December '13 Flashback

December starts with Daddy's birthday so we headed out to Red Robin to celebrate!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The next weekend, we headed to school for decorating.
Which I've come to realize means
 "Alexander finds two kids to play with and the everyone else will decorate".

I'm really happy one of my kids captured this series of awesomeness.

For the second year in a row, we spent an afternoon with Auntie Kimmie and Lorelli to decorate Umma's Christmas tree for her while she was in Florida.

We visited Santa.  Alexander was barely settled on Santa's lap before he started reading his list to Santa.

We gathered with our friends for a holiday party.  Sadly, Daddy was home sick and missed the fun.

And, the day before Winter Break began for Alexander and Mommy, it SNOWED!  

Mommy had the day off, but the boys had to hike on to school.....and were back within two hours.

We quickly embraced winter break with puzzles and games.  

And, then the holiday season was upon us!

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma Great's.

Hours of the Mexican Train game

and playing with cousins

made for great family fun!

Only one word sums up Christmas morning after Santa visited Alexander...

LEGOS!

After a few hours of playing, we moved over to Umma's house for yet more holiday fun!

It was a very Merry Christmas!

November '13 Flashback

I thought October was a lean month for photos, but November is downright embarrassing.  

Alexander continued to enjoy the dual language program at his school.  The school sent home a couple of online resources for reading books online in both English and Spanish.  We decided it was time for a desk and computer in the play room.  He really enjoyed having this new work space!

We continued to spend every Saturday and Sunday watching football.

It was really fun watching Alexander learn about the game and cheering on our teams.

And, it gave Daddy some much deserved down time on the weekend.

Before we knew it, Thanksgiving was here.

With our entire family out of town, it was time for new traditions.

We set up Christmas, made a few cocktails, and cuddled up to watch movies over the long weekend.

November wrapped up with Apple Cup - UW vs WSU FOOTBALL!

Alexander and I dressed in our finest WSU gear and headed off to spend the afternoon with friends.

BFF's at the beginning

and the end.

GO COUGS!!

Next year we'll get 'em!

October '13 Flashback

Typically, October is the busiest month of the year for Mom at work because of multiple ASB school events.  A natural consequence is less photos. 

Sorry about that.

The first week of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Week at the high school.  This year, Umma and Alexander joined me at the football game.  Unbeknownst to us, they re-dedicated the announcer booth to Ho-Ho Papa.  Brief history behind the dedication:  Ho-Ho Papa announced football games for 25 years and they made the official announcement of the dedication on October 4, 2013.  On this Friday night in October, we were surprised by the dedication, and happy to have the distraction of the Breast Cancer Awareness activities to keep our emotions intact.

At halftime, Alexander helped me explain how the donations would work.

And, then he manned the donation table, helping the big kids to raise $1800.00.

Homecoming festivities soon followed and Alexander was back at work, helping the big kids.

After he showed them his dance moves, obviously.

Soon after Homecoming festivities ended, it was time to celebrate Christmas!

As it turns out, seven year olds lose teeth.  A lot of teeth.

Here is his picture from the first week of September.

Over the next month, our boy turned from Snaggle Tooth to Toothless

Toothless showed up the night before picture retakes.

I emailed my contact at the photo company (it's nice to have contacts) because I wanted to keep a copy of the first photo because it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

She said I could keep one copy and return the rest and if anyone asked, I could give her name.

It worked like a charm and we have these photos to remember first grade!

For Halloween, Alexander and his best friend Addie, wanted to partner up.

Presenting.....

Harry Potter and Hermione!

Happy Halloween!!

September '13 Flashback

September is a chaotic month for our house, with 2 of 3 starting school.
 It was no surprise that our little guy started ended up not feeling well.

Before he got sick, Alexander spent time at Mommy's school, helping the big kids with back-to-school decorating.

We discovered this fall how much we enjoyed watching football!  It probably didn't hurt that our teams were winning!  

Go Cougs!  Go Seahawks!  

Before the month wrapped up, we had to celebrate birthdays and Christmas with Big Papa and Umma before they left for Arizona.  

Happy (early) Birthday, Alexander!!

August '13 Flashback

A camping trip was planned with best friends so a new sleeping bag was in order.

Unfortunately, the batteries to my former phone died on the drive over so I have zero photos from the weekend.  It was a weekend of hot temps, boating, fishing, and awesome thunderstorms.  

August also brought weekly garage sale finds 

and a big boy room, decorated by the little man himself!

The days flew by, filled with afternoon bbq's, days by the pool, and before we knew it, our little dude was starting 1st grade!

Like his mama, the kids LOVES school supplies!

Such a handsome first grader, don't you think?

We decided to wrap up the summer with an good ol' end of the summer Labor Day BBQ.  

We invited friends and family, lit up the grill and roasted the last S'mores of the season.

It was a good summer.

No doubt about it.