Cruz's Fall Party

Today was the annual Pre-School Bible Character day. Cruz flipped through his Bible and chose to be King David. He was very excited about his costume. 

He also had his Fall Party with his class today. They had bible sandwiches and made a pumpkin puppet and talked about letting the light of Jesus shine from them. 

Cruz was obviously the cutest one but his classmates had some cute costumes too. One little boy was the armor of God. 

I found this photo of Rowan when he was in the 3's class. He was Joseph (obviously).

We can't leave Sissy out. She sported her donut dress today and was a little terror in Bible Study. She's so aggressive, which we're working on but they have to switch her between the toddler room and the nursery. She plays in the toddler room because she was too rough with the babies but she has to go to the nursery to nap. :)

Brothers & Sissy

The fair was in town this past weekend so we headed over there on Friday night. Since it was dark I didn't take any pictures other than a couple of kids before we walked over. 

Its exhausting to get pictures of them together but I'm happy we managed these. 

Rowan's favorite activity at the fair was the House of Mirrors. I went in it with him and it was so funny. He and I giggled quite a bit, especially when one of us (usually Rowan), would walk straight into a mirror. Cruz's favorite ride was the swings.

I'm looking forward to this week. Both boys have parties at school, then trick or treating and then on Friday, our school is putting on a big Harvest Festival. I'm on the planning committee and we've been working on it for months so I'm excited to see it come together. Have a lovely Monday!

Videos!

In the interest of fairness, Sissy can say Cruz's name as well as Rowan's. :)

My FAVORITE word that she has! Before, she would have started screaming for more food instead of saying more. She loves to eat. She out eats her brothers.

Cora is a full time walker now. I remember about 10 days ago thinking, hey, she didn't crawl at all today!? She's fast too... even in shoes.

I love the sweet way she says, "hi!" Her brothers make an appearance here too. :)

Being a little brother has an advantage! Cruz gets to practice sports at a younger age since he goes out to practice with Daddy and Rowan. I was pretty impressed with his batting especially since that bat is heavy for his little 28 pound body. Rowan hits like a crazy man too but I don't usually go watch them practice and its too hard for Roger to video and pitch to Rowan. He's a lot closer for Cruz.

Next time I'll have more videos of Rowan and Cruz. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to see some friends and do some shopping in Houston so Roger will be holding down the fort. :)

Cora: Almost 13 Months

I can't believe that Cora is almost 13 months old. She is turning into such a little girl. She loves purses, bags and baskets. She loves carrying them around and putting things into them. She also loves shoes. She puts on any shoes she can get ahold of. Cora likes playing in the play kitchen and she loves driving around her Princess Ariel coach that she got for her birthday. Cora also loves to color... or at least sit at the coloring table and look at the crayons. She also loves to climb. We have to watch her super carefully. I've found her in the bathroom sink (the boys no longer have a step stool), on the kitchen table, on the coloring table, on top of the play kitchen, stuck in her doll stroller and I'm certain there are others. :)

Coco is quite the chatterbox as well. She says some distinguishable words and some not so distinguishable but she uses them consistently for things. She still screams but now that she uses the word "ma" (more), she doesn't scream in her high chair since she can communicate that particular need. Cora nods her head yes and no and its super funny. The boys like to ask her things like, "are you stinky, Cora?" or "are you a boy?" and then laugh hysterically if she nods her head yes. 

Mama

Dada

Row Row

Cru Cru

Coo-pa (Cooper)

Ma (more)

Diggy (dog)
Hi
Whoa
Uh Oh

Cora has 10 teeth and is working on her bottom two molars.

Happy almost 13 months!

First T-Ball Game

This is his "game face."

This is his "tough face." He is super excited to be on the D-backs this year. I guess its always fun to be on the "home team."

We were rushing out the door so poor Sis looks a little disheveled but she was at the game in her baseball dress. That's what counts.

Cheering Rowan on! Go #5.

More pics and video to come!

Happy Wednesday

The Park and Christmas

We want to do Christmas a bit differently around here this year. Lately, Roger and I have seen some greedy behavior in the boys. It seems like they are constantly looking at the things they can't have. Sometimes, they become so focused on those things that they fail to enjoy the fun and beauty going on right in front of them. Roger and I are guilty of that too. 

Then there are days like this:

Days with big happy faces and a big park to explore, 

new things to try,

and the best friends you'll ever have to play with. 

Opportunities to learn,

grow,

and share. This is what we want to give our kids for Christmas this year.

There's nothing wrong with toys and we want our children to have toys that encourage them to learn and imagine but

they just have so many things that just sit on the shelves. 

This Christmas we plan to bless them with a fun toy, new game and maybe a book, but our main gift to them will be an experience...

maybe tickets for an event or place that we can enjoy as a family. We haven't decided on something for sure yet.

Because after the toys break or get thrown out, our kids will still carry the memories of the times we visited the zoo, went to the Grand Canyon or just had overpriced novelty ice cream at the park.

We have these babies with us for such a short time and we want to soak up all of that time. We are also going to be deliberate about giving to others this Christmas season.

 Our children are so blessed by our extended family too. We are so grateful for the ways in which you love on them at Christmas and through out the year. This year, we just ask that you keep this post in mind as you shop for them. Help us teach our children what truly matters. We desire that their hearts (and ours too) are grateful for what they get and happy to just be together.

Soccer Game #1

Cruz did great at his first game! We'll get some videos as the season goes on. Cruzy ran after the ball like a champ and even got the ball a couple of times. Next thing for Cruz to work on is turning the ball towards his team's goal! :) 

Cruz looks so old in this picture! He was jumping up and down excited about his first game.

Rowan and a couple of the other older siblings sat with the team on the sidelines. A couple of the big brothers are first graders at NVCA so Rowan knows them from Math. Cruz loved having his big brother to cheer him on.

Miss Cora, decked out in a soccer dress, was also happy to watch her big brother.

Cruz was so excited (for real) that Cora had a soccer dress to wear to his game since she has a baseball one she wears to Rowan's games.

Cruz got the ball!

Cora's New Word

I love that she abandons her whining at the mere mention of her beloved brother. I took this video towards the end of a long t-ball practice. Every time she'd catch a glimpse of him on the baseball field she'd kick her legs, point and say, "Ro Ro!" Out of her repertoire of sixish words, this one is by far my favorite.

Reading, Soccer, New Tricks

I don't have a photo of this, although I should! I wanted to document the first book that Rowan ever read so that I don't forget! Rowan's been reading easy readers, leveled readers, etc. for about a year or so. The first "real" book that he read was "Hop on Pop," which was also the first book Aunt Amanda ever read on her own too. Now, Rowan can be found begging to read the bedtime story as he's adding more and more books that he can read without assistance. So proud of him. 

Cruz spent the first 3.5 years of his life being the cheerleader for his big brother. Cruz has been dragged to soccer, tennis, and tball many many times so you can imagine how thrilled he was last night that it was finally his turn. It was his turn to put on a uniform, his turn to bring equipment and his turn to participate rather than sit on the sidelines. He had so much fun and kept looking over at me to see if I was watching. 

We can't wait to watch you play on Saturday, Cruzy!

Coco loves to point at the things. She was pointing at the rain this morning. I've lost count of the things she can point to when asked. Her favorite thing to point to are dogs. She says "diggy" as she points.

I forgot Coco's cup on a quick trip the outlet mall for lunch today which led us to discover that she can use a straw! I love this milestone because when we're in a hurry I can be known to forget her water bottle. :)

Cora loves to shake her head "yes" and "no." She answers correctly most of the time which leads me to believe that she understands so much more than I give her credit for. She seems to be turning into a toddler overnight.

One Year Stats

Cora had her one year check up today. She's perfect.. except for maybe her ear piercing shriek. :)

18 lbs 14 oz (32nd percentile)

31 inches (94th percentile)

Pumpkin Patch 2013

These pictures are so much fun to me! Its neat to watch how our family has grown in five short years.

 

So excited to go!

The gang after completing the Corn Maze. The maze was Rowan's favorite part. After we did all the activities together, Roger and I each took a kid to do their favorite activity a second time. Rowan chose the maze and was able to beat some big kids through it since he already knew the way. 

Love.

Excited to watch the cattle dogs go through an obstacle course. Cora really enjoyed watching the dogs too. She kept pointing at the dogs and saying, "ohhhhh."

Cruz chose the train as his favorite activity.

Petting Zoo

Cora loved the Merry Go Round the best. She laughed and giggled the whole time. The boys were going to ride it a second time and we asked her if she wanted to and she enthusiastically shook her head, "yes!" The one time she didn't go on, she spent the whole time watching for the boys and waving when they passed.

These little pumpkins are the cutest! They are perfect, round, mini pumpkins. Picking out their own was the boys' favorite part. Since she's too little for an opinion, I picked Cora out a white pumpkin because I thought they were pretty.

The girls.... We brought the double stroller with this in mind. :)

We've got cooler temps this week (low 90's) so I have the windows open and fall candles burning. I love fall in the desert.