celebrating 4 years!

My little guy turned four years old on September 28th! I can't believe "my baby" is past the toddler phase and now an official pre-schooler! We had a great day celebrating the big 0-4!

This year's birthday theme was "Disney Cars" (it started with his pre-school celebration), so for his birthday breakfast he got "spare tires" (aka chocolate donut rings).

{more pictures of his birthday breakfast HERE}

To start off his special day, we gave him a couple of presents to enjoy! I just love his enthusiasm in these pictures!

{Can you tell we kept with the Cars theme even with the presents?}

A little birthday hug from Big Sis before she heads off to school!

It didn't take him long to start playing with his new toys and he had a blast lining up his cars and trucks...and he's already wearing his new shirt!

During the day we had some friends over for more birthday fun...more pictures to come soon!!

At the end of the day, we called up my parents to see if they wanted to meet up for an impromptu trip for some pizza and to celebrate the rest of Austin's special day!


Of course, that meant more presents...

...and more entertaining faces!

{yep, I re-used the bag from this morning!}

Didn't take him long to want to start playing his new Cars Dominoes game!
I'm FOUR!

On our way home, we grabbed a Dilly Bar for a birthday treat!


Birthday Celebration #2 complete!

4th birthday celebration...at pre-school

The day before Austin's actual birthday, he was able to celebrate his special day with his pre-school friends at school! I was so glad to hear that I was able to bring in homemade treats for him and his classmates for a fun birthday treat! After picking up Mikayla from Kindergarten, we rushed over to spend the last 15 minutes with him and his classmates.

Chocolate pudding cups with "dirt" on top...
finished off with a CARS cookie.

When Ms. Michelle started singing Happy Birthday,
he got a little shy.

And then warmed up a little...
Austin got four "high-fives" from his teacher...

...and his classmates,

...and of course his big sis!

He also got a hug from Sissy!
After pre-school we headed off to visit Grammy & Papa and I wanted to take just a couple more pictures, especially without the chocolate mess all over his face, but this is what I got...

Get the hint, Mom...I'm done with pictures.
Birthday Celebration #1 complete!

fun run 2011

At the end of September, Mikayla ran in her first Fun Run of her elementary school career! She raised money by asking family and one sweet neighbor across the street whom Mikayla loves. Her Daddy gave her $2 per lap and we calculated that if she ran six laps she would raise enough money to earn a key chain and shoelaces, so on the day of the race her goal was to run at least six laps...all the way around a regular sized track!

Waiting in line with some of her classmates.

Ready...set...go!

The Kindergarteners raced off,
but they didn't keep that pace for long!

She has her runnin' shoes on...go Mikayla go!

Mikayla with her 5th grade buddy, Abby.
She helped motivate Mikayla by running with her...so sweet!


Some extra high-fives from the fifth graders...and the principal!
Yep...six laps complete!!
She met her goal!

A little juice pick me up before heading back to class...

...and a quick hug from little brother.
He wasn't so thrilled about "hanging out" all morning.

it's teddy bear day

September 22nd was Teddy Bear Day at both of the kids' schools. They both thought it was the coolest thing to be able to take their teddy bears with them to school!

{I am pretty sure Austin is growling like a bear.}

happy 90th birthday Grandma Grace!

About a month ago Ryan's grandma came to town (up from California) to spend a week with his parents and for a chance to see other family...like us! Grandma Grace had just had hip surgery not too long before coming for a visit and it was amazing to see how great she looked and how well she was walking around! During her visit, we celebrated her 90th birthday!! It was very special for all of us to be together...including Ryan's brother and family, as well as Grandma Grace's two sons also from out of town.

Grandma Grace & her great grandkids!

{the cousins}

{big sis & little brother}

The great grandkids singing a special Happy Birthday song!
The birthday girl...

...blowing out her candles (with a little help from Parker).
Present time!

A special "Generations" Willow Tree figurine...
...and a photo album of pictures of the great grandkids.
Mikayla made Great Grandma Grace a special birthday card.

Ryan and his Grandma

having a ball!

Mikayla has really enjoyed soccer this Fall. It is her first year playing and the start to the season felt a bit slow as she was learning the basics, but she has really grown leaps and bounds since then!! She still has a tendency to be more of a defender than the aggressive one out on the field, but no matter what...she is a go-getter and team player. And I couldn't be more proud of her!

A few weeks ago, she had a pretty big cheering squad!

Grammy & Papa

Grandpa Charlie, Grandma Ruth,
& Great Grandma Grace
Yesterday (while at Disneyland), she realized that she was missing her soccer game back home and actually started crying. This shows me her love for the game that she would be so upset to miss a game...even when she was at the Happiest Place on Earth!