We're Grandparents!

Trust me, we too almost had a heart attack when Cori told us this. Cori had a project for school where she had to take care of a hollow egg for a week. She gave him a face and pom-pom hair. She had to carry him to every class and home again each day. She named her "child" Zane. Notice the bandaid on him, he had a couple by the end of the week. She carried him around in a tupperware container on a stack of tissue paper with the lid snuggly on. I guess the teacher didn't care if the babies could breathe. It was a fun assignment for her. The project is nothing like having a real screaming baby cry in the middle of the night, oh wait, she experiences that too.

Just because

Who doesn't like spaghetti faces?

Finger (and toe) painting

Halloween

Oh goodness, how busy we have been. I am the farthest behind on our blog yet, we've only passed two holidays since our last post! Don't fail me now memory.

Halloween was a so much fun for all of us this year! Cori dressed up as a pirate and looked oh too cute. She went begging for candy with a few of her friends. Bryson loved dressing up as the super-hero Batman. He ran fast through the yards in our neighborhood, trick-or-treating but he stopped cautiously when he got two feet in front of someone. He wasn't too interested in getting candy if it meant he had to get too close to funny dressed strangers in the night. By the time he realized that he was supposed to go up to everyone's front doors, he then attempted to go to front doors of people that were obviously not at home. Both the kids really had a blast. Once we got back home, Bryson got his first (and only for the year) Halloween treat, a Dum Dum sucker. We were only planning on letting him have it for a few minutes because we didn't want him to have the whole thing. Well, it doesn't take long for a toddler to scarf down and Dum Dum and it is harder to take candy from a baby then the saying goes. So he ate the whole thing and somehow managed to still fall asleep that night.

We took the kids to a friend's house for a Kid's Halloween Party a few days prior. Cori helped with coordinating games for the little ones. She was a big help! Then the kids all took a hayride also. Can you spot Cori and Bryson? Here are some pictures from that day.

I finally did it....

I broke down and we took Bryson to get his hair cut. People were starting to call him a girl because of all his cute curls so Aaron and I set him in his car and walked down to the salon to those curls cut off. It was such a bittersweet day for me. I was so sad to see his curls go but he did look like such a big boy afterward. Bryson watched Aaron get his hair cut first. Then Aaron held Bryson while he had his cut. It worked out great. Carla, our hairdresser, said Bryson was the best kid she has ever had. He really was perfect; he didn't mind a bit while she cut his hair with scissors or even with the buzz clippers (or whatever you call those things).

Here is Bryson before his new 'do; he was sitting in his car, waiting in the lobby:

Here is Bryson while Carla was cutting his hair, he was so intrigued.

Here he is as soon as the cut was finished:

Home at last, fixed up, what a handsome little guy!

Cori Lou Who

What's new with Ms. Cori? Her school's volleyball season. They are again this year undefeated in every game! She is such a great player. Basketball is next and we really love to watch those games; we can't wait. Here is a picture of her on her way to the homecoming game. She is not usually this made up but it was a special occasion! A few of her friends had come over to stay the night and they all bought matching shirts and painted designs on them to wear to the game. They turned out really good! Of course they all sprayed red and/or black streaks in their hair as well.

Our flour child

So, it's been awhile since we have written last. It has been crazy busy and I upgraded laptops so here we are; files transferred and have probably taken 3,000 photos since our last post.
Bryson loves playing in the kitchen with his cooking goodies. He likes to hold the cup under the water dispenser on the fridge, close the dishwasher, stir mixes and wipe cabinets. On this day, I decided to give Bryson a bowl of flour to play in. He got it everywhere! I didn't think of the fact that the flour would make the floor slippery and he slid backward and got flour all over the back of him; he wasn't hurt though. I safely sat on top of the countertops and took pictures. Look at the fun he had!

Photoshop, here I come!

I am so excited. I have really been wanting to try and learn some Adobe and have not had the time. So tonight after the kids were in bed I stayed up and did my first ever project in Adobe. This style of pictures is something I really wanted to learn. I found a tutorial online and here's the finished product. Yea me! I better be careful not to get too deeply addicted.

S'Mores and other goodies

Aaron's work had a group camping trip again this last weekend and this time Bryson and I joined stayed for the duration. It was held at the same campsite as last time. We shared a site with Kelley, Mike, Missy and Jeremy. It really was such a fun, exhausting weekend. Bryson was still a little young for the last camping trip earlier this year but he really enjoyed this one. He was so good too! He slept good which was amazing. Any time we are away from home he is up until 2:00am the first night always. Both nights this weekend I think he was asleep by 10:00. This gave the rest of us plenty of time for 80s Trivial Pursuit, a Would You Rather game Cori received on her birthday and of course late night campfire sweets and stories. We bought a huge tent and were very comfortable. Cori had her own "room" and bed. Aaron and I had a bed and Bryson slept on a pool float we brought from home, it was perfect for him. We made special S'Mores with either Reeses cups or dark chocolate (yummy) and we made banana boats and my family's famous grilled shrimp too.

Cori and Aaron had a great time fishing while Bryson and I watched. Aaron baited her hook for her each time; I thought she should bait her own but her Daddy spoiled her and then Missy took the fish off the hooks for Cori and threw them in the live well. Cori escaped all the icky stuff. It seems all that was biting over the weekend were sun perch so I guess they keep them to use to catch catfish. It was a wonderful, memorable weekend for all of us. Here are some pictures we wanted to share. I took pictures of the kids in the same swing and same tree last time; it's amazing how much they've changed already.

Haircut

OK, so I finally broke down and cut just Bryson's bangs. I was feeling so bad that they would sometimes get in his eyes when the curls fell. Aaron helped entertain him while I took one snip across and gave his bangs a snip. Just look at the before and after.

I know, I know, his bangs were so long! But I promise they didn't look that long when they were curly.So I still have to work up the nerve to get the rest of his hair trimmed. I thought of having the top trimmed a little and then the sides trimmed some to where the hair was cut above his ears, then I planned on leaving just the back curls. Mom said then he would have a mullet, yeah, I guess that would be right. So I guess we will just have to wait and see what the hairdresser says when I finally break down and take Bryson. BTW, that's yogurt Bryson has all over him, his favorite stuff. He is insistent on feeding himself nowadays.

Too cute

Just home from a walk.

Cheeser.

Cori turns 14

I cannot believe Cori just turned 14 already! I often think about the short time she has left at home with us and know I will be sad to see her go off to college in a few years. We plan to make these the best times!

My parents came to visit for both the kids' birthdays. Mom watched Bryson so Aaron and I could go out to dinner together for the second time since Bryson was born, boy was that nice! Then again she watched Bryson for Cori's birthday so that Aaron, Cori and I could go out to dinner. This was the first time the three of us had ever done anything without Bryson. It was much needed and long overdue, just like old times.

The weekend of Cori's birthday, I took Cori and her best friend, Jordan, to a huge mall to go shopping. This was her birthday wish. She received plenty of gift money and had a fun time spending most of it at her favorite store, PacSun. Her and Jordan have plans on taking a road trip together when they turn sixteen so Cori saved some money to plan for that. Jordan's parents and us agree that the girls need a couple of years of driving experience first, but it doesn't hurt for them to still save. Cori received various gifts from us to include one very special. We ordered her 8 cans of boysenberries from online. You see, Cori has been on a mad search for a boysenberry pie for years now. My family and I have searched trying to find one for her and I finally found a way to order the canned berries. We are so looking forward to making a homemade pie with them.

Cori is at the age now to where she does not like me taking her picture unless she looks perfectly done up. Therefore, I don't get to take as many pictures of her as I would like but I did manage to snap this one of her holding her boysenberries on her birthday. She would freak if she knew I posted it!

The Mom Song

Bryson turns 1 year old

Bryson turned one on Friday! What a wonderful day for him. At first, I was not rushing for him to turn one yet because I guess at one year old, babies are now considered "toddlers". I was not looking forward to losing my "baby". Well, the morning of Bryson's birthday I had tears in my eyes that he was finally turning one. However, as I was watching him play, feed himself breakfast and have a good time keeping himself entertained, I suddenly realized that he really was no longer a baby. I instantly became so happy as I embraced the fact that Bryson is a toddler now and onto another new and exciting stage of his life that I know we will enjoy as much as he. He really is a big boy now!

He had a wonderful birthday day; we had a playdate at our house with lunch and Bryson enjoyed seeing friends and playing. Thanks to Patrick, Dylan, Bradley, Callie, Josh, Aimee, Michelle and Allison (and her mom Susan) for coming to play and bringing Bryson suprises too. Just look at his first favorite. He carried around one of the gift bags for 30 minutes while he played.

Bryson has been in the best mood ever since the morning of his birthday. It's like he really knows he has reached a major milestone. Just look at this goofy smile from the morning of his birthday.

Cori made Bryson a caterpillar cake for his family birthday party. How cute! It had two parts vanilla and two parts chocolate. My parents came down to celebrate and spend some time with both kiddos for their birthdays.

We gave Bryson the whole caterpillar head to eat from. It was huge! He was so funny wanting to eat his cake with a fork. He was eating his cake so neatly that I just had to break it open into pieces hoping he would get messy. When that failed, I just decided to smear some frosting on his face myself to get some good pictures.

Pearly whites

How gorgeous is Cori?!!!

She had her braces taken off just a few days before school. What a great first day of school for her; no braces and to be at the top of the food chain of grades! I am so happy for her, what a beautiful smile on a beautiful girl. In this picture she was on her way to watch the high school football game with a few of her girlfriends. We almost didn't want to let her out of the house.

We attended the WestFest parade as usual this Labor day weekend. Cori's friend Kelsey asked Cori to be in the parade with her but wouldn't tell Cori what they were doing. Well turns out Cori would be riding in a cow train. How cute she looked being pulled along with her other friends while riding in little cow cars. She enjoyed throwing candy to all the kids. I kept having to shield Bryson all morning to keep him from getting hit by flying Tootsie Rolls. We all had a good time, especially seeing Cori in the cow train.

Check out Cori during softball practice. I only managed to get hit by the ball twice while I was pitching for her, ouch! That girl can hit! She's already had two volleyball games so far at school this year. So far they are continuing their undefeated streak from last year. We really enjoy watching her games.

I have to admit it's getting better.....

Cake classes are finally paying off! We loved working on this cake. Cori is getting tired of working on just flowers it seems but I was happy to do a cake that actually looked pretty good. Can you tell we are proud of it? Next we are onto Fondant class.

Dagger-claws and Mouse

What animal lovers we are. First Leno (aka Buster) and now Dagger-claws and Mouse. Cori gave these names to the two kitties that someone left in a box by our trashcans for the trashman to pick up. How horrible is that! Cori found them when she was taking out the trash. They were not alley cats because they instantly took to her and followed her like she was their mother. One of them heard her in the pool and was very close to running in for a swim to get to her. Luckily we caught him before the dogs saw him. These kitties lived in our laundry room for over a week. Cori even trained them to use the litter box. We kept searching for homes and putting up ads but it seems people that like cats usually already have too many. We finally had to turn them over to a shelter where we were assured they would stay until adopted. They would not have gotten along good with Max & Quinn. Goodbye cutie kitties.

Recent Bry pics

Anyone who knows Bryson knows that he does not wear shoes. He looks so funny when he's all dressed up cute but barefoot. However, I have yet to find a pair of shoes that he cannot get off his feet. He just rubs his feet together until the shoes come off, sometimes I am afraid he is going to break an ankle. I have given up on him wearing shoes anytime soon. I would have him decked out in a great outfit while we are strolling around town and realize that he once again got his shoes off and have to backtrack through multiple aisles looking for them. Which makes this picture memorable for me. Aaron stood with Bryson in front of the mirror and showed him that daddy was wearing a hat and Bryson could have a hat on too. Bryson thought this was too cool. He did not take his cap off all day. He would tip it up and down. It was such an awe to me how much he loved his hat that was like daddy's but he will never wear shoes. Maybe some day.

Here is Bryson at the splashpark at our local zoo.

He is such our waterbaby! This was his favorite part of the zoo. He was more interested in the people around us and the other kids with us than any of the animals. Bryson did enjoy watching the monkeys though, which is no wonder, his room is full of them.

These were taken while Cori was practicing softball. For whatever reason, there were hundreds of dragonflies hovering over the field. Bryson enjoyed watching them dance around. He was so cute. He was not fond of walking on the grass so he crawled instead. When he crawled he kept his knees of the ground so that he was crawling on his hands and tiptoes so he wouldn't touch the grass too much. How funny is he!