Caden's new obsession

Caden has always loved balloons since he was a baby but lately he has become obsessed! If I have a pen and paper ready to draw, he wants me to draw a balloon, always. Well with Audrey just having her birthday there were balloons all over the house and I had several in a bag that were not blown up yet. Caden got ahold of those and actually taught himself to blow up a balloon! Audrey did too for that matter. When he got it down, he would do it over and over and over again. I watched him carefully to make sure that he couldn't hurt himself since I know balloons aren't safe for kids, but these were pretty big balloons and he handled them carefully. But don't worry, I still supervise him. Here's a cute clip of him performing his new skill!I think it's cute how he spazzes out when he lets the balloon go in the air. Used to freak him out but now he loves it!

Birthday Celebrations

Last Friday was Audrey's 6th birthday. Woohoo! I can't believe how old she's getting! It was actually a birthday of many celebrations spread across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Audrey got to invite a few friends for a party which we held at a park on Thursday afternoon. The girls got to play on the playground, do a little princess craft, eat cake, break the pinata and open presents. It was such a fun, easy going party, not to mention easy on the wallet! The highlight of the afternoon was when Ethan showed up with a new princess scooter for Audrey. She was so excited! Thanks Ethan for leaving work early to come!!!

Friday, her actual birthday, was pretty low key. Audrey started the day off with breakfast in bed, a family tradition, made and taped 6's all over the house, then played with her new toys from her friends.

After lunch, we went to a park to enjoy the amazing weather and Audrey had a ball trying out her new scooter.

When we got home Audrey decided to take a nap, something she never does of her own free will. I guess getting older does wear you out! For dinner, we let Audrey pick whatever she wanted and the things she chose was a veggie platter with Ranch dip and Oscars breadsticks (who doesn't love those!). Strange choice, but healthy at least. That's what she wanted! We talked about getting a live lobster to boil, but forgot to I guess. Next time. We planned on a little family party Saturday night with my parents since they couldn't come Friday but Audrey insisted on a little party Friday night too. So I baked some mini cupcakes and used the extra frosting from the day before and we sang to her and let her open one present since we wanted to save the rest for Saturday. Caden was so cute to sing to her. He loves birthdays and especially balloons! More of that to come in another post.

Saturday night was the official family party with my parents and present opening. Ethan's parent's were out of town and couldn't make it. They were missed! Audrey loved her new things and got a surprise in her room. My mom bought her a bed tent since she loves camping so much and would sleep in a tent every night if given the choice. So now she get's to sleep in her bed and be in a tent at the same time. Brilliant! And notice a new set of Russian dolls to add to her collection thanks to eBay!
I made her a cheesecake for her 3rd birthday dessert which we all finished off. Very tasty! Audrey was so excited to go to bed that night in her new tent. Thanks Mom! It was such a fun 3 days of birthday celebrations and we are so blessed and happy to have Audrey in our family. We love you Audrey!

It's raining, it's pouring...

What a fun wet weekend we've had! It's about time San Diego acted like it's winter! I bought Caden some rain boots weeks ago and he finally was able to try them out! The kids got all geared up for some wet fun outside and did a few popsicle stick races in the gutter. Caden was more into splashing though. I love the rain!

Living room Campout #2

This past weekend Audrey convinced Ethan to set up the tent in the living room for yet another campout. The girl loves camping! We even plugged in Caden's white noise machine to hear forest noise or crickets. Caden really wanted to sleep in the tent too so we made a bed for him although after the kids stayed up long enough chatting instead of falling asleep Caden decided he'd rather sleep in his crib. I opted for my own bed too. Sleeping on the hard floor or in my soft warm bed... not a hard decision for me. But Ethan and Audrey "roughed it" and had a campout together. And of course, the next morning they couldn't resist a little sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag.

Days later the tent is still up and has been a fun play fort for the kids during the day. Audrey has even slept in it by herself the last two nights. I think it's about time to take it down now.

Christmas 2008 rewind

I never got a chance to post on our Christmas. It was a big whirlwind then gone! I want to take a second to at least recap on some of the fun festivities we had and post pictures. We stayed in town and did a lot with Ethan's family because everyone was home for the holidays! Well everyone except for Byron who was finishing up his mission. Christmas Eve night we went to Ethan's parents home for the traditional fondue meal and caroling to the neighbors. Santa even stopped by to tell the kids how late it was and that they should be in bed soon! Audrey thought he looked a lot like Grandpa:)
And Santa did come! Audrey got a new dollhouse and Caden got a little car that he can sit in and push around with his feet. The trunk even has tools for him to work on the engine!
We were able to visit my parents as well as Ethan's. We're so blessed to be able to spend holidays with both families since they each live within 10 minutes of us! One of the highlights of the day was the big, economical "Dollar Store" gift exchange with Ethan's family. Each family bought eight different $1 gifts totaling 48 wrapped gifts in a big pile. The idea was to find items where you'd say, "No way, that cost $1?" Each family then took turns either picking from the pile or stealing a previously unwrapped gift. It was so much fun and we all came away with some fun and interesting things.

Audrey's new obsession is Russian dolls. She got a real one for Christmas, but also makes her own out of paper. She draws and cuts one out then makes a long slit down the middle where she makes a smaller one to slip into the slit and so on until the smallest one is the size of her pinkie nail. She's so creative and came up with the idea on her own!

Another fun memory is the night we did "Christmas Tea and Activities with Audrey". Ethan and Audrey planned it out and invited her Aunts and Grandma to our house to have tea and cookies while Audrey taught them how she makes her paper Russian dolls and snowflakes. Audrey also played a little piano recital for them of all the Christmas songs she'd been working on.
Here's a little clip of one of Audrey's songs. She really does have a wonderful musical gift to play the piano by ear and figure out the melody and harmonies with both hands. No she's not in lessons yet, but I'm looking into it. She is self taught at this point and does wonders on her own.


We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and can't wait to see what 2009 brings!