Toni Turns Two!

I cannot believe this cutie pie is 2 already! Sadly, her birthday was not as celebrated this year due to the move. We moved 2 days before the big day and then the day after they went to Payson with Grandma Pam,  Grandma D and Papa Waylon.  So I tried, but with boxes everywhere we HAD to go out. So we went to Burger King for lunch (that is where the crown came from) and then we picked up cupcakes to have as our treats!

  Our Toni is NOTHING like her brother and WE LOVE that about her as it makes her full of all new things for us....Here are some things Toni has done over the past year.  The first thing I would say about her is she is VERY INDEPENDENT!  This picture above is how you see her most often...ahead of you, not wanting to hold hands but at the same time not running off either. She has a certain spring in her step that tells the whole world to watch out because here SHE comes.  She loves being able to be on her own and explore new things. Toni does Love to be outside and she also adores animals. So any place that has animals she has a great time and she pets and talks to each and every one of them.

I love this picture...she has a strong love for chocolate. SMART girl..This was her first chocolate covered strawberry-Thanks to Ahna for sending these for my birthday this year we all loved them and I know Toni will light up again like this the next time she eats one.

Toni is full of smiles but also has a hard time staying cute and smiling for the camera because she always has to see the picture and moves too quick. Funny because both of these pictures she looks great but is strapped in her carseat or in her highchair.

Toni is also great friends with Connor, her cousin. This is them in the pool that Waylon got for his birthday this year.

Toni is learning a lot too and it makes me sad to know that soon she will be heading back to "Brandy Days"as I head off to school...uhhh I hate saying that. Toni can count to 10 and sometimes a little more than that..she knows several colors and numbers too. I am still working on her with these, we got some posters the other day that she things are pretty great so I am hoping it starts to click soon.

Toni loves to dance, knows a lot of songs, and has become a huge Ariel fan.

Home is Where......

WE ARE

Jake and I have had a difficult 4 years fighting for our home. It is much to long of a story to publish, but we have lived and learned by the phrases "It is what it is and Everything Happens for a Reason" Three weeks ago we moved out of the house we spent the past 8 years in together. Even though this was not our first home together this home was our first we built and the memories in this home are countless.  Our family grew here as well as our love.  Even though it was a very, very difficult process and decision we know now that home is not made by a house nor things but the people that live there. We have moved into our next home and since we are all together this is where our HOME will be. My only hope is that whomever lives in our house next cherishes it as much as we did.

And so begins our new chapter TOGETHER!

Waylon turns 5 OH MY

Can it really be that this is OUR 5 YEAR OLD!

I cannot believe that this handsome young boy is going to start Kindergarten in just a few short weeks. He never ceases to amaze, amuse, and keep us all very alert in everything he does. I adore this young boy more than anything. This year I have enjoyed our time together and really grown to love his creativity and imagination. He loves to build with his blocks (and his sisters) and also with his large Lego's. In fact he wants more for Christmas so he can build even bigger things. I believe that in more ways than one. 

 Waylon has grown so much this year he is able to count, recognize and even place the numbers 1-20 in order visually. He is really getting the hang of the rest of his numbers and I am sure in no time he will be able to count to 100. We work with basic math problems both addition and subtraction problems and he understands words and phrases such as "how many are left, how many more and altogether" all mean. He also can recognize ANY letter in the alphabet either capital or lower case and he can place those in alphabetical order in less than 10 min. with very few errors.

Waylon has even surprised us with his knowledge of the states! This is/was actually a funny little story but in the end benefited him greatly. He received a states puzzle that says the name and capital of the states from family this year. Weeks later we pulled it out to "try" it and he whipped right through it. I was shocked and asked him if he had done this before. His classic response was "Brandy has this puzzle and I have to work on it a lot when I am bad" Now those are his words but anyone who knows our Waylon knows he does need his"cool down" times and this was the way she approached it with him. What an amazing gift his has gained already and he now LOVES doing this puzzle now at home because it is easier to do for him. I know many of my 3rd graders would not know what he does about the states.

Here is Waylon on the morning of his 5th birthday with his traditional Birthday donut and some fruit.

This was Waylon's Birthday present from us this year. As in the past years he still LOVES to color and draw.  He is so great at it and really does an amazing job on all the detail he puts into his work. This was a perfect gift for him this year along with 100's of markers he received too.  I set this house up while we were packing and it was so great to have Toni and him not on play in it together but also color it together.  He had written his name on the door (along with his wife-Chloe) and even drew things on the inside like a TV and pictures.  However, this lasted only shortly after we got to the next house. Two kids and a cardboard box won't last forever together. They sure had fun with this present though.

He even was able to sleep in it a few times too!

Here is another dose of his creativity. This is one of his creations he had and was able to describe it to Daddy to have him cut it up. This was originally a wipes box and then he had it cut in half with windows and then painted them to make a house and some days it was a garage. Painting is another thing he still adores doing, he painted an amazing bird house for his Daddy this year for Father's Day. (an idea all on his own and he did an outstanding job on it-hoping I get one someday too!)

Here is his last "official day" at Brandy's. He spent 3 years learning SO MUCH from this amazing woman. She not only loved him no matter what, hugged him ALL the time--but was so patient and creative with him. Waylon has a very unique way of learning and she was always finding ways to make learning SO MUCH fun for him. Kindergarten has a lot to live up too.  He not only had fun there, but he made great friends too.  He also came home and shared what he had learned and then wanted to continue doing it or learning more about it.  I cannot thank her enough for doing all she did for him. She was a blessing and we are so grateful Toni is starting her 3rd year with her this year.

Here is another shot of Waylon and his building skills. He loved playing with these pavers at the house and then one night he and some great friend of ours help flourish his vision of the "HOUSE" he was creating.

Waylon Glen~You NEVER seem to Amaze US...You shine every single day. Continue to grow, learn and LOVE always. We love you ALWAYS sweet Boy!

Happy 5th Birthday

Oregon Not Just a Party NIGHT but WEEKEND!!!

OK so this blog as well as several others to follow comes REALLY REALLY late... We have been very busy packing and moving and the blogs unfortunately have not been done. However, here I sit in a different house that is our "home" for a little while wishing Jake was in town but is now out again.....and thinking of all these blogs...SO HERE I GO!

What a wonderful way to start my summer- A GIRLS TRIP!

This is not just any girls trip it was Toni's first time flying and we flew with my sister and her family to go to OREGON to see my best friend Ahna! I literally picked my check up from school and left an hour or two later to start my summer this way!!  Toni did wonderful on her flight I was so proud of her. I tried to do this during nap time, but it was to exciting and she was up the entire time. However, even through her "wee's" during some turbulence she was perfect and in my lap the whole 2 hours and something minutes.

We arrived at Ahna and Ryan's house just in time to start Friday Night Party Night...!!!This is their adorable house that was just amazing inside.  So this is nothing like the last party night I wrote about this is a WEEKEND and it was great because we were able to hang out and not be rushed for three days!  Sadly as much as we all wanted to get CRAZY silly we never really did, but we had so much fun we ate amazingly and kept a good pace during the early afternoon/evening of beverages and then played board games.

We went to parks in the neighborhood, an outdoor market (with awesome Polish food-thanks to my sister and brother in law for sharing that amazing stuff!), Multnomah Falls (WOW-so beautiful!), a book shop and a rose garden, and then Ahna and I went and got our toes done.

Sadly my sister and Ahna blogged about this so much better than me...so check out their blogs too :-)

http://ahnaryan.blogspot.com/    and  http://kolsonkorner.blogspot.com/

Ahna and I at the rose garden in Washington Park. So Pretty here, it reminds me of the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada.

The amazing Ward Family that took in all  of us for the long weekend! THANK YOU ;-)

Jon, Connor and Courtney at the Multnomah Falls. This was such a beautiful sight and had some pretty easy hiking that Toni did. I might have to get her into that, as she is so independent and LOVES being outside like her brother.

In between all the FUN we did have and place we DID go we also shared many sweet memories like this. These two girls reading with Ahna.

We even got an amazing rainstorm with some record rainfall if I remember correctly. The boomers were CRAZY!!!

We were just about out numbered and if we do this again we will be...5 brave adults in house with 4 kids for 3 days. This was so much fun, I am so glad Ahna and my family talked me into doing this. It has been a long time since we have this much time together and LOVED it as much as I love all of you! Thanks for a great way to start my summer!

PS Toni slept for most of the way home on the flight and did wonderful yet again :-)