Sis is 5

 playing on a beach just outside of San Fransisco p.s. she is wearing a swimming suit

Rilynn is my little breathe of fresh air.  She is my most content child and loves to be by my side, no matter what we are doing. Since she is the only girl, I am grateful that she is a girly girl-loves skirts, pink and purple, shopping, shoes, etc., but on the other hand; she is not afraid to get dirty-she loves to be outside playing anything and is our best hiker.  She and Cooper play better than any two kids I've ever seen.  She did swim team this summer with her two older brothers and is so good at freestyle and breast stroke.  She has just started kindergarten (which is KILLING me :(  ), and she LOVES it.  Her obsession with horses has not dwindled as I thought it would...she dreams of riding and owning them.  The best part of her whole summer is when we went to Boise in June.  My brother Chris's friend let us ride their horses and Rilynn hasn't quit talking about it.  She was most excited about a miniature horse named Bobo

Here are Rilynn's current favorites.

Best Friend- Ethan and Carley (a little girl in her class)

Favorite food- macaroni and spaghetti (she is a carb junkie)

Favorite Movie- Spirit (a horse movie-surprise, surprise)

Favorite book- Any book she can get you to read to her!

Favorite toy- her baby dolls and make up

Favorite song- Mama Mia

Favorite color- Purple

What she wants to be when she grows up- a cowgirl

Hero-Phyllis Livingston

Seriously how cute is this picture of her "dive" at a meet (thanks Adamson's!)?

Boy Update

Three of my four favorite kids have recently had birthdays and I want to document their last year.  First off, EVAN.

Evan came along way this year.  He was on honor roll 2 of the 3 trimesters at school and started a program for reading and in just a few months his reading level went up by one whole year!  He played soccer last fall and found he is really good at goalie.  He was also in a 4th-5th grade show choir where they preformed "Lion King."  He and 3 other boys sand a song "He Lives in Me" and did sooo good.  He is changing from little boy, to a little guy.  It is fun, I can have real conversations with him, and he is becoming quick witted like his dad. His favorite thing he did this was was going to Disneyland. Here is a run down of his other favorites:

Song-Big Time
Singing Group- Big Time Rush
Color-Black
Books-Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
Food- nachos and mint chocolate chip ice cream
Movie- Rio
Toy- Bike riding, Wii, and hang out with friends
Best Friend- John Pallinger and Logan Jenkins
Hero- Dad
When he grows up, he wants to be an inventor or an army man


PAXTON

Paxton is my kid that is most homesick for Boise now.  He constantly tells me that we need to move back because he misses all or our family there :(  He does really good in school and absolutely LOVES it!  He had a wonderful teacher this year and is reading pretty good. He played soccer last fall and really liked it, and in Nov. 2010 he lost his first tooth.  He still loves anything outdoors-riding bikes, swimming, jumping on the tramp, basketball....

Song- Big Time
Singing Group- Big Time Rush
Color- Red

Book- Kung Fu Panda 2

Food- Watermelon and cheese pizza

Movie- Cars 2

Toy- Spider Monkey (from Ben 10)

Best friend- Alyssa

Hero- Iron Man

When he grows up, he wants to be a fireman

COOPER

Cooper has calmed down a little, but is still our craziest.  He would sit and read books with you all day, he talks a lot, loves to sing, and best of all he still takes a 3 HOUR nap! (Oh loveliness for mom!) He would rather be outside than do anything inside and more than anything he loves to play with his sister, they are so cute together and have such a sweet closeness.  He is now saying everyone's names right, but up until just a month before his birthday he called Rilynn "Yah Yah," Paxton "Paxy," Evan "Da da" (Jeff was Daddy), and called himself "Booper."

Song- Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle

Music Group- Just like his brothers he loves Big Time Rush

Color-Blue

Book-any

Movie-

Toy- Buzz Lightyear action figures

Best Friend- Laker Livingston and Haefan Skeehan

Fashion Police, we have an emergency

 Paxton has always let me pick out his clothes and not cared, recently he has decided that he wants to pick out his own clothes for school.  Here are some examples of his chosen attire. 

Ummm, yes, those are shin guards...

He was sure these looked great together since they were both red, white, and blue...and the medal??? I don't think I even asked...

 

 This may not have been soo bad if we were going swimming, but we weren't.

 "But Mom, they are both stripey!" (plaid)

 We sure do love this Paxton boy (but it isn't for his sense of fashion).  If your wondering (I'm sure my mom at least is ;)  ) I did not let him go in any of these outfits, I "guided" him to things that matched a bit better.

This boy is obsessed with silly bands.  If you don't know what silly bands are, they are these rubber bracelets that form into shapes when you take them off.  Anything from food, to animals, bugs, he's got them all and Loves them all.  We've had to limit him on how many he can wear.  His dream is to have them go from his wrist to his shoulder.

My New Year's Resolution

Dear Blog,
You have been very neglected, I know, and I'm sorry.  I've got a few excuses reasons, 1st my computer screen was broken thanks to a certain little boy, Cooper, whom I will not name, 2nd we seem to be having a long run of bad luck (no major health issues or anything like that) but I didn't want to be a Negative Nancy blogger, 3rd I've started working part time and I'm having troubles balancing, 4th I've been in a kinda weird funk that I can't totally explain-kinda tired, kinda lonely, even though I am never alone, just kinda blah, I'm hoping it's just a combination of our bad luck and homesickness for my friends and family in Boise.  BUT, I'm pretty sure our bad luck has to be about out....so "Nancy" is hopefully soon-to-be gone; and therefore, my New Year's Resolution is to be better about blogging and to quit ignoring you. I usually fail struggle with my annual "resolutions," but this is one bad habit I am determined to break- especially since it is my only form of journaling (shhhh don't tell anyone ;)  ).

Cooper Boy

Cooper's birthday was actually in June, but here is his (late) birthday update. My mom came for his birthday and we went to Monterrey Bay Aquarium. It was so cool, but Cooper was absolutely terrified! If we would approach the glass to look at anything he would start crying and say, "No, No!"

He's obsessed with trains and horses, and he got both for his birthday. I've never seen him play with something so much! He even had to sleep with his train! We went to Six Flags and they have a kiddy area called Thomas Town that is all about Thomas the Train. It took two people to get him off the Thomas train...one to loosen his grasp on the handle and one to pull him out...he was screaming bloody murder....he loves trains!

Cooper is still extremely feisty and strong willed, but he gives more hugs and kisses than anyone. He can make me want to pull all of my hair out and melt my heart all within 5 minutes. He loves kids he especially gets excited to see his friends Laker, Luke, and Brooke. He loves the movies, "Spirit", "Up", and "Thomas the Train". He loves to eat hot dogs and any sort of pasta, yogurt, watermelon, and bananas. He thinks everything is a finger food; he'll hold a utensil in one hand and shovel in the food with the other hand. He is starting to talk a lot more. If he wants something he chants, "I want that! I want that! I want that!" He loves to hide and say, "I see you Mom,!" He loves to ask, "Why, Mom" about any and everything. He and Yah yah (what he calls Rilynn) are best friends they play together all the time, if she is hurt he hugs and kisses her, they are pretty cute. We love him and feel so blessed to have him in our family! Happy late birthday Coop!

School's out for summer!

Paxton had his kindergarten graduation last week. They sang "Skita mereenk" and received diplomas, then they had cake and lemonade. I'm so sad he's going to be a first grader, :( but he is so excited!

The kids just had their last day of school Thursday. Evan is a little sad about the end of the year. Evan's teacher is retiring so he is going to miss her. He actually asked her for her phone number so that we can have over to visit. They both got great report cards and ended the school year on a very positive note.


We are hopefully moving this week. It has been a bit of a roller coaster getting this house. HOPEFULLY our last move (for a while) will be Wednesday night or maybe Thursday. Buying a house in California has been a much different experience than the two houses we bought in Boise. I thought building was stressfull, but I think this house was our most stressful yet! I will be thankful when it is finally over! I will post pics of the house soon. Cross your fingers that we will have a smooth transition!

Paxteroni

This is how most of my current pictures are of Paxton. He thinks it is hilarious to cross his eyes and stick out his tongue in every picture. Here is a better picture of him on his birthday. And yes the candles are in a tub of ice cream... this child is just like his dad...he does not like cake and this is what he wanted instead.
My little "Pac Man" is 6. He still has curly hair and all his cute little perfect teeth. He loves to cuddle, be tickled, and he loves to tease. He is so fun and says the funniest things. He had always been my mischievous one, but not as much any more...although he did get busted using his fork to fling food at other kids in the cafeteria the other day with his two friends. He is a really good student and his teacher raves about how bright and well behaved he is (with an exception of the food incident). He loves to be doing anything outdoors and believes it is never too cold to swim. He has done really good with the move(s) and has made a lot of friends...he has even become something of a ladies man and has a "girlfriend," Karsyn (she held his hand on the bus....uh oh). The thing he was most excited about for his birthday was to have his balloons on the floor when he woke up in the morning... he was picking out balloons 3 weeks before his birthday.
Paxton's current favorites are
color- red and blue
friend-Gavin
movie- Astro Boy
when he grows up he wants to be- army man, fireman, ninja,and jet pilot,
book- I Spy, Astro Boy
song- Kung Fu Fighting and I am a Child of God
food- watermelon
hero- Spiderman
TV show- Ben 10, Sponge Bob
Happy birthday Paxton! We love you!