Scott turns 14

We joked all day that it was Scott's 14th birthday, not the other way around, until it came time for the candles on his cake. The two burns on the tips of my fingers were a harsh reminder that there really WERE 41 candles lit!

Kristine may not have any toys in her apartment, but the balloon provided hours of entertainment!

Reading "Chickens to the Rescue" with Uncle Scott

Fire extinguisher?

For Scott's birthday present, we made him a hiking board game based on the Olympic mountains. A gift only he could truly appreciate!

More fall fun... this time at home!

Fun with leaves

Fun with pumpkins

Fun with haunted gingerbread halloween houses! (thanks to Nanie and Grandpa)

(that would be the black frosting on her face)

Bedtime Sillies

Bed time???....

Or SILLY TIME!!!!

Burien Bites

I don't write much on the blog about work, as I try to just keep the content to kids, family, and friends. However, every once in a while it's fun to record what's going on at good ol' JFK High. First of all, I totally love my job. I don't know how I ended up so lucky but every year I love it more and more. Anyway, one of my jobs this year is Link Crew: working with junior and senior student leaders who organize and lead the freshman orientation and the 8th grade visit day. Last Friday was the 8th grade visit day when over 200 8th graders from local middle schools come to JFK to see what our school is all about. The official name of the day is "Taste of Kennedy," although years ago Jill and I fondly named it "Burien Bites."

Here are some highlights from last Friday:

Fearless leaders: me and Katie, my best bud at work
As the buses arrive with the 8th graders, they are greeted with the drumline and spirit squad. We all think it's cool, although from the 8th graders' perspective it might be just a wee bit intimidating.

Playing a game of "Human Knot"

We closed the day by having the 8th graders attend a pep assembly with the whole student body. One of the great things about having Jack at daycare on campus is that Annie (our main staff person) usually brings the kids over to watch pep assemblies. Jack especially loved hearing the band and watching all the silly big kids!

Fabulous Fall Family Fun at the Farm!

Today we joined Rob, Courtney, and Hayden at Spooner Farms in Puyallup. This was our second outing with the Rutherfords recently, and we enjoyed this one just as much as the fair!

Apparently this bear is the Spooner Farms mascot, although we can't exactly verify that. We did notice, however, that she was incredibly short. Anyhow, Monica gave her a high-five, but Jack just looked.

Woo-hoo! Giant spiders rock!

The three kiddos with ALL our pumpkins. Monica and Hayden understood the concept of choosing pumpkins and putting the ones we wanted in the wheelbarrow. Jack on the other hand only understood the concept of loading any and all pumpkins into the wheelbarrow. Once he saw what the older kids were doing he dutifully began picking up every pumpkin within site and lugging it towards us. When Anton starting putting them back, he got QUITE upset...

...but his spirits were greatly lifted when he and Hayden got to splash and squish in the mud puddles.

As you can see, more than just his boots got muddy!

Here's Hayden and Jack peeking at the farm animals.

Monica and Jack enjoyed climbing on the stationary hay train, but Hayden prefered just to watch them.

Manning the Wheelbarrow

"Can we get this one?"

Two kids having a cow.

It's a Halloween Christmas tree!

Riding the hay bale horses

Pumping water to push rubber ducks down the river. Monica enjoyed this activity so much we had to go back to do it twice!

We love the farm!

Our family of pumpkins in their new home on the front stoop.

A Picnic

Toys

Our house is just over 1300 square feet. With the four of us (and usually sundry friends and relations hanging out here) the house can seem a little small sometimes. But as long as I keep it picked up, it's generally quite comfortable for the present. My greatest nemesis when it comes to keeping the house tidy is toys. Ten minutes before this picture was taken the playroom was clean. In a short time, Jack managed to create a mine field of toys. Here you see him working on the clock puzzle, having just finished dumping the pieces out of the other two puzzle boxes on the floor. Hey, at least he puts them back in! You'll also notice that he unfolded my favorite UW blanket and threw it on the floor and has various toys lined up on the couch. And this picture doesn't even show it all! With Monica we were very strict about having her put toys away before she gets out something new, but Jack hasn't seemed to grasp that concept yet (and we've been a bit lazier with him, I'll admit). For some reason I felt really tired this afternoon and didn't pick anything up. And by the time Anton got home it looked like a tornado had hit our house!

Laundry Helper

Barbie Day

Sunday was official "Barbie Day" in Monica's world. She has been asking for a Barbie for a while now and Auntie Tina has always said she'd like to be the one to get Monica her first Barbie. My instinct of course was to wait until Christmas, but I figured that wouldn't allow for the fun of shopping together. So after Red Robin we headed downstairs to Toys R Us where Uncle Buck and Auntie Tina generously got Monica two Barbies, a few clothes, and a Little People Helicopter for Jack so he wouldn't be left out. :)

As you can see, the toys are a big hit!

End of Cross Country Season

Today was the all-city championships for Cross Country. Monica had a really good race and finished with a smile. She was especially thrilled to get a ribbon at the end. We were thankful to have Great Grandma Hazel, Uncle Buck, Auntie Tina, and Grandpa Mike at the race cheering for her!

After the meet we headed to Red Robin where our little champion shared a milkshake with her Dad.