Fall Leaf Pictures

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch again this year- definitely a must fall tradition. My favorite part is picking out the pumkins with the boys. This year, I decided to go with Clay's preschool which ended up being a major bummer. When we got there we couldn't find them so we missed the story time and cookie, then after everyone came out of the barn I realized I didn't really know any of the other parents and Clay was too afraid to play with the kids unless I was right there. We should have just gone as a family with Josh- it would have been more enjoyable for all of us. But, we still had fun picking out pumpkins and Kai was super excited to see the animals.

Fall Fun!

Decorating Halloween cookies with friends.

Fall festival at Country Village in Bothell:

Still to come:

Pumpkin Patch

Fall Leaves

Catch-up #2

Cooties! When I was little I loved this game- so I thought I would try it with my boys. They love it- although the modern cooties just don't stay together as well as the old school ones.

Catch-up

I feel like I am always falling behind on blogging lately! I know I am disappointing all of my avid readers (aka family) but I'm trying to spend more time enriching the lives of three little boys and less time doing "other" stuff. So here is the latest Bredensteiner recap:



Here is a story of a girl...



and her best friend.

They had a dream...

they worked hard, pushed themselves...


and on October 4th 2008 they accomplished that dream.

My best friend, Chandra and I recently ran the Leavenworth half marathon. We had such a blast training together and the trip to Leavenworth was beautiful and so much fun. We got there Friday night and checked into our ghetto basement motel room and quickly found that we had a very large complimentary spider, so we (I) rescued the poor guy and released him into the wild, we then covered our pillows with our shirts (who knows if they wash their sheets), got some food, and played a couple rounds of charades (we forgot cards- what are you gonna do?) then hit the sack.

We awoke (we set three alarms and only one went off-good thing we set three!) Saturday morning, got breakfast and headed to the race. For the first 8 miles Chandra was a nice friend and stayed with me, but then she got her second (or maybe third) wind and left me in the dust. It was an absolutely beautiful run!! In the end, Chandra finished in 2:24 and I followed at 2:38- I was good until the last two miles in which every part of my body began to ache. But... it was such a great feeling of achievement-I loved it and look forward to running another one soon. Thanks Dra! (Ha! I found a nickname after all *grin*.)

Kai's 18 month check-up

Just took Kai in for his 18 month check-up.

Here's his stats:
Height: 34 in (80%)
Weight: 24 lbs 10 oz (26%)
I know what you are thinking; and yes, I do feed him- he's just tall and skinny like his daddy and uncles!

He is right on target for all of his developmental stuff.
Words he says:
No, no-no, uh-oh, stuck, done, eat, bird, boat, go, mine, momma, dadda, up, nose, ball, balloon (pronounced: ba-toon), ball, num-num (does that count as a word?), belly button, penis (what can I say I have 4 boys in this house; 5 if you count uncle josh who comes over a lot), poop-poo, meow (for kitty), ruff (for dog), car, woah (this one is one of my favorites because if you set him on something high or he almost falls he says, "woah!" with his mouth held in a tight "o" shape)...there are a few more but I can't remember them.

His favorite things:
He loves stuffed animals. All 5 of the stuffed animals we have in our house (well except mine but that's my little secret) are in his crib. After he wakes up he wants to collect them and take them all down stairs with him. He gets really excited when he sees one that has been misplaced downstairs and gives it all kinds of "(s)nuggles". I love it!

He likes to run with his big brothers, he thinks it's hilarious.

He likes to play duck-duck-goose and will often be walking around the house in circles saying "duck, duck, duck..." with a big grin on his face.

He loves his all animals especially the kitties and he is incredibly soft with them.

Things he doesn't like:
Not getting his way or a toy he wants.
When I try to do something for him and he wants to do it by himself.

Cute things he does:
When his brothers are crying he always gives them a hug.

When I want him to come and snuggle me he always says, "No!" I have learned that if I then ask one of the other boys to do it he will run over and push them out of the way screaming, "Mine!" and then I get my hugs (tricky mommy).

Not-so-happy developments:
So, Kai is starting to walk on his toes too!! I'm going crazy with all these ballerina boys in my house. All three of them walk on their toes- I see many medical corrective procedures on our horizon!

Clay's 5th Birthday Party

Clay turns five October 4th but because my 1/2 marathon is on his birthday and Jon has school on all the following Saturday's afterwards; we decided to plan his party for the last Saturday in September. Clay wanted to have a racecar theme for his party (big surprise) so I did some research and found a lot of great activities and a cake design that was perfect. I allowed him to invite only 5 kids (since he was turning 5) so that it wouldn't be complete madness in the house (outside was off limits due to soggy conditions).

When the kids arrived we took their picture for their "driver's license" (which they got before they left-thanks to Uncle Josh)

and then led them to the car sale bin to pick out a car (I was even able to find some pretty cars for the two girls attending). After "buying" their car they were sent to the paint shop to get a new paint job (we colored a car on their hands), then it was off to the licensing center to get and decorate their license plates.

Jon then showed them how to rotate their tires (he had made a mini car with tires that could be removed and screwed back on) then we went and played a game of throw the ball through the hanging tire. After that we had some car races with cool cars that Jon had made from boxes.

The kids had to put on the car and some goggles and race around the cones into the car wash, wash their car (with a sponge) and then race to the finish line where they would get a trophy.





After all that fun, the kids sang "Happy B-day" to Clayton, watched him blow out his candles, then ate the cake (that I spent hours and hours making).

After cake we had present opening and free time.

The kids had a blast and Jon and I were exhausted (we had stayed up until 330am the previous night getting ready!!). I think I will stick to b-day's at the pool next time.