Checking things off the list...Room...DONE!

Cirdan and I finished the baby room. It looks so cute! Makes me really excited to meet my little guy. I painted a wall blue last week and we put up the wall art tonight. We decided to order some more of the vinyl to make the road go all the way across the wall...and I also want to put his name on the other wall. Other than that...its done!

Doing the Puyallup....Happy Anniversary!!

Cirdan and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last Wednesday. It's a tradition we go to the Puyallup Fair during the day. We were lucky to have good weather. It was a lot of walking and as soon as we walked from our car to the front gates of the fair I was ready to go home. We started by checking out the animals. Ella loved the cows and the goats. For some reason we missed a lot of the animals though...not sure why.

Cirdan always enjoys playing games. Ella even played a couple this year. We took home about 6 stuffed animals. The 3 of us enjoyed eating a cinnamon/raspberry jam elephant ear and an ice cream cone. Mmmmmm, gotta love fair food!

I was waiting for Cirdan and Ella to catch up and Cirdan pointed out the big bin that I was standing right next to...Doo-Doo Only.

That evening Stacey babysat for us while we went to PF Changs in Bellevue for dinner. It was nice to get out, dress up and have a nice dinner with my hubby of 3 years.

Happy Anniversay Cirdan! This has been another year of fun! I love you!!

Pears Yummmmm

Kaiya loves pear jam. She doesn't let me make her a PB sandwich with anything other than her pear jam. Ready for the bad news? I used the last of the pear jam last week. Even worse news? Cirdan and I saw some pectin in the store a few months ago that said you could use it and make the jam sugar free. I never realized how much sugar it takes to make jam until I started canning it last year. So, we decided to try it. I spent about a half day making jam and also canned some pears. What is the bad news? You probably guessed it...the sugar free jam was NASTY! It was really sour. Now we have no more pear jam and I am too lazy to buy another box of pears to make more. I guess she will have to learn to like the peach jam that I canned last year. Note to self...no more sugar free canning.

Back to School - 3rd Grade

The summer went oh so fast. As soon as we knew it, it was the 1st day of 3rd grade. Kaiya was excited and nervous about her 1st day. The night before we went to the open house and met her teacher and to see where her desk would be.
I asked Kaiya what she wanted for breakfast on her 1st day and she chose a bagel and some sugar cereal (sugar cereal isn't an everyday thing).

Cirdan, Ella and I dropped Kaiya off at her classroom door. This was the first year that she was kind of embarrassed to have us there. Sad :(

We were like the paparazzi outside trying to get that perfect shot of her.

When Kaiya got home she wanted to take some fun pictures with Ella.

So far, the school year has gone well. This is Kaiya's 1st year using a binder and having homework everyday of the week, except Friday. Kaiya has been extremely busy with dance. She spends about 10 hours a week at dance. She also takes piano lessons and has to stretch for dance at night before she goes to bed. So far so good...I just hope she doesn't get burnt out and can keep up with her school work.

Ava's August Visit

Ava was here to visit us for a week in August. We did some fun stuff during the week. Richard and Sue (Cirdan's dad and step mom) were able to come visit on Saturday until Sunday. We enjoyed having them around. Here are some of the things we did while Ava was here...

Crafts - Sue and Richard brought the girls these adorable totes with crafts inside. The girls had fun making things with their pipe cleaners and coloring with their new supplies.



They even dressed up the dog....(we were also dog sitting for my parents while they were in Utah)



Pipe cleaner jewelry...



We made and decorated cupcakes...




Grandma read books....


They made up dances and cheers and then performed them for us.

We went to the park in our neighborhood with Sue and Richard before they left...

The girls enjoyed playing restaurant. Ella was the customer in this picture...

Grandpa swinging!

Grandma swinging...

They played outside on the trampoline...

Kaiya went to her dad's house one day so Ella and Ava had fun hanging out...

They enjoyed playing dress up and having lunch outside. Ava likes to wear Kaiya's clothes and shoes when she is here.

We went to Chuck E Cheese...always a favorite for all the girls.

We went to Ihop for breakfast for dinner...

Sisters!

Kaiya set up a pencil selling shop and sold pencils to the girls....

We went to Discovery Park in Auburn. That was our first time there and was impressed by this new park!

They rolled down hills...

Even Cirdan climbed the wall to help Ella...

Other than that we hung out at home, Cirdan took the girls to Despicable Me (movie), we went shopping a couple times and had Brodi, Steph and their family over for dinner.

Ava was able to stay over 4 nights. We won't see her again until Christmas, which seems like a long time but I am sure it will be here before we know it.