Happy Birthday Baby!!!

My baby girl turns 6 today. I can't believe it... Where does the time go???

I thought I'd look and post some old photos to celebrate...

Newborn (about 2 days old here)

At 6 months

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday (okay, so this one was on Valentine's right before her 3rd... ;))

4th Birthday

5th Birthday

1st Day of Kindergarten

Right Before Christmas

Right After Christmas

We'll take some at her party this weekend... as well as at Ken's also....

Happy Birthday Baby!!! :)

Swim lessons

Ken and Arcadia have finished their first round of swim lessons. Ken's actually doing much better with his swim techniques. He just really needs to refine his overhand strokes.

Arcadia's doing really well, but she seems to have issues with doing the stuff on her own. She'll do all the strokes and kicks as long as the instructor is holding on to her. The second he let go she started flailing. Guess we need to work on the learning how to do it on her own. Our next round starts next Monday.

Pinewood Derby Time!

Ken's Cub Scout Pack had their Pinewood Derby. Both Ken and Arcadia had cars in the race.

I'll let you take a gander at whose is whose... LOL

Ken raced the Wolf Den (since he's a Wolf... LOL) Arcadia raced in the Open competition

These are the Cars for the Wolf Division... Trevor's was named the "Swamp Gator". It was cute... it even had googly eyes. Ken's is "Green Lightening"

Here are Trevor and Ken at the finish line (yes, I didn't dress Ken in uniform, bad Den leader, bad)

After three heats, Ken's car was first. No need to continue to two more heats.

Ken got a nice certificate for winning.

Ken went on to race in the finals against the winners from the Tigers, Bears and Webelos. Ken's car won four out of five races. (One race his wheel came off the car, we had to do a quick pit stop between heats).

Here are the top three winners. It was Wolf, Bear and Webelos.


I also thought I'd through in a few pictures for fun from the end of last year.



That's all for now... but there WILL be more... :)

New Year, Fresh Starts

This new year has been going well so far... Ken and Arcadia started back to school on Tuesday and they are happy to be back (as am I!). Ken's getting ready for his Pinewood Derby this weekend. We worked on the car Sunday and he sanded, painted, painted, painted... LOL I did some detail work to it and then put a clear glossy coat on it. Wheels are on and the car is weighted... let's see how well it works and how fast it will go. Arcadia also built hers (well, okay, so I'm doing most of it)... she picked the colors and painted it... I added stickers and clear gloss coat. Will be putting the weights and wheels on tomorrow...

Ken has a new teacher to start out the new year. He was very heartbroken when he learned his old teacher was moving to California. He really seems to like his new teacher. He was very excited to learn that there were a bunch of different things around.

We started swim lessons this week. Mondays and Wednesdays. We missed last night due to extremely poor road conditions. I know, I know... but I don't think the kids needed to be exposed to sub zero temps with wet hair, ya know. We'll hit the class on Monday.

The kids are also getting excited about their birthday's coming up. Ken wants his at The Denver Hop and Arcadia's having a swim party. I got everything reserved, now to party preps. :)

The tooth is gone!

Ken pulled out his OWN tooth last weekend... yes... that's right! He pulled it out all him self. He sat and worked and worked on it all Saturday morning because he didn't want to go to the dentist to have it pulled! LOL What ever works!

The countdown to Turkey day...

Well, the kids are "officially" on vacation from school for the next five days. The entire Kindergarten class (five classes all together) hosted their annual Thanksgiving Feast. Parents were all asked to bring something (from plates and cups to the Turkey itself). There were tons of pumpkin pies, tons of turkey, tons of appetizers... it was actually a really nice feast. Something for everyone. Arcadia's class made the Mayflower and that was on stage as a "centerpiece". They also each made a separate one to bring home. Arcadia, of course, forgot to put her name on hers, so hopefully we didn't steal someone else's masterpiece. That is now our centerpiece of our table for Thanksgiving. I wonder if the clay will actually dry at some point... only time will tell, right?

I have our Turkey almost thawed out. I'm sticking it in the brine tomorrow. Then off to the Fryer it goes Thursday afternoon. Good ole Alton Brown never disappoints! I have potatoes and may actually try my hand at making homemade hashbrowns... yea... we'll see how that goes... HA. The house is all cleaned, just a few little things to put away (like the deliveries that came today).

Thank you Grandma and Aunt Pat for the Holiday doorbell and the Auto disguise. LOL I've always seen them everywhere. Now to go get batteries for the doorbell... Kids used my last C.

Now to sit and actually figure out my menu for Thursday. Nothing too fancy, but still have to shop for it all.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kids and Pets...

Well, we have had our hamster, May, for one month now. The kids absolutely love her still and shower her with little things when they can or with attention. Ken broke into his piggy bank and bought her a hamster ball. She absolutely loves it and loves to "run" around the house in it. She's basically explored every inch of the first floor. We haven't allowed her on the second floor or the basement for obvious reasons, don't need a loose rodent in the house... LOL

The fish are fine. I never realized how active Goldfish really were, or how long they can live. We did research and it looks like Arcadia could take these two to college with her if she wanted. LOL