My kind of yard work

When we had our yard landscaped I asked the guy in charge not to put rocks in my flower bed because I was going to plant flowers. Right.

Scratch that idea. Which is actually for the better. The only flower beds of mine that survive are the ones in planters and rose bushes (which my mom says are almost impossible to kill). So I got to plant my new planters at our house with Kaden and Ellie, my best helpers.

Ellie would fill up the water pail and stumble over to me to water the flowers. I think the water pail weighed as much as she does!

I left my blooming rosebush behind at my old house. These planters are more my kind of gardening anyway.

While I was planting the flowers I heard Kaden say, "Uh... mom?" I turned around and saw this! He's getting tall and skinny like his dad. I have to buy all his clothes for length which means extra room in the waist. Poor kid needs a belt.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Our baby girl turned three yesterday! I can't believe how fast those three years went. When she woke up she said it wasn't her birthday and that she was still two... she eventually changed her mind. We took a break from unpacking and got to do what Ellie wanted all day which included: watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with a little persuasion from Kaden), going to the park, getting some balloons, eating at Craigos and having a BBQ for dinner. Ellie is the sweetest little girl. She watches out for Kaden and is always up for anything... as long as her blanket can come too. We love you Ellie!

For two weeks now whenever I would ask Ellie what she wanted for her birthday she would always say a cupcake. Always. All day she kept asking for and talking about her cupcake. So the moment finally arrived, we made the batter, oven was preheated, mom goes to look for the muffin tins.... nowhere to be found. They mysteriously disappeared in the move. When I told Ellie we couldn't make cupcakes her lower lip dropped, her head fell and she said, "But I wanted cupcakes for my birthday." I think I heard my heart break! So thinking fast, I whipped out these two circular cake pans and told her we were going to make BIG cupcakes. Luckily she thought that was an amazing idea and her birthday was saved... whew!

Ellie made very sure that she was the only one to open her presents. No help from anyone!

Ellie loves pretend play and has wanted a kitchen for a long time. I liked this one the best at the store but if I had known how much trouble it would be I would have gotten the plastic one. It took me over two hours to put it together, one of the wood pieces snapped in half and I cut my finger open. Kaden was less than impressed with my lack of skills. He kept telling me it was taking too long and would go hide on the couch when I would get frustrated. He did pretty good not to tell Ellie all day what she got for her birthday. He actually did tell her once but she wasn't listening. Thank heavens.

Ellie was super excited and spent the next hour playing with her kitchen. I called the kids up for cake and ice cream but they said they couldn't come because they were cooking. Too fun. What a pair.

We made it!

Well we finally moved to our new house. I have no idea which box or pile my camera is in so no pictures are available with this post. Thanks to all the friends and family that came and helped! You guys are amazing! Now just to find a place for all that junk! Kaden has adjusted very well. He said that he likes this house better. Ellie on the other hand is not so excited. She keeps saying she wants to go home and when I say this is our house she refuses to believe it. When she gets tired or sad the first thing she wants is to "go home". Hopefully she feels at home soon. I have to admit I don't feel at home either but that's normal and will come with time. If we can have more than one day of sunshine they can finish our sod! Everyone come visit us! 

Kaders Raders

This is one of my favorite faces from Kaden, his crinkle-nose smile.

(This post is one of those "journaling" moments that is more for Jess and I to read in 10 yrs.) Kaden is such a thinker! You can almost hear his brain processing information. My days are filled with questions about EVERYTHING. We've had some cute thoughts this week so I thought I would share them...

"Mom, what does Heavenly father do to bad guys in heaven?"

"Uh.... there aren't bad guys in heaven. Only nice people."

"But what does he do to them?"

"What do you mean?"

"How does he get them out of heaven? Does he run them over with a lawn mower?" 

I was dying laughing thinking about the mental picture of this in his mind. To get the full effect you had to see his hand actions with the last statement. It was pretty funny. What is his obsession with lawn mowers?

Jess was outside helping a neighbor tie down a tree as a thunderstorm was rolling in when this conversation occured. Kaden is afraid of thunder and lightening...

"Mom, where's dad?"

"He's outside helping Phil with his tree."

Thirty seconds pass.

"Mom is dad here yet?"

"No, he's still outside."

Fifteen seconds pass.

"Mom, I'm going to see if dad is back yet."

Ten seconds pass.

"Mom, I really want dad to come home!"

"Why?"

"Because the lightening will get him and make him tiny!" 

To fully understand this comment you have to be a MarioKart buff. Kaden likes to play MarioKart. The lightening bolt on MarioKart turns people little. 

Today for dinner we had roast beef and cooked carrots...

"Mom, I don't want carrots, just meat."

"Kaden, you need to eat your carrots too. They're good for you. They make your eyes strong."

He thought about this for a second.

"Oh, so then I can shoot fire out of my eyes?"

Too much superhero stuff! Never a dull moment with Kaden. The cutest thing about the things he says is that he is completely serious and really wants to know. He's very much like his father, a very logical thinker. I'm sure someday he'll be super smart like Jess!

Preschool Graduation!

Kaden had his first preschool graduation Thursday but it won't be his last. He still has another year of preschool but the graduation was fun and exciting all the same. We learned that Kaden can count to 20 in Spanish, something he had never done at home before!

Here's his class. Some of them moved on to Kindergarten. Lots of boys! His teacher is awesome! Kaden loved going to school.

They did a little skit where they were all duckies. It was really cute. They all loved performing!

Kaden getting his diploma! His teacher said that with all of the boys she had this year they were constantly playing all of the different superheroes at recess. So as a present, she gave each of them a super hero cape. Kaden was so excited and loves to wear it!

What a handsome little guy! We are proud of you Kaden!