3rd Grade Bugz Musical

Braeden's class put on the cutest muscial called Bugz. Each classmate had to dress up as the bug of their choice and Braeden picked a black ant. I am not quite Martha Stewart, but I was pretty pleased with my efforts to make him a costume. The kids did a great job and the muscial was a real hit.

Braeden's Art Work

We are so proud of Braeden that I had to brag for a moment. He came home one day and told me, in a very serious voice, that he had been sent to the principal's office. I was stunned as that has never happened before. I asked him what he did and he told me with a big smile that he had won an art contest for Veteran's Day. That little stinker! His drawing was picked for the school's invitations and stamps for the Veteran's Day Celebration. We didn't even know that he had entered the contest, so we were pretty excited for him. Oh yeah, the school's mascot is the otter!

9 months old!

Our baby is now 9 months old and getting so big. Eden currently has 3 teeth, but it looks like 3 more are coming very soon. She loves to chat and can say hi, dada, and mama. She loves to clap and puts her arms up when we say, "so big". She's been so much fun this past month. She adores the big kids and giggles nonstop when she sees the cat, Nala. Kitty will probably be her next word. Eden still isn't doing a real crawl, but does scoot and swamp crawl to get where she wants to go. We've had a couple of close calls with small items and have to frequently remind the big kids to pick up their little toys, hairclips, pencils, etc. It's been a very long time since we have had to worry about these things. She had her well check yesterday and did great with the shots. She is 18 lbs 10 oz and 28.5 inches tall. She's following the charts of her big brother and sister quite closely.

Our lil Pumkin!

Eden's first Halloween. We had to get some shots of her with a pumpkin. She couldn't stop giggling about the pumpkin.

Carving Pumpkins

We finally found a moment in our busy lives to carve pumpkins the evening before Halloween. The kids got to participate much more than years in the past. They picked their design, traced it on the pumpkin, helped cut it out and did most of the cleaning themselves. Eden was great and had alot of fun watching. Travis said that the roasted pumpkin seeds were my best yet. Yummy! After we finished carving, we took the pumpkins outside to light them up.

Silly Braeden

Braeden insisted that I tape him as well. He wasn't sure what he was going to do and then remember that he can do a mean worm. It was too funny!

Chubby, Giggly Baby!

I couldn't resist taping Eden after her bath the other night. Travis and Braeden were really getting her to giggle. Sorry it's so grainy, but it's from my poopy camera.

Louisburg Cider Mill

We had a beautiful day on Sat so decided to take advantage of it and hit the pumpkin patch. As a family, we hadn't been to the one at the Louisburg Cider Mill so went there. While there, we went through the corn maze, took a hayride, climbed on the hay bales, drank cider, and ate yummy cider donuts. Eden seemed to enjoy most of the new sights; however, she wasn't thrilled with the horses or goats. Aside from the horrible smell from the apple waste tank, we had a great time.

I LOVE to rip up magazines and papers!

After 3 kids, I finally realized that if it entertains them, I don't care what they do. I can always clean up the mess later.

Braeden's 1st Chess Tournament

Braeden joined the Chess Club this year and participated in his 1st tournament 2 weekends ago. We were so proud of his performance. His 1st match was against a boy who took notes in his notebook after every move. That was certainly something Braeden hadn't seen before. He lost that match, but ended up winning the next couple. The 3rd grade team from Arbor Creek took 1st place. These pictures are before the matches as you can see by our son making a chess tower. As we found out, parents aren't allowed in the tournament room during the match, but b/c this was the 1st one we were able to sit in the stands. No talking, of course.

Crazy Hair Day at School!

Check out Lydia's hair for Crazy Hair Day. We got our inspiration from Sanjaya!

8 month old baby!

I know I keep saying this, but where does the time go? Eden is now 8 months old. Let's see....what has changed for her? About a week ago, she started saying Dada and hasn't stopped saying it. I have tried to get it on tape, but she stops talking as soon as I push record. Oh, those tricky babies. She still has only 2 teeth and is such a great eater. I don't think I've given her any foods that she doesn't gobble down. I have tried peaches twice (once at 6 months and again last week) and they really seem to upset her tummy, so we'll hold off on those for a long time. She doesn't seem too interested in crawling yet. She's stretching her arms out as far as she can to reach things, but just can't get those legs going too. She has mastered crying out to be held and that's working quite well for her.

3rd grade bible presentation

Braeden received his 3rd grade bible at church this past weekend. He was so excited to get it and to be on the stage with our pastor. I can't believe my baby is already in the 3rd grade. Of course, as soon as I saw him coming down the aisle, I started getting tears in my eyes. His cousins, Erin and Eric, just so happened to be at church so they got to see him too. Unfortunately, Daddy and Lydia couldn't make it. Lydia had a makeup soccer game rescheduled for the exact same time. I have a terrible camera, so I wasn't able to get any action shots of the event.

Star Wars Invasion

Braeden and Lydia BEGGED me to get their Halloween costume this past weekend. It is the 1st time EVER that the kids want to be something similar, so I obliged. Braeden is currently obsessed with the Star Wars movies and PS2 games and Lydia was thrilled that he thought she should be Princess Leia. Well, she ended up picking out a Padme outfit and Braeden is Boba Fett. They were so excited to show their neighborhood friends their costumes and this is what ended up happening. Several of the kids came over with their costumes on as well. We had a full on Star Wars adventure.

KSU Wildcats

We took the big kids out to Manhattan for their 1st college football game. As a matter of fact, Lydia had to ask what tailgating meant. I guess they've never done that either. It was a beautiful day and the Wildcats were able to hold off Louisiana. The kids had a blast and got Willie the Wildcat's autograph. The most thrilling part of the day for them was getting their faces on the Jumbotron. Eden stayed behind with Uncle Marc and Aunt Tina in the morning and Grammy took over for the evening. She was there in spirit though. Check out her 1st Wildcat tee.

Braeden's Soccer Showdown

Braeden's soccer team had the opportunity to play his classmates during halftime of a high school soccer game. The only problem was that his classmates' team was a girls' soccer team called the Pink Ponies. Braeden and his teammates were pretty excited to beat the girls. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It was a great performance by both teams, but neither team scored in the 10 minutes they got to play. It was still a fun experience for all.

First Time in a swing

Of course she loved it.

Chicago

Travis and I took the big kids on the train from KC to Chicago for a long weekend. Eden had to stay home this time, but I think she had a great time with Grammy. Eden's very attached to me, so I think it was the best thing for her. We had so much fun in Chicago. It definitely wasn't a relaxing trip. We were out of our hotel from 8:30am-10pm every night. The kids were real troopers and rarely complained about all of the walking. Braeden said his highlights were the train ride to Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium, and Legoland. Lydia liked the rides at the Navy Pier and the American Girl store the best. I think Travis liked the deep dish pizza and the architectural river cruise while I vote for the wonderful shopping on Michigan Ave and walking around Millennium Park. What a great city!

First Dip in the Pool

Our neighborhood pool was closing for the year, so we figured we should at least get Eden in the water once! She seemed to really enjoy getting her toes wet. She'll have alot more fun next year when she's a bit bigger. Hopefully, she love the water just like Braeden and Lydia. I've been trying to convince the two of them that they should join the swim team, but neither of them is interested at this point.

Look who's 7 months old!

Our sweet baby girl is growing up too fast. I can't believe how quickly each month goes by. Not too much has changed with Eden in the past month. She has cut her 2nd tooth and is still a wonderful eater. We're hoping she can teach her siblings how to enjoy a wide variety of foods. She's still not crawling which is just fine with us. Our house is far from babyproofed, so we're no where near ready for a mover. I think she's carried and held too much by all of us to even think about crawling. Eden gets so excited to see the kids after school and loves watching Nala, our cat play. She's been such a blessing to our family.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day and the last free Saturday we'll have for a long time (soccer season is upon us again), so we decided to hit the farmstead. We haven't been there in a long time and this was Eden's first trip. The kids had a great time. And lo and behold, who do we run into but the Decker clan. We still can't believe that this is a free park.