Rollerskating

We were suppose to go to the "Big House" in Rapid City the weekend of Nov 7-8-9. However, Lead (where the house is located) got over 40" of snow!!! So, we all ended up staying home...us with a very emotional daughter that was NOT HAPPY she didn't get to see her cousins. However, it worked out good that the kids got to go to the rollerskating party with Ryan's preschool class on Saturday. After that we went to Bozeman to celebrate Jason's 30th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!) and we even went to the Museum of the Rockies too that day!! It was a busy day! Then on Sunday Hailey went to a classmates birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. Almost her entire class was there so she had a BLAST! It was a busy weekend....full of fun!!

Here are some fun pictures of the kids rollerskating!! Ryan of course didn't want to do it too much. Thankfully they tightened the wheels so he was basically just "walking" but it was still a change for him. About 1/2 way through the time, he was going around the rink by himself or with some preschool classmates!!! He is so funny around them too. He would see someone new and start yelling "HI JENSEN!!!!!!!!!!" And then would have to go over and see them. :) Fun to see him with his friends.


Hailey had a great time too! She was out there right away...cruising around with friends from her old preschool class (funny how A LOT of the kids in Ryan's preschool class have older siblings that Hailey went to preschool with!). She also took time to help her brother too (gotta love that :)).


Take a look at Ryan....we are in for some trouble here! There are only 4 boys in his preschool class...so most of the friends are girls (but we know all about the other 3 boys too). Here he is out on the rink holding hands with Hailey (YES...ANOTHER HAILEY!!) and then walking around the snack area, holding hands again! with Jensen. He is really good friends with Jensen...they go to Sunday School together and are best buds! :)

So, the kids were sad we didn't get to go to the big house, but happy we got to go rollerskating!!

Swimming update

Swimming lessons are going GREAT! The health club that we are going to is so nice...it helps that it has only been open less than a year too. :) Ryan has private lessons. I didn't pay for those, but there isn't anyone else in his class so he is one-on-one with his teacher for 40 minutes. That gets to be a little long for him, but he is improving so much. Hailey of course is a fish. She has 2 other kids in her class, so a nice small class too. She continues to work on her strokes. Her new thing is doing a somersault under water!! I am so happy they both like the water.

Bad blogger

Okay...how can it be 2 weeks since I last posted?!?! I need to find a way to get into "blogging" again. I think all the updates on the new house just did me in...but I will try to be better. Like anything else, the more behind I get the more I DON'T want to do it. But...I will. Updates are coming!!

Busy night

Oh...tonight is going to be busy! The kids are starting swimming lessons at a new place tonight. Ryan goes from 4:15-4:55 and Hailey from 5-5:40. It will be tough keeping them entertained during the time watching the other, but hopefully it is okay. Then Hailey has girl scouts from 5:30-6:30 (I guess she will be late for that). It is nice that by 6:45 we will be home for the night and can relax then! :) I know this will only continue to get busier!

Election Day

So...did YOU vote?!?! Come on...get out there...and VOTE! I am sure Hailey and Ryan will want our "I Voted" stickers when they get home today! :)

Candy sale

Last night (Monday 11/3) we got home and Hailey was on a mission. She carried her toy table and chair upstairs, went into the pantry to get the Halloween candy, and found some paper and markers. She set up a little "Candy Shop" in the kitchen! Everything was "$1" and was organized very nicely! I was the first customer. Then I gave Ryan a dollar and of course he wanted more than one piece. Within a few minutes, she was giving a piece of candy for a penny! :) Any money would get you a piece of candy. She was so cute about it. She said "I thought it would be nice to set up a candy sale since it is after Halloween now." Cute little girl! Of course Ryan enjoyed buying the candy even though he will never eat it :)

Bikes

Hailey has been very excited about learning to ride her bike without training wheels. Finally on Saturday, Nov 1st, Chris was able to spend a few minutes with her. I think it might take a few sessions, but she is ready and WANTS to learn. I love her attitude regarding sports. She wants to do it ALL! She will try anything and keep going at it. She understands that she has to practice and with practice she gets better. Hailey, I am so proud of you and hope you keep this attitude throughout your whole life. You can do ANYTHING! We love ya! :)

Oh...notice the rims in the background of the first picture? Yeah...that is our VIEW from our driveway. We LOVE IT and Chris has been hiking up there. Pretty cool that we get to hike from our house and see wildlife, etc and still live in city limits! :) We are so fortunate!

Our Hailey

Sorry --- proud mommy here! Look at our pretty girl!! These are Hailey's school pictures. I am so excited about how good they are! And, since I ordered the large package, I got a CD with the image on it, so I can share with you! :) I keep looking at it, and cannot believe that my daughter is SIX and in Kindergarten already!! Crazy! :)

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

from

HAILEY and RYAN!!!

The kids sure enjoyed their Halloween day!!! Hailey was able to bring her costume to school and had a small party there. Then, after school at CARE, they painted her face!! It scared me when I picked her up, and she agreed to wash it off before going out trick-or-treating! :) Ryan had "pajama day" at Toddle Town and of course special activities there throughout the day. We came home, had "jack-o-lantern" shaped pizza, got the costumes on, took pictures, and then waited to go out trick-or-treating. Finally it was 6pm and it was time to go out!! Hailey did good most of the time walking, but Ryan was "sooo tired." He could hardly walk up to the houses...so he was in the wagon most of the time. We will have to work on him for next year! :) It was fun having Kari go out with us to the houses...and big thanks to Doug and Doran staying at the house waiting for kids to come to the door (maybe next year we will have more!!).


Ready to go get the candy!!! Look...Ryan was actually WALKING! :)

Candy, candy, and MORE candy!!

After the neighborhood, Hailey, Chris and I went over to our old neighborhood to see her friend Crystal. After that it was time to go home...we were all tired!! :)

Carving pumpkins

On Thursday night (Oct 30), we went out to eat to celebrate my birthday, and then we came home to carve the pumpkins. The kids got to pick out what they wanted on their pumpkins, and we got started. Hailey was 100% into carving her pumpkin. She got right in there and was taking out the "guts" with no "eeww gross" or anything like that! She even wanted to keep the seeds (and I made them for the first time ever...and will do that again next year too!). She loved poking the holes in her pattern for her pumpkin face and was very good at it too! Great job Hailey!!


Ryan wasn't as into it as Hailey! :) He took a little of the "guts" out of his pumpkin, and then gave up on that!! He wanted to poke the holes in his pattern, but wasn't quite as accurate as Hailey so we helped him a little more and it was fine. Still fun for him :)

Check out the Halloween post for a picture of the finished pumpkins!!