand (as you can see from the picture) was in a bit of a grouchy mood.  It got a little better throughout the day, but he just took it all in stride.

 

He did love playing with all the presents that Addison unwrapped for him, though.  I think he opened one and just didn't care that Addison opened the rest.  She would open a present and then put it down and go find another one to open.  I can imagine what Christmas will be like for her!!

See, he was happy later on.  He loves Evan's scooter.  Doesn't he look handsome in his new church clothes!  I tried to get Addison in her clothes, but she wouldn't hold still, so all the pictures were fuzzy.  I'll get it when she wears that dress again.

Again, another Andrew shot.  He holds still.  These are the clothes he got from Grandma and Grandpa Dance.  He look super cute!

He even took the time to "hang" around Dad!

This is their cake I made for them.

They loved it and Addison, was super excited.  

Here is the singing video.  Notice how brave Andrew is after he burns himself!!!  He didn't go in to help blow out the candles after that, but he didn't cry either. 

See, she was a cutie on her birthday too!!  It's funny so many of these pictures were of Andrew, but most the video I took was of Addison!  She was just so happy on her "happy day".

Andrew did enjoy his cake.  They both love chocolate.  Yes, they have known the word chocolate for some time now.

We got brave and made the jump to toddler beds.

They look cute in them, but after the last week or so. . . 

I wish I could go back.  

They like their beds better than the playpens, and are happier, but they have TOO MUCH FREEDOM!!  Oh well, it is a good thing they are so cute.

Halloween 2011

So, here is our Halloween post!!  About a week before Halloween we "carved" pumpkins.  Actually, the kids painted and drew and stickered their pumpkins.  Josh and myself had every intention of actually carving out pumpkins, but it got too late and then we just never did it!!  Maybe next year we'll just do a couple and let them help in the carving aspect.  Who knows, we'll see.

 Addison was super into drawing on her pumpkin.  She LOVES to draw.  She wanted to use paint, but I didn't see the need for that kind of mess.

 Brayden painted on his.

 Andrew drew on his and then found out the stickers were SO cool!

 Evan had a cool face drawn on his.  He has requested I get a better picture before throwing the pumpkins away.  I really meant too!!!  At least I still can.

The next thing we did was our ward's trunk or treat.  It was on Friday night before Halloween, and the kids were super excited and cute.  They had loads of fun and were able to come away with some great buckets of candy!  

 Aren't my Mario and Luigi SO CUTE!!

The Sunday before Halloween was Stake Conference.  We had signed up to feed the missionaries.  This is what we made them.   

 If you can follow it, here is the list of what we had:  Dragon Dung on the far left, then a vegetable pumpkin, a brain, eyeballs, ghosts, and bones.  Evan made the bones and really did an AMAZING job making the breadsticks look like bones.  Overall it was really fun.  The kids thought it was just SUPER!!

 For desert we had made these chocolate covered apples.  Oh SO GOOD!!

Then the big event arrived.  Halloween day was BUSY!!!!  I took Addison and Andrew to the Y for their Halloween party, then we got home, pretended to nap (no, THEY DIDN'T!) then off to the school for the Halloween parade and classroom parties.  The kids were cute and had great fun.  Then we came home, made dinner and finished laundry (Monday is laundry day! even on Halloween) and got ready for trick or treating.  It was probably the third time I had put their costumes on them in the day, ok, maybe only the second time for the older boys.  We headed out about 5:45pm.

 Because of the NO NAPS this was a super hard picture to get.  Andrew was pretty cranky, though he LOVED trick or treating and did a WONDERFUL job!

 Here is my cute little Elmo number one.

 My Mario Brothers (or Mario Bros. as they liked to call themselves).

And of course, my little Elmo number two.  Everyone just thought the twins were SO darling and just SO cute, like having two Elmo's was just a genius of an idea!  It was since I already had the one costume from the other boys!!  Andrew loved it and when he wasn't wearing it, he was caring it around like a stuffed animal.  So funny.

Well, that's Halloween for us for 2011.  Hope it was wonderful for you!!

Happy Halloween!!

He said he wanted to do it. . .

Josh was sweeping the kitchen.  Andrew walked in and said "me do it, me do it!"  So, Josh let him.  Serious cuteness then followed.  So glad he got it on camera!!!

Video of our Birthday Ice Cream at Friendly's

Here is just a little video of our time at Friendly's.  We went there for Brayden's birthday following soccer.  It was fairly late for our kids to be up, but it was fun!  

Don't forget to check the next post down for the other pictures of his Birthday!!!

Brayden's 5th Birthday!

So, Brayden turned 5 on October 20th.  Can't believe how time has flown!!  He was pretty excited and had a great couple of days.  We first started the day by waking up at 5:45 am.  I did mention he was excited. We had plenty of time to then open presents!  

 Glow sticks from Evan.

Pirate ship from Mom and Dad

A nice note from Evan.  It's pretty funny if you can actually read it.  He also got a puzzle and a shirt from his Grandpa Cobb.  When he got home from school he got a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Dance.  They sent him a remote control car and some birthday clothes.  He had been wanting a remote control car for "like a kazillion-billion years!"  or so he said!  He loved all his presents!

For school I had made him some Angry Bird cake pops.  They turned out GREAT if I do say so myself!!  He loved them and so did all the kids.

   

They were fairly easy to make and turned out great!

Everyone wanted one so bad that we had some after our waffle breakfast.

Or as you can see. . . in Andrew's case it was instead of his waffle breakfast!

Addison loves pictures!

After school we went to soccer and then took them out to have ice cream for Brayden's birthday.  It was a later night for the kids, but it was fun.  I was gone on Friday afternoon and Saturday, so we waited until Sunday to have friends over for cake and ice cream.  He had enjoyed his Angry Bird pops so much that instead of a carousel cake (which I can make for the babies birthday because they don't care), I made him another Angry Birds themed item.

If you know Angry Birds, then hopefully you are saying to yourself, "wow, that looks just like the game!"  We just built a scene (which we made up) that looks like it came right out of Angry Birds the game!

It turned out well also.  Brayden was happy and that was what mattered!

I did make a few more "pops" and took them off the sticks to use in the scene.  It made all the difference!

Happy Birthday Brayden!!  We can't believe you are 5, but WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!  Happy Birthday!

Catching up. . . again

So, again these pictures have been sitting on my desktop waiting to be uploaded to the blog.  Well after finally finding out that a few people actually DO read this blog full of all these cute kids, I decided I better get this updated and put on these pictures!!!  The other reason, of course, is Brayden's birthday is coming and Halloween is coming and those will both produce a TON of pictures, so I needed to catch up so that we can be ready.

So, about six weeks ago Evan and Brayden started soccer.  It's not like normal soccer, being on a team or what not, it's more like a clinic.  They go over drills and then split up and play against each other.  They are in age groups, so it makes it fair.  Anyway, they have really enjoyed it.

This is Addison showing off her mad soccer skills in the backyard.

 This is Brayden just coming in from off the field after his first day.

 I made him hold still and pose for me!

 Here is Evan on his first day of soccer.  He has really enjoyed it.  He says he likes being the goalie the best, but I don't see why!!  He has been trying pretty hard and has been doing a great job!

Another thing we did a month or so ago was going to pick grapes.  Addison and Andrew thought we were just there to EAT all the grapes.  They were cute.

 Addison was serious about grape eating.  Couldn't get enough!!

 Brayden has always been a good helper and here Josh is helping him with some tougher ones.  Brayden likes to do "hard" work.  That means really anything to do with building something, or working outside.  It's cute.

 I was able to get Andrew to look up from eating all the grapes for a quick shot.  It didn't last long, so I was proud of myself for getting this one!

 Evan is also a GREAT helper.  He really cut off a lot of grapes and continued to try to help the rest of the time.  He ended up going back and forth from the minivan (where the babies were playing) to the grapes (where we were at).  It helped a lot to have someone watching the babies and us!!

 Another cute one of Brayden.

So, Addison is just really cute. . . I mean REALLY CUTE!!!  She is funny and so fun and I LOVE having a mini me!!  She follows me around and likes to help and it's just so FUN having a girl!!!!  One day I put her hair in two pigtails. . . she was extra cute!!  I took a bunch of pictures and these were the best.  I really love this little girl!!

I told you!!  Isn't she just the CUTEST!!!  Yes, I love Andrew too, but once in awhile I get to just be happy to have a girl.  It's my right!!

Also, how do you like this blog layout???  Good, or not so good?  Let me know!  Thanks.

1st day of school 2011

Well, finally I put the first day of school photos up!!

This is Evan with his new backpack. He is entering 2nd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Wells.

She seems really nice, and Evan is excited to be going back to school.

Brayden is going to kindergarten!! I can't believe it. He is too young, really, he is!! He has Mrs. Weber who we know really well. He was excited to get her as his teacher. He said he wouldn't miss me. . . though he came home yesterday and said that he had worried about me because he had been gone so long!! He's so cute. He also gives me EXTRA long hugs when he gets home. . . trying to make up for his time gone I guess. I love it though. The other thing that is cute about his first day's experience was he came home and was upset that he had no homework in his backpack. Each day he comes home he hopes there is homework in his folder. I promise him there will be plenty soon enough!!!

Two cute kids off to school!!

It was really raining that day. The next day was actually cancelled due to the roads being closed because of flooding.

Dark picture but had to include them getting on the bus!!

Now, on Monday when they went to school Addison and Andrew HAD to have backpacks on. They tried to go out the door with them to get on the bus. I didn't let them. The best they got to do is look out the window. SO CUTE!!!

Two cute kids!

Their brothers outside are waving and saying hi to the babies.

They just wanted to go. . . they had fun at home though!!!

Hope this year goes great for everyone!! GOOD LUCK EVAN and BRAYDEN!!