Christmas Stockings

Years ago, 12 to be exact, I began stocking for our family. 3 kids later, they are done. Mom helped me and here they are.

Halloween Eve fun

We went with Tiffany, Kyle, and Joshua to the Sunnyside High carnival put on by the AVID kids. It was wonderful. The kids were great, the helpers were so nice and encouraging to our little ones, and the company was great. And good news... we found Waldo.

Teddy Bear picnic

Cole and his buddy, Jose, went to their Teddy Bear picnic a few weeks back. They had different stations and Cole was able to take "Cowie", his best cow. I had fun watching all the kids play.

Starr Jog-a-thon

Cole, along with all of the school ran the jog-a-thon last Friday to raise money for the school. The kiddos didn't quite understand that they had to keep running so they all pretty much ran one lap and were done. They figured it out and didn't complain too much about it. Cole was pooped after the 6 laps (they double them for the kinders- so count it as 12). It was a fun morning and Q and I enjoyed cheering them on.

First day of School

I have been neglectful in posting these pictures, so back up a month. In August Cole started kindergarten. He has Mrs. Baucher (the same teacher Avery had) and is loving it. He is making great friends and fits in well. I intended to take and post pictures of Avery, but there is some sort of change between 2nd and 3rd because Avery is far less interested in pictures. She just walked right in to her class, and I have no pictures yet. She is doing well and has quickly entered into a routine in class. They each do an oral report every week on a topics like her favorite shirt or best summer memory. They also "raised" snails in class, and I have to admit I was a little upset when I saw her hop off the bus carrying "Jewel". All in all we are figuring out a schedule. Q and I are having fun in the mornings and have been running errands or playing with friends or cousins.

A family reunion (almost)

Here (along with the previous post) are some pictures of the Mullins side of the family. Elijah and Melissa, Erin, and Bryan and I were here along with Grandma and Uncle Chris. It was fun to see Grandma with her grandkids and great grandkids. What an awesome legacy she has created.

Q is 3

We celebrated Quentin's 3rd birthday with the Mullins side of the family. Emerson also turned 3 and Grandma had a birthday too, so we celebrated together. Elijah & Melissa and John & Erin were here. It was the first time we have all been together. Quite fun.

Robo Avery

Avery is amazing. She is so smart and quick to learn in almost everything she does. Almost! She seems to love the sound of her training wheels scraping on the side walk because until Saturday, she had refused to take them off. I bribed her with a trip to Starbucks for her and whoever teaches her. Notice Uncle Elijah holding on. He did that most of the time after we removed the support, but did go about 20 feet (at once) solo. We'll keep practicing, and maybe get more Starbucks.

Cole's first birthday

Well, first party. We painted wooden train whistles and ate hot dogs. Then the kids played on the new slip and slide and the sprinkler. After everyone was freezing, we ate the train cupcakes and opened presents. Cole has wonderful friends who helped him celebrate. We can hardly believe he is 5!

Cole's cake and cookies

A wonderful friend and I decorated goodies for Cole's birthday party. We frosted the cupcake cake and painted the cookies. It was a great lesson (and Amy and I had fun, too). If anyone doesn't know, when Cole turned 5, he got to have his first friend party, so we were planning for his buddies. Pictures on that will be next. In the evening, after we decorated (Tuesday), I came down with a 104.4° fever and a sinus infection that wiped me out until Sunday afternoon.

Our new family member

Introducing Mila (long I sound). Avery picked her out yesterday from a litter of kittens her teacher's cat had. She is a sweet little girl, she even snuggled up next to me today, and warmed me up- by peeing on my lap. She'll figure it out quickly. Avery is in love with her and hopefully it will help Avery miss Cortez a little less. He disappeared over a year ago, but Avery still cries for him.

Cole's first bike ride

Cole was given a used bike a few weeks ago. On Saturday we took off the training wheels and pumped up the tires. He had never been on a bike with pedals until Saturday evening. Sunday after church Cole came running in to me and told me to come watch him. He said he couldn't go far, and couldn't turn, but wanted me to watch. And he did this:

More camping

I just couldn't fit it in one post, so deal. We rode the train which was fun for the kids. At camp Amy's new talent came out as "Pancake flipper extraordinaire". The kids ate in the bed of their truck most of the meals. The final morning Amy and I ran back to town while the dads took the kids hiking at the quarry in the campground. We cam home wet and soppy, but all the kids did a great job and hopefully we can do it again.

Columbia camping

The first weekend of May we went camping with some good friends and had quite an adventurous weekend. What began with a 40% chance of rain ended up being a 100% downpour when we got there. Bryan and I were putting up the tent in the rain while the kids played in the puddles and our tent broke. Now we were soaked and had a dripping, half raised tent. When the Duecks got there we went to dinner at Applebees to figure out the plan. We all decided that Avery and Cole would sleep in their trailer (with their 3 kids also) and Bryan and I would sleep in the car with Q, although the Duecks had offered to have all of us in there. The next day it sprinkled most of the day, lightened up in the afternoon. We went into town to the annual Fire Muster weekend. Cole was in a contest rolling up a fire hose and he was amazing. If you see in one of the pictures the fire men are pointing at him. A lady standing near me mumbled to me (not knowing he was mine), "He's done that before." Nope, just once. I had to put another little guy up just to see the other hoses. Each kiddo got a ribbon and each was equally proud. I town we also bowled and hand dipped our own candles.