Happy Birthday Andrew!

I am late posting this but better late than never right? Andrew's birthday was on September 7th and he turned nine. We just had a family party this year and fun was had by all. Nathan, Renay, Kaeli, Alyssa, and Ian came to celebrate but I didn't get any good pictures of everyone. It's always so chaotic I'm pretty lucky to get any pictures at all!! :)

One of his favorite gifts was this Battlefront game. Grandma and Grandpa Behrmann got it for him and he has really loved it. His cousin Parker had the same game this summer so he wanted his own.

This is Andrew reacting to Jason bringing down his electric motor scooter that we got him. He got to pick it out and he was SO excited about it.

His Nana and Papa Stevens got him a new skateboard along with a helmet and a ramp. He couldn't wait to try those out too!

Here he is on his new scooter. He has really enjoyed it.

His actual birthday fell on labor day and we all went out for Andrew's favorite breakfast, McDonalds. It has been his favorite ever since the big ice storm that happened when he was 4 and we went out to McDonalds for breakfast everyday for a week. We don't get to do it very often so it was a special treat.

Enjoying the new scooter.

Natasha's list

Last night Natasha and I were at Petco to get crickets and she loved to walk around and look at all the different animals. We saw someone with a small dog walking around the store and she really liked that. I think seeing that dog got the wheels turning in her head. As we were walking to the car she told me this,

"When I get older I'm going to have lots and lots of pets. This is the order that I will get them:

1. a dog - because I have wanted one my WHOLE life!

2. a bird

3. a cat

4. a snake and a lizard - which I already have

5. a hamster

6. a guinea pig

.....and I think that's it."

I hope she has a big enough house for all those pets! :)

Yay for Andrew!!!

Andrew worked all summer and into the school year to read the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At school they take tests after they read books and earn points if they pass the test. The points you earn depends on how hard the book is. (You have a certain number of points you have to earn in the trimester to get a good grade.) Andrew normally reads books that are one to three points. However, this Harry Potter was worth 14 points! He was so excited to take his test the next day that he stayed in from his first recess to do it. He got 100% and he was sooooooo excited! He wanted to start the next Harry Potter that very night. I told him to maybe take a breather with some easier books first. :) Congratulations Andrew!!!!!

Big boy bed

This last week we have been working hard to restore Preston's room so that Adam could move in (he has slept in our walk-in closet for the past two years). When I was 7 months pregnant with Adam we wanted a quick way to decorate their room. We decided to do wallpaper which in the end was a very bad idea. Preston just ripped the room to shreds. This is the only picture I could find to show what it looked like. The whole room eventually looked like this. It has been bugging me to see the ripped wallpaper with the white walls underneath mixed with the painted walls.

So we spent some time taking off all the old wallpaper so we could paint. It came off really easily except for the spots where we had "fixed" problem areas when we were naive and really thought we could keep it looking nice. At this point we were cursing ourselves for actually trying to fix it because it took twice as long to get those areas off. We did end up getting it all off and then we repainted everything and now it looks really nice.

We put the other bed together and Adam officially moved in with Preston. The first night he wouldn't stay in so he went back to the crib. However, from the second night on he has done great and slept in there ever since. I was worried to put him and Preston together. So far it has worked well because Preston is so exhausted by the end of the day he basically falls asleep the minute his head hits the pillow. So Adam doesn't have anyone to talk with him. He occasionally comes wandering out but I just tell him to go back to bed and he does. It was much easier than I thought (and things usually don't come easy with my kids, what a pleasant surprise!)

Here is a picture of the whole room. We have the beds like this to gain the most play space but I'm not sure if that's how we will keep them. I would like to try and decorate over the next few months. Right now I just like to see the nice clean walls with NO ripped up wallpaper.

Way to go Adam!!!

A little reminder

I have a lot going on in my life with four little ones so I often leave post-it notes for myself on the microwave. Sometimes it will say "crock pot @ 11:00, check on laundry, call about gymnastics, start the dishwasher, etc." Last week I walked into Natasha's room while she was at school and saw this note. It made me smile.

In case you can't see, it says "Play with dolls and pets!!!" and then in the upper corner in red ink it says "maybe". I think it's funny that she left herself a reminder to play. Oh to be a kid again.

Just 10 minutes of peace

All I wanted was 10 minutes of peace, is that too much to ask? One day last week it had been a hard day with Preston and Adam. They had been fighting ALL day and Adam had been crying most of the day. It was 4:45 and I was exhausted. Then I heard Preston and Adam giggling and having fun up in their room. I laid down on the couch for 10 minutes, I needed to re-group. When I went up stairs this was the scene.

The room had been totally clean (even with things on the shelves in the background). It's crazy how it only takes a few minutes for a room to get completely destroyed. I got my ten minutes rest but it came at a price. At that moment, I thought it was worth it. I just wanted a few minutes of peace and I got them. :)

Preston's first day of school

It finally came, Preston's first day of preschool. It was only a week and a half after the other kids but to him it felt like forever. He actually kind-of forgot about it so I didn't tell him until the very last minute. Otherwise he always gets so confused and thinks it's happening right away. So if I would get excited and say that school was starting soon he would right back say, today? Then I would be in a 20 minute conversation trying to explain it, with him still not getting it. So I've learned to just not say anything. I got him dressed, took this picture, brought his backpack in the car to run errands without him even realizing what was happening. I only told him when it was time to get in the car to go, ten minutes before it started. It was soooo much easier that way.

He had a blast and can hardly wait to go back!