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 :-)

Friday Night Party Night 2012

                                     My girl and I----how I live for Friday Night Party Nights!
 Ahna lives in Oregon now and only comes home a couple of times a year. I am so grateful that every time she does make the trip down we almost ALWAYS do a Party Night. I will say now that our kids are a little more older this is becoming a little more enjoyable for her I to hang out and watch kids as opposed to changing, feeding and making babies sleep during this time. The only thing I hate about these nights is they are just that a night, OK a few hours. However, these few hours are so precious to me that I soak it up until the next Party Night~months away.

Another backyard I LOVE is this one. It is so huge and so much fun to play in for the kids, I even remember playing in it as a kid too.

Waylon and Michael hanging out by the pond. Thank goodness Michael was there as just seconds after I took this picture Waylon bent over and knocked his butt on the bench just enough to make him fall in. Thankfully, Michael was right there to catch him before he went ALL the way in.

Cooper and Michael hanging out

 Here are the girls getting wagon rides from whomever would pull them! I love the look on Miss Olivia's face and Toni's carefree feeling she has in this shot.  Soon they will be good friends, I just know it.

Then there is this toy. I love yet sometimes hate this toy at the same time. Nancy gave one to each of the girls and it plays a Friday Night song. Now I did not know that this was the super annoying YouTube sensation girl from a few months back but now I know. I love the song because it reminds me of this night, but it gets annoying especially when the kids are fighting over it or just pressing the same button over and over again.  It definitely is a great theme song though for these Party Nights!

Holy Cow Folks mark your Calendars Ahna and I got TWO pictures together that is amazing!!!!

Bath time for the girls~the little ones that is.
Another super fun night. This Friday was more fun than others for many reasons but the best reason was Ahna and I knew I was coming up in less than a month with Toni to spend DAYS with her. So the end of this evening was not the norm we were super excited to see each other again in just a few short weeks!

The girls and the Party Song~Hmm Not sure this is working

PS Friday Night Party Night is by far one of my favorite traditions I have and I LOVE that I am doing it with my family even if it is a few times a year. Those Fridays are AMAZING Ones!!

Love you guys!!!

Wow!! Easter Weekend!

Easter weekend was crazy this year~ We had a huge Easter party we were invited too that was AMAZING and a birthday party for my niece one day and then Easter with 2 stops the next day.
The Easter party we went to was in downtown Phoenix in the old historical house and they were beautiful and suprisingly very big homes. Well the party was like a 90210 party or something there was face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, a bounce house, a lot of great food and beverages the Easter Bunny even showed up and did an easter egg hunt.

Here is Waylon's Face afterwards! His eyes are closed how cool is that!!!

Waylon having a pony ride.

Toni visiting the petting zoo and seeing the baby chicks.

Toni getting a ride on the pony with daddy. Man she looks so big to me in the picture.

Here is the Easter Bunny~this one makes me laugh because of Waylon's face painting and the fact that it is not your typical Easter Bunny shot of the kids.

Then this was the huge Easter egg hunt that they had. Talk about crazy greedy kids running all over the place. Not a very friendly event for Toni, she got trampled on quite a bit.

Then we were off to Kylie's Birthday! Another extravagant bounce house. Way better than the one at the party this one was set up great. There was a slide and then a seperate bounce area. Such a great thing for kiddos her age to do with all her friends.  There was not a lot of pictures taken at this party so bumbed that I did not even get one of the birthday girl. :-(

Easter Sunday

Ok so I thought I had this day all planned out well, but as usual it did not go the way I had invisioned it to be. The kiddos woke up and were super excited to see what the Easter bunny had left! I was so proud of Waylon because he actually came to get me first instead of checking things out and THEN coming to get me. So it was so wonderful to be able to get both of their true expressions when they saw their baskets.

Both kids were so happy to have chocolate bunnies. Which is funny because here it is almost JUNE as I write this and maybe 1/4 of A BUNNY has been eaten. Jellybeans though were a huge hit even eating about 5 a night they did not last too long around here along with the M&M's. As you can tell from this photo Toni found her jellybeans quickly and shoved as many as I would let her in her mouth.

Here is Waylon with his bunny!

Then both kids with their bunnies. I just love the way Toni is looking up at him for this shot.

Then it was time for my oh so cute breakfast that I got from Pintrest! I made their favorite, cinnamon rolls and made cute little bunnies for them and this is what I got from them.................

Are you KIDDING ME! So needless to say this cute idea went out the window and we got dressed and painted eggs instead. .

Yes, I know we were late, but we had no time to do it prior so we painted eggs on Easter Morning...Good thing the Easter Bunny knows not to hide our eggs otherwise he would have been disappointed in us this year.

Waylon wanted to paint the eggs with the paint he got from the Art teacher and so we did and I must say they came out pretty good.

I painted the far left one and Toni painted the next 2 on the left and Waylon did the other 5 on his own. Then it was off to Grandma and Papa's house.

Courtney actually had the idea to do a hunt over at Dad's this year and I think we have to continue that tradition it was so fun to watch the kids do this. Waylon could have done this with his eyes closed and Toni really had the hang of hunting for eggs down but Connor, not so much yet. Although in this picture above, Toni shouted the color purple and Connor snagged her egg.  She was a bit of a poker because of the training I gave her with the M&M's in the eggs she had to check out the inside of each egg she picked up.

Here is the Easter Basket that Grandma Laura makes up for each of the kids. I hope she knows what she has gotten herself into these baskets have all kinds of treats, toys and animals in them. It is like Christmas at Easter when going through these. The kids sure do love them Grandma.

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here is Toni loving on Raynee (again) man she loves that dog! Sadly, as I write this blog tonight she passed away earlier this evening. She was such a perfect pup and I know our kids LOVED her and will miss her dearly. Although it makes us smile to know she is happy and again with her mother-Bailey who had passed a few years ago.

The fun continued at the Pickard's with more Easter egg hunts, football and food.  I love Easter time at their house the yard is always so perfect and it is just amazing to sit outside and hang out all evening watching the kids run around.

Here is the boys all counting their eggs after the massive hunt. If I remember there was about 120 eggs between all the kids that were hidden. CRAZY!

Our family picture for Easter :-)

A little late but we hope your Easter was wonderful and full of family and fun!