Our little girl!

This sassy little girl turned 4 1/2 over a week ago.  This is pretty big when you are her age.  Here is what she has been up to lately:

1.  She loves her Disney princess dolls.  She has every Disney princess in a 4 inch doll and Barbie size that she can play with for hours.  

2.  Chocolate milk is her favorite drink and M&M's are her favorite candy.  Mac and cheese, hot dogs, tomato soup and pancakes are some of her favorite foods.

3.  She wants to grow her hair as long as Rapunzel.
4.  At school she is having a blast learning her letters.  We have been working on them at home and she is getting really good with writing and sounds of letters.
5.  She still thinks Spiderman is pretty cool.
6.  She would wear jammies all day if you would let her.
7.  Every morning she wakes up by sitting on the couch and watching TV. 
8.  Scooby Doo is her favorite TV show.

9.  She loves to wear dresses.

10.  She is a dancer.  We tried soccer but have decided to re-enroll her in dance come January.

11.  She is a sword fighting expert on the Wii.

12.  Her answer to when she can get married is "35".

13.  Somedays it feels like she is 4 going on 13 because of her sass.

14.  Getting her to sit down and eat dinner is a chore. 

15.  She absolutely adores her brother.  Sometimes way too much.

16.  She chooses a different stuff animal to take with her to school for nap time almost every day. 

17.  Friday night has become Shelby's movie night with Mommy.

18.  She likes to go watch movies and play in Daddy's shop office while he is working on cars. 

19.  She is not a cuddler but does like to snuggle close when she is tired or just waking up.  She has also learned the right moments to give you a kiss or hug. 

20.  She never sits still even when she is sleeping.  You never know where on the bed she is going to wake up at.

21.  Shelby is a sweet girl.  She gets her feelings hurt very easily but is good about expressing when she feels like she is not being treated fairly or one of her friends have done something that she doesn't like.

18 months

This cute little boy turned 18 months this weekend.  Here are 18 quick facts about Bradan at year and a half:

1.  He is a cuddler.  The first 5-10 minutes of his day is spent in his mom's lap which is a great start to both of their days.
2.  When he wakes up, he always grabs his piggy and blanket.
3.  He loves shoes and hats.  His sister has trained him to go her shoes in the morning. 
4.  His favorite place to be is outside, rain or shine. 
5.  He would stand on the stool in the bathroom and brush his teeth for hours if you let him.
6.  Words he is saying right now are ball, mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, kitty, out, thank you, to name a few.
7.  He will back up to sit on your lap with a book in hand.  Tractor and the touch and feel books are his favorites.
8.  All animals are kitties and say Woof Woof.  He loves to pet Elsie and always tries to give her hugs.
9.  He loves his sister dearly except when she gets into his personal space.  One minute he will be laughing at her and the next he will be screaming because she touched him.
10.  He likes to hold the phone up to his ear and say Hello except when somebody else is on the other line.  Then he just likes to push buttons.
11.  When he is tired, his middle and ring finger on his right hand goes in his mouth.
12.  Favorite toys are balls and cars.  He will push around Shelby's Barbie cars all over the house.  When pulling up to daycare I hear "Ball Ball" from him because he knows that they have the big exercise balls that he can play with.
13.  Favorite foods are fruit especially grapes and bananas, crackers, cheese and chocolate.
14.  He loves to spend time in the shop with Daddy and get into things he shouldn't.  His favorite spot is in the back of the Ranchero.
15.  He hates to drink milk but would drink juice all day if you let him.
16.  Is wearing size 18 months clothing and size 5 shoes.  He is going through a growth spurt so that will be changing soon.
17.  B is extremely ornery and stubborn.  He wants to do things by himself like eating with utensils.  His favorite game is to take off running when he has something he shouldn't or has done something he shouldn't.
18.  Weighs 26 pounds and is 33 inches tall.

Halloween Weekend

The weekend was filled with a 3rd Birthday/Halloween party on Saturday and trick or treating in Gig Harbor on Sunday.  Both days were fun but we are glad Halloween is over.  It has brought this need to eat candy instead of dinner into our household.  For both Stuart and the kids.

Here are some good pictures from our Halloween weekend.  I forgot to put the battery in my camera on Sunday so no pictures of trick or treating. 

Best picture I got of them together.

You want me to stick my hand in that?

Bradan splashing in the puddles.  Saturday it rained all day but Sunday was nice and dry for trick or treating.

Spider "girl/princess/WOMAN" pose - every time you asked her you would get a different response of what she was

Our little mechanic.

Posing with her pumpkin

Mechanic with the hat.

Spider Girl with ponytails

Playing balloons with her bestie Chloe

 In the kid costume parade with Maddie and Katie

Just like Dad

Silly boy who was tired.

 Hello?
 

It's almost Halloween

Shelby is getting a kick out of Halloween this year. 

This week she has carved a pumpkin with Daddy,

Dressed up as Spiderman girl for her school Harvest party,

and painted pumpkins and decorated sugar cookies with her friends. 

Great Fall Weekend

Both days this past weekend were absolutely beautiful.  We took advantage of the sunny fall days by heading to a fall party at a produce stand in Port Orchard on Saturday and to a pumpkin patch in Buckley on Sunday.  Shelby is loving Halloween this year so she really enjoyed the family outings this weekend. 

Pictures from Saturday:

Bradan with the candy bucket on his head.

 Shelby posing for the camera.

 Shelby trying to find candy in the hay.

Pictures from Sunday:

Shelby getting ready to ride the "Cow Train".        

          

Kid picture attempt #1

Kid picture attempt #2

Shelby riding a pony.

Daddy helping Bradan drive the tractor.  B was not impressed and would rather push it standing up. 

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

Not impressed by his sister's driving ability either.

Kid picture attempt #3

Pushing the kids and pumpkins in the wheelbarrow with a flat tire.

Shelby posing with "Belle".  Highlight of her day.

B enjoying the tractor.  Highlight of his day.

Kansas: Part 2

After 2 days of driving we made it back to Washington late Saturday night. The first day we drove to Laramie, Wyoming and stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool. We then got up at 3 am in the morning and drove until 11 pm. It was 2 long days but the kids did great. It is good to be back home...back to a routine.

We have had to remind Shelby a few times that she is back to "Real" world instead of "Grandparent's" world. Bradan is just happy we remembered all of his hats.

During our time in Clay Center we:

Watched Herb and Margie Abel's old house be destroyed.

Went to the Clay Center Zoo (while Mommy and Daddy were in Vegas)Had water gun fights and played in the pool, sprinkler and water slide.

Visited the Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas

Got to visit with family and friends at a barbecue at Lawrence and Stephanie's house

.Went to Old Abilene Town (while Mommy and Daddy were in Las Vegas) to ride a train, see can-can girls dance, and watch a cowboy fight.

Some other things that we did while we were in Clay Center:

• Made homemade ice cream.

• Spent a day with Aunt Rachel getting our nails done.

• Visited Great Grandma Gean

Kansas: Part 1

Shelby, Bradan and I flew to Kansas on July 14th. We spent from then until July 24th in Bern and then headed to Clay Center until August 4th. Stuart and his sister Rachel drove from Washington to Kansas arriving on the 24th. We will be heading back to Washington from Bern on the 6th.

Here are some of the exciting things we have done so far...

Both kids got a ride from Grandpa on the 4 wheeler.

Just ShelbyB patiently waiting for his turn.
Both kids

We spent a lunch hour playing at the Seneca park and evening playing at the Bern park.

Seeing the baby piggies and calves are always a must with the kids. B has no problem touching the animals but Shelby not so much. Shelby also got to ride with Grandpa in his big huge sprayer.
Bradan has spent lots of time outside. Every time Grandpa Robert came in the house Bradan wanted to be picked up by him and automatically pointed outside. Grandpa spent lots of time swinging and pulling Bradan in the wagon. Of course, B didn't go far without his John Deere hat.
Shelby took swimming lessons at the Seneca pool. She got to jump (with help from her teacher) off the low board, walk across the lily pads, practice kicking her feet and moving her arms and open her eyes underwater. She did every skill to pass Level 1 and was presented with a certificate at the end of the week.

We also went to the Seneca pool two additional times in the afternoon; once by ourselves and once with Grandma Mary.
We went with Grandma to Topeka one afternoon to do some shopping and go out to eat with Aunt Katie.

July 17th was the annual Haverkamp employee party. Although it was very hot Shelby had a blast at the pirate themed party.

Shelby got to go fishing for the first time with Uncle Tyler. No fish were caught but she did get the experience of stepping in a cow patty.

Katie, Dustin, Bryson and Jill all made it to Bern for the first weekend we were there. Shelby threw Jill a Spiderman party for her 21st birthday.

We went to the Nemaha county fair one night but it was way to hot to stay long. Shelby's favorite part was seeing all the animals.