I can't believe I have a teenager!

We pulled it off. A surprise 13th birthday party for Austin. We had a couple of close calls but in the end he was completely surprised.

Austin really likes to race go carts so we decided to have his party at the Family Fun Center. Brian took Austin out shopping for Christmas while I picked up all the boys. I got to the Family Fun center first and Brian made up some story about loosing his wallet and that is why he needed to stop in the parking lot of the FFC. Austin was really confused but he had no idea what was going on. As they walked up to the front doors we jumped out and yelled "Surprise".

I could tell he was really excited but still wanted to act "cool" around his friends. I'm just glad that no one spilled the beans.



After the boys had their fill of go carts and video games we took them to dinner at Burger King.

On Sunday Austin requested an egg muffin sandwich for breakfast and meetballs for dinner with a chocolate cake for dessert.

Happy Birthday Austin!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

I was lucky enough to get to spend the day with Colin last week during his field trip to go see If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at the Seatle Children's Theatre. It was a great show and the kids loved it.

I had these 6 cute little boys in my group. I have to admit that when I first saw I had all boys I was a little nervous. Boys can get crazy especially when they are excited. However, everything turned out just perfect. We lost no one and everyone got home safely.

Lunch after the play.

The kids all brought lunches from home and it was fun to see how excited they were to eat with their classmates. There was lots of food trading going on. I kept telling the boys to eat slowly because we had lots of time before we had to get back on the bus. This of course did not happen. Soon boys started running around and I was getting a little stressed that one was going to disappear. We were in a food court and lots of people were coming and going.

So...I thought a game of duck duck goose would keep them happy. It's always a favorite with the kids. We just sat down in the middle of the food court to play and we were able to make it until it was time to catch the bus home.

Thanks for a fun day Colin!

Fun activities in October

I have to admit that October is one of my favorite months. Here is a run down of all the fun activities that we did this month.

Halloween night

Sienna was a little hesitant when we first went knocking on doors. She was holding my hand so tight, but by the end of the night she was running from door to door with the big girls. The kids also had the special treat of having Nana here this Halloween.

Our beautiful pink fairy.

We have a vampire, a pink fairy and a ninja.

The big boys. Do you see a theme here? Freaky!!

The big girls.

We have another theme here. Dracula's bride and two vampire's.

A lot of candy for a little girl.

Getting her beauty rest before the big night.

Halloween party

Some friends of ours have a Halloween party every year and this year we dressed up as a witch and a hippie.

We had three witches this year. Of course I didn't have the cute striped tights. I'll have to get me a pair of those.

Kindergarten party

The kindergartener's are the only one's that get to dress up for Halloween at the school. They had a fun day with crafts, games and a parade around the school to show off their costumes.

Colin was Snake Eyes from GI Joe and after the parade he told me that everyone kept getting his costume wrong. They were calling him a ninja. I then explained to him that Snake Eyes is a ninja. He felt so much better after that.

Carving pumpkins

Pumpkin patch

It was so cute. Sienna wanted the little yellow pumpkin.

Austin said that I ruined the whole trip to the pumpkin patch by taking his picture. He is such an almost teenager!

Preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch

Cow train

Checking out the animals

Hay ride to the pumpkin patch

Picking out a mini pumpkin to take home.

Playing in the corn.

What a fun place to go with all her preschool friends.

Catchin' Up

We have had a beautiful fall this year. Lots of nice weather to enjoy all our outdoor activities.

As usual soccer pretty much dominates our life in Sept. and Oct. With 3 kids playing soccer there is not a lot of time for much else. But we love it!

Kick off BBQ to start the soccer season off. The girls are the Storm this year.

Having fun with a dead fish. No girly girls here!

Federal Way jamboree. The girls played 3 games in one day. They sure slept well that night.

Austin scored his first goal since he has been playing select soccer. That might sound crazy but at this age and level of competition goals are not easy to come by. Too see the smile on his face was fantastic! Way to go Austin.

Brian and Pat have been coaching two soccer teams, fall and spring, togther for 3 years. What great dads!

Enjoying the sun on the sideline.

Sienna loves having a playmate at all those long soccer games.

Colin's team this year is the Sounders. These little kids are amazing. They dominate the games and have won all of them.

After soccer treat.

We went for a walk and enjoyed being outside and seeing all the leaves changing on the trees.

Wow, look at that glare coming off the bald head.