Our Halloween Decorations

In honor of Tyler's birthday theme, we made our porch into a pirate ship. Tyler helped me paint the front of the ship (his green and white picture is a skull and crossbones). Tyler helped me decorate outside and he had a blast doing it.

Neighborhood Parade and Party Part 2

Rick, Nikki and Ayden joined us for the parade and had a blast. At the pool there were crafts, like making a mask, and games, face painting, etc. The people who organized it did it on a small budget of $250 for approximately 4o0 kids. They did a great job and we are all appreciative. Last year, they had a guessing game where you had to guess how many pieces of candy corn were in a container. Well, Joel won. This year you had to guess how much the pumpkin weighed and guess what - Joel won it! He guessed 38 lbs. and it weighed 39 lbs! He'll go for year 3 next year! Madison shown hanging out with Peyton, one of our neighbors. She's a cutie and we enjoy spending time with her and her parents Jon and Katie. For the parade she was a pumpkin, but for halloween she was a toucan. Wish I had thought to get her picture on Halloween!

Neighborhood Halloween Parade

The kids had a ball at the neighborhood Halloween Parade and Party. They loved getting dressed in their costumes and marching in the Parade from the elementary school to the pool parking lot.

The Bounce House

Tyler and Madison had fun in the bouncer after the party. Here's some video of Maddie after the party.

Opening presents

Here's few pictures of Tyler opening his presents. I was so impressed because the kids were so excited for Tyler to open up their gifts. They crowded him in excitement (as you can see)! Most of the kids drew and wrote their own birthday cards for Tyler. It is fun seeing the kids starting to write their names and other words.

More of Ty's Bday and Cake

No I didn't try making his cake - we ordered it but by the time the party started it started tipping over. Regardless, the cake was a hit and it tasted good too! Here's a picture of the plank outside the pool. There's a picture of Ty, Joel, Brendan and Matthew on the plank, as well as Stefano our neighbor across the street.

Tyler's 5th Birthday Party

We decided to have Tyler's birthday party 2 Saturdays before Halloween. It worked out well because we had beautiful weather! Tyler invited friends from School, Soccer and Ice Hockey. He had a Pirate Birthday Party - of course! We decorated the front of the house like a pirate ship (I'll post a picture later). As the guests entered, they had to go on a treasure hunt to find their pirate costume - a vest, eye patch, sash and bandana. Tyler had a blast welcoming every guest and showing them how to do the treasure hunt. I also had crafts for the kids. They had fun making hooks just like Captain Hook and necklaces. As you can see we also had a jumper which was a hit. Lastly, Joel built a child-safe plank. The plank ended in the kiddie pool filled with balls from our ball pit. The kids had a blast with that too. The group of pirates includes Tyler with his friends from school and soccer - Colin, Joel, Brendan and Will. Our friend Holden, who we met at ice skating, was able to come even though his 2-3 month old sister was sick. Mckinley is helping Madison put her necklace on. The kids are all really good and seemed to have a blast!

Miss Cutie Pa-Tooty!

Maddie Lynn is in love with Dresses. This dress was actually a present from Cindy, my tech at Kmart in Richfield. Maddie loves this dress and was showing off for me!

Melanie and the Kids

Here's a picture of the kids and their babysitter Melanie. She's the daughter of one of the techs I've worked with who's also a good friend. Melanie is great with the kids. Tyler especially likes her because she'll play pirate with them!

Family Fun

It has been awhile since we took this -maybe August or September-but I just realized you could put video on here & I thought it was cute.

Tyler

Who's that fantastic hockey player in MN Gopher colors? Yes, it's Tyler. Ty started hockey in September and loves it! The first day of hockey, he had a smile plastered on his face the entire time. He has hockey 2 days a week, also is still in ice skating class and soccer. He loves it all and we have a lot of fun encouraging him. He's in the Pre-K class at Primrose now, and is doing better than ever. His new teachers are great. Tyler comes home all the time singing new songs he's learned, preaching to us to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and rhyming words for a game during drives to the ice rink. He's learning to write and read his letters, and can even read a few words now. We're very proud of him.

Us now!

Sorry I haven't updated recently. Life has been very crazy lately. Here's an update on Madison. She's doing great. She's talking up a storm. Everything is mine, although I bought her a Dora outfit the other day (Dora is her new favorite, although she still adores Minnie Mouse). She told her dad "Mommy bought me this Dora jacket." Then Joel told her to thank me, so she came to me and said, "Thank you Mommy for my Dora jacket." Can you believe how well she is talking. She is doing really well at school. Her new teachers are fantastic and now Madison comes home singing songs. She sings her ABCs and other songs from school. I love hearing her sing, because most of the time she's way off pitch and you can't understand what she is singing (except for her ABCs). It's so cute. She adores Tyler. When she hasn't seen him for a while, she just goes up to him and hugs him. They are good together.

Go Pack!

Also had to share this gem! Love the shoes Maddie!

Minnie Lover

We still love Minnie - can you tell?! Here is Madison showing off her Minnie Mouse PJs (courtesy of Jamma Farley), her Minnie Mouse Bow (courtesy of the Devines), and her lovie, her Minnie Mouse Doll. Once I get more energy, her room will be Minnie Mouse also. She is also sporting her new Cars Blanket (courtesy of the Heminks), which she must take to DayCare to sleep with, just like at home for naps. She also keeps a Minnie at school for security. What a riot!

Tyler Soccer Spring 07

Go Predators! Tyler was on his first soccer team this spring. Tyler had a hard time getting used to not touching the ball with his hands at first. His first game, he even saw a ball in a neighboring field and went after that ball instead of his own! Also, it was a challenge to teach him which goal was his, and he even scored a goal against his own team. We cheered just the same! He came to love soccer though. Almost every game he scored goals - which was his favorite part. In one game he even scored 3 goals!

The kids would have practice for the first 20 minutes and then a game, every Saturday morning. It's hilarious watching 4 year olds on the field. Some weeks they would all be playing really rough and the next they would be staring at the clouds, playing with their shorts, and picking their noses! Tyler really had fun and by the end of the season, was able to stop the ball, turn it around and run it down the field. Next step - passing the ball to a team mate!

Magic Easter Seeds - April 07

This year, Joel got his hands on some very special, magical Easter Seeds. Joel and the kids spread them out the night before Easter, watered them and when we all awoke Sunday morning, they grew into Lollipops! We had a wonderful Easter, but missed you all dearly.

Dress Up Fun April 07

You know how Tyler loves to dress up? Well, Maddies getting in the groove too! Here Ty is in his power rangers costume and Maddie is in her Fairytopia costume. Can you tell we have fun at our house?!

Careful-Maddie's Taking to the Streets!

For Maddie's birthday, we saved some presents and opened them up the following week. One of her favorite presents, from Papa and Grandma Pepper, was her new bike. She loves it and always makes sure to wear her helmet!

The Masterpiece?

I decided this year to make my own cake, partly because I ran out of time to order a cake and I wanted to try it. I have fond memories of watching my mom decorate these beautiful cakes as we were growing up. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to decorate more detail, buy I worked quickly to at least make it partly look like Lightning McQueen. Everyone liked the cake, except Tyler who said "Mom, that doesn't look like Lightning McQueen!" Brutal honesty - gotta love it! Thanks to my mom for the recommendation of using Oreos for wheels - we're all really enjoying the Oreos now since we had to buy a full package only to use 4 for the cake! It's a real treat for the kids and I since I rarely buy cookies.

Madison's 2-year Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Madison!!!

We had a great time, one of our neighbors and a few friends from school came over to help Maddie celebrate The kids had a blast! Of course we brought out the jumper, but I think the big hit was the tote full of shovels, pails and oatmeal! It was a good thing I put a tablecloth down because by the end of the day oatmeal was all over the deck. Madison had a "Cars" birthday. She loves the movie "Cars" and every morning asks for milk in her "Cars" Sippy cup. She even wore her "Mater" t-shirt for the party. She enjoyed eating mom's homemade cake that was allergen free. One of our friends has a dairy allergy, so Jo Ellen passed on an allergen free cake recipe that turned out great. Mom is so proud of her cake (although she had to race to finish the decorating because she underestimated the time it would take to decorate). Mom even made dairy free buttercream flavor frosting. Sounds gross, but it was yummy. (I've put a few more pics of the cake on the next posting. Another hit at the party was the the balloon rocket, that blew up these long balloons, you don't tie them, but let them go & they make a funny sound as they buzz around the room. The kids (and parents) got a kick out of it. Thank you to everyone who called and sent presents. It really meant a lot to us, since we couldn't have family here. We are very thankful to have met the children of some of Maddie's little friends. They were all wonderful people and we hope to spend more time getting to know them!