Pumpkin Power

(Sorry it's been a while - school has been a bit overwhelming this year!)
Being October it is the season for visiting the pumpkin patch! Our tradition is to visit Tanaka farms in Irvine and pick our own pumpkins off the vine. We love the places to take our family photos. There is always a race to the middle of the corn maze (Jeremy won - although I think he did actually run part of the way!). We wear our orange and black, we get a little muddy, we have a ton of fun.

An Aquarium Adventure

The day before our friend Malino started preschool, his mom took him, Konner and Kassidy to the Long Beach Aquarium with some free tickets. They got to check out all the fish, touch lots of sea creatures (including a jelly fish!!), and have the run of the place since pretty much everyone was back in school already. They had a great time, although they would tell me almost nothing about it themselves. Thanks Crystal!!

Soccer - Game On!

Kyler had his first game today and boy was it a success!! Kyler's team won (a lot to a little), the boys looked great as they ran around in a bunch, and the whole family game out to watch. Best part for Kyler was getting "Player of the Game" for his great work and hustle not only during the game but at practice too! He is not the best athlete on his team - those little guys can just zoom through traffic - but he is making such great improvements, has such a great attitude, and most importantly, having a blast out there. Great job Kyler!! Here's to a great season Penguins!

Soccer has Begun!

Kyler's opening day for his first season of soccer was yesterday. Not much soccer happened, just some team pictures and a carnival, but I have come to realize that soccer will pretty much take up our whole Saturdays from now on. Guess it just slipped my mind from when my brother and I use to play. His team is the Penguins - black and white uniforms, of course. Should be a fun season!

Labor Day Potluck

As with every year we like to get together with church and actual family for potluck and games on Labor Day. We had a great turn out this year despite the weird muggy heat, ate lots of super yummy food, played games, and just had a fun time hanging out together. Can't wait until we can do it again.

A Welcome for Aubrey Faith

Pink, pink and more pink! That is what we had in store for my newest niece. Just about a month after her birth we decided to get some family and friends together to shower our love on Aubrey Faith Wilcox! We celebrated the girliness of it all, play some girly games - a really great song matching game and another game testing our literary skills courtesy of Aunt Wendy - and enjoyed a yogurt "bar" where we built our own delicious parfaits. It was a lovely morning centered around our favorite newest member of the family!Since Aubrey has a lot already from her big sister, we decided to start a few collections just for her. We got her started with some books and some (actually a lot of) bows!Aubrey with her two hostesses - Aunt Janelle and Great-Aunt Wendy.Here is Aubrey with her mom, grandmas, great-grandmas, aunt, great-aunts, and two cousins!Look at these two cuties in all their pink!
I am pretty sure Aubrey is saying "I Love You!" to her favorite aunt! :)

First Grade!

Kyler is now officially a first grader! He said he had a great day. He told me his teacher wore a gold shirt, high heels, was young (like me!) and skinner (not like me!). (Maybe this boy is a bit too observant!!) He got through the whole say without getting in trouble - nice - and even got to get up in front of the class to show off how he did his math problem - very nice. One day down, only 179 to go!

I also had my first day teaching Calculus BC. I admit I was a bit nervous, but the kids seemed to take me in okay, no major eye rolling, and I taught what I need to. Tomorrow begins the real book work, but I consider today a victory for sure.

Here's to a great school year for me and Kyler!

Swimming Lessons

We were happy again this summer to be able to take swimming lessons and the YMCA. Konner and Kassidy were in the toddler class and we put Kyler into a "big kid" beginner class. He was definitely the least experienced of the group, but with each week grew more and more confident. (I also think that some fun, no pressure swimming days with friends and at the park pool was a great help too!) Kyler can now jump into the deep end and make his way back to the side without being too anxious about it all! Konner and Kassidy did very well too. Kassidy was very enthusiastic about all they asked her to do and cheered on Konner when it was his turn too. Konner did pretty well also - that is when he wasn't getting in trouble from the lifeguard for not sitting on the step! (Yeah, I know he was "that kid"!) We had tons of fun and hope it fits into our schedule next summer too.

A Nice Little Visit

We have been trying to get out to see Great-Grandmother a few times this summer and with school around the corner we knew it was time. We were fortunate to have Aunt Amanda, Juliette and baby Aubrey be able to join us. I got to cuddle with Aubrey all through lunch, so nice, and the kids were (shockingly) well behaved as all the other residents came over to peek at all those great-grandkids! I even got a cute shot of Great-Grandmother and all the kids (I won't tell you how many not good ones there were!).