September Randoms

Below are some random September photos.  Enjoy!

 The kids were so excited to finally put up Halloween (they have been asking since July!).

Hanging out with Mr. Pumpkin.

 

Both kidos enjoying the decorations.

 

Kinley LOVES dressing up as a "princess."

Kinley asked for her hair up.

 

She has such fine, little hairs that I needed to pull it up in sections.

Dentist time!  Kinley did great!

Colton did great.  He has two bottom teeth that touch and he got his first cavity.  We go in a week to get it filled.  Wish us luck!

Finally got this wall finished by getting Kinley's pictures in black and white.

 

 Kinley pretending to be "mommy" by wearing my shoes and reading my book.

Colton showing off his mad skills at puzzle making.  He put his Spiderman  puzzle together all by himself.

Kinley's fall shoe collection is better than mine!

Colton came home from school and promptly fell asleep.

Kinley is getting into the puzzle making with mommy and daddy's help but Colton is doing it all by himself.

Colton and Kinley trying out the riding cars in Toys R Us.  

 

Trying out the mustaches that they received at Jake's Birthday party.

Park time.  Swings are one of Kinley's favorite things to do at the park. 

Colton loved playing on the jungle gym.

Kinley walking on the various leveled steps.

 Getting ready to leave.

Grandma and Grandpa Gant Visit

 Grandma and Grandpa Gant came for a quick visit in September.  The kids had so much fun playing with them.  Grandma Deb was able to watch both kids during swim lessons and was impressed with their ability while Grandpa David spent time golfing with Eric and some buddies at a four star golf course off the strip, Bali.  Fun times.  Enjoy!

Colton loves putting puzzles together.  Grandpa and Grandma helped he and Kinley.

The finished product.  Kinley had just woken up and was still a little out of it.

 One proud boy!

Eating dinner at Outback and then saying goodbye until Christmas.

Picture Update

 I finally got the rest of the kids pictures and there were some really cute ones.  Enjoy!

Colton goes to Preschool

 Eric and I decided to look around for a good Pre-K program for Colton this year.  We wanted to make sure that he was ready for Kindergarten (!!) in a year, so the search started.  We only wanted him to go three days a week, because if you ask me, he'll be in school for the next 16+ years, no need to start at 4.
The choice came down to two excellent institutions that were both highly recommended.  Challenger and Merryhill schools.  If you live in Vegas, you know that both schools are excellent and either would've worked for our situation.  But, when it came down to it, we decided on Merryhill.  As awesome as Challenger is, it focuses mainly on academics, whereas Merryhill was built around the play and learn concept.  Colton is a shy boy (although he is getting better) and needs more socialization than academics at this point.  He is already pretty smart (if I do say so) and has many skills that incoming kindergartners would need.  We worried more about the socialization of his education.  Merryhill is spent not only learning, but learning through play.
We chose to do a "Discovery Day" where he could go for a full day and check things out.  If he liked it, then great and he would start the next week.  "Discovery Day" was a success and Colton's first official day was August 26th.  Merryhill is a uniform school, and Colton loves being able to wear his "Merryhill" shirt and tell people that he goes there. 
The first few days were rough on me.  I'd drop him off and he would start to cry and beg me to sit with him and play.  I would stay for a couple of minutes and then leave.  His teachers (yes, he has two full time teachers) would tell us that he was just fine once we left, but if you've ever left a crying child, you know how hard that can be.  We are now in the fifth week of school and Colton is happy to kiss us goodbye and start playing with no crying!  We also enrolled him in Karate/Gymnastic classes that he takes every Monday after school (another great incentive for Merryhill - lots of extracurricular activities are offered).  Colton has already come out of his shell a little and Eric and I are very pleased with his love of school so far.  Enjoy!

 Excited for his first day.

 Standing in front of his school.

  Here are some examples of his work at school.  One of the things that I love that Merryhill does is with every piece of work that comes home there is a paper that describes the activity and links to what subjects. 

Colton dictated to his teacher what was happening in this picture.  Pretty funny.

 Another piece of work.

 Another great thing that Merryhill does is they take pictures of the kids doing certain activities.  Here, Colton was in art and as they learned about an artist, they took a picture to go along with his painting.

Here is an example of the Activity Descriptor and a picture to go along with the activity.

 

Practicing writing his name.

 

Skateboard painting, plus a picture of Colton on the skateboard doing this project.

New Pictures

We took the kids this weekend to get their summer pictures taken.  From what I could tell, we got some good ones.  I will see all of them in a week, but thought I would give you a sneak preview of a few good ones.  Enjoy!

My big, handsome boy!

Sweet Kinley

You can tell that these two really love each other.  Too cute!

20th High School Reunion

I can't believe that I am old enough to have a 20th High School Reunion!!!  With my reunion in Salt Lake, we headed to Utah on Thursday to enjoy some family time as well.  I had a great time, catching up with friends I hadn't seen in years.  Enjoy!

We had a couple of days to find things for the kids to do.  My sister, Lisa, suggested taking them to Hollywood Connection.  The kids had fun playing games and going on rides.  Mallory and Kinley enjoying the merry go round.

I wanted to show the side view of Kinley.  Earlier that morning, she had asked me to "pull my hair up" and showed me what she wanted by pulling her hair into her hands.  This was the first time she has asked me to do something different.  Up in a pony went her hair and she kept it that way all day.

Mallory and Kinley enjoying a bus ride that takes them up in the air.

Eric took Colton to the indoor mini golf course.  Colton loved it and had so much fun.

I love the look on Colton's face.  So curious to see how he hit his ball.  Hmm, we might need to get this kid in golf.

Putting with Daddy.

The rest of the kids decided that they wanted to try mini golf as well.

Mallory showing Kinley how to cheat by sticking her ball in the right spot so that it will fall into the hole....bad Mallory :).

Kinley hanging out, waiting for her turn.

Bumper cars were up next.  These bumper cars are different in the sense that they are only one seaters and you control your movement with the two sticks on each side of you.  Colton was a little apprehensive at first, but after going once, wanted to go again and again.

We visited with my brother, Jeff and Mubbs.  Luke decided to handcuff Colton, which he loved.

Luke then got his bandanas out and made Kinley a little gangster.

Now, she looks like a little gangster...to funny.

Colton's turn to be gangsterfied.

On Friday, we had a get together at a local park where we could mingle and bring our kids.  Here, I'm catching up with Corrin, who I have known since I was six or seven.  It was fun catching up with so many people.

On Saturday, we met up with my high school bestie, Melinda and her hubby Joe.  We have kept in contact over the years and have hung out with each other when they have come to Vegas.  We had such a great time, talking, reminiscing and laughing. Lots of laughs.  Great night.

Colton took this selfie of us when we got home.  Love this boy!

Saying bye to grandpa and grandma.