Jason and his girls

Jason and two of the loves in his life. Ella on the left and Kelsey on the right.

Trick-or-treaters

Hannah Montana, Darth Vador and Raggedy Ann. All ready for the big night.

Before leaving to go trick-or-treating, we joined five other families in our neighborhood for a block party. We had three tables set up full of food, drinks and dessert. It was a great effort on everyone's part to keep the kids full so they didn't get sick on candy later in the evening.

The cute girl in the middle with the red/white striped head scarf is Ella's favorite playmate. She is homeschooled and occasionally comes down to the house during the middle of the day when the other kids are at school to keep Ella company. Ella loves her Olleen (Colleen, but it's how she says it).

Jack-o-lanterns

Yes, I know it's a week until Christmas. And, yes, I know that I'm way behind on blogging, but in the effort to continue to catch up please enjoy these few snapshots.

The day before Halloween, we finally decided to get our pumpkins. Bad move on our part. We made two trips to two different grocery stores and both stores each had only 1 pumpkin left. We took them both. Usually we make an annual trip to the pumpkin patch and let the kids have a hayday wandering through the fields to pick the perfect one. This year we were just so busy with sports and other activities that it got pushed to the wayside. Live and learn. Here's Kelsey cleaning the guts out of her pumpkin and loving every minute of it.

Cole...not so keen on the cleaning idea. We had to basically force him to clean out his own pumpkin.
Kelsey's finished product.

Cole's pumpkin. Don't you think he's got great character? We sure did. Of course, Jason kept calling it Sloth (from Goonies). It is a little lopsided in the face, but so cute, I think.

Jealousy runs deep

I kept a friends little guy for her one day so that she could spend the day at her girls' school helping out. Ella, as the baby of the family, is quite attached to me. Very much a Momma's girl. So, when Dominic came to play she was okay with him being there, but didn't like having to share me or her toys. She's actually being very sweet in this picture.

She's playing with Dominic's toys here.
Okay....not so keen on Dominic playing with her Handy Manny toy. Can you see it lying behind her back? She snatched it away from him rather quickly and hid it behind her. It was comical to say the least.

Being sweet again.

He was a very good baby and one that I'm going to be keeping again very soon. I just have to get Ella to understand that it's okay to share me every now and then. She would scream and cry when I'd sing her lullabies to him. How dare I sing her songs to another baby. It's like committing adultery or something. Too funny!

Silly girls!

My girls decided it would be fun to make beds out of laundry baskets, so here they are watching TV while laying in the baskets complete with couch pillows and blankets. And they were having a blast.

First overnighter

This was Cole's first overnight trip with the Boy Scouts where parents were not allowed to go. Cole is finishing up his Webelos II year and will be transitioning to Boy Scouts in the Spring, so they got to go with the big boys on a campout to see how they do things. Jason and I were a little nervous letting him go since Jason wouldn't be allowed to go, but our Den leader was going so that made us a little more comfortable. Cole is really good friends with the Den leader's son and they are a strong Christian family. If Randy and his son weren't going, then we would not have let Cole go, but I think he had a great time. This was taken on the morning of departure. I'm still not sure I want him growing up just yet.

Proud Honors

Cole was selected to be in the Academic Honors Club at school this year. In order to be selected, he had to have maintained a 94.5% or higher grade throughout his fourth grade year. He held a 99% all year. This club meets once a month after school and I'm still not sure what they do, but he seems to enjoy it anyway. So proud of him. He's also a member of the chess club which meets twice a month after school and the Hands In Service club which meets once a month after school. Right now the HIS club is collecting blankets to distribute to local nursing homes for the holidays. This one is going to be our overachiever, I think. His fifth grade teacher called him a natural born student. I have to agree. I just wish school would have come as easy for me as it does for him. He seems to really enjoy it and I have yet to see him study for his grades. Way to go Cole!!! Mom and Dad are so proud of your accomplishments. You are a wonderful kid and will someday be a superb young man...just don't rush there.

Jason's Birthday! (okay so it's a little late)

Yes, I know, once again I'm behind on posting. Jason's birthday was officially September 18th and here it is November 24th. Oh well. He got to enjoy his favorite cake...carrot cake. Yes, he's sweatty. He came in from working in the yard for cake and presents.

The look on his face is because as he opened presents he thinks it's funny that he correctly guessed all of them. I didn't find it so amusing. It takes away from the excitement of it, but he enjoyed it.

Cole gave him Hooked for Wii.

Ella gave him an arm strap to hold his Ipod Nano when he runs.

Kelsey gave him a stuffed animal fox. Yes, she's our animal lover, and yes, I did let the kids pick out their Daddy's gifts...with the exception of Ella.

I gave him the Ipod Nano for his runs since my Ipod Shuffle has died.

He's trying out his new fishing game and loving it. The kids even had fun with it.

First soccer game of the season

Kelsey playing in her first game of the season. Of course, the season is over now. She's on the far left. Tall, skinny and blond pony tail.

She's #15. Ironically, so is Cole.
Cole's first game of the season, also. He's smack dab in the middle. My little toe-head.

While at Cole's game, the girls found something to keep them occupied.

So glad the craziness of the season is over. Now we get to stay home a couple of nights a week.

Another Camping Trip

Labor Day weekend, Jason decided to take all three kids camping. Not only was this the second time he's done this with all three kids, but Ella was potty training at the time, also. He took the potty seat, a roll of toilet paper and off they went. They went up to Guntersville, AL and had a pretty good time. Their trip was cut short by a day because Kelsey got sick with what we believe was good ole' H1N1, but had a great time while there. If you look closely, you can see a baby deer laying in the warm coals behind the kids. Apparently, it's mother was either killed or abandoned it. It died later that day, but the kids thought it was so cute, they wanted their picture made with it.

I got my pictures of out of order. These next two photos were taken as Jason and the kids had just loaded up the truck and were heading up to Guntersville. Look at their excited faces. They LOVE camping with their Daddy. I love it when he takes them camping because it gives me a much needed break.

Victory!!!!!

I have many posts to update, but I'll only add one or two a day so as not to overwhelm or bore anyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween with the kiddos. I will post pictures of our kids on Halloween later. But for now, I have a victory to report. Ella is officially potty trained! I am ecstatic over this hurdle. It took me close to a year to potty train both Cole and Kelsey. They were both 3 when they finally perfected it. Ella, on the other hand, has been at it for the past 2 months and has worked diligently with me to accomplish her goal. Did I mention she's 29 months old? That's not even quite 2 1/2 yet. Wow!!! She has remained accident free for more than 2 weeks and I finally took her to the store last Friday to pick out her new panties. She was so excited. In addition to this accomplishment, she's also in a big bed now. Bedtime has become a bit of a challenge since she shares a room with her sister and wants to play dress-up with the clothes in her dresser after I've left the room for the night. She also likes to take all of her clothes off and fall asleep naked. This will pass, I know. But for now, we are reveling in the fact that we are DONE with diapers and pull-ups. Now, we do still keep a potty seat and roll of toilet paper in the van for her to use when at the ball field so we don't have to go to the nasty public restrooms, but she's even staying dry through her naps and through the night as well. There must be something special about this child...or maybe I've just finally perfected the training process. Who knows...I'm just thrilled!

Big Steps for a Toddler

Okay, so this isn't the most mannerly post, but here goes. Ella has been potty-training for the past 4 or 5 weeks with great success. She's been staying dry during the days for at least 3 weeks and mostly dry nights. She's great to run to the potty when she feels the urge to tee-tee, however, she's been so scared to do #2 that I haven't pushed her until today.

When she was learning to use the potty early on, she would get to the point where she knew she had to pee in the potty but was scared. She also didn't want to wet her pull-ups so she would freak out a little and didn't know what to do. She no longer has the fear to pee, but we're back to square one with doing #2. Today, she had her freakout moment. She had to go. She didn't want to dirty her panties, but she was terrified to use the toilet. I sat her down on the toilet, sat on the floor myself in front of her and wrapped my arms around her in a big hug. Not only to secure her place on the potty and keep her from moving off, but to hopefully reassure her that it was all going to be okay. After about 5 minutes of screaming hysterically and kicking and sliding around (her not me), she did the deed. I praised her so big, jumped up and down, clapped my hands and made myself to look like a real idiot, but it worked. She was proud of herself, and so was I.

I said, "Now, Ella, that wasn't so bad afterall, was it? Next time you have to go poopy are you going to go on the potty?", to which she replied "NO!"

Well, we're almost there. I'll be so glad to get rid of pull-ups and put her in big-girl panties.

Boosterthon

Kelsey's school recently participated in their annual Boosterthon Fun Run. She raised $122 and ran so hard. It was 80 degrees outside but felt like 90. There was not a cloud in the sky and very mild breeze every now and then. What a trooper. She never gave up and kept a smile on her face the entire time. The school she attends is a K-2, so they did the run by grades. Her grade started at 9:00am. In this first picture, all the classes are lined up, and getting ready to run. The lady with the white brim hat is her teacher, Ms. Redding. She's a very fair-skinned red head. It doesn't take much to burn in the South.

The first lap they did was the pace lap and they just walked. This picture is of her first running lap. Each lap is 1/16th of a mile. She ran 34 laps. Amazing! They cap them at 35, so I think she did pretty great!
Hot and tired.

Finished!

Each time they made a lap, a teacher marked it off their back.

They were treated to popsicles afterwards.

Soccer Season Has Begun

Soccer Season has begun in our neck of the woods. Kelsey was all dressed and ready for her first practice. Sadly, though, we didn't get Cole in his getup because he was doing double duty. He had to go to his Boy Scout meeting before his practice. By the time he got to practice, I had already left the field to get Kelsey bathed and ready for bed. This is how our Fall will be. Between Daisy (girl scout) meetings every other Monday night, Boy Scouts the first three Thursdays of every month, Wednesday night church, two soccer practices a week per kid plus two games on Saturdays, and Chess club the first and third Wednesdays of every month, I think we will stay pretty busy. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But, alas, we must get through these illnesses first. It has hit us early this year. I just hope the Winter isn't going to be that bad.

Isn't she cute?!

My birthday gift

Mother's Day 2008, the kids gave me these ceramic plates that they made at a local store. Cole's plate is square, has his handprint, name and "Happy Mother's Day" painted on it. Kelsey's plate is a heart with her handprint, name and "We Love You" painted on it. Ella's plate is a flower with her footprints (she was 11 months old), name and year on it. I love these gifts but never had anywhere for them so I used them as burner covers/stove decor for the past 15 months. For my birthday this year, however, my precious husband bought me a plate rack and hung it just 2 weeks ago. I love my new kitchen decor and also love the fact that my stovetop is free to use whenever I please now.

Birthday Boy

I cannot believe it, but Cole is now officially "10"! These ten years have flown by so fast that it's almost unfair to a parent. His birthday fell on a school day, so we celebrated as a family and then let him have a sleep over a week later. Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture with all the boys here. I know...sad parenting on my part. Cole has been asking for a Nintendo DS for the past 2 years.

And, instead, we chose to give him the newest version...the DSi. He was thrilled beyon belief!
And to start him out, we thought we'd give him some brain challenging games to keep him in tip top shape. He's since purchased Ben 10 with his own money.

We went to Iguana Grill for his celebratory dinner.

We surprised him with the Under Armour sweatshirt he picked out when we were at the beach. We told him he didn't need it. When Jason took him to another store to continue school clothes shopping, I went back in and purchased it.

A new soccer ball in the size he needs for this season.

The waiters put the sombrero on his head, sang their version of Happy Birthday, and then served him cinnamon pita chips with whip cream and proceeded to paints his cheeks and chin with the whipped cream.

Here he is taking a picture of himself with his new DSi.

Back home, we had cupcakes and ice cream for dessert.

Yes, there really are ten candles on that cupcake.