Random October Pictures

So we are catching up with some of our pictures. This set includes some of the random pictures from the month of October.

Allie loves looking out the window. She is hanging out with Grandma Harris and Emma. Note: you can see Grandpa Harris taking the pictures of the event. Seems equally memorable to have a picture of Allie as it is to have a pictures of Grandpa Harris taking the picture.

Here is a portrait of Lowell and Kathleen. As you can see Emma sneaked in.

A fun picture of the kids with Grandma Harris.

Not sure what to say on this one. Looks like Andrew is going to take a dive into the leaves, but exactly where I am not sure. Is he jumping or is he falling out of the tree. He seems to be doing some kind of jedi force float.

This was Allie's typical nap time activity. She would pull at the blinds (basically ripping them apart) so she could watch all the kids play out in the yard. After taking the picture we had to re-arrange her room to keep her away from the window.

Allie excited to be part of the adventure.

Andrew

Nice picture of the kids with their cousins. Minus the random girl in the pink dress. She just kind of showed up for the picture.

You can tell how excited Andrew gets when it's time to take some pictures.

What's a river without throwing rocks into it.

This is about the closest we have ever come to getting all three kids looking at the camera at once.

Andrew is such a good kid.

This happens more than you know.

Okay, Allie loves the dog. She even learned to call the dog by making noises with her mouth. Of course her favorite thing to do is feed the dog which has been a big downside with the dog no longer here (a lot of cleanup on the floor).

This is just a favorite of mine, Emma picking some Autumn leaves.

Andrew's Big 7 Year Birthday Bash

Only a few days after Allie's Birthday it was Andrew's turn to have a birthday (the 20th). Andrew has now finally reached the age where he anticipates the excitement. After being asleep for a couple of hours the night before his birthday, he woke up asking if it was morning yet. He continued to do this several times hoping each time he woke up it would be his birthday. Even with little sleep the kid was up at 7:00 to start the day.

We asked Andrew what he wanted for his birthday breakfast, and he wanted donuts and coco, and then added to the request cinnamon and sugar Monkey pull-apart bread. We might as well get the sugar rush started early.

A cute picture of Emma. It seemed every time I turned around she had more and more donuts on her plate. I think she figured as long as they were on her plate she was okay to consume as many as she wanted.

Then onto lunch. The Harris crew (Andrew's cousins) and the Smith crew were over for lunch. Remember that contest I wanted to have cramming as many people as possible in one room?

Typical Andrew reaction to the camera...

...but with the help of his Uncle Scott we were able to get a picture of the Birthday boy.

Cake time! This was a pumpkin bar cake with cream cheese frosting. (Notice the Autobot symbol)

How many people can you count blowing out candles? Hmmmm.

Now onto the presents! Emma gave Andrew a Mecha-Gigan figure (from the Godzilla universe), and this was his kind reaction.

Why do we even take pictures of kids unwrapping presents, they all look the same. I guess it's kind of festive.

Then on to round 2! During the evening we had the Deming side relatives over for Diner along with a couple of neighborhood kids (Mikey and Jenny). Awhile back Rachel made Manicotti and Andrew couldn't stop talking about how much he loved it, and how he wanted it for his birthday. So that was diner. And a classic chocolate cake for his birthday cake. (Notice the Decepticon symbol)

Like the genius I am, I made the symbol out of sprinkled on powder sugar. This would be all fine and dandy if the cake was being cut and served in pieces as prepared desserts, but when you have a kid blowing out candles you get a mild sugar storm to deal with.

It was a long day, a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun. It was good seeing family friends and the such. We asked Andrew on a couple of different occasions what his favorite part was, and his responses were "the whole day" or "everything", so I think Andrew enjoyed it as well. Thanks again to all the friends and family that were able to visit and help out.

Allie's Big 1 Year Birthday Bash

It was Allie's Birthday just recently (the 17th, I am slightly behind). It was fun and all, but like a 1 year old really cares about their birthday. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

I thought it would be fun to have one of those contests to see how many people we can fit in one room at once... oh wait, this is any social event we have.

Look, more people we could have crammed into the kitchen!

Presents! Luckily Annie, Allie's cousin, is teaching her the process.

Yay! more presents!

And just one more, I think Allie is getting the hang of it.

Mmmm... cake! Allie had a sense that the pink things must taste good! (M&Ms)

Time to sing happy birthday. You know it seems you give a kid a video camera, and with it comes the Hollywood attitude. The "no climbing or standing on furniture" rule is heavily enforced, but once the camera was in Andrew's hands it didn't seem those rules applied anymore. Whatever it takes to get the shot.

Allie - "Why are all these people staring at me and fluctuating their voices in strange ways. Can we just go back to the good ol' high pitched goochi goos?"

"Mmmm ... My cake!"

"Whooa what is the brown stuff!"

"It's brown and sticky and won't come off my hands. This seems all too familiar"

"Me no likey!"

As it would turn out, Allie was not that big on eating the cake. I don't think she liked it sticking to her hands, and being messy. Oh well, she will have plenty of time to grow attached to cake. Once we started talking to her she got a bit happier, but did not really eat any more.


Cheesecake! (Get it?)


To end the birthday, there was a Peanuts-esque dance. All we needed was Molly dancing on her hind legs with her nose up in the air and arms flapping about.

"What are those people doing, having some sort of sponsored epileptic fit?"

Dawn of the Razor Scooter Era

Andrew's Birthday was drawing near when his Grandma and Grandpa wanted to get him one of those Razor scooters, and of course with a sibling so close in age, one had to be given to Emma as well. So we have now joined the ranks of the masses of neighborhood kids who roam around the streets on those little Razor scooters. It seems these Razor things are just a part of modern childhood. Our kids will grow up, and reminisce when they lost their first tooth, the first day of kindergarten, and when they got their first Razor scooter. It is ingrained as part of growing up these days, almost to the point where I think if we didn't get them for our kids, they would end up years later in therapy to discuss how they felt about never having one. Anyways, I ramble on too much, but I thought I would share. So in honor of this modern rite of passage into the quintessential childhood experience, here are a few pics.

We will start with the artsy fartsy photo of Andrew and his friend outside riding. I thought the angle of the sun helped give the photo a nice fall feel to it. I guess all the yellow leaves helped too.

And what good is a scooter if you can't do tricks. I believe this one is called a "mini" which is a bit simpler than the "mini squigly" which is accomplish by doing the "mini" and swerving back and forth.

Cool shot of Andrew working on his balance. (Of course I don't show the picture of him wiped out on the grass)

Basic pose of triumph. Were there some ritual or celebration to accompany the receiving of a Razor scooter, this would be the picture blown up sitting on a table in the center of the room.

Just a fun shot capturing the neighborhood.

And of course Emma, making her speed demon face.

This is like the triumph pose, but more along the lines of GQ. Should children get together to create a Razor weekly magazine, I am sure this would show up in one of the ads.

I was never able to get a triumph or a GQ pose out of Emma, instead I just got the "stop taking my picture Dad!" expression.

I think Emma got tired of the slow nature of the razor scooter and opted for the much faster bike. I can't remember if that was actually the sun shining on her hair, or if actual speed flames were bursting from her head. I think I had to jump out of the way on this one.