What the kids are up to...

Shelby is all about school. She loves it and is learning so much. Here is the traditional Kindergarten Thanksgiving feast costume...a right of passage for every kid, I think!

Jason potty trained himself the week of Thanksgiving. Well, I guess I initiated it, but I CANNOT believe how easily he caught on. I was shocked! He had 1 or 2 accidents the first three days, then started telling us when he had to go. After a week he was completely accident free. Yahoooo!!

P.S. Yes, I'm aware that, in a few years, JD will probably be horrified that this picture is up for the world to see.

Ashley started solid foods this month. This is the face she made after every bite the first time. She still has very little interest, though she enjoyed the mashed potatoes and yams on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving #2

This one is for my aunts! I thought you'd like to see your folks enjoying their great grandchildren. =) My kids are blessed to still have two great-grandparents around, after saying goodbye to one of them this year. We are thankful for family! We have so many special family members so close by.

Nema had lots of fun with her grandkids at our celebration. All these kids just love their Nema.

Happy Thanksgiving #1

We had a great Thanksgiving at Aunt Amy's new house. So fun!

She does have a reputation in the family for being a little turkey sometimes.
But she's a cute one!

A Peek into October

I apologize to all of you with a blog addiction. It has been two months! I have all the usual excuses, but also somehow I reached a max on the number of pictures google would let me publish. Of course I only found that out last week so that excuse doesn't go very far. But here are my favorite three from October....okay, now let's move on to November already!

Our Turtle Story

About 2 weeks ago our neighbor showed the kids her turtle, which she kept in her garage. Then last Monday, Jason decided he wanted a turtle. Picturing a silver-dollar sized turtle we could keep in a tank, I told him if he wants a turtle for Christmas maybe he should start praying for one. The very next day, as I was going to pick Shelby up from school, I open my garage and there was a desert tortoise walking up my driveway. Not wanting it to get run over (and since it was in my driving path), I put it in a box on our porch and called my neighbor to let her know her turtle had escaped. She eventually came over and informed us that this was not her turtle. It doesn't belong to any of our neighbors. So for the time being, we own a turtle, which JD has named "Lightning." It was a very cute way to teach Jason that God answers all kind of prayers!

"Grounded" in Bakersfield

We made it to our family camp with church this year (called "Grounded"). It is the first time we've been camping with more than one child and WOW, it is much different with three!

JD decided it would be fun to play catch through some tree branches with a 4" diameter rock. The inevitable result was a nice shiner. Thankfully it hit above and not in his eye. Boys!

Ashley did really well...thanks to all the prayers! It was way too hot for her. I think I overestimated my ability to bring a four month old tent camping in 100+ degree heat. Thankfully our lovely, generous friends with a trailer, shared their air conditioning (and a fan). Without that we probably would have had to take her home.

Shelby had fun with all her friends and their dogs. These are our friends', The Clarks, girls and Zach Gardner. They had lots of fun and didn't seem to mind the heat. It turns out I didn't need the many warm clothes I packed for everyone. It did cool down.....but not until 2am!!

First Day of Kindergarten

So here she is! My Kindergartner! Shelby wasn't very excited about K-5, but she didn't seem apprehensive either. She seems to be adjusting well, even though the days are long.

Daddy went in to work late and we had a special breakfast at Karen's Kitchen (our new favorite place because of the delicious pancakes!).

To sum up MY feelings about school I say "here we go!" I feel like the roller coaster now begins!

Gracefest

As a nice end to summer, we went to Gracefest at our nifty little outdoor amphitheater here in Palmdale. It was pretty nice! The bands were really good and the weather was cool. A nice way to welcome the fall and celebrate Labor Day. Super Chick was a little hard-core for me, but BooBoo really liked it. I think he wished he was down in the mosh-pit. I've never been that type. But I'm glad he had fun!

Piratey Fun

Poor JD doesn't have any dress up clothes. I saw these masks and pirate toys at Michael's for half off so I got them for playtime. The kids and Daddy had fun in the back yard playing sword fights and throwing canon balls at each other.

The little pirates and Peg-leg Jeff.

By the way, if anyone is planning a Pirate birthday party all the stuff at Michael's is on clearance and is really cheap! I'm a little bummed that JD insists on a Cars birthday party this year.