Happy Birthday Mickell

On November 7th Mickell turned 5 years old! I can't believe how fast she has grown up. A few days before her birthday I asked what she was most excited about...she said she was just excited for it to be her special day, and she really wished that Dylan could stay home from school to hang out with her. She is such a sweet little girl, and it was a really fun day celebrating her birthday. Some of her favorite gifts were a barbie mermaid, barbie car, diamond castle barbie, and lip gloss (from her brothers). She really likes scooby doo, so she picked out a scooby doo cake and we played some scooby doo games. First we played pin the scooby snack on scooby's mouth, then we had a clue hunt to find where scooby was hiding (leading back to the birthday cake). It wasn't anything too big, but she was happy, and that is all that matters to me.

HALLOWEEN

Making Cookies

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We decided that it would be fun to make some sugar cookies for Halloween. Mickell and Tyce helped cut out the cookies, I baked them, then Dylan and Mickell frosted and decorated them while Tyce taste tested as much frosting as he could get in his mouth. It was a really fun day for all of us!

TRICK-OR-TREAT

We actually worked out a theme for the kid's costumes this year, Dylan was the brave knight, Mickell the beautiful princess, and Tyce the mean dragon. The two big kids had such a great time and Mickell kept saying that this was the best Halloween ever. The weather was so nice that we didn't even need jackets. We all walked around the neighborhood for about an hour and it was a lot of fun. Ty just thought it was awesome that people kept giving him candy! One of his favorite words to say now is "treats"...he's definitely related to me!!

FALL FUN

The weather during October was so crazy that we didn't know from one day to the next if we should wear shorts or coats. Despite the weather confusion, we still had a lot of fun.

On October 5th, we headed up on the mountains by Snowbasin ski resort. One of our favorite Fall activities is to take a hike and gather different colored leaves. We gathered a few leaves and took a short hike, but it was SO cold that we couldn't stand to be outside for too long.






Two days later on October 7th, Dylan's friend Ashly came over to play and it was so warm they played outside for two hours! They had such a great time and it felt like the middle of summer again.

A few days later on October 12th, we were plastered with a huge snowstorm! The kids were super excited and couldn't wait to get all their winter clothes out and play in the snow. The snow only lasted a few days though before the sun came out and melted everything (to Mickell's great disappointment).

On October 23rd, we headed to the Black Island Farm for Mickell's preschool field trip. The sun was shining and it was a really nice day. Mickell and Ty both had a lot of fun and really enjoyed being outside. I just wish that Dylan could have been there with us too (he was at school).

Growing Up Fast

Tyce is growing up way too fast for my liking, but he is such a cutie and always makes me smile. Even when I get mad at him all he has to do it flash those baby blues at me and I melt...

He now has four teeth, (two bottom, two top, and two more tops on the way).




He also has a new favorite hang out spot:



He is trying really hard to learn how to talk and can say "ah oh", "wow", and is trying to say "thank you". One of his favorite games to play is ring around the rosy. He twirls around and around and once in a while he'll actually fall down.

My Big Sis

Mickell is such an awesome big sister. She loves Ty so much and is so good to him (most of the time). One of Ty's favorite things is when Mickell will drive him around on her bike. He just kicks back and relaxes while she cruises him around the driveway. He also likes to follow her around and get into all of her stuff...she does get pretty upset when he goes in her room, but besides that she is pretty sweet and loving with him. She also acts like his second little mom and frequently gets after me for not watching him better...if he wanders too far from me she yells and runs after him, grabs his arm, and marches him right back. She also likes to help me with diaper changes...she keeps the diaper drawer full and helps me keep Ty calm when I'm trying to change him. She is my little sweetheart and I'm grateful that she is Ty's buddy.

Hogle Zoo

We've been waiting all summer for the weather to cool down enough for us to spend a day at the zoo. The weather was perfect today, so we headed down this morning and met up with Shelly (David's sister), Brian, and Ian. Dylan and Mickell were really young the last time we went, so Dylan barely remembered it and Mickell didn't remember it at all. We had such a great day! The highlight of our day was the bird show in the outdoor amphitheatre. One falcon that flew over the audience skimmed the top of David's head and the kids went wild! It was fun to see all the birds so close and to see all their amazing tricks. When I asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was, Dylan said that the train ride and the bird show were a tie, and Mickell said she loved "EVERYTHING". We get so busy sometimes and don't take enough time out to have fun, so I'm really glad that we went today. The kids had such a great time and they are already asking when we are going to go again.

First Day of School

Dylan and Mickell are both really excited to get back to school. I've been really struggling with the fact that Dylan is going to be in First Grade and that he will be gone all day. He was so excited when the first day came, and the highlight of his day was...school lunch! I do deserve the award for worst mom however, as I forgot that the first day of school was an early out day and didn't show up to pick him up! Ugh! I got a phone call from my good friend Heidi asking if I had forgotten about early out and I about died! She had noticed I wasn't there right after school and had stayed with Dylan and ended up walking him home. I was so nervous wondering if he was going to be really upset and scared to go the next day, but when he got home he bolted in the door, told me he has the best teacher ever, and went off to see what Mickell was up to. I was stunned. I can't believe how much he has grown up and matured since last year. I am ever so grateful to Heidi for watching over him though. I'm so thankful to have great friends and know that someone is watching out for my kids.

Mickell started Preschool a week after Dylan, and she was so happy this morning when she woke up and realized it was finally time! She absolutely loves school and loves her teachers Trudi and Chalese. She was excited to get dressed in some of her cute new school clothes and get her hair done cute. When we got to school to drop her off, she just ran for the door without looking back and I had to yell and beg her to wait and give me a kiss!

I am so glad that both of them love school and that they are happy, but I surely miss them while they are away. Ty isn't quite sure what to think either as it's pretty quiet around the house with just the two of us!

Dylan's first day of First Grade

I walked him to class the first day, but he hasn't looked back since

He loves his teacher Mrs. Baer and says she's the best teacher ever

Mickell's first day of Preschool

She wasn't very happy that she had to wait a whole week

after Dylan started before she got to go too

She was ready to go and there was no holding her back!

The End of Summer

I can't believe that summer is already over and that Dylan and Mickell are heading back to school. We had a fun summer swimming, jumping on the tramp, going to the park, riding bikes, and just enjoying being outside. Ty has especially grown to love being outside. If he even hears the slightest sound of a door being opened, he drops whatever he is doing and runs for the door. I've enjoyed having the kids around and just relaxing and doing whatever we want. I really enjoy seeing my kids have fun and be happy. I will miss them while they are off to school.

Here are some of our favorite activites for the summer

Play time at the Park!

Swimming & playing in the backyard

The Dinosaur Park Museum

We had a lot of fun being able to share this

day with Grandma Barney.

Dylan played Tball for the first time

His team name was the West Point Green Falcons

Dylan and Mickell had a blast at swimming lessons! They both love to jump into the water (as long as their teachers would catch them of course)

One of our family's favorite activites is the Clinton carnival. I'm not sure what the kids like more: going on all of the rides or having dad play games to win them prizes. David is just glad that he finally has a couple partners to ride the ferris wheel with him since mom is a big chicken!

Happy Birthday Tyce!

We just celebrated Ty's first birthday and I can't believe that a whole year has already gone by. He had such a great day. He couldn't figure out why we kept singing a funny song to him all day long (happy birthday to you), but he did love all the attention. His favorite present of the day was his balloon which he pulled around with him all day. He was quite excited when we gave him his own cake. At first he grabbed it, but then quickly dropped it not really knowing what to do. He got so messy and really enjoyed getting hosed off in the sink afterwards! What a fun day for all of us. We all love him so much!