Preschool!

Finally finally, we got Dean into preschool. He gets to attend a small preschool (12 students) at the elementary school. They even send a school bus to pick him up! He's been pretty excited ever since he saw his Spiderman backpack. I had him ready about 20 minutes early so this is him watching tv.

 First ever "first day of school" picture. I'm so proud! Except that he wouldn't let me do his hair, so he had bed head. That's Dean for ya!

 Of course little brother wants in on the action

As soon as I told Dean the bus was at our house he picked up his bag, ran outside, and ran right up the stairs onto the bus. He didn't even say goodbye! I'm so glad I spent all night before and that morning sick to my stomach that he wouldn't want to get on.

 I'm just so impressed by this bus system. The drivers are so nice and they even brought a car seat for him. He told me that on the way home he sat in the "other straps" which I'm guessing mean not the car seat.

 The best (or saddest) part of this whole process: watching Dawson's reaction. He was upset that Dean had left his orange sippy so he brought it outside to give it to Dean, but then started crying when Dean got on the bus. It was kind of sad until he realized he could sit and watch cartoons without being beat up on by his big brother, then he was pretty happy.



Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!

We had a great Halloween this year, as I hope you all did. Last week my sisters and I went to an arboretum in Tacoma that was decorated for Halloween. The kids really liked all the decorations, and my mom took a bunch of pictures. If you can't guess, Dawson is a kangaroo and Dean is Buzz Lightyear.

 To Infinity and Beyond!

 My little cutie-patootie

 Dean was too scared to stand next to the skull because the eyes lit up and I think it made a spooky noise (can't really remember, I mean for heaven sakes it was 5 whole days ago!)

 The 4 WILD 4-year-olds. Dean, Roman, Evy, Britton

 The whole crew: Britton, Lincoln, Sydney, Dawson, Duke, Roman, Dean, Mya, Evy.

 There was the most perfect little hill covered in leaves that the kids loved running up and down.

 Now for the exciting part, Ward Halloween Party! I thought I had my whole costume planned out weeks in advance, then when I finally put it on a few days before I hated it, so I decided to take the easy route and go

punk/gothic. I ratted my hair up into a mohawk and sprayed it black. It was fun! Jonathan went as DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. Pretty much the greatest costume ever, and he had his very own boombox, courtesy of me. If there is anyone out there that doesn't know who DJ Lance is, you have to look him up.

 My mohawk

 While the kids were hanging with the friends, one of them noticed a sticker stuck to the gym floor. So all the them layed down to look at it. It was so cute! Clockwise from Dawson the Kangaroo: Jackson the Dragon, Luke as Buzz, Dean as Buzz and Sam as a Knight. We love these guys!



Birthday, Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins

Well, Monique and I are finally old! Just kidding, we turned 28 last week. We had a great time with our family and friends playing games and partying.

 Neil, I post this picture just for you, with all my love.

 So, my parents gave us the coolest present ever; a 2-hour trapeze lesson in Seattle! Yes, you read correctly. Trapeze lessons! We're are so stoked about this, hence the looks on our faces.

 Monique and I made our party-goers play "minute to win it." It was awesome. My sisters Brittany and Shelby played Junk in the Trunk, and had to shake pink pong balls out of these kleenex boxes. Brittany shook just a wee bit better and won.

 Neil and Brian had to keep balloons in the air only using one hand.

 April rocked it at unwinding crete paper rolls!

 Jonathan and I had a show-down picking up paper bags with our teeth. I am very sad and embarassed to say that I lost. The first step to recovery is to admit it, right?

 happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us...

 This week my sister Shelby and her husband are in Washington D.C. for a wedding. We were lucky enough to watch their kiddies for a couple days so we made things fun and carved pumpkins. Dawson and Britton got to color on theirs with markers while Jonathan helped Mya and Sydney carve. Dean lost his pumpkin privilege while being naughty in WinCo, but he came out and watched us while in complete denial that he didn't have a pumpkin. He is still convinced that my pumpkin is his.

 Dawson had fun walking around and coloring on everyone else's pumpkins.

 Britton

 Uncle Jonathan helping the girls

 Finished products! Mine is the fire pumpking in front. Ya, I know you're all impressed by my mad carving skills.

 Today we took the kids to a fun pumpkin patch in Orting with my sister Brittany. They had a few animals, a small corn maze and some toys for the kids to play on. It was perfect for the kids.

 These baby sheep were born today! They were so cute trotting around, still trying to learn how to walk.

 This was kind of a funky little display, but the kids liked it. I love how Dawson is sticking his tongue out.

 Dawson loved being up on the tractor. We had to literally pull his fingers off the steering wheel.

 Dean was a little afraid how big the tractor was so he wouldn't get on it at first.

 Dawson with his little cousin Duke, well little in age but they're pretty much the same size (Dawson is 11 months older!)

 Dean finally got up on the tractor, and loved it!



Happy Birthday Deanie Boy!

Wow. I have a 4-year-old. Where in the world did the time go? He's really grown up in the last year, although as you can see in the pictures, he still has bumps and bruises all over his forehead! I don't think this kid will ever grow out of his clumsiness. This time he ran up the driveway and tripped onto the cement. He even got scratches on his nose. He had a great birthday weekend. First, my parents took him to Build-a-Bear (all the grandkids get to go there when they turn 4). He picked out a "Woody" outfit from Toy Story and named him Woody. Thank you Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Ray!

 On Sunday we had a family party after Conference.

 We were really excited for Dean to open his Vtech camera. His friend Shep had one that he used every time we went to his house, but he has since moved and Dean kept on asking for it. He loves it and has been taking pictures ever since. I haven't downloaded any of the pictures he's taken but I think they'll be pretty hilarious.

 Here come the Potato Heads! Dean's been asking for a Mr. Potato Head for a while, so I thought, what the heck, how about 3? Two of my sisters and I all got him one. He was most excited about the Buzz Lightyear one. Dawson's pretty excited about them too, but in the last few days has managed to lose (or hide) about half the pieces already!

 And last but definitely not least, the Buzz Lightyear Costume. Perfect birthday present/Halloween costume.

 And as soon as Daddy put it on him...

 He was off! He took a couple laps around the house before he came back to sit down, yelling "Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue!"

 Pure happiness

 Regular Mr. Potato Head, Buzz Lightyear, and "trick or tater" one that you can dress up as a ghost!

 Dean had a rockin' time taking pictures of his cousins

 I know that Dean does not like cake, but whenever we talked about his party he said "and birthday cake too?" So I thought, what the heck, everyone else will enjoy it. And he did like the singing and blowing out the candles.

Happy Birthday sweetheart. We love you!!