Tooth fairy

Kaden lost his first tooth yesterday!  He was trying to eat an apple and complained that it hurt.  The tooth was barely hangin on, so I talked him into pulling it out.  He grabbed a rag and barely tugged at it and it came out!  Kaden, of course being Kaden, freaked out and said "I don't like that!  Why did you make me do that?"  Then he ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror.  Next he informs me that he is going to look like a jerk with one big tooth in the front.  Oh drama.  Now that he has gotten used to the idea - he is excited and loves to show everyone!

When I was kid and losing teeth - I loved having a tooth pillow with a pocket.  I wanted to make one for Kaden.  So being the mean mom that I am, I told him he couldn't put the tooth under his pillow last night.  He had to wait for the little pillow I was making.  I found directions here and got it done today.  I think it turned out cute and most importantly, it was quick, easy, and used stuff I already had! 

Dance Recital

Last saturday was Bailey's first dance recital.  She has loved taking jazz and ballet from Miss Rachel!  I fully expected Bailey to be shy in front of everyone, cling to me, and not do either dances.  She proved me wrong and did both of them so good!  I was very proud of her!

She was so excited to put on makeup for her recital! (Goes great with the big bruise on her forehead!)

Aurora and Bailey ready for their jazz routine

They dance to the song "I'm forever your girl"

Getting ready to start her ballet routine

They dance to a cute little song "The toothfairy loves ballet"

Aurora and Bailey with their medals they earned

Great job Bai - you were a great little dancer.

Camping

Went camping for fall break - here's some highlight:

This is what the girls did most of the time - played in the dirt and got filthy!

Kaden - proud of himself for helping set up the tent.  Matt kept giving him directions and he said, "I'm on it!"

The beautiful view

This was the highlight of the trip for me - we stayed up late eating treats and playing games!  Matt will sometimes play card games, but calls it a "mandatory good time"!  He's a smart a.  Kaden loves cards as much as I do - so we played and played and played.  Dad volunteered to go lay by Lex and get her to sleep.  Guess who was asleep first. Bailey said she would rather read her book.  Typical.

Note to self - sleeping in a tent - not fun.  At least the kids enjoyed it.

Did a short hike with the whole fam.

Then Kaden and Dad went on a long hike.  Our ultimate champion whiner, Bailey, would never have made it!

Lex was SO dirty by the time we left!

Things that were not so fun:

*Bailey whining

*Sleeping in a tent

*Having an awful cold and trying to pretend I felt fine

*Not having any medicine for that cold

*Sharing a queen sized air mattress when your used to your big king bed

*All the work and packing that goes into such a short little camping trip

*All the laundry that this fun little trip generated

Things that were fun:

*Seeing rabbits, quail, a coyote, and tons of birds

*Watching how amazed Lexie was with everything

*Kaden so proud of himself for hiking so high

*Having bathrooms since we camped at a state park

*Watching the sunset and listening to super funny jokes made up by a 5 year old

*Playing card games by the light of the lantern

*Making memories the kids are still talking about

Football

Kaden just finished his first season of flag football and he loved it!  We were lucky to get on a really great team - it was a fun group of parents and kids and our coaches were GREAT!  His team was the Buccaneers.  He really didn't know anything about football going into the season, so he learned a lot and really enjoyed it!

It cracked me up that he is so meticulous about holding the ball just like the coach taught him - that's a good thing I guess.

At Baskin Robbins after one of the games - coach bought ice cream for everyone!  The boys had a great time and so did all of the little sisters!

Kaden and one of his best buddies, Gabe

Kaden (who DID NOT want his picture taken) with coach Keith.  We had such a great coach - he was SO good with Kaden!  He said it was because Kaden reminds him so much of himself - really competitive and occasionally a sore loser!  Nice!

Kaden is so proud of his trophy!

Kaden said he definitely wants to play football again!  Now soccer starts this week!  Ugh - why do I do these things to myself? :)  Good thing these programs are so cheap here in Maricopa!

Evil Lexie

Lexie is perfecting her evil glare!  She is getting quite good at it!

Diaper Cake

One of my very best and cutest friends, Jen, had a baby girl last month.  I helped throw her a shower and decided to attempt a diaper cake.  It was really fun and I think turned out cute (if I do say so myself!)

Just for fun

We got ready for church quicker than normal one sunday and I was taking pictures of Lexie - because I have pics of Bailey in this dress about this age.  And of course the older kids wanted in on the action!  Just random pictures.

New Leaf

At the beginning of the school year I decided I was turning over a new leaf and was going to be organized!  I was majorly motivated by this website.  I love it!  So I made a weekly schedule for both the older kids as well as a chore chart.  Now I have to say this is our first real attempt at a chore chart and it is working like a dream!  Kaden knows exactly what he need to do in the morning before school without any nagging from me - well, ok, with less nagging!  And Bailey knows what she has to do before she is allowed to watch cartoons.  That's not to say that every box gets marked every day - but its always good to have something to work towards, right?!  I also made a little To Do list for myself.  It's for one week at a time and I scheduled out all of my household chores each week.  I also have a goal that I work on for a few weeks at a time and I get to check the box next to the day if I got it done!  It's amazing how motivating a checkmark can be. :)  So for you born organized people - this is probably second nature to you.  But this has been a huge help for me to schedule everything out for the week.  The last thing I did was make homework stations for the kids to use for homework - they work great at minimizing the teasing and fighting - since they can't see each other!  fabulous!

Utah

Ok - So I am horribly behind on updating. Back in July we took a trip to Utah with Matt's family. Here are some highlights:

The seriously long drive! My darling Lexie slept for about 20 minutes of it!

Swimming at the hotel - Patrick and Kaden

My high-maintenance child. He got chlorine in his eyes and was SERIOUSLY freaking out. You would have thought someone cut his arm off! I finally distracted him the the ipod and a cool rag on his eyes. Oh, that child!

Took the kids to Wheeler Farm

Toured the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Temple Square - I have only been maybe 2 or 3 times before and it was a first for all my kids!  We loved it!

A trip to Farr's ice cream up in Ogden

We stayed up in Park City, not too far from Olympic Park - so we thought we'd go check it out:  There were guys practicing the K90 and it was amazing to watch!

We also got to see our good friends Jodi and Mason.  Thanks for comin up to park city - we loved seeing you guys!