Karate Kid

For the last year or so Caelleb has been telling us that when he turns five he gets to 1. play baseball and 2. do karate. The baseball thing we get. We all love baseball, we encourage baseball, we watch baseball, play baseball together. Got it! No problem! The karate thing. . . we have NO IDEA how he came up w/this one, but OK, Karate is cool, whatever! Anyway, we got him this little karate outfit for his birthday. He hadn't mentioned karate in awhile so I wasn't sure if he'd remember and still be excited about it. Well, I think the pictures speak for themselves. . . .

Here come the "moves". . .

moves are getting ugly. . .

Uh oh! MAN DOWN!

OK, so we definitely need to get him some LESSONS,

but moves aside, how cute is he?

Never-ending Birthday. . .

The kids really did have a never-ending birthday, which they LOVED! Last night we finally opened the last of the packages (I think)! Thank you Kathy, Mama & PapaT, Mema & Pappy, Uncle Scott & Aunt Lori, Braden & Easton!!!!! Caelleb in his new spider man snow boots!

Spiderman Caelleb meets Red Power Ranger!

Tia opening a gift while waiting for her favorite meal--SHAKESPEARES PIZZA!

Musical Elmo book. I know she is thinking, "woohoo, this will drive my family CRAZY!" :)

Tia is so excited about her Elmo book that she is having a loss for words. . .

My cute little family!

More Pumpkin Patch Pics

Caelleb & Tia SUNFLOWERS!

Tia is already learning how to role her eyes & express

dismay at the endless amount of pictures that I take! :)

Me & the kids on the hayride.

This next picture was taken in the van approximately

1 minute after we left the pumpkin patch. . . .

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We went to the Peachtree Farm Pumpkin Patch last Saturday after Going Bonkers. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather. So glad we did because it was so much fun. . .










There were animals to feed, pumpkins galore, a hayride & PLENTY of photo opportunities (which the kids just LOVED *that was sarcasm*)

Tia posing with some pumpkins.

Caelleb LOVED feeding the animals. Tia, not so much but she liked WATCHING us feed the animals!

Tia found HER pumpkin. Bryndyn told her to hold it up so we could see it! :)

Who likes pumpkins?

Rule Clarification Please

So yesterday Caelleb was "sick" with absolutely no symptoms but I went ahead and let him have the afternoon off from preschool because he kept telling me he was sick. Normally I don't give in but we have had a stressful few weeks as a family so I figured maybe he just needed some extra "mommy" time (side note: when I asked him about that he said, "I need daddy time" -- whatever, :) I'm used to that--he is such a little daddy's boy!). Anyway, so he was with me on my lunch break. I stopped to put gas in the van and told Caelleb I was going in to get a soda. He wanted to go in too because he wanted the "pink juice" (this extra sugary juice that we let him have on occasion, rare occasion). So, trying to make a point that you can't just miss school and do/get whatever you want, I say, "I already have apple juice and water for you in the car and besides when you are sick you don't get to drink that kind of juice." His angry/pouting response: "I didn't know that was the rule!" So, I asked him if he wanted to change his mind about being sick. I could totally just see his little mind working. Once he weighed his options (not sick=juice but going back to school & admiting he hadn't been totally honest vs. sick=no juice) he decided that he was in fact still "sick." Too funny!

Yellow & Blue Make Green

This is one of those stories that will probably haunt Caelleb when he grows up, but I'm his mom and I think it is cute! :) Let me start by saying that Caelleb is obsessed w/chapstick. Not that he necessarily has to always have it on his lips he just likes carrying it around in his pocket & playing with it. Seriously, If I had just gotten him a big box of chapstick for his birthday he would have been thrilled! And usually one tube of chapstick lasts one or maybe two days. Then he either loses it or it ends up going through the washing machine. Good times! So, anyway, we are getting ready to leave Bonkers on Saturday and as I mentioned earlier Tia won a TON of tickets so the kids were picking out prizes. Tia picked out a colorful little ball and a plastic snake. :) I knew exactly what Caelleb was going to pick so I was trying to interest him in a number of other exciting little prizes. Nope, he wanted the LIP GLOSS! Bryndyn and I were both trying to convince him of something else, but ultimately we decided it was his birthday and his tickets so he could get what he wanted. Lip Gloss it was! We took solace in the fact that at least he learned something. The lip gloss was "fancy" in that when it was at rest the bottom half was yellow and the top half was blue. When you would shake it up it would mix and turn green. So, color lessons from lip gloss. . . Whatever works!

Prayer Warrior

Just a quick cute Caelleb story. This morning, we were in the van headed to Caelleb's "work" (daycare), he was coughing quite a bit. I made the comment that I should've given him some cough medicine and he says, "yea, I have a bad cold." :) Anyway, a few minutes go by and I hear him whispering. He has quite the imagination and is always finding ways to pretend play so I didn't think much of it but then I heard him say, "and please help my cold be better." So, I turned around to see what he was doing and he had his hands folded and his head bowed--he was totally praying for God to heal his cold. My heart just melted! Man, I LOVE that kid!

Developmentally on TARGET

So, the following picture is what happened when I told Tia that

she could not have ANOTHER sugar cookie. . .

A tantrum at two. . . imagine that?

Once she saw the camera she couldn't help but smirk. . .

my little drama queen! :)

Game On

Daddy vs. Caelleb in a friendly game of air hockey. Come on daddy, you've got to let the birthday boy win!!!!!!

Caelleb's got his GAME FACE on!

"I WIN!!!!!"

Tia wasn't so into air hockey, she had her own idea of fun. . . .







Two going on 16. . .




We really should have played the lottery because it was Tia's lucky day. With one touch of a button her "ball" landed in the right slot and she won 146 tickets! Yay Tia!

More Birthday Images. . .

Daddy took Tia to go down a bonkers slide.

Let's just say once was PLENTY for her. :)

Caelleb thought the "crown" on top of his new

power ranger hat was pretty cool.

Me & Tia reading her new musical Dora book. . .

Daddy & Caelleb saying "cheese"

AHHHH, the good life. . . sugar cookies, cake & ice cream, presents, friends,

indoor playgrounds. I think these are faces of contentment!

Seriously, I think Caelleb is the BEST big brother in the world!

Is there such a thing as TOO much sugar? Ummmm, i'm thinking, YES!!!!!

Going Bonkers

We celebrated Caelleb & Tia's Birthdays on Saturday at Going Bonkers. The kids had a BLAST! Caelleb was so excited to have his friends there to play with. It was all the parents could do to keep the kids corralled in the "yellow" room long enough for cake/ice cream & presents! They just wanted to PLAY! Who could blame them?

Tia didn't feel like having her picture taken at this particular moment but otherwise here is the gang. . .

Caelleb turned the big 5! For him, life is all about POWER RANGERS so he was very excited about his cake. Side note: on the way to church on Sunday we were driving right by where his daycare is (that he calls "work") and he randomly says, "I don't have to go to work no more." I say, "well, not today but tomorrow you have work." He says, "nah uh, i'm this many now (holds up five fingers), I no have to go to work no more." Apparently he thought turning five meant no more daycare. He was not so happy when we broke the news to him that he has MANY more years of work/school ahead of him! :)

The birthday boy & his buddy from "work."

We celebrated Tia's 2nd birthday! It was a toss up between Elmo & Dora as she loves both, but when I asked her which kind of cake she wanted I got an emphatic, "ELMO." She can't say "Dora" as well so Elmo may have had an unfair advantage, but I loved the sesame street cake so we went with it! :)

I know she was thinking, "you want me to do what exactly to these candles & why is this such a big deal?" :)

She got the hang of it pretty quick and those two candles didn't stand a chance!