Leapin' Lizards!

For Christmas, Jefferson got season tickets to the Northwest Children's Theater in Portland. It's the gift that just keeps on giving, with shows all the way until May. And, a nice chance for Jefferson and I to go on a Mommy-Son date.

Our date was WELL over due. I simply can't remember the last time we did anything. I should probably check, I'm sure I blogged about it.... because spending time alone with him is HISTORICAL. I know what you're thinking, and yes, spending alone time with each child is part of my New Year's Resolution.

Anyhoo, I'm starting to babble... which happens when I don't blog for a while...hmm, and when I do blog a lot.... I must just be a babbler! 

Let's get on with the show.....

We got all spruced up and ready to go. Here we are before leaving. I specifically told Jefferson NOT to smile because it always looks cheesy.... but it backfired! Now he looks ticked-off. Really, he was excited to go.

 Jefferson at the front door of the Theater. (see what I mean about the cheesy smile?)

The show being performed was Annie. It was FABULOUS!! I could be obnoxious and go on and on about how good it was, but I'll spare you.

Jefferson LOVED IT!

We were in the second row, which was awesome. Most of the actors were teenagers, with only a few adults. They did such an amazing job... it took our breath away. Jefferson's eyes were plastered on the stage. He fell in love with one of the orphans and would get antsy if he couldn't see her behind someones head. After each song he clapped so enthusiastically it would make me laugh.

Afterwards he got to meet everyone from the cast. They all signed his Playbill. I think he got every signature.

Here he is with a maid from Mr. Warbucks mansion.

It took the longest to see Annie, but we waited.

 Sandy was really the only cast member Jefferson was dying to see. After he pet her, he was ready to go.

Jefferson told me that someday he would like to be in a play. I told him I always wanted to also. When he asked me why I never was, I told him I just didn't have the right talent. He thought for a minute, then said, "well, you could still be in a play... you could sew all of the costumes."

I hope he has the "right talent" and that all his dreams come true.

The Birthday Day

 For Reagan's birthday we went to the only place where 'a kid can be a kid'! She told us for WEEKS that she wanted to "go to Chuck-e-Cheese and bounce in the bounce house". I don't know what bounce house she was referring to, but she didn't seem to miss it once we got there.

Here she is with the Cheese Man himself. She kept her distance...

 Reagan blows through her coins quickly, so I had to ration them. Honestly, I don't think she even knows what she's doing. She just puts coins into slots... punches random buttons.... then rips tickets out of the machine.

Reagan rode this horse close to a dozen times

I can't forget about the boys.... Jefferson's coins were gone 15 minutes after we got there. Grant, on the other hand still had a cupful when it was time to leave. Maybe I'm weird, but I think how you spend your coins at Chuck-e-Cheese says a lot about how you will live your life. We'll just have to wait and see if my theory is correct.

We came home and watched a movie.

 Reagan wanted "Maccy Cheese" for dinner, but I begged her to settle for Spaghetti.

After dinner she opened her gifts and played with them for a while. 

She just loves her bike, and takes her dolls for rides around the house.

I didn't get a picture of her blowing out her candles, bummer. It all happened so fast. But I did get a picture of her with her cake.

Now... I have to mention that this stinkin' cake took forever to make. It was fun though, really... I wanted to do it ever since I saw THIS cake over a year ago. I'm not much of a cake decorator, and I haven't made one since Grant's 3rd birthday. You can see how awful his birthday cake turned out HERE. I felt like it was time to redeem myself. It was yummy! And Reagan was proud of it, so that's all that matters.

It was a really fun day. We all enjoyed spoiling Reagan more than we already do! 

Here's our family.... a silly picture... but us, nonetheless....

Our Baby turns 3

Unbelieveable!!

January 8, 2008, at around 6:45am, I held this little 8lb 6oz bundle in my arms.

Hey, where did that brown hair go???

I cannot believe how quickly 3 years goes by!

3 years or not.... Reagan is still my "baby"! I call her 'baby'... I pick her up when she raises her arms for me... I cradle and rock her... I still use baby talk... she's on my hip most of the day...pretty much, I spoil her!

And now she's 3. We won't get away with this for much longer. She's getting older!

Here is our cutie on her big day...

If you don't know this spit-fire very well, let me tell you a few things...

- She LOVES elephants. She obsesses over them, dreams about them, and includes them in every art project.

- She is head-over-heals for Caillou. Yes, the cartoon Caillou. If you ask her about him, she'll tell you, "I love Caillou, I going to marry Caillou in the Temple." And she's serious about it!

- She is the most stubborn child I have ever known (tied with Grant).

- She is very affectionate

- Her favorite place on Earth is Chuck-e-Cheese

- Her favorite food is "Maccy Cheese"

- She will devour artichoke, asparagus, and broccoli

- She goes to the park to swing... nothing else, just swing.

- She doesn't like being at home.... she always wants to go "bye-bye"

- She says our dinner prayer EVERY night. If it is someone else's turn to say the prayer, we'll have to listen to 2... theirs and hers!

Funny, it's hard for me to think of much more about her. But, those things I listed, she is passionate about.

Oh, we just adore this girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REAGAN!!!

p.s. Reagan thanks her cousin, Whitney for the twirly skirt. She didn't want to take it off after wearing it all day, and already informed us she will be wearing it tomarrow too!

The Big Cut

Well folks, I stopped complaining about Reagan's awful hair and just went ahead and cut it off! It was awful, really really awful. Here she is on a typical morning....

That my friends, is what her hair looked like every day. And I am not exgagerating! It wouldn't have been so bad if she would have let me put bows in it, or AT LEAST brush it!! It was messy, gnatted, and in her eyes all day long.

It broke my heart to have to cut it, honestly! The second I had a baby girl, I made the decision to NEVER cut her hair. I wanted my daughter to have the thickest, longest most beautiful hair, in the most gorgeous up do's. My dreams were shattered.

Okay, now I'm starting to exgagerate.... Shattered? We did have a few good days.

For instance, the day she wanted her hair in rollers....

Adorable!!!

But really, it was bad. And THIS little fiasco didn't help at all. So, I told the hairdresser to cut "a style that was so short it wouldn't tangle, or get into her eyes and that I never had to brush." She told me, "she might look like a boy." But at this point, anything she looks like is a major improvement.

She was reluctant to sit for the hairdresser, but felt much better sitting on my lap. She sat speechless and motionless for almost 1 hour.

Then her head suddenly dropped... she had fallen asleep. I had to hold her head up for the rest of the cut. I couldn't stop laughing.  

Dead asleep!

She was a little startled to see herself when she woke up, but she's happy now. She can't stop talking about her hair cut and how much she liked it.

I think now's a good time to show you the results. She wasn't thrilled to have her picture taken in any of these shots, hence the upset faces.

 Here's the front....

and back.....

 I think it turned out nice. Without that bow she does look a little boyish, but oh well.

And here's a goof ball, stuck in a tub, just because!

To finish off 2010....

I was thinking about the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, and it made me want to look through all the pictures stored on my computer..... the THOUSANDS of pictures taken this year. I'm pretty good about blogging everything we do. I mean, I've completely given up scrapbooking, and I can't remember putting a picture in an album since Grant was a baby! This is my scrapbook and my photo album. So, when I looked through the files on the computer, I realized a LOT went undocumented.

So, here I am to get those things documented so they don't get forgotten forever. I'll try to do this as quickly as possible....

-

We took a hike around Mt. Tabor. This is an extinct volcano... in Portland. I never would have guessed there was a volcano in Portland. We thrilled the kids by telling them it was real and that we were walking to the tippy-top, where the lava came out. Kids love that kind of stuff!

We spent many days at the Wetlands just minutes from our house. We'd drag along our Bird Field Guide book at try to identify as many birds/ducks as we could.

Jefferson got 200 water balloons and we had a great big fight with them. It lasted maybe 5 minutes. It was wet fun! Reagan was not a fan of getting wet, so her and I hung out by the car. The boys went wild!

Here's some random pics I caught of the kids sleeping. My kids RARELY fall asleep during the day, so I have to snap a picture when it happens. This shows you just how rare it is.... only 5 pictures of sleepers in 12 months!

 The boys dressed up in fatigue, and waving our American flags, we supported the return of the National Guard soldiers from Iraq as they came down Main Street.

 We rode our bikes several times down the Banks-Vernonia State Trail. It's a pretty easy trail (beautiful one too) and the kids like having the freedom to ride on their own.

A random picture. Once they got into the buckets, they couldn't get out... so I just left them.

I helped throw a baby shower for a friend.

I took the kids on a drive one day while Shawn was busy in school. We didn't know where we were going to stop, but we just drove. We ended up finding the Sandy River. There was a great swimming area and sandy beach. It made for a nice day.

We had Easter dinner at our friends, the Reed's home. Grant isn't in the picture because he was throwing a fit at the time.

Speaking of Grant, he had several allergic reactions (to who knows what) and would wake up looking like a different person. Look at him, I don't even recognize him!

Over the past 12 months, Shawn would had regular "sleep-overs" with the boys. They set up a sheet tent in the living room and bunk together.

I took a photography class through the local college. It was nice to learn how to actually use my camera. I'll spare you from having to look at the hundreds of pictures I took for the class. This was my favorite... 

Reagan resting on the bench with her friend, Carson

Grant reading books outside with Trennon and Jemma.

Reagan, getting into something she shouldn't have... like usual.

Playing at the park.

At another park, Reagan fell in love with this statue. She thought it was real.

So, there you have it. I have filled in some of the blanks of this last year. Of course I left out a lot of random pictures, but I feel a little better now. 

Now we're off to start 2011!