Happy 3rd Birthday, Annika!!

Annika is 3!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Her birthday was actually on Thanksgiving this year, but we let her think it was the next day.:) Turkey & stuffing weren't really her idea of a good birthday dinner! So on Friday we went to Charlie's Safari for a fun time of jumping around. The kids REALLY love it there.:) Kellen did have a meltdown toward the end (he still hasn't said what was wrong), but other than that we had a great time. It was a little bit more crowded than we are used to, since we usually go when the 'bigger' kids are at school. But it wasn't as bad as we thought it might be! After that, we went to Round Table Pizza for their lunch buffet. I think the kids were hungry, as Kellen ate 3 pieces of pizza & Annika & Kaarin both ate 2! Then we came home for 'naps' (or something - K&A didn't nap) then presents & ic cream. Annika got some new pjs, a shirt, a puzzle & a LIGHTBRITE!:) It does say ages 4+ on it, so she had a harder time with it than Kellen did. He loved it.:) We try to put it up when Kaarin is awake, so the pegs don't go everywhere!! All in all I think Annika had a very fun birthday! She was a bit disappointed, however, when I had to explain to her that just because she is 3 now doesn't mean she gets to go to pre-school TODAY.:( She has been wanting to go ever since Kellen started!

I'll post some pictures later.

A breakthrough?!

KELLEN WENT POO POO ON THE POTTY TODAY!!! WOOT WOOT! I can't really even tell you how long it's been...so I am celebrating huge on the inside!;) He showed it to me & I said, "O.k. Remember to wash your hands." I don't know if he was a little bit disappointed in my reaction, but he usually tells me not to say 'yay.' And I told him that I wouldn't, nor would he get any treats for going (he asked about that, too). Potty times around here are going to be just another part of the day. No hoopla. No special treats. Just what we do.

I forgot these...

Annika, while I was putting on makeup, "Why you drawing on youself, mommy?"

Kellen requested the other day that I wear my green sweater & no hat (I had worn a baseball hat on that day). I did, the next day. Then yesterday again he asked me to wear my green sweater with no hat, instead of my red-&-white sleeved sweater. He said, "You smell so pretty much better without your hat." Ha!

Kaarin also says 'banana.' :)

Funny kid quotes

The other night at dinner, Kellen & Annika were counting how many people were at the table. "1-2-3-4-5!" Then Kellen said, "When Daddy's at work there are only 4 of us." I asked him if we counted Mookie in our family how many there would be. "Six!" he said. I said that was right, & that Mookie is a part of our family too! Kellen said, "Yeah, but he doesn't really like us."


Today I took the girls to story time at the library while Kellen was at school. Annika put her finger toward me & said, "Here Mommy, it's a boogie." I told her that I didn't want it & she said, "O-tay, I put it in Kaarin's nose."


Kellen suddenly is very into guitars & has decided that he wants one for Christmas. Erik & I brought out our (uplayed) guitars for him to see. Tonight at dinner he said, "Mommy, for Christmas I want a guitar AND a drum so that I can play really loud music!"

Kaarin is saying a lot more words, some of her latest are : let go, water (wa wa), hot! (with a hand out like 'stop'), see (when she wants to see something like a picture or something), and 'no, no, no.' She has also started laughing very intentionally at Kellen or Annika when they are doing something funny.:)

Halloween Fun

At church.

Look at that candy!

This week was full of activities for the kids, & we participated in a lot more than we ever have! Overall it was a really fun week.:)

To start, the Lakewood YMCA had a 'costume parade' where all the kids in their costumes paraded around the Y & the stafff handed out candy to them. That was fun, but the real reason we went was because the kids then got to play in the gymnastics room! We went to a birthday party in that room a year ago, & it's so much fun!! The kids had a great time, the only bummer was that it was pretty short.

Saturday we went to PLU & trick-or-treated on Garfield street. The local businesses were handing out candy to the kids. It was really fun & it didn't rain at all! The kids also got to decorate a cookie. There was supposed to be 'fishing' as well, but we didn't find it. Afterward we played at the bookstore & had pizza for dinner at Farelli's.

Sunday we started out trick-or-treating on our street, which was really fun. It's nice to see our neighbors, & they enjoy seeing the kids. I was surprised at how many of our neighbors handed out FULL-SIZED candy bars! The kids were really excited about all their treats, especially Kaarin! She didn't want me to help her carry them at all...I don't think she trusted me.;) She carried at least one treat in each fist the whole way.:) After we went around our neighborhood, we headed to church for the Harvest Carnival. It was a lot of fun, & the kids did a great job at the games this year.

All in all we had a lot of fun with the activities. I will have to hide/pilfer the candy, though...they have WAY, WAY too much to eat all themselves!;)