Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Okay so I am way behind on my blogging I know. Kaitlyn turned 10 on December 5th. Can you believe it double digits!! We had the normal sleepover and took 4 girls to Six Flags. It was a blast!!! She has grown so much over the last year. Turning into a smart, beautiful, fun-loving pre-teen. That is a scary word for me. She works the computer better than I do and changes settings on my phone every chance she gets. I guess she thinks it's funny that I can't change them back :). One of her friends moms called me the other day to tell me that Kait and Claire had changed her phone so that every time it rings she would see a picture of Kaitlyn. I know that is just what she wanted a picture of my child!! She continues to get taller and should surpass me in a few years. That's okay she still knows whose boss!! She still does her cheer leading and spends her time at home working on being sassy, thus her nickname "Sassy cat." I am not quite sure where the sassy comes from though. Most think it came from me, but I disagree!! She is already thinking about her party next year, and how she can spend all my money. She may only be 10, but she thinks she is 20. I am grateful for my beautiful baby girl, and cannot wait to see what amazing things she will do over the next year!!

Competitions, bikes, and Thanksgiving oh my....

Kait and some friends at competition



Kait, Tori, and Lauren

Kait and Tori

We have not slowed down since Halloween and I see no end in sight until after Christmas. Kaitlyn had her first competition on the 9th of November. She did GREAT as usual!! She still amazes me when I watch her perform. She is growing up so fast. I was looking back at some pictures of a year or two ago and she looks so different. I am afraid the teenage years are approaching too fast, and I wish I could stop them. Jack also learned to ride his big boy bike without training wheels!! I have been working with him for a little while, and I think he would have gotten it a lot sooner if Kris would have been helping. Don't tell him I said that though. I was being too cautious. I thought if he fell once he wouldn't want to try again, but I took Kris' advice ( Yes you read that right). I let him just go for it, and within a few minutes he had it. I wish I would have done it sooner, my back would have appreciated it!! Now the only problem is he is a MANIAC! I guess this is the boy in him. He goes way too fast and turns corners like a race car driver. Kind of like his dad. His new thing is to go across the street like sissy. I told him that he could only cross the street if mommy was standing in it. He told me "mom I have trained for this you don't need to be here." He is soo funny. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did!! We got to spend it with our families, and eat a whole lot of food that I didn't have to cook!! It does not get much better than that. This has been a crazy year in the world around us, but I have to say that I have been soo blessed. I know that I take it for granted so often, but I have a healthy beautiful family!! I have an AMAZING extended family that have taught me what being a family really means. As I get older I am more grateful for all of the little things. I lost a very dear friend this year, and he said in a letter that when we are faced with our life ending shorter than we expected the monetary things do not matter. It is the everyday little things our family and friends, what kind of person we are. I cannot say that I always live by this, but I am going to make an honest effort this year. He was right, and he is missed!! So to everyone who is a part of my life I love you and I appreciate all that you do for me no matter what it might be!!

Halloween (I know I am way late!!)

This is Jack at school
wearing a BOO hat he made

This is Jack and his

"girlfriend" Sydney

Ready to go Trick-or-treating

Okay I know it is way past Halloween, but my camera broke and I had to use mom's. Kaitlyn was playing with my camera and came in "I didn't drop it" was all I heard. Of course you know what that means, she dropped it!! So I had to wait to get all of the pictures. We have been crazy busy. For Halloween Jack was a variety of characters. First we went to a thing at a local park Jack was a ninja there. Then at school he was a soccer player. Dorothy is the little girl he loves!! I think he did well she is precious and I like her parents, old friends from school. He calls her "Cindy" and he tells me that he would hold her hand. Which at his age means "he likes her." On Halloween night he was ironman. Kait was a punk rocker and her friends came to trick-or-treat. Jack's little friend Maddie came too. Jack has all kinds of women in his life. They had fun and got LOTS of candy.

Kung Fu Jack

Okay I know it has been awhile since I posted and I have lots to post about, but I don't have all the pictures yet. Jack started karate about a month ago. He was so excited so I did not let the $100 a month (ridiculous I know) price stop me. He got his uniform and we went to the first class I do not think I have laughed so hard in a long time. The class is full of older kids and they begin with jumping jacks. This is new to Jack, and I thought everyone just knew how to do them. Boy was I wrong. He jumped his heart out and wildly flailed his arms around. I wish I had recorded it. Then came push-ups which to my surprise he is really good at. I think he is better than me(not that I am any good at them). So we went through the class and he loved every minute of it. We went again on Saturday still loved it. When class time came the next week we had a break down and he decided he is "through with ku-rate" Since the contract we signed makes us give a 90 day notice he will have to love it a little longer. I have a feeling that I just bought a $300 karate uniform. Note to self next time sign him up for cheaper sports or just buy the uniform!!! He has been a few more times so far. Kris takes him, and some days he likes it. Who knows maybe he will change his mind and be the next Daniel son. Next time you see him ask him to show you his kiaws(sp?)

The Air Show

Today we went to the Alliance Air Show. A friend of mine flies a B-52 (the first woman to fly one in the reserves) which I think is pretty cool. I have never been up close to a plane this size. It was HUGE!!!! Heather was nice enough to take us up in the cockpit. Kaitlyn thought that was cool because everyone else wanted to go in and they couldn't. Jack wanted to know if we were going to fly it? Kait has decided that she wants to be a pilot too. Not just a pilot, but the commander like Heather so that people have to say "yes ma'am" to her. I say go for it Kait. Although I would not like her to actually fly active duty. Jack was kind of quiet there. He had some questions for Heather. The car ride home he was full of questions.
This is Jack in the co-pilot seat he was a little scared to touch anything because he thought it might start flying. Now every plane we see he asks "is that girl flying that one?"
Kaitlyn took the pilot seat of course. She was not scared of touching anything, and she wanted to know what button released the bombs? Note to self remember to stay on Kait's good side!
And of course Kris had to fly also!! I think he was just as excited as the kids about the plane. Secretly I think he hoped that he could fly the plane. And this is Heather who made the kids day!(And Kris' too) I guess it pays to have friends who fly their own B-52 at the Air Show. Thanks Heather!!!

Back into the swing of school

This is a picture of Jack from his first day of school, and he has the "little jack" that we were supposed to make for them to hang on the wall. He is wearing a spiderman shirt which Jack thought was great. At least for now he thinks some of the things I do are great!! I know I have not been very good with the blog page lately. I have just been busy. Obviously, Jack started school on Sept 2nd. He loves it!! He is going 3 days a week this year and seems to love every minute of it. He is very different than Kait was. I wait outside to watch him, and he just wants me to leave. The second day of school he came back out in the hall, and silly me I thought he was coming to kiss me. Boy was I wrong! He looked at me and said "I am just coming to get my crayons, when are you leaving?" Kaitlyn used to cry and literally chase me back out the door. I know I said how awful this was, but now I kind of wish Jack was at least a little sad to see me go. I am glad that he likes to go though. It makes leaving much easier. I have 3 days to myself now, and Kris is home one of them so we actually get to spend some time together alone. Which is nice. I also like being able to listen to my music in the car and not listening to the kids fighting in the back. I do think my kids are angels in school, but they save everything for me when they come home. Kaitlyn is doing well in school, and keeps me busy with gym 3 nights a week. As if she did not have enough to do, she has decided to start a business "happy feet by: Kaitlyn." She is making flip flops with fur on them. They are really cute, and she enjoys doing it. She is quite the little entrepreneur. So if any of you are interested give her a call. Nothing too exciting has been going on around here. I just wanted to say we are still around, but not doing anything cool!

Happy Birthday Jackson

Jackson had his 5th birthday party yesterday even though he will not officially be 5 until Thursday. He had a party with his friends at Let's Jump. Then a party with the family at our house. Can we say toy overload. Every year I try to put a few toys away so that when the new wears off we can open a new exciting toy (at no cost to me). But this year Jack beat me, he opened every toy before all the guests left. Note to self next year put toys away as he is opening them. He is only 5 I should be able to out smart him a few more years anyway. He is quite different than Kait. She would read the card first and then open the present. No matter what Kait always responded with "it's just what I always wanted!!" Jack just wants to open as fast as he can. He hardly responds to anything at all. But over the next few days he will sit very quietly in the toy room figuring out how every little piece works. He is very detailed in everything he does.

This is Jack in his new Michael Angelo (the ninja turtle) costume. Which he put on the minute we got home from the party.

This is Ironman. Another new costume for the collection. Hopefully it will be as cool in October as it is now, and we can be Ironman for Halloween.
And this is his new Batman wings with mask. He cannot wear those without his full black attire though. So you get the full effect. When he opened this one he did ask if he would be able to really fly? These wings will retract and you pull a cord to make them pop out. This is one of the toys he had to figure out. It only took a minute once he was shown for him to jump off the couch as he pulled the cord and pretend to fly. He thinks it's awesome. I see X-rays in the future. And my explanation: "He was flying like Batman." He had another great party for another great year, and I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for us!