Braden's 5th birthday

I wasn't planning on throwing Braden a party but he reallllyyy wanted one so I met him half way. 

He invited 4 boy cousins and one good friend to come swim and BBQ at Lynne and Max's.

    I drove most of the boys there and they were so funny to listen to in the car. Talking about Legos and power rangers

Once we got there a couple of the boys jumped in and then the party fizzled out before it started. It was a hot sunny day but no one wanted to swim (are you kidding me?! That's why we drove all this way!)

   They finally settled in splashing some and using squirt guns. 

  They had fun eating lunch together with promises of a piñata soon!

Piñata as I found out, are crazy expensive sooo I made one! My first one, I think I did ok...I know what to tweak if i ever do another though. 

The boys finished off the day jumping on the trampoline and eating cupcakes and piñata candy. As I drove them home I asked who had fun and they all shouted super loud that they did so although I thought it was kind of lame I guess they didn't!

   I can't believe "my boy" is 5. Time just goes so fast. Braden's personality has changed so much in just the past couple years, it's fun to watch the boy he is becoming and the characteristics that come and go and to guess which ones will stick. I'm so on love with him,  he definitely is a sweet emotional boy who still likes to cuddle with me and finds very sweet and thoughtful ways to show me love. (I get to write about his naughty side on another post-not allowed on his bday post!)

September

September was a good month-definitely settled into our daily routine...and a few fun things along the way. 

Our ward does a retreat for the women 18+ once a year up in Running Springs. 

         This was the 2nd annual Relief Society Retreat. The theme was a perfect brightness Of hope. It was really nice yet again. Friday night dinner was catered by a Mexican place here in Beaumont and we spent the rest of the night mingling, playing games and eventually moved into our cabins and stayed up until past 3 dancing talking laughing. So so fun to spend time away from husband and kids, just us girls recharging. 

The next day we had two guest speakers and some music. It was all centeted around hope and it was very enlightening but I didn't leave with the same feelings as I did the year before. Last year I left feeling motivated, uplifted inspired-quite energized. Someone mentioned this year felt "heavy". And I can't think of a better word. It left me with a lot to think about-in a good way but also I left feeling the messages put out there were meant for someone else in the group who really needed I hear them. I am super excited for next year and offered to take on planning it, hoping to have tons of help from my friends!

    NOT a flattering picture of me. I was SICK with some bad sinus stuff and my face was swollen when i woke up but I had to document me and Reese on this beautiful Saturday morning! 

After we got home a group of us went to another demolition derby "night of destruction" definitely wasn't as fun as the first one but had fun hanging out with friends. 

Max is BORED with Braden gone at school so we try to find things to do other then watch Tv. We went on a "pine cone" walk this day. 

Riley wrote a "secret recipe" and I let her try it. Not too bad!

Reese's first cookie-Oreo-before she is a year-gasp! I know. I know. How can I tell her no?!

What else do you do when Max and some bubble wrap are in the same room?!

Reese loves to help me "do the dishes"

Hailey pushed Reese around the track for a good long time 

Just playing 

Max's first trip to the dentist!

He did great!!! Until we had a problem with insurance and they couldn't do the actual cleaning until it was figured out. He did fabulous during X-rays though. The staff at this pediatric office are SO nice and friendly. They have each of the rooms painted or with vinyl in all different kid friendly themes. Video games and toys in the waiting room, flat screens on the ceiling for during your cleaning!

When we went back to get his cleaning done they put on the movie Rio for him to watch as he laid on his back, he got a certificate for having no cavities, entered into a drawing for free movie tickets for zero cavities, got to pick a toy from the treasure box AND then the dentist herself made this huge balloon for him!  She was so sweet and named each of his teeth as she checked them "this is jack and Molly and Jane and joe, oh! Joe said he likes to eat pizza" etc she was so nice! 

Reese and Riley sure look alike!

We love us some baby Reese!

Josh took Riley to the padres game and walked all over the stadium and found this!

Braden got an award at his school. Each month, each kinder class picks four students to receive an award. 

Braden's teacher wrote, and the principal read "Braden is a super citizen! He is patient and polite. He is neat and organized and stays on task. He takes initiative to complete tasks and is a great role model for his peers" and recieved a free meal for Denny's.  I'm so proud of how much he is liking school when he thought he would hate it. 

Reese learned to fold her arms for prayer!

Not a great shot but this is her first time with bubbles. She wasn't quite sure what to think and was slow to get them!

Max and I finally made the play-doh recipe our library uses. And it turned out GREAT! I should've done it years ago. 

Some other notes from this month:

-Reese perfected walking, she walks ALL over the place. She still falls but hardly crawls and chooses to walk most of the time.  

-Shakes her head no really fast, she knows she is funny and does it or attention. She gets so dizzy!

-Nods yes or no at the correct time. Josh and I already are amazed how much she understands and how well she Is communicating with us already!

-learning to sign milk and cracker. One day at lunch I was just messing around showing her and she copied! I should keep it up and she would probably learn fast. 

-Super smiley all the time!

-Max was watching Tarzan and I showed Reese how to bang her hands on her chest and yell and she did it haha

-Likes to wrestle with josh and the kids

-"Yells" at josh. Some times she will just look at him with a serious face and say "BAP!" And kind of nod her head. She does it over and over and it's hilarious. 

-Riley got a good report card this month!

Braden

       

My sweet boy deserves his own post. He brought me to tears the other day. He reminded me that even though josh and I do not parent perfectly and have a lot to learn, we must be doing some things right. 

Each day at school Braden and his classmate start the day with their clip on "green". The clip can move up (good behavior) or down (poor behavior) throughout the day to different levels/different rewards&consequences. 

If you move up one color to purple (hard to do) you get to pick from the treasure box. This is the most sought after thing in Braden's day-to-day lately. 

Well, when he got home from school he told me he got to chose from the treasure box. He was so exited and proud (as was I!) when I asked him what he picked he went on to say he saw "Angry Bird" stickers and knew Cody (his cousin) LOVES Angry Birds. So he picked those stickers and gave them to Cody after school. 

Sigh! If that doesn't make a mom smile

ear to ear, pull her kid close and hold back tears I don't know what would. 

To know he works so hard to "move up" to purple and is so disappointed all the days he doesn't, and then when he finally does he thinks of his friend other then himself! What a good good, sweet loving boy!

(we are NOT going to talk about the bratty fit he threw the very same day  though.) 

August

Besides all the big events that happened in Ausust, we did some regular stuff to worth documenting such as...

 {my notes I kept throughout the month}

Reese can:

-Make kiss noise, yes it is the most adorable thing ever and she is pretty stingy with her actual kisses-drives josh insane. 

-Say bye bye and wave...ok this may be a "mom" thing but I swear she try's to say and gets pretty close to "bye-bye". 

-Says hello, likes holdings phone. When she is given a cell phone she holds it to her ear or back of her next and again...proud mom or hearing problems?!...says "hello"

-Shake her head no and by the end of August if you gave her something she likes she nodded her head yes a couple times. 

-Learning to do stairs on tummy, only goes up if we insist, by the end of this month she was always sneaking up our stairs! 

-Drink from a sippy cup

-Standing and taking 1/2 step

-Reese has, unfortunately, followed in Max's footsteps and passes out when she cries sometimes. I'm starting to keep track because she does it a lot more then Max...6 times this month alone!

-Throws a good fit if we don't let her on the couch...this girl loves to crawl/walk back and forth across the couch but it's not exactly safe for her to do so, she can throw a good fit over it!

-Reese laughs after she farts and it's hilarious!

-Took first steps at 10mths 1week and 5days old. Very wobbly, we have to catch her as she likes to run 2-3 steps instead of going slowly. 

Max Taylor at the park one afternoon

My dad and his wife threw me and my brother a bday pool BBQ bash and our grandma ordered is this awesome cake   

Wagon ride while the big kids are at school

Grancy let Reese take all the tissues out and she had the best time ever doing it!

She has been a little more myschevious...

I had the great idea for Sumo Night and it was a hit!

"helping" to rinse off his sister

Not a great picture but just proof we watched our friends dog for the weekend. We LOVE this dog. He is sooo fun and so sweet!

Sunday dinner 

Josh's parents poured this amazing concrete pathway/track in their yard for the grandkids, and they totally love it!!!

As much as I LOVE my hot hot HOT weather I am ready for a day here and there of cool, fall weather.

Back To School

And just like that summer vacation is over! 

We had our 3rd annual back to school feast complete with fancy table settings (to my kids this means glass plates and wine glasses and fabric napkins, as they get older ill have to step my game up!) crowns and our family theme for this year. 

Since Braden was also going to school this year it was finally his turn to pick the menu. I tell them I'll make them any dinner they choose (within reason) and he wanted grilled cheese sandwiches, apple slices, green smoothies and chips. I tried for a few days to get him to pick something ummm more special but this was his decision!

Our theme this year is "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" phillipians 4:13 I chose this for a few reasons but my main reason being Braden was very hesitant about going to T-k. He was SURE he would be bored with, and I quote, "math and stuff" and having to sit down too much. I think he was also nervous about making new friends and just the unknown. So im hoping to be able to incorporate this scripture into FHE (family home evening) and to have it on our minds as the kids get home from school and talk about their day. I want them to know that they can absolutely accomplish anything with the help of Christ, whether its overcoming shyness to make a new friend or getting a new math concept they think is too hard, etc (I talked to them about this during our dinner)

Riley's crown this year had stars all over it and the number 2 stamped on it. She is our star and we are excited to see her shine in 2nd grade. 

Braden's crown had lightening bolts all over it. I told him it was because he is so quick and fast and awesome!

Max's crown had arrows pointing every which way on it because thats Max. He is always going somewhere, doing something, or getting into soemthing. He is high energy!

After dinner that night, before bed josh gave Braden and Riley a blessing. I should've written down what I remembered after because now I don't remember! But I do remember feeling the comfort each message brought for that child. And then Max wanted a blessing, it was really sweet, he sat nice and still and received wonderful blessing as well. 

The morning of the first day of school

Riley was ready. She said she wasn't nervous, just excited to see her new room. Her twin cousins got a different teacher this year which was a little sad but Riley was okay because she got the teacher she was hoping for (Riley said it looks like this teacher does tons of crafts with her students)

Second grade!

Transitional Kindergarden!

Braden was nervous and would've stayed home if I gave him the option but he went without wining or crying and did his best to be brave. 

I stayed with Braden a bit and when I asked if he was ready for me to leave he said no so i stayed a few more minutes until the teacher dismissed all the parents from the room. He liked his class and was happy with me watching him play with some toys. We walked around the class and looked at all the books his teacher has and noticed she had his all time favorite book "the little mouse and the red ripe strawberry". So right then and there (I tried to boost his confidence) and proclaimed "this just proves it! She is the PERFECT teacher for you!" and he agreed. 

Braden is lucky enough to have 3 of his boy cousins attend the same school, all in kindergarten. (he is the only one in transistional)

4years ago we took this picture at church...all living in different cities

how crazy we all ended up together!

The first day of school was good for both. They both came home happy and liking their class and teachers. They both have 2 teachers with a split contract. Luckily all 4 teachers seem great!

Normally my kids eat at their kid table in he kitchen about 30minutes before josh gets home and then josh and invest standing in the kitchen or sometimes one of us at the big table. But rarely all together. I made it a goal this school year that mon-fri we would all eat together at the adult able, at the same time. I feel that it is extremely important to have this time together as a family but i HATE making dinner. Just not something I enjoy doing-cooking-blah. I wanted time for us to sit and talk about our day, a place the kids could tell us good things that happened or things that worried them. I make it a point to put all the food out on the table and we pass it around to fill our plates. As we are eating we go around the table and say at least two good things about our day. It's been really nice so far and makes cooking dinner worth it!

 

School has been in for two weeks now and I'm sooo happy to say its been great. I carpool with a few friends so instead of having to drive 3times a day I only have to drive 1-2times. Braden would rather stay home but he goes to school happy and comes home extremely loving and happy. He has kept his clip on "green" every single day and even moved it up to purple one day (meaning great behavior and got to pick from the treasure chest). I volunteered once in his class so far and it was fun to see him and his classmates. 

   He doesn't whine about the "learning" so far and really likes his teachers. I felt so proud one day picking him up when his substitute teacher handed him off to me and said genuinely "REALLY great student!". Before Braden went to school i worried he would back talk sometimes or maybe push another kid, but so far he has proved that he knows how to act and has been just really great. 

   Riley really enjoys her teachers and class so far. She has homework already which wasn't her favorite thing but there isn't too much whining. She does love that every kid in her school 1-5th grade gets there own chrome book for class! Sounds like they use it about half the day and she LOVEESSS that! I love to hear what she has to say about school when she eat home and she offers up info a little easier then last year. 

When it was Braden's turn to say his two good things at dinner this past week he said he got to play with two of his cousins at recess and when I asked what they played he got all embarassed and said that some girls were chasing them around and trying to hold Luke and Nathan's hands. Hahaha me and josh were laughing so hard!!!

School Year is off to a great start!