October 2011 ~ What a great season!!

Aidan's soccer team, led by coach daddy, finished their season undefeated! I'm honestly not sure who was more excited about that, Aidan or daddy, but none the less, it was a great season! Aidan has turned into quite a good little soccer player! He definitely got the hang of the game and loved scoring goals! Aidan is very competitive, so even though the teams didn't officially keep score, Aidan could tell you the official score after every game. :) Eric has coached quite a few of Aidan's teams over the past few years, but his true talent as a coach really shines now that the kids are old enough to listen and learn. By talent, I am really talking about how well Eric works with the kids and how much they love him! I love watching my two boys at the soccer games!! It has been a great season!

October 2011 ~ A trip to the pumpkin patch with Mylie!

We had a great time visiting a local pumpkin patch with Mylie's preschool! The rain even held off the whole time we were there, only to dump the minute we got in the car! Thank you weather gods, we were so thankful!!! Mylie loved getting to hear all about honey bees and how they make their honey, help to make fresh apple cider, and take the tractor out the pumpkin patch to pick her very own pumkin! We had a blast!!!

October 2011 ~ School Walk a Thon

The major annual fundraiser at the kids school is a walk-a-thon. The kids collect donations for their walking, either based on laps walked or a flat donation, and the kids spend a very fun afternoon walking and running their hearts out. I had a chance to go and visit Katie and Aidan as they participated in this fun event! They both did amazing and had a blast! Mylie had a great time visiting her brother and sister also!

September 2011 ~ A VERY Special Weekend!

The weekend of September 24th and 25th was a VERY special few days for our family! In our church, when babies are born, they are given blessings for their life. Then, when they are 8 years old, they are baptized. This weekend brought both of these great events for us! On Saturday the 24th, our very GREAT 8 year old was baptized by her dad! What an amazing day!! Katie is an amazing girl and we are so happy that she chose to make this very important decision! The next big event of the weekend was that Mylie received her blessing. When Mylie was born, she did not receive her blessing, so we were very excited to be able to bless Mylie on the same important day that Katie was baptized. Then on Sunday, September 25th, our new precious baby girl Emi Grace was able to be blessed during church. We are so happy to have all of these amazing events happen for our children, and we are even more excited that their daddy was able to bless and baptize all of our children. I am one lucky mommy!

September 2011 ~ Aidan's First Bus Ride

On Mylie's first day of school, Aidan and Katie took the bus to school so that Eric and I could both take Mylie to preschool. Aidan was so excited!! Mylie had her back pack on and was ready to go when we took the kids out to the bus and had to get in on more picture time.

September 2011 ~ For The Love of Soccer!

Aidan has found his true! He has always been athletic and has played multiple sports since the time he was 3, but this year was his first time on a "real" soccer team and it was a huge hit! Eric shares Aidan's love of the game and has taken to coaching all of Aidan's soccer teams. It's a great fit - since Eric loves that game and loves to work with kids! Here are a few shots from the first practice.

August/September 2011 ~ First Day of School!!

This was a BIG year for our family!! Our oldest Katie started the 3rd grade, which is considered one of the "older" grades. How in the world has she grown so fast?? Aidan, our second, started Kindergarten! WOW!!! After much deliberation, we decided to put Aidan in full day kindergarten. His is MORE than ready, both socially and educationally, so we took the leap. I can't believe my baby boy is already in full day school! Mylie, our third, started preschool. Stop! Now I'm really feeling old! She is at the same school that Aidan attended and she was very excited to be a big girl at school. She charged right in and didn't look back! It didn't hurt that her best friend Abby is in her class, but none the less, she was totally fine leaving us and starting her new big girl school days. The reason for the split headline is that Katie officially started school the end of August, while Aidan and Mylie started a few days later in September. I was very grateful that each child started school on a different day. It meant that each one of the kids could have their own "special" day. Love these kids!!!

August 2011 ~ Cute Cute Kids!

I have a few pictures of the kids that I had to post - even though there isn't an "event" to go along with them. Seriously, do they get any cuter than this? :) The picture of Emi cracked us up! All of the pictures were taken on the same day ~ an afternoon that we had spent with my mom, aka Nana, shopping and going to lunch. As we were headed home, Emi showed us exactly what she thinks of being the 4th kiddo in our house. LOL! We think she looks like she is saying, "Oh my gosh! Seriously people!"

August 2011 ~ Fun in the Sun ~ A day at the waterpark!

Another fun family outing we took during the Summer was to a local water/amusement park. Eric got a month off for paternity leave, and we had a great time taking advantage of his time at home! My mom and my sister, along with her kids, were able to join us for the day at the park and we all had a great time! This was the first year that Katie started getting adventurous and riding some of the bigger kid rides. It was fun to see the change in all of the kids from where they were in summers past when we visited this amusement park!

August 2011 ~ A weekend at the beach!

With the birth of Emi over the summer, we didn't have a chance to get away on a true family vacation. We did visit Great Wolf Lodge for Katie's 8th birthday before Emi was born, but other than that we were pretty much home bound. We decided in August to take a little "stay cation" and visit the Oregon Coast and Portland for a few days. What a great choice!!! It was a quick trip - with only 1 night at each location, but it was perfect for our family with young kids.

The first night we stayed in Seaside, OR and had a great time walking the streets and visiting the fun stores. As usual, the favorite activity for my kids was swimming the hotel pool. In reality they would probably be just as happy staying near home if we could just stay in a hotel with a pool. :) Unfortunately the weather was not nice enough for much beach time, but the kids managed to get in a quick walk down to the water, even if it was just to say they did it.

Next we headed inland to Portland where we stayed downtown for the night. Again we had a great time just strolling by the river (it was MUCH warmer than at the beach) and visiting stores. The girls had a great time putting on a fashion show for me with headbands and sunglasses at the local Nordstroms Rack. It's funny how the best memories can be created from the simplest of events. Our last day in town we visited the Omni - their local science center - and had a great time! In all it was a very fun vacation and it reminded us that we need to take advantage of local weekend getaways to enjoy as a family! Warning - tons of pictures attached - we took so many fun pics that I can't narrow them down. :)