November...where did this year go??

I can't believe 2013 is coming to a close already!!!  And i'm a little embarrassed that my last blog was in JUNE!!  gosh time flies!!  I'm torn between posting possibly the longest blog EVER to include all my updates, or if I should break them into 5-6 mini blogs and type for a good hour ;-)  hmmmm.....think i'll take the latter of the two.  So if your reading this, grab yourself some coffee/tea/snack/Whatever and hope you enjoy...it's gonna be a LOOOOONG READ!! ;-)

Where to begin??  I suppose soon after Vivian started school this year.  And let me say she is doing SO AMAZING!!!  She loves going each day, she has made new friends, she loves everything about it!!!  And I can't believe how much she has blossomed.  Sometimes I have to ask myself...where did that painfully shy, intraverted child go that I knew a year ago??  I am over the moon excited and happy about her progress.  I have been trying to help out as much as I can in her class, but public school is so different from her sweet little preschool last year.  I do what I can, i've had lunch with her a few times, and helped with a halloween party, and this week I will be helping the student teacher with the kids.  Also at the beginning of the year, she decided she wanted to try dance class.  Her school sent out a flier about dance classes being offered at the schools around our area, so I signed her up...and guess what??? she LOVES that too!!  Granted she is not quite ready for the end of the year performance in front of lots of people, (she will not be participating), but she still enjoys the classes.

Since She was doing dance, Landen needed something to do! ;-)  Plus I feel he likes to be around kids his age, and with Viv in school, he needed an activity.  So I signed him up for a program called "Lil Kickers"  it's an indoor soccer arena, and they start from kids at 18 months and it continues from there.  He loves it!!

Most of the activities at this age teach them teamwork, eye/hand cordination, and sharing.  They do practice kicking the ball, which is probably his favorite thing.  He does this slide and kick...which is pretty darn impressive ;-)  OH...actually his favorite thing is the parachute.  We have the kids sit on it and we sing songs.  Then they get to go under and then ride on it before it's put away.  wish I had a pic of that!!  I'll have to get one and include it in my next blog ;-)

During the dog days of summer, we took a few trips down to T or C and Elephant butte lake.  Went on 4 wheeling rides, and a boat ride with our family on Chris' side.  They're like brothers and sisters to us, even though Aaron is Chris' cousin.  but the kids know them as auntie and uncle :-)  This was their first time on a boat, and let me tell ya, you would never guess!!  We all had a ball!!

Cousins Addison and Max

Cousin Mason

Lorie and her boyfriend, JP :-D

our boat!!

soakin up the sun and cooling down

It was a great time!  And here's some pictures from our 4 wheeling ride

our lil Motley dog exploring with us :-)

lil rock hounder

In between our trips to T or C, soccer class, and dance classes, we've spent time out and about and at home just having fun with eachother.  Around halloween time, we grabbed a quick bite at Wendy's and in the kids meals they had Shrek items.  This is what we got...

LOL!!  too funny!!

Not too long ago Chris had his deer hunt, and as we were going through his gear we found his camo face paint.  We couldn't resist!!

Hahahaha!!!

We have so much fun, and even though things get hectic, it's so important to remember to always have fun!!

and it truly is.  I love this image that I found online quite awhile ago, I go back to it often.  Never forget it!!

Can't wait to post our thanksgiving!!  Hope you all have a good one too :-)

Vivian is officially a kindergartener next year!!!

Wow!!!  She will officially be starting her schooling career in just a few months!!  Not to take anything away from preschool, I just LOVED her teachers and they have helped her grow in so many ways, I can't even begin to express my gratitude for them.  But Kindergarten is like...the beginning beginning ya know??  I'm so proud, scared, excited...Happy!!  and she is super excited too!!  That's what makes it easier for me.  I just keep my toes and fingers crossed that she will continue to like school as she gets into it.

At the end of May, she had a graduation from preschool that her teachers put together. They sing about 10 songs in front of all the families of all the kids in her class, then they have a little social hour with food and drink for everyone afterwards. I have to say I was nervous about it because last year in preschool she did not want anything to do with getting up on that stage.  She sat in the audience with me the whole time.   This year she practiced everyday with the teachers and kids, and she was even a leader for one of the songs!!!  EEEEK!!  but she did SO amazing, and after the performance she says "that was a piece of cake mom!!"  I am SO PROUD of her and how much she has grown this year.  Here's some pictures of the graduation:

All dressed for graduation!

Proud little brother

She got her diploma!!!  She is now officially a kindergartener.  Notice Landen's hand reaching for it...he's gotta check it out too!

Proud Daddy and his baby girl

Yay siblings!!

Proud mama with her baby girl

Vivian with all her friends from her class.  SO CUTE!!!

A few days after the graduation, there was a picnic for all the kids in preschool, kind of an intro to summer.  The kids had so much fun playing one last time together.

Landen's favorite thing to do at the park...SWING!!

Vivian climbing

My sweet girl is growing so fast!!!  I love you Vivian, so so SOOOOO much!!!  Always have fun!!

ahhhhh memories....

For some reason all day today I've been thinking about this certain instance when Vivian was a newborn...maybe it's because she will be starting Kindergarten next year, and yesterday it finally hit me when we went to visit the elementary school she will be attending and when i physically handed over the registration papers.  I can't believe how fast time flies!!  My baby....

Speaking of babies, here's the instance I am thinking of today:

I loaded my sweet almost newborn baby in her stroller for one of our many afternoon walks we took around the neighborhood.  She was probably around 3-4 months old.  I took her to a park near our house and spread a blanket onto the the nice cool grass.  I picked her up out of the stroller and laid her on her back on the blanket, then I laid down next to her.  I was watching the huge trees that shaded us from the sun and heat sway in the cool breeze, and when i looked over at her, her huge eyes were watching them too.  She laid there so quiet, so in awe of them. Then she would kick her legs and move her arms like new babies do and I remember getting the smallest smile on my face watching her.  We laid there for quite awhile.  I'd close my eyes and every once in awhile I'd hear her coo and when i'd look at her, she'd be staring up at the trees.

I will never forget that, or at least I hope I don't.  Such a little moment made such an impression on my life.  It's like at that moment I truly realized just how much I loved this little human.  Maybe that's why I love trees so much, or at least why I love them even more than I ever did. 

Our first camping trip of 2013!

And we had a blast!!!  We went a few weeks ago, but I just now got the pictures downloaded.  We took our new camping trailer, the first time we ever camped in it.  It was amazing, comfortable, and perfect for our family.  We were going to camp with just a few other couples, but it ended up being 8 campers with a total of around 15 kids!!!  I'm not gonna lie, it was hard keeing track of my little ones...but then that's the beauty of camping, the wide open spaces allows for running around without too much stress.  ROAM FREE LITTLE ONES!! We went for rides on our 4 wheeler "or BUGGY" as we like to call it, we went fishing, played games, went on hikes, and the kids made new friends.  It was great :-)

This is the view from our trailer.  I love the forest!

Our campsite...with all our friends

Through this gate is the river.  The kids loved this spot!  And we tried fishing here but no luck :-/

Landen pushing his tractor.  This toy was a hot item among the kids!

Snack time!!  Taking some time out from our fishing trip to Fenton Lake.  We caught 3 fish this day.  This is Vivian's Friend Estivan who she's known since they were newborns.  They have the same birthday and were born within hours of eachother.

This is Mia, Estivan's sister who is a few months older than Landen.  She's trying out Vivian's fishing pole here.

Fenton Lake.  A forest fire a few years ago wiped out the trees above.  But there's signs of life coming back!

Trying to catch fish.  Here's Chris and our camping friends lined up along the shore trying too!

More fishing friends

This is our "BUGGY"  Chris took Vivian and her new friends for a ride.  They had a blast!!  They saw some deer and went through puddles!  The girls were screaming and laughing like crazy!!

On another ride with our friends.  Taking a hike in the mountains. 

Our final campfire.  The last night we were there.  We put all the wood we had left on it!  It was more like a bonfire.

Enjoying a beautiful star-filled night. 

We stopped on our way home for a final fishing trip.  This is Vivian Fishing along the river close to where we camped.

 

Vivian Fishing.  landen was asleep in the van.  No luck, but it was beautiful and relaxing.