Attack of October

Last year Carys and I missed the pumpkin patch because we were home, cuddling and relaxing while Daddy took the big kids so mommy and brand new baby could rest. This year however we hauled the whole family down. Though Carys was a bit unsure still of what to make of it all.

These city kids trying to get as close to riding a cow as they ever will be. 

For some reason this picture just cracks me up. The look on Kellen's face, with those silly overalls. 

Even Daddy couldn't resist the fun. Checking out his lasso skills and practicing rounding up some cattle. The kids got a great kick out of this. 

The kids sledding down the cotton seed pile. (poor San Diego kids...the closest they can get to sledding). I tell ya, there was cotton seed showing up around my house, in my laundry, in my car for weeks after this. I don't know how, but I guess that stuff sticks to you.

Makenna giving Con Con a lesson on milking a cow. 

My little babe.

All aboard the hay ride that takes you through the dairy farm. We just so happened to be on a ride where we got to see a brand new baby boy calf. Literally born less than an hour before we saw him!!

Each kid got to pick out a pumpkin before we left. It was cute watching each of them walk around, searching for the perfect pumpkin. 

And my favorite pic of the day....Conner...oh Conner. That kid can hardly take a seriously picture if his life depended upon it. But at least it is good to know he is captured as he really is. I love that kid. He is such a clown, and I Love It!

The Phantom October

 Since Conner could walk I could tell this kid was going to be an athlete. Some people just have it come by them naturally. And this boy is one of those people. And he has the energy to go right along with the skills. So when time came for him to be able to play a sport, I was thrilled for him. I expected that it would be something he would embrace with arms wide open. I asked him if he wanted to play soccer and he excitedly said yes! He had seen Makenna and Kellen play, and Makenna was going to be playing again. So we got him some socks and shin guards and he was pumped and ready to go. Look at what a cute little stud he is! (To be continued...)

 Yes kids, even mom's practice taking selfies. Got to stay hip with the times you know!

 My beautiful girls. Every time I see them together I just feel overwhelming happiness and love for them that they have each other! Makenna tells me often "I am so happy you had a baby sister. She is Sooooo cute!"

 This boy is his own person. No one can debate that for even a moment. His sense of style goes through different phases. For the longest time it was underwear. Underwear and Only underwear. And they couldn't be briefs. They HAD to be boxer briefs. Finally we graduated to putting something more than underwear on. And beggars can't be choosers, so when he wanted to wear clothes, but the clothes he wanted were his sports pajama pants (size 2t by the way...about 2 sizes small) and a "ball" shirt, well, at least it was not Just underwear.

 Finally got a picture of Carys and her 1 TOOTH that she had at 1 year old. Yes....1 tooth!

 The kiddos LOVE getting their cards in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa. This neat halloween card came with glow-in-the-dark finger puppets! So neat!

 About the same time we got soccer going, Kellen started tball at the sportsplex. It was nice to have him introduced to tball before signing him up for something as long and committed as tball through the little league. I was curious to see if he would like it. And he loved it! Though he had not had a lot of exposure beforehand, he picked up on things fast and started improving quickly. And even more fun for him, his best buddy Joseph was playing with him too! Love my lefty!

 So Conner's first soccer practice went great. He seemed to be having a wonderful time. He was doing a great job with all the drills and skills. You could tell he was going to be a good player (probably one of the better ones on the field...and I am not just trying to be one of "those" parents. I have no qualms with my child not being the best. But honestly, he was good!) And then their first game began. I imagined this is when Conner would really shine! He is an energetic kid. He can be pretty tough and aggressive. He is a bit of a class clown and loves attention. Well, apparently on a soccer field ALL of that changes. His soft, cuddly side comes out instead. And when he realized that not only do people take the ball from you, but You are supposed to take the ball from other people in order to score goals...well, it was too much! Any time he had to take the ball from someone he would stop and get sad and start to cry. If he and another kid bumped into each other then he would stop and feel bad and cry. Lets just say there were a lot of tears and not a lot of kicks. I made him stay on the field because I didn't think it would be good to let me just be done and walk away. I encouraged him to get out there and play. And if I said "Just go out there and try. Go get the ball and score a goal" he would reluctantly go back out. And sure enough, within 30 seconds he would have the ball and would score a goal. And then he would come cry and ask if he could be done now. This is more or less how the whole season went. Each game had less tears and more kicking. But it was never tear free. However, he finished every game on the field and I do think that sometimes that is what matters. 

This silly boy. He LOVES homework. Seriously. When he doesn't have homework assigned for school, for asks for homework from me. I love it! It's Such a contrast to what he used to be like. There was a time when I couldn't even get him to practice his colors with me. And now the kids is flying through worksheet books like crazy. He will do a worksheet, have me check it, put a sticker on it and then do the next one. Love this boy. Such a smart kid.

Makenna is a good sis. A very, Very typical oldest sister. There are times when she wants to be competitive and feisty and tease and give people a hard time. And then there are times when she gets very loving and protective and likes to take her younger siblings under her wing and help them and teach them. When she is good, she is Good!!! 

I love this boy. I love so many things about him. The list is never ending. But one of the things on that list is loving how this boy can fall asleep just about Anywhere, Anytime! And just about every Sunday he will find a lap to lay his head in and drift right off to sleep. P.S. I think this is the Only time I have seen that disgusting "nigh night" of his in his mouth and thought it looked cute. Those blankets get nasty! But they make him happy. And that makes me happy.

This girl. She just might be one of the happiest little girls I have ever met. She really reminds me of each of her siblings, all mixed up in one kid. She is sensitive and cuddly like Kellen, active and skilled like Makenna and Conner, feisty like Makenna, a clown like Conner. She's a well rounded little babe!

Having our Uncle Ding back home from his mission has been So nice! Ding was great enough to buy a Sea World pass so we were able to bring him along with us a few times for a fun day. Ding is Such a good uncle. The kids love and adore him. They get so excited to see him and he doesn't hold back from getting down and rolling around and playing with them. I feel so lucky, not only to have such an amazing and sweet little brother but to have such a great uncle for my kiddos. We love you Uncle Ding! (I mean really, who could have a name like Uncle Ding and NOT be amazing?!!)

Revenge of October

When Papa passed away in May we were blessed to have some life insurance money come to us. My immediate thought with the money was that I wanted us to take at least part of it and do something with the kids that would create a memory. Something special with the kids, where we could spend time together, grow closer, be a family and create memories that would last. I liked the idea of doing something special and fun for the kids that we could say "this is a gift that Papa was able to leave for you." After a lot of different ideas of things to do were thrown around, we settled on getting the family season passes to Disneyland. It is something we would not have done before, and seemed neat to think that it would be something we could use and go do over and over again for a whole year. The kids were THRILLED! It melts my heart seeing the magic and excitement sparkle at the mere mention of "The Happiest Place On Earth!"

 To kick off our year of Disneyland adventures, we decided to do two days in a row and stay the night up at a Disney hotel. We had never taken the kids to California Adventure, so we decided to spend a day at each park. We started at California Adventure (on Carys' actual birthday!) We got up there really early in the morning, checked in at the hotel and then took off for a day of excitement!

 Mommy and Carys hung out in Carsland while the boys and Makenna went on the new "Cars" ride! I really enjoyed my alone time with her when we first got there and were waiting for the ride to be over. It was nice to be there with her on her birthday, think of how much she has grown, think about my Dad and how much I miss him and how grateful I am for all that he did for me and all that he taught me. It was a nice chance to reflect and be grateful to be in that place that day, surrounded by the people I love most in this world!

 Hanging out with the tractors and Lightning McQueen!

 Mom and the "not tall enough kids" hanging out on the carousel while Makenna and Dad rode on the "big kid" roller coaster. I think we probably went on it 4 times in a row!

 Makenna was just barely tall enough to ride the "upside down" roller coaster that they have at Cali Adventure. It has one big loop where you go upside down right in the middle of it. I know Makenna is a brave kid, but I have to say I was pretty surprised she didn't hesitate at all to go on this roller coaster. It's a pretty intense ride. I remember my first roller coaster I rode on that went upside down, and there was a lot of anxiety involved in it. I was also surprised she could ride it so young. But she was ready to go. And it was a blast. Though it breaks me heart watching my kiddos grow up, there are definitely a lot of fun moments that come along with it too. What a big girl!

This was one of the most exciting parts of the stay for the kiddos. A bunk bed in the hotel room!! This was the first time the kids got to sleep in a bunk bed. We had Makenna sleep on top since she is the oldest and because we had plans to get the boys a bunk bed of their own in the near future. Very happy little kids!

Let me just say that even though this picture with tinker bell is cute, it was Soooo not worth the pain and aggravation it took to get it. A few years ago when we were at Disneyland Grammy and Daddy had taken Kellen and Makenna through a small area where things were decorated to look like you were the size of a fairy walking through a garden. Todd and Kellen were on a ride that wasn't going to be too long so I decided to take Makenna and Conner through the fairy area. So we got it line (which I was expecting to move quickly) and we waited, and waited, and waited. About 1/3 of the way through the line we realized that you actually got to Meet the fairies in there. Once Makenna heard this she got really excited and wanted to make sure to go through it. Well, about half way into it Carys started to loose it. She didn't know what she wanted. She cried if I held her, cried if I put her down, cried and screamed and complained no matter what. And about that same time Conner and Makenna started pestering each other. But at that point I was not about to turn around. I was too invested in that Darn line to walk out with nothing. So we waited and somehow survived it all and made it through. Painful as it was, we made it and got our pictures with the fairies. And now I will NEVER do it again! 

My cuties and their ears! Makes a mama smile!

This boy might like the treats and snacks at Disneyland just about as much as the rides. Seriously, I have never met a boy to love snacks as much as him!

Daddy and Makenna are not huge fans of splash mountain like Mom is. But luckily I had my little boys that were happy to ride it with me. So Daddy stayed with the girls while Mommy rode with Kellen and Conner. It was Conners first time riding splash mountain. He was a trooper about it. Though he may not be ready for it again on our next trip or two, he handled it well. My favorite part though was probably him wanting to hold my hand the whole ride. Melts my heart! 

The happiest place on earth.