Some big changes coming

We closed on a house in Gilbert, AZ on October 15th and have scheduled our move for December 20th. We are very excited for starting a new adventure. And the kids keep asking when we are moving to Arizona.

Also, the other day I posted in one of my mom's groups and wanted to capture the thought for my blog. "I'm just having a moment today marveling at how differently my kids are developing right now. For example, Gordon is leagues ahead of the other two with letter recognition, starting to spell, and word recognition. Adele's way ahead with fine motor skills like coloring in the lines, starting to write, and drawing. And Walter has blown past the other two with gross motor, Jeff and I call it sportsing, with his pedaling, ball handling, and general climbing abilities."

I also just wanted to capture photos from the last week. We've done a lot of fun stuff after school days.

I picked up the kids one day after school and took them straight to Tons of Fun. It had been a while, so the kids went nuts running around, jumping, and climbing.

I can really see how much bigger my kids have gotten when I take them places like this and see all the things they can do versus the first time we came.

Another day, we went from school to the mall. We had a fun and successful trip buying pajamas and slippers. Then the kids got ice cream, which was their highlight.

New slippers, they all picked out themselves.

We got home to find a box of gifts from Uncle Matt, Aunt Julie, and cousins Laurie, Evan, and Kate. The kids had to dive in right away.

Showing off the new pjs, they also picked out themselves.

We've had people coming to see the house now that the landlords have it back on the market. So on Saturday, we took the kids to Flanagan's to leave the house open for a showing. Their favorite part? The ice cream at the end. I'm sensing a theme. 

Today was one full of rain, rain, rain. We watched tv a while and then the boys decided to build robot dinosaurs. While wearing shorts with the pj tops, of course.

Checking out Gordon as he puts headphones on his robot dinosaur.

I don't know what game they are playing, but obviously, it is the best game ever.

The 4th Birthday

I understand every parent who says, "I can't believe my babies are XXX years old." Because I can't believe it was 4 years ago today they were born. I said to Jeff last night that 4 years ago, we knew I was about to have blood work in the morning and that blood work would determine whether or not we'd be meeting our babies the next day.

FOUR years. Wow.

Once again, I just invited a few friends and neighbors over for play, snacks, and cake. I'd decided to do a dinosaur theme after asking the kids and getting a resounding 'yes' response. Then the plates, cups, and napkins I ordered showed up about two weeks ago. The kids have been asking for their 'dinosaur birthday' ever since.

Yesterday they had a small party at school with their pre-school friends. This morning, they woke to find I'd put up a few balloons and decorations in the kitchen. Jeff had also left out 3 toy dinosaurs that Aunt Kim bought. The kids were over the moon about their surprise, as they put it. And they rushed to get dressed in the dinosaur birthday shirts we had made. From that point on, Walter asked for dinosaur birthday and dinosaur birthday cake every 20 minutes until it was time for cake.

But in the end, they had a blast! 

In the morning, I went to pick up the cake. We got it from Bake-A-Way, the same bakery that has made all of their birthday cakes since moving here.

They all loved the dinosaur cake.

After that, we opened presents.

Walt was pretty excited about the toys he got from Planes 2. He'd been in a store with me and asked for them, but I said, 'no, you have to wait for your birthday.' 

Adele and Gordon

All 3 kids opening their gifts from Grandma S. & Grandpa S. They were Fire & Rescue Dusty cups & shirts. The kids kept telling me how much they love Dusty.

Presents from Grandma Elaine & Grandpa Wayne -- awesome marker sets, giant coloring books, and pads of paper. The kids couldn't wait to color!

Dad helping Gordon with his new Stuffy/DocMacStuffins doctor kit

Adele taking a break from her Doc MacStuffins karaoke to pet kitty while Walt and I play new puzzles in the background.

"Cheese!"

Silly Walt

Adele singing songs on her karaoke machine

Sweet smiles from Gordon

Dinosaur birthday cake!

Adele was embarrassed by all the attention from singing 'happy birthday.' But they were all happy to blow out their candles.

Waiting for cake

We had a great sized crowd. It was busy and noisy, but lots of fun!