Minne-Snow-Ta

Mr. Sledder.  He could have lived outside.

Auntie Jenny, Kendall, Gracie (in purple) and Emma 

We flew to Minnesota last week to have an early holiday celebration with my family at the cabin.  I do have to say that Ryan had the best time of all of us.  He was in his glory playing with his cousins.  It was so much fun to see him have so much fun!  The boys had a blast sledding down the great sliding hill out from of the cabin.

Kendall just meandered around the entire time doing her thing.  We hardly knew she was there.

As for David and I, we ended up with the flu.  I started off the celebration, then passed it on to David, then to my Mom, and then to my cousin Andrew.  Yuck.  We still had a good time watching all the kids, and are so thankful none of them ended up with it.

It is really crazy when we are all together.  The noise level with 10 little ones is deafening, but so much fun!

Grandma and Grandpa with the 10 grandkids.

The whole gang!  With a bad reflection on the mirror...and Uncle Steve standing in for Grant.

The Day After Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with David's family - the day after Thanksgiving.  David typically has to work Thanksgiving Day.  Whatever the day, the turkey still tastes good!

We had a great weekend at Karen and Bill's enjoying each others company, watching the kids (especially crazy Kendall), eating and playing games.

Too bad it can't happen more often!

The crew!  In back:  Mick (Jenn's Dad), Uncle George, Bill, Melanie, Ryan, Michael, Kendall, David; Front Row: Chris (Jenn's Mom), Aunt Jackie, Aunt Dyane, Karen, Jenn, Katy

Crazy Kendall in her pretty dress

Snow Day

The kids loved the snow we had last week in Seattle.  Our driveway made a perfect sledding hill, and Ryan had way too much fun sledding!

Kendall also enjoyed her first frolic in the snow.  She wasn't so sure of it at first, but was giggling as she walked through it!  It was so much fun to watch them enjoy Mother Nature at her best!  There is nothing more beautiful than snow.

Seattle Snow

We were warned about it being a cold, snowy winter.  And it has arrived...before Thanksgiving!

Snuggle Time

My Mom has been visiting since last Sunday while David was on a hunting adventure.  And there is no way I would have survived the week without her. 

The kids have been awful sleepers the entire week.  Only one night in the last six have I had a good night's sleep.  Needless to say, I'm exhausted but so thankful I've had the extra help during the day when I'm a zombie.

A typical night for Kendall has been this:  Bedtime at 7:30.  Up screaming at 8:15.  Make her cry herself back to sleep.  Up again about 45 minutes later.  Make her cry again.  She doesn't stop, so snuggle with her (or Grandma snuggles with her).  Put her back to bed.  Up again 2 hours later.  Drag her into bed with me when I realize she's not going to stop crying.  Up every 1 to 2 hours until 7:30am when she wakes up happy.  Go figure.  I don't wake up so happy. 

On a good night, Ryan sleeps through all of this.  On a bad night, he wakes up and is up for 2 hours minimum tossing and turning.  In order to get back to sleep he needs to snuggle with me as well.  So most nights I'm the peanut butter in their little mommy sandwich.

Believe me, this Mama has had her quota of snuggle time over the past week.  I'm sure I'll be ready for more next week, but definitely need a break this one. 

Party, Party, Party

We had a whirlwind three days of birthday fun last week.  Auntie Jenny and Grace flew in from Minnesota to celebrate with us!  We spent Thursday doing fun birthday things with Ryan, since it was his actual birthday.

Our first stop was an amazing breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe.  Next, it was a ride on the Trolley...Ryan's favorite thing to do in Seattle.

On the trolley.

We were fortunate to get to check out an awesome fire engine after hopping off the trolley.

It was such a gorgeous day for a birthday!  Ryan and Grace just ran and ran and ran in the sunshine.

After a pizza dinner, chosen by Ryan, we had amazing cupcakes!

And then we opened gifts!

And more gifts...

And still more gifts! This one was opened on Friday when the Boehm's came to visit.  Grandma Karen, Grandpa Bill, Uncle Michael, Aunt Jenn and Aunt Melanie joined us for the afternoon and dinner.  What a lucky boy!

Ryan had a cool Blue Angel Jet cake!  Thanks, Auntie Jenny!!

Our Very Special Boy!

And on Saturday another fun party with friends.  We spent the morning at Cowen Park playing with friends and enjoying more cake!  Three days of cake was enough!!

Special Cousins.

And still more gifts!  Ryan's favorite gift was a bag of marbles!  He and Grace played and played with those marbles all night.  It was so much fun to watch the games they invented.

What a fun, busy weekend....and what a lucky little boy to have 3 days full of fun!  We were exhausted Saturday afternoon, but wouldn't have changed a thing.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Happy 4th Birthday, Ryan!

Dear Ryan,

Today you are 4 years old!  The big day has finally arrived.  You have been talking about it for weeks, and now it is here!!  It's fun to see that anticipation for your birthday.

You are such a fun little boy.  You are so full of life.  You live everyday to the fullest.  Your imagination has come to life over the last year, and I love to sit and listen to you invent fun games with your toys.  You don't like when I watch you though.

You are a great big brother, most of the time.  You love when Kendall cooperates with you, and you can boss her around!  Sometimes, she doesn't follow your rules and then you get mad.  You're learning, though!

You still go to sleep every night with your beloved Honu.  And you still love your cars.  You play for hours parking your cars.  You've now taken it to another level with your imagination, which is so fun to see.  Another thing you've really fallen in love with are Blue Angel Jets!  You love to fly your planes and helicopters around the house and land them.  

Daddy continues to be your Best Buddy.  Whenever I tell you I love you, you say, "Daddy loves me too".  And yes he does!  You two have the best time together whether it's playing baseball in the yard, doing yard work together (you love being Daddy's helper) or playing "Hike".

You love to go to Co-op Preschool Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Every morning when you wake up you ask if you get to go to school today.  You have so many fun friends you get to go to school with.  You love learning and exploring with them! 

Your vocabulary is a little out of control.  You soak up everything we say,  Last night you told me to worry about myself, and not worry about you.  You are something else!  It is so amazing to watch you learn and grow!  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

I love you, Ryan!

-Mommy