Pretty Girl.

This little girl had a big big day today.  She has been having some separation anxiety for a couple months and the school drop off has been painful.  I actually went and talked to a children's counselor about the anxiety.  I have had 2 meetings with her one with Kadence and one without.  The meetings have gone extremely well and we have changed some ways in dealing with Kadence that appear to be working.  She has not referred us to anyone and thinks Kadence is just experiencing some attention-seeking behaviors.  This makes me feel so much better!

Today when I dropped Kadence off at school we had NO TEARS.  She was just as proud of herself as I was!  Kenzie and I made a trip to get the new Tinker Bell movie after the drop off to have a surprise for her when I picked her up.  Kadence was happy and still proud of herself.  She is such a sweet, smart little girl and I just don't want her to struggle anymore!  I hope the new behavior continues!  Love this little princess so so much.

6.

I say this all the time and I am going to say it again.  I can't believe my boy is 6 years old.  The time just keeps going faster and faster.  This little boy is the sweetest little boy ever.  He has the biggest heart in the world and the biggest brown eyes ever.  His smile literally lights up my day.  We started out his birthday day with a birthday donut.  Landon was very happy and excited to have his first "school" birthday.

Landon wanted to wear his Vikings outfit from Aunty for his birthday.  When he came home from school he was wearing his birthday crown and was ecstatic to show me his little birthday trinkets from his teacher.  He brought treats to school and could hardly talk to me he was so excited to say he got to pass them out himself.  Landon was excited when his birthday balloons from Grandma and Grandpa arrived literally 10 minutes after he walked in the door.  I let him pick what he wanted for dinner and he chose: grilled cheese, apples, and carrots.  He's pretty easy to please! I made them dinosaur shaped because I felt bad he was having grilled cheese for his birthday dinner-even though it was what he picked.

Life is good!

A couple things I want to remember about my little buddy that have happened recently.  First off, he doesn't like it when his friends get picked on and he is confident enough to step in and try to stop the people doing it.  He knows right from wrong and is so sure of himself that he doesn't cower to those who may not.  I pray everyday that this trait sticks.  I am so proud of him.  On a less serious note, I think he thinks he is pretty tough.  Anyone who knows Landon knows his love for playing rough.  One night while he was supposed to be getting in the shower, I walked in to my bedroom (he was going to shower in our bathroom) and he was standing buck naked in front of the mirror flexing his muscles.  Hilarious.  I could not do anything but bust out laughing.  Then a couple nights later when he was supposed to be getting in the shower, I again walked into my bedroom to see him doing naked pushups on the floor.  Yes you read right naked pushups.  Again, I could do nothing but laugh hysterically.  Where do they learn these things?!  This guy is getting quite the personality and a great sense of humor!

Happy Birthday Landon Gary.  Love you to the moon and back sweet boy!

Cloquet Family Visit.

My parents and my sister and her family came for the weekend to celebrate Landon's birthday.  It was fun to have everyone here and we had a great weekend.  The kids had so much fun playing with each other and were all so good.  I can't believe how fast these little munchkins are growing up!  I just want to say that it is not getting any easier to take a group photo!  But how cute are these guys with their Vikings shirts?

Landon Gary: 6

Annabelle: 5 1/2

Kadence: 4 1/2

AJ: 4 1/2

Kenzie Marie: 23 months

The guys!

Grandma and Grandpa hanging out with the kiddos.

Fun times!  Thanks for all the fun guys!  Love you!

Birthday Bash!

We had our very first "kid" birthday party for Landon this year.  I have been putting this off for a couple years but Landon had been invited to a few parties this summer/fall so he asked if he could have one.  We had a Transformers themed pool party at the Govenor's Inn in Casselton.  It turned out to be a great birthday party and I think everyone had  a good time!

 Landon invited four of his little friends: TJ, Axel, Sawyer, Caleb and his cousins Annabelle and AJ.

 These little boys all played together so well and were so good!

 My mom and dad came to the party to help with all the kids and I was sure glad to have some extra eyes.

Kadence and Annabelle had a great time at the party, too!  They played a ton!

The hotel had a water slide and a big pool as well as a little kid play pool.  All the kids had a blast!  Jill and Mom helped me keep a head count so we knew all the kids were safe.  It was a bit overwhelming at first but after I relaxed a little the boys also seemed to group together a little better.

This little party girl had a blast as well.  She never asked to get in the water and I figured Ryan and Curt had enough to deal with with all the kids in the water.  She was totally fine with hanging out and drinking pop.  Once Aunty Jill started giving her pop Kenzie was convinced that this was the best party ever.  She hadn't ever had pop and thought it was pretty awesome.  I was just glad she never got a bellyache!

 The kids were all excited for the cupcakes!  I had made them for the party with Grandma June's frosting and they were SO tasty.  They looked pretty good, too!

 Landon got some awesome gifts!  After lots of swimming, pizza, cupcakes, presents, and the arcade I think it was safe to say we had a great party!

Halloween 2012.

Halloween is always such a fun day for the kids.  I understand there is a ridiculous amount of candy involved, but really that is not what it is all about.  The kids love dressing up and pretending to be something fun as well as participating in a neighborhood outing.  Our kids are always excited to get candy and we usually let them have a couple pieces once we are home.  The beauty is that we then put the candy away and they usually ask for a piece the next day and then forget all about it.  The bad part is that Ryan and I are the ones who indulge in the sugar.  Better us than our little ones I suppose!  This year we had a Vikings football player, dragon, and a lady bug.  They were all costumes we had at our house which was awesome!

The kids couldn't dress up for school but Landon had crazy hair day.  We spray dyed his hair orange.

 So of course this one wanted PINK hair!

 AND this one, too!  Kadence had fun spraying her little sister's hair and Kenzie loved being just like her!

 It was 5:30 and time to head out before it got too cold and too dark!  I love trick-or-treating with little ones!

 Our tough little football player.

 Our mean little dragon in her football stance...

 Little lady bug Kenzie.  I had planned on her wearing a bumblebee outfit that we had but she screamed bloody murder when I put it on her!  Luckily, I had this lady bug costume that she loved!

 She was having so much fun walking on her own and carrying her bucket!  She didn't want to ride in the stroller or have me carry her pumpkin.

We all had a fun time and it was great to see Kenzie enjoy her Halloween so much!  Ryan was in Sioux Falls for Gary's shoulder surgery so we did Halloween without him this year and managed just fine!

A little lady bug story...
Kenzie was pretty good about not eating the candy (amazingly).  I found out the next day that she actually snuck a tootsie roll that I didn't know about at the time.  The only reason I knew was that she had a purple tootsie roll wrapper stuck half in her bum and half out when I changed her dirty diaper.  I pulled it out (obviously) not knowing what it was to find out it was a perfectly intact purple tootsie roll wrapper.  I will never see a tootsie roll the same again...good thing I didn't really like them in the first place!

Dance Dance!

Kadence loves to dance.  She looks forward to dance class every Thursday night.  She also spends a ton of time dancing around the house.  Kadence has already influenced her little sister with her love of dance.  They both spend a lot of time dancing and wearing ballet/tap shoes around the house.  Dance is the one part of Kadence's life outside our home that she has never been unsure of.  She is never reluctant to leave me and go with her class and she talks about her teacher Miss Hayley all the time.

Kadence had observation day this week and I was so excited to watch her!  Grandma Sue and Papa Gary happened to be in town and were able to watch, too!  I shot a couple videos of class.  After watching her I was even more proud of her.  She was listening so well to her teacher and did very well in class.  She recently said to me out of the blue, "Mama, I love coming to dance class!  Its way more better than soccer!"  What a sweetie pie!

Kadence practicing her ballet.  She is in the back corner with the black leo and purple skirt on.

Some tap dancing.

Star Student of the Week.

Landon was chosen to be the student of the week!  It was a pretty big deal at our house and he was very excited.  We filled out a poster all about him and he shared it with his class.  He received a special certificate at school and got to lead The Pledge of Allegiance and sit with Dr. Sheldon (the principal) at lunch.  We were so proud of our little guy.  

Here is Landon with the other Student of the Week students.  His teacher sent the picture and when Landon saw it at home he was so excited to tell me that his friend Caleb was also the student of the week!  Proud Mama and Dad moment:) 

Landon also had his first Kindergarten conferences just a couple weeks ago.  His teacher Mrs. Spanier started out the conferences by telling me that Landon was just a "good boy."  She could have stopped there and I would have been beyond pleased.  She said he is exactly where he should be academically and doing very well socially.  We are so proud of our boy and just astounded by how much he has learned already.