Happy Halloween!

Cassidy talked about wanting to be a Dragon WEEKS before Halloween! I thought it was quite cute, and different than other girls her age. But I wasn't sure how I was going to get her dragon costume without paying more than I wanted. Especially since I already had some other costumes we could wear. But how could I let our little girl down? Her heart was so into being a dragon!

Then I remembered my sister-in-law Sara had designed a cool dragon costume for my nephew Michael. She was willing to ship the costume. But my friend Camille found a lady selling a dragon costume on Craigs-list. I had to get in touch with the lady and hope for the best. Three dollars and finding some pants at the ARC later, it all worked out! Then I found Derek a Knight costume. Derek was our Knight, Cassidy our dragon, and I was the Princess.

Cassidy was the cutest, friendliest, dragon ever! Fortunately, because that picture below could have been ugly if the dragon decided to keep blowing fire on my Handsome Knight in Shining Armor.



We hope you had a wonderful Halloween too!


HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES:

Montessori Preschool Halloween Party
Miss Shanda using toilet paper to turn Cassidy into a Mummy

Cassidy's Turn to do it to Miss Shanda

Halloween Craft-Decorating Ghosts and Witches Hats

Decorating Halloween Cookies and eating them

Miss Shanda handing out home-made playdoh that smells like Pumpkins to the kids

It was my turn to teach Joy School-We had a Halloween Party and did some school work
Aren't they soooo cute!

Painting our Jack-O-Laterns/Coloring & Cutting Pumpkin worksheets

Dancing to Monster Mash
I think Cassidy REALLY liked the Microphone

After a busy day of Joy School, Cassidy and I got comfortable on Mom's bed to watch a movie and to relax

Family time at the Park on Halloween Day

Primary/Nursery Halloween Carnival at the Church
(Friends-Leanna, & Callie)

Cassidy beating up on the Giant using Marshmallows

Ready for Trunk or Treat at the Church

Eating Candy with Friends
(Friends-Logan, Annelise, & Brooklyn)

Trick or Treating time with Daddy
Mommy and Oakley stayed home to hand out candy

Aren't they the perfect match!

SEPTEMBER (Beware looong post)

Donuts for a yummy breakfast...a reward for hard work!



Our garage was a huge mess and to walk around the garage it was like an obstacle course. We decided to tackle the project of cleaning our garage during Labor Day weekend. We hired someone to hang our drywall and then some friends of ours helped us paint it. As you can see, Cassidy had a BLAST painting her part of the wall too. She quickly realized it was more fun to paint with her hands than with a brush.







Derek designed and made some storage shelves to put against the walls. We are now organizing our "junk" and labeling everything in bins. This project has been overdue and we're so excited to be so close to finishing. I know it's just a garage, but I have to take care of my sweet hubby who has a workshop in the garage and uses his hands to create hobbies like making wooden jigsaw puzzles. Now he has a warmer garage to work in and a much cleaner garage too! Pictures of completed garage to come!


CASSIDY'S DAY!



Each September we celebrate "Cassidy's Day" which marks our anniversary of when Cassidy joined our family! Our lives changed forever when this sweet little girl entered our lives and softened our hearts. She is our spunk for life!

So this year we asked Cassidy what she wanted to do for our special day together. This is what she asked for:

• A Bike Ride
• Play at one of her favorite stores: Dick's Sporting Store (a huge playground for all of us)
  
• Go Swimming
  

So Derek and I came up with this plan. We would ride our bikes from our house to Dick's Sporting Store, and play until our hearts content. At Dick's we had Noodle wars (the girls against Daddy), played with bouncy balls, rode up and down the escalators, Cassidy and I hid from Daddy and he snuck up behind us and scared us, played catch with baseball gloves, sat inside tents, pretended we were at the lake sitting in paddle boats, and more. It's always fun!

Next, we went outside right next door to the movie theater where they turn on the water fountains where the kids can run through the water and play. That was our swimming idea. :) So Cassidy got all wet and loved it! She even talked Daddy into running through the water with her, even without his bathing suit. Then we rode our bikes home. It was such a FUN family date. We look forward to our next "Cassidy's Day!"





Preschool's Back!!!!

Preschool is back in Session...September thru May.

Us moms are taking turns teaching again. Our preschool group has changed, we split up our group from last time since there has been more moms interested in joining. So now I only teach 5 kids and by myself, no team teaching. We'll see how it goes...but both Cassidy and I are excited!



GYMNASTICS!!!!



If you know Cassidy...you know she LOVES BEING ACTIVE!!! Over the last several months she would tell me, "Mom, I'm a Gymnst!" We have only talked about gymnastics a couple of times and been to a gym maybe twice. But she has the confidence, desire, and the strength to hang, swing, climb, on everything and anything. So Derek and I looked into enrolling her into a gymnastics class. We thought with her energy it could maybe help her out with her concentration and focus.

We looked into different gyms around town but was recommended to this place: Stars Gymnastics. It was funny actually how we heard about this place. We went out to eat at an Italian Restaurant and learned that our waitress was a gymnst. She was actually an alternate for the 1996 Gymnastic Olympic Team. She coached at Stars Gymnastics too. We were happy with what we heard and decided to give it a go. Cassidy loves it! It was a 6 week program, every Thursday for one hour. She learned so much about her body and it has helped increase her confidence even more. Her favorite thing was the uneven bars and trampolines. Terri her coach was just wonderful with Cassidy and all the kids. Each week they followed a theme and tried new floor obstacles too. Right now we're slowing down a bit and taking a break, but sooner than later we hope Cassidy can continue with gymnastics.

The other day I caught her doing back hand stands off her bed. :) :) :)

Floor Stretching

Handstand

Look at that Strength!

Uneven Bars

FRIENDS VISITING

Our friends Mario and Lisa with their two adorable kids Hannah and Isaac visiting from New Mexico.

Cassidy and Hannah

Our friends Matt and Nicole and their cute girls Jocelyn, Rachel, and Madelyn visiting from Virginia. Jaime and Tyler our friends from Colorado. :)

Jaime and Nicole

Can you tell we go to Chick Fila ALOT!!! :)

Sweet William

Our nephew William James is here! He weighed 9lbs 4 ounces and 21 inches long. We are so excited because we get to meet this little guy this December! We can't wait to show him some love. He's so adorable!

Congratulations Kevin & Katie! We love you!!!

Branden's Baptism

Our nephew Branden turned EIGHT on August 28th. But a week before his birthday he broke his wrist while playing on the playground before school. He was so heartbroken about having to maybe wait 6-8 weeks before he could get baptized because of having to get a cast.

But fortunately, he was able to get a water resistant cast and was able to be baptized soon after his birthday. Isn't he just so handsome????

We wish we could have been there Buddy! And would love to hear all about it!
WE LOVE YOU!

Baseball Fun

We invited Camille and her girls to go to a Sky Sox game (Local Semi-Pro Baseball team). We were adventurous and walked to the Stadium across the street. The rain clouds rolled in and it started to pour, the game hadn't even started yet. We waited and waited to see if there was a chance for the rain to stop. The girls had fun playing in the water and jumping in rain puddles. After awhile everyone was still unsure if the game was going to be canceled or not so we decided to walk home and enjoy some hot chocolate back home. Later we found out the game was cancelled and that we could trade our tickets for a different game.

Can you tell we look sad in the rain?

The girls didn't let the rain ruin their fun!

We rescheduled our Baseball Adventure on "Kids eat Free" night and as you can see everyone was thrilled to have our 2nd chance to watch the game on a beautiful, clear night.

Sox the Fox-He was a favorite!

I love going to Sports Games and the atmosphere is always so exciting! The Cheers from the Fans, the National Athem (performed by a children's sign language group), Music, Mascots, the Food, the Game, etc. Unfortunaley, Camille and the girls weren't able to stay the whole game but Cassidy and I were able to stay. We're so glad we did because Cassidy was able to get a baseball from our Sky Sox team's batting coach...Rene Lachemann.

We ran into our neighbor Jim and his son Alex and decided to visit with them. They knew the inside scoop of the teams traditions and opportunities to get close to the players. They told us that after each batting inning Coach Lachemann will look for a child to give the baseball to. And every time he gives the ball to a different child. He has kept this tradition for over 20 years. Amazing!!!! It was the last batting inning of the night and guess what???? He gave it to Cassidy! Coach Lachemann asked Cassidy "You're cheering for our team, right?" Cassidy shook her head yes. Coach Lachemann said, "Then take this ball and get out of here!" (He said this with a serious face and tone of course kiddingly) Cassidy was reluctant to take the ball so I had to encourage her. It was so funny! Then he went into the dugout. I think Cassidy was a little confused while the other children laughed. But once she had that ball in her hands she had a huge smile on her face! She couldn't wait to show Daddy.

Then we found out one of the Major League pitchers that plays for Colorado Rockies, Ubaldo Jimenez #38 was in the crowd watching the game. Not many people knew this (again inside scoop from our friends). We walked over to him where he was sitting with his family and asked if he could sign Cassidy's special baseball. He was so nice!

Before the game was over Cassidy also had the chance to play on the inflatable playground equipment. Although there was height restrictions for the taller slide Cassidy was determined to go on it. I assured the girl that Cassidy is a little climber star and capable. She let Cassidy try it. Cassidy proved to all of the staff she definitely could do it all by herself! She was so proud of herself and they were happily surprised!

It was an amazing night! We will never forget it!

Horse Show

Our friend's daughter Averi, has been competing in Horse shows and we thought it would be fun to go to one. All three of us get excited over horses and wish that someday we will be able to own a ranch and have horses of our own.

Cassidy was excited to go see the horses, and has no fear walking right up to them. She kept asking us if she could sit on the really big horses. But we had to remind her that we were there to watch the show. Averi rides a pony named Rodeo. He is so cute! We had a fun time watching Averi, she did very well. Who knows maybe Cassidy will be competing in Horse Shows next?


If you listen closely you can hear Derek and Cassidy making horse sounds and Cassidy telling Daddy she wants a horse