Katie started Kindergarten on Monday, and although she was excited, she confided in my she was also a little nervous.  I told her we met her teacher last week, and discovered some of Katie's best friends from Pre-K are in her class - nothing to worry about.

 

She breathed a sigh of relief and got dressed.  Here are pictures of her before she went to school.  I am mostly happy but a little sad - our girl is growing up so fast!

 

 

Finally, new photos!  We've been enjoying the Spring and Summer here I haven't stopped to upload new pics!  Enjoy!

Hi All,

 

We've had a VERY busy 6 months, so, I have a huge backlog of photos.  I'm in the midst of sorting and will post oldest to newest over the course of the next couple of weeks.  The best news is that we finally sold our Redmond house and can now completely focus on decorating/upgrading our Yakima home.

 

Pictures are coming - promise.

Hi Guys,

 

We've been super busy and now we've had a round of the flu for the past few weeks.  It's gone from family member to family member.  Katie is the latest victim.  Don't fear, though, she is on the mend, and I will hopefully have some time this weekend to put up some picture posts from the last few months.

 

Here are the kiddos getting cozy - Patrick feels bad for his big sister.

 

Warning - Potty Talk

 

Patrick is beginning to take interest in the potty!  He calls it "Boppy", and he successfully went on it 3 times in 24 hours yesterday.  Sooo, we're going to keep plugging away.  It will click, I know, at some point.  I figured out his currency is candy.  We'll see if it keeps working.

 

He even said, "Boppy" last night, ran to the potty and peed!  I was SHOCKED.

 

Wish me luck... 

 

**Update - he's been averaging 3-4 times on the potty each day now.  He did the "Boppy!!!" yell again yesterday - twice!!!  Sooo....  keep your fingers crossed.

Katie and I went to "Disney Princesses on Ice" today.  If you've never gone - GO.  It's actually pretty entertaining, and, of course, the people watching is worth the price of admission.

 

Katie wanted to wear her Jasmine costume (but sadly, not the wig) to the show, so, of course I let her.  I popped on my tiara, and we headed for the show. Man, it embodied all things Disney: music, spectacle, dancing and merchandising.  We wound up buying a ton of crap we didn't need, but I was convinced we HAD to have it.  Good lord, Disney might as well hook up a pipe to my bank account so they can have a direct feed.

 

Even with that, we had a fantastic time.  The skaters were really good, and there were even fireworks!  Except they caught Cinderella's coach on fire slightly.  Eh, it was only singed a little.

 

I also noticed the more popular princesses got better production numbers.  If you blinked you would have missed Snow White and Mulan.  Poor girls.

 

Katie was quiet for close to two whole hours, which is a feat in itself.  And I enjoyed watching the burly gay men skate.  There was no doubt, my friends.  Aladdin wasn't going home with Jasmine.

 

Enjoy the photos.

 

 

Since we're new in town, I decided we should host a Halloween party for Katie and her preschool friends.  I invited the kids over, and delivered candy bags to the neighbors so we could trick or treat on Saturday afternoon.

 

As part of the preparation, John carved pumpkins for Katie and Patrick.  They picked the designs (Katie - Dora, Patrick - Elmo), and he went to work.  Patrick loved his pumpkin so much that he smushed his face against the door window after I put it on the porch and sadly said, "Elmo!!  Elmo!!".  Pretty funny.  The kids loved trick or treating, and of course, trashed Katie's room.  Everyone seemed to have a good time, but, man, John and I were partied out at the end of the day.  We skipped bath night since we were so done.

 

Check out the photos - especially Katie's costume.  I purchased an adult witch wig and did it up like Jasmine's hair.  I made the jewel headpiece myself.  Oh, John and I dressed up, too.  Fun times.

A few weekends ago, Bill, Mary Kay, Sue, Sal, Ryan and Beth came to visit and see the new house and business.  We had a great time over the weekend enjoying good food and wine tours.  I didn't take too many pictures, but did manage a couple of Ryan and Beth playing with their little buddies, Katie and Patrick.  Yay, family!!!

You've all seen the pictures of Katie and Patrick turning down veggies.  It's a nightly struggle.  So, I was super curious when I heard about "The Sneaky Chef" and "Deceptively Delicious".  Both cookbooks offer recipes that use veggy purees as ingredients to sneak veggies into your kids.  I HAD to try it.  I bought "Deceptively Delicious" and starting the process.

 

It worked.  The kids have had squash, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots without even knowing it.  I snuck purees into mini pizzas, chicken nuggets and quesadillas.

 

hahahahahahahaha!!!  You should hear the kids, "mmm, this is so good, Mommy!!!"  hahahahahahaha.  Here are pictures of my lovely purees and the kids enjoying the end result of my deception.  hahahahahahaha!!!

Patrick is now my little pal all day long while Katie's at school.  Lately, while I'm in the kitchen, he wants to help.  Being 2 it's very hard to help.  So, I gave him a bowl of dried beans, a spoon and some measuring cups, and let him go to town.  Now, when I'm working in the kitchen, he yells, "Deens!!!"  Super cute.

Now that we're in Yakima, there's tons of Harvest time activities to choose from.  Both the kids had field trips to farms.  Katie's class went to Johnson's Fruit, Patrick and I hit Schells Farm with MOPs.  The kids enjoyed hay rides, fresh apple cider, and marshmallow roasting.  When asked what types of apples there were to grow, Katie volunteered, "Pink Lady!!!"  That's my girl.

 

Enjoy the fun photos.

Living in Redmond really spoiled us on farm fun with Remlinger Farms.  It's a little fun park in Carnation, about 20 minutes from our old house that has pony rides and small carnival rides for kids under 8.  Carly and I took the kids a couple of times this summer, then last weekend we hooked up with Chris, Caron, their kids, and the Davenports for Fall Festival fun. 

 

Katie's favorite, of course, is the pony ride, and she even has a favorite horse named Carrot.  Carrot is bright Chestnut, and is just a sweetheart.  Katie talks about her all the time and loves her to pieces.  Every time we go to Remlinger, she HAS to ride Carrot. Cute.

 

Enjoy the photo album of all the fun we had there this summer and last weekend.

Catholic school is awesome.  Katie's school held a "St. Francis Day Blessing of the Pets".  All the kids were invited to bring their pets in, not matter what they were, to be blessed.  We saw EVERYTHING from ladybugs to guinea pigs to dogs and cats.  My girlfriend Melissa's kids had ladybugs and a beta fish.  That's them in the group photo - I didn't realize it was them until a couple of days later.  I thought it was hilarious that her daughter brought what I thought was a hermit crab and her son had his lone fish in a Rubbermaid pitcher.  Turned out the hermit crab was ladybugs.  Hey, they need blessing, too!

 

We brought Athena and Apollo, and of course Athena was very worried about what was going on - Apollo just peed on everything.  I asked the priest to give Apollo a little extra blessing. Our little devil needs it :).  Enjoy the photos.

We love our new house - the builder...Well, not so much.  But the house really is wonderful, and we're definitely making it our home.  We have movie night every Friday night in the theater room, and last week the kids went for a "swim" in our big bubble tub.  Enjoy the cute photos.

Ryan and Beth were married in August, so we trekked back home to participate in the festivities.  John was Best Man, and Katie was the flower girl.  Being with John's family (and it was ALL the Gehlsens) reminds us of how much we miss them.  We had a great time, and got some great pictures of the kids.  This album is pretty big, so, I'm only going to caption a few.  Enjoy!!!

This past summer we made a point to get together with friends and just enjoy Seattle before we moved.  In this album you'll see pictures from our various farewell activities as well as the move.  Thanks to all of you for making such wonderful memories with us.

Patrick received his 3rd haircut this past week, and BOY is he proud.  I'd been putting it off since the 2nd haircut was so traumatic - he cried and screamed so much the lady could only get 3 cuts in before giving up.

 

So, the plan this time - go with Daddy when he gets his haircut and show him how great it is.  Well, we lucked out with the haircutter, too.  A lady named Buffy walked him through it, and let him suck on a lollypop the whole time.  Here is the finished product - sucking on lolly #2 and SO HAPPY!  Yay!!!

Katie started full day Pre Kindergarten this year at St. Joseph/Marquette here in Yakima and LOVES it.  Within the first two weeks they went on their first field trip (to a fire station - Katie got to ring the bell and sound the siren.  Everyone else was too shy), as well as do art class, PE and Music Class.  Katie doesn't like Music Class because she has to stand up and her legs get tired.  Good grief.  Here is our cutie pie on her first day of school in her Catholic Girl plaid.  SIGH.

Yakima is a different place - seriously.  How different?  Well, one of their breast cancer fundraisers is "Extensions for a Cure".  Yep, a local stylist fits you with a pink hair extension for a donation of $10 with the proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research.  Katie's school allowed it, so, of course, we raced off to get her one.

 

Hair's to a cure!!!