Conner's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Conner's 1st birthday on Friday - one week early because of scheduling conflicts. He LOVED his cupcake!! He put out the candle with his hand, ouch! But he didn't cry and somehow our video of it didn't actually video, but here are some great pics of all the happiness going on.

Shenanigans

This is what I discovered in my downstairs bathroom this morning.

All the kids are at school so the culprit has not been identified, however, I'm sure my guess is right and this masterpiece belongs to a certain just-turned-7-year-old in our family.

Sienna's First Softball Game

We had Sienna's very first softball game on Saturday and it was SOOOOOOO cold!! Conner had a cocoon that kept him toasty, but the rest of us were frozen to the bone. Even after sitting in front of the fireplace drinking hot chocolate, I still felt chilled. And of course, we had two more games that day and had to sit in the rain!! So glad that day is over.

Braden's Birthday Dinner Fiasco

I always let my kids pick their birthday dinner. While we usually make something at home, Braden has started a tradition of Red Lobster. He was adament. So Dad went to the restaurant a few minutes early on Friday to procure a table (they don't take reservations) and found that there was an hour and a half wait! Nothing is good enough to wait that long for! (Except maybe the Cheesecake Factory) So we convinced Braden that TGI Fridays was the next best thing and he readily concurred because they also have shrimp and he remembers eating there in St. Louis. Well, dad walked over and found that they had CLOSED DOWN!! Now the tears started, Braden could not understand why a restaurant like that would ever close down! After a very long time of trying to reason with him, we FINALLY agreed that Leatherby's was the best choice ever anyway! And of course, once they bust out those ginormous servings of ice cream, shrimp is just a fleeting memory....

Braden's Donuts

There is something I need to tell you about Braden, and that is I am not convinced that he ever sleeps! He is the most difficult child to get to bed and keep him there. He gets up constantly, his light is back on every time we check. He plays with toys, jumps off his bunkbed, opens his door at every sound and yells, "What's all the racket!?!" After all this, you would THINK that he would sleep in. But no, he is usually the first one up. In fact, at least once a week, he wakes me up BEFORE my alarm with this: "Mom, can we pleeeeeeease get donuts for breakfast?? We have time!" The answer is almost always "NO!," and "Can you please let me sleep until my alarm rings?!" So, for his birthday, we thought it would be the right thing to do to surprise him with donuts on the morning of his birthday. We were smart though, we bought the donuts the night before!

Spudbob Ovalpants

This is Spudbob Ovalpants. He is Spongebob Squarepants' cousin from Idaho. He has dedicated his life's work to promoting carnivorism, saving vegetables everywhere from being eaten. His top goal is to stop the consumption of french fries everywhere.

Sienna's Leprechaun Trap

Sienna made this leprechaun trap for school. Leprechauns are tricky creatures. They don't like following rules, hence the "no climbing the ladder" sign meant to tempt the little guys. Also, the gold coin on top was a temptation for them, because it is a "false" top, one step and the leprechaun would plunge into the container! And of course, they like green and gold. But alas, no leprechauns were caught and so they've proven to be smarter than us this year. We'll try again next year!

How To Make Your Bed

First you rip all your blankets off like crazy! Next you put on the sheet! Then you put on the blanket. Last you jump on the bed. Finally you make it again! by Braden Pinney

Stories by Braden

At school, Braden has been learning how to write stories. I love them, they always make me laugh. You can tell what we are working on with him by the things he comes up with to write. Here is a recent favorite:

First I will not run away and never come back. Next I will do all of my jobs. Then I will be nice to kids. Last I'll do my homework.

Braden's Birthday Party

We had Braden's friend party on Saturday and had lots of fun eating pizza and carrot cake and playing laser tag. He was very happy to share his birthday with all his friends. I love this smile and all his missing teeth!

Fetch!

I know this video is so super dark, but I have been trying to capture Conner walking for two weeks now and this is the best I've come up with so far! I'll try again another day, hopefully during daylight hours.

Typical Kitchen Moment

I could post pictures like this all day long. It's always cute, Conner searching through cupboards. This small one is a favorite because it has little packets of dishwasher soap that he loves to empty out of a bucket. The tupperware cupboard is another big favorite, and you must walk through the kitchen on high alert, because you will trip on something if you don't! And make sure you take notice of all those super cute tiny handprints all over my dishwasher!

Because We CAN'T Drill Into New Cabinets!

Sienna's 1st Date

Sienna had her 1st date with her daddy this weekend at our school's daddy/daughter dance. She was so excited to get dressed up and have her hair curled. They had lots of fun dancing and eating cupcakes. Ryan says the limbo was rigged and he should have won!