Three!!!

The cake

The birthday girl at her long awaited party with her much anticipated cake

("It's gonna taste nummy!")

Our big 3 year old!

Marin and I at dinner tonight at Red Robin

Marin opening her gift from Kaden

(he said watching her be so surprised and happy was the best part of his day)

Marin and her pillow pet from Kaden

(she said her pillow pet was the best part of her day!)

Marin with daddy

(not related to her birthday, but we needed a picture of daddy and his girl in here)

Halloween 2011

I am wondering if I'd blog more if I just gave you photos instead of feeling like I needed to write something witty to go along with it. Who needs whit when you have kids this cute?

New Bike Rider

Oh my...I really still can't believe this is true...but take a look for yourself and see who's the newest rider (with training wheels, of course) in our family! Hint: It's the same precious girl who will also be turning THREE in a couple months!

Fun Run

A few weeks ago Kaden had a fundraiser at school. It was unlike most fundraisers in that they did not sell anything. He simply ran/walked for 30 minutes and got pledges. It was a fun day overall (he had a cold, so the final lap was not much fun). Marin and I got to go watch. I was able to walk his last lap with him, but siblings were not allowed on the track, so Marin hung out happily with the other moms. Kaden's total was 7 laps, or just over 2 miles! Yea Kaden! Our vote is this was a great way to raise money for a school.

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Soccer *Star*

This is the highlight of our fall so far. Kaden is amazingly good (one could almost say embarrassingly good) and LOVES it. He's got one great coach too (daddy)!

First Day of Kindergarten

Oh, so Kaden has been in Kindergarten for 2 weeks now. Yes, they started SUPER early this year (Aug. 10th) in an effort to have a longer Christmas break (can I start counting the days already). The first days were rough. Very rough, on all of us (well, all but Marin who is thriving in her new found role of "only child at home"). Today many others started kindergarten, so I decided I was finally up for posting these pictures.

Perhaps part of the difficulty starting kindergarten was because we've had such a wonderful summer. We've gotten to do so many small, but fun things as evidenced by the 200+ photos I'm trying to squeeze into a Shutterfly album without much luck. We've soaked up this summer, and starting a new routine is hard.

Kaden is going to all day every day kindergarten. It was a choice. I'm still questioning it. He's gone from 8am-4:15pm every day. It's long and he's tired. He loves lunch and recess and I think he's growing to enjoy almost everything else about his daily routine too.

Indianapolis Indians

Last night was family night at the Indians game. We thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing a game and getting to go downtown at night. Plus, with buy one get one free tickets, how can you go wrong, right? We'll, it was better than we expected. We got four FREE tickets from a local bank, Jason was home early from work and the weather was near perfect for baseball watching (overcast and 80). We had a fun family experience for a grand total of $15! WOW, only God can orchestrate all those factors. Thank you Jesus for a fun frugal family memory. Here's "Hollywood" herself on the way to the game.Kaden's favorite part was seeing the home run and seeing a bat break.

Marin's favorite part was "eating my ice cream!" Hard to believe, eh?

Staying out until WAY past bed time was a bonus summer treat.