Preppin' for Christmas

So, we are on our last winter break from school. Next year we will be done with school and probably working or something. Lame. We have been quite lazy so far. Ben is taking up crocheting and I have a book for learning to knit but I haven't actually successfully done anything in the book. Well, here are some pictures from our last couple of weeks or so.

Gavin and Kiernan. Notice the "baby hat" that Kiernan found and stretched to fit his enormous head. Seriously, that thing is huge!

Kiernan McCheeserkins

They are yelling "Cheese Market!"

Sometimes, he is not so bad.

My guys and me.

Brothers.

This pretty much sums up Gavin and Kiernan.

September through November

So, it has been a quick fall for us. I have been busy with my internship and enjoying my family each weekend. Here is a little synopsis of my fall:

First things first, bachelorette party! Woohoo, Congratulations Tamera! That was September :)

Tamera and me at the end of the night.

Some fun at the fair. Gavin chose to have a honeybee drawn on his face, Kiernan chose to not be drawn on.

Kiernan is about done with this fair and pictures business, despite that he won a giant penguin.

The best way to end a long day at the fair is at the wine bar. This is our "grown-up" time :)

Getting into the fair: $20. Taking the children on rides at the fair: $40. Eating at the fair: $40-$50. Making husband giggle like a school girl after a long day at the fair: priceless.

Of course we have managed to make time for friends! Gavin and Jessi. This was during their silly game of: climb up on tupperware thing, make silly noises or speak in gibberish, slap self in face, jump into giant pile of pillows, giggle incessantly, repeat.

Just the usual way of getting Daddy out of bed.

Everybody does it.

Felicia, Grandma Jacque, and Kiana. This was for Kiana's baby shower in October. She is having a girl and she is due on Christmas day. Yay!

Somebody let a dog into the house. Kiernan was not pleased with this situation.

Demetria, my mom, and Kiana at the baby shower.

Gavin wanted some pictures of his whole family, but nobody really wanted to do it so it is just him, Gorilla, and Giant Penguin.

A Ninja and a Tiger waiting patiently on the elevator.

Gavin was loving the Ninja costume. He WAS a Ninja!

Gavin, Dominic, Jessi, and Kiernan on Halloween day, getting ready to go and trick-or-treat!

Trying to get a good shot with everyone looking did not work out as planned. Oh well.

Kiernan with his playdough mustache.

Just a good 'ol self taken photo. Always hot.

August is a time for Us to Celebrate!

The Limo:

Kerri, Me, Crystal, Hailee, Demetria, Tamera, Laura and Sarah. I decided I wanted a limo and a night of dressing up to celebrate my 5 year wedding anniversary. Ben didn't want to go in the limo. So, I went anyway with my girlfriends and called it my birthday celebration!

Tamera and I doing our best Magnum faces... I started laughing too soon.

The Official Ben and Felicia Birthday Barbecue:

Lorelai, Davi, Gavin, Blake, and Jessica enjoying some cake and ice cream

Kiernan's 2nd birthday party:

Mommy and Kiernan with his "Pooh Bear" birthday party. He insisted on having a "Pooh Bear" birthday party and I ended up going to the special occasions store and paying WAY too much for Winnie-the-Pooh stuff because apparently kids only like Pooh on their 1st birthday or while they are in utero. When boys turn 2 they like things like spiderman, superman, transformers and other violent movie themed action figures that my poor deprived children are not allowed to watch (they are violent enough, without a lot of extra movie viewing!) The party was fun, and Kiernan adores all the Pooh Bear's he got at his birthday.

Gavin, Dominic, Crystal, Karson, Kiernan, Destiny, Jessica, and Davi getting ready to open some presents. Nobody was really interested in posing for the picture we were trying to take, as you can see.

The Wine Tasting at The Grape Tap:

It just so happens that on my actual birthday, Ben and I were both off from school and work and The Grape Tap was having a wine tasting. Naturally, I needed to spend my birthday money on a wine tasting! And, my mom baby-sat my children and my dad was our designated driver. It really is nice to have such a helpful and generous family!

So, this August we celebrated Ben's 28th birthday, Kiernan's 2nd birthday, My 28th birthday, and Our 5 year wedding (well, marriage, there was not a wedding) anniversary. It was a busy, yet very fun month.

Kiernan

Kiernan's talking about the people in the photo album. Quite the little talker for an almost 2 year old boy.

Gavin Rides a Bike

We spent half the day Saturday trying to get Gavin to get on this "big" bike. We were mostly met with these arguments: "When I'm 5 I'll ride that big bike" and "My legs are this much too small for that bike" and "I like to ride the little car." After much coaching, he finally got on the bike and we were over-the-top about praising him for it! That might have been a more interesting video, Ben and I jumping up and down, giving high fives, and exclaiming "wow, you are such a BIG BOY!" This video was taken on Sunday. As we suspected, once he got over the initial reluctance to get on the bike and push the pedals, he would love it. And he did.

The next video I need to take is of my 22 month old speaking in almost complete sentences. I suppose that it is normal for the younger sibling to learn more quickly when they have another kid to teach them.

Camping

Here's some photos from our camping trip over Memorial Day weekend to Lake Louise. We met up with Hailee, Chad, Jessica, and Dominic and had lots of fun roasting marshmallows, hanging out by the campfire, and throwing rocks into the lake.





And this last picture is just for fun. Rommel, Gavin, and Kiernan all together. It is harder than you think to get a 4 year old, a 22 month old, and a dog to all look the same direction at the same time.

Birthday fun times

Gavin's 4th birthday party was a blast. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday:
"hmmmm" thoughtfully "I want a sword. And....hmmmmm.....that thing at B's house. And a football."
"Anything else Gavin? How about a camera, just for you?"
Gavin replies "Nope, just a sword, that thing at B's house, and a football. That's all I want." The thing at B's house was a squishy dinosaur that my mom bought and he found before his birthday. My mom told him that it was supposed to be for his birthday and then Ben promptly put it up and told him to wait until Sunday. So, naturally, he wanted that. I guess it's not about having what you want, it's about wanting what you have.

He also requested that Daddy make his "fruit" cake to look like a space ship. A Pirate Space Ship.

Mommy and Gavin cheesing for the camera together before his guests arrived.

Argh! A pirate! Davi showing off the homemade (that's right, we made them!) sword, eye patch, and pirate's hat.




Gavin getting ready to search for hidden treasure.

Kiernan was the only kid who actually wore the eye patch for any amount of time.

The pirates checking out the treasure they found from following the treasure map.

And, because a treasure chest full of candy wasn't enough, a pinata.

A Pirate Space Ship made entirely from fruit!




Best buddies getting ready for cake

Saying good bye. What a day!

Change

I thought I'd change it up a little bit for the summer...





And Gavin took a picture of Ben and I. We've come full circle with this blond hair and Ben's short haircut. I was blond and he had a short hair cut when we got together around this time of year 5 years ago. Funny to think that we had just started dating at the beginning of April 2004 and now, a mere 5 years later we have two boys and still like each other. Craziness.




And Ben, is a nerd....This is what we do on our week off, watch stupid things on the TV...



I guess he's pretty fun. I suppose I could keep him around for another 5 years or so.

Break time

So, we're done with the spring semester. This was a pretty fun semester and I finished my practicum and am starting my internship this summer. We spent all day today cleaning our apartment and sifting through our ridiculous amount of stuff. The plan is to have a garage sale in a couple of weeks.

As I was sifting through the piles upon piles of papers, cards, and bills I stumbled across an old stash of letters that were sent to me while I was in boot camp. Oh memories. It made me think of my blog and how I am grateful for all my friends and family that took the time to send me letters while I was in boot camp. That was such a rough time for me and it really makes me feel good to know that I had friends and family who were willing to write to me. Thank you everyone!

Here's some pictures of our finished semester:

Kiernan behind the stacks of books we no longer need to sift through and tote around with us to numerous classes.

Gavin and Kiernan enjoying the sun at B and Bauka's house while Bauka begins to put together the swing set that B bought for the boys.

An attempt to take a family photo. Gavin must always be sticking his tongue out for pictures.