Brother VS. Brother

Tonight we had a mock-wrestling match at one of the local high schools here in Albany. They invited 3 clubs from the area to participate. I was totally blown away by the amount of people! I think every boy in our town and Corvallis was there. It was nearly impossible to find a place to sit and it took forever for the boys to figure out where they were supposed to be going, but in the end it all worked out.
For the first match the boys wrestled each other. They are pretty similar in weight and size so it worked out well. Spencer is 58 lbs and Ethan is 52 lbs. Spencer ended up winning the match 11-9 which was really good for both boys (because the match last Saturday Spencer lost and Ethan won, so Spencer was feeling like quitting wrestling!) Ethan was a great sport about the loss and Spencer was on cloud 9 since he felt like maybe he could do this! Spencer & Ethan (Ethan is the one on the ground)

Spencer & Ethan again. (Ethan is in front)

After the boys wrestled each other they each wrestled other kids. Since this was not an actual meet, the kids would just walk up to each other and ask if they wanted to wrestle. Spencer was approached by this kid that was 72 lbs! But Spencer said he would try to wrestle him anyways. Spencer got worked! He gave it a really good try, but the kid pinned him in like a minute. Luckily he was still super happy from his win over Ethan so he took it in stride.

Spencer and Ethan waiting patiently for their turn.

Ethan then wrestled a kid that was 58 lbs, this kid was a little big for Ethan and it was pretty obvious once they started wrestling, but Ethan did fantastic! He ended up losing but he held the kid to only 4 points - which was great. We were pretty proud.

Finally Spencer wrestled one last kid that was the same weight as him exactly and they were a great match. Spencer ended up winning which made his night even better.

Thanksgiving craziness... or boys

I am not sure if it is being home on a weekday or the smell of yummy food or the furniture being moved out of the room (I will bet it is that one) but for whatever reason my kids ALWAYS seem to wrestle on major holidays while I am trying to get everything together.


This morning I was busy in the kitchen with the Turkey and its sides when I saw the kids doing this.... Of course they were having fun, enjoying each other. Spinning around and wrestling. So I didn't say anything. Besides, Dan was sitting right there showing them more appropriate wrestling moves for the most damage.


Not long after I took these pictures I was peacefully cooking when I heard crazy screaming. I go in and sure enough Ethan managed to get hurt (It is always Ethan). Thankfully, It was nothing too major but I was worried we were going to be spending on Thanksgiving dinner in the ER.

The saying "It's all
fun and games until someone loses an eye" has a whole new meaning in our house now!

Walking

Olivia is now officially destro... ahem ... I mean walking. She has actually been attempting to walk for several months now, but finally she has the confidence to walk mostly. I love it when babies first learn to walk. They are such sweet milestones. I was so proud of myself too because I took actual home video footage of her taking some of her first steps and I went to upload it onto the computer (so I could blog it!) but guess what.... I need to purchase new software because we switched over to Vista and the old drivers are not compatible. RRRGG. So I have cute Livy footage on the camera and someday hope to get it onto the computer, but for now still photos will have to do.

I just thought I would include some other photos of Livy so I can try to explain some of her little quirks.

She is a HAM. If you are taking a picture she will smile for you before she goes in for the attack. This, by the way, is her interpretation of a smile - raised eyebrows and a crazy mouth! Hilarious.

Olivia loves to attack the camera. If she sees you taking a picture she runs to you as fast as her little legs can carry her. She will then proceed to jump on your lap, grab for the camera and if she is successful she will eat it.

She is also in love with herself. She loves to carry this mirror around with her and give herself kisses. Of course I don't blame her. I am in love with her too!

mmm mmm... yummm

Olivia has a new love. Her thumb. She loves to suck her thumb with this purple blanket my Aunt made for her blessing. It is so sweet. In the morning when she wakes up she will snuggle with me and Dan in bed and just suck her thumb. I love it. None of our other kids sucked a thumb or pacifier so this is totally new territory to us. Dan is stressing about future dental bills but I am not so worried. For now she is happy and cute and I am just trying to love each and every moment as it is.

Christmas Card Time

We had a quick photo shoot this afternoon, hoping to find that perfect Christmas Card shot. I have QUICKLY learned that with 4 kids there is no "perfect shot" I might need to learn how to switch heads in photoshop really quick!

We got lots of cute pictures of the kids. Livy was so much fun. In the pictures with the yellow leaves she is actually smiling on demand. We would say "Livy, SMILE!" and that is what she gave us. It got a great smile out of the rest of us anyways.

Trick or Treat

Well we made it! Another year of junk and costumes and craziness done. I actually LOVE Halloween, it is one of my favorite "holiday's" and this year was pretty fun. We took the kids over into my parents neighborhood. They live in a larger area with more homes. One house decked out their entire garage with a haunted house - we waited in line and went through it. Ethan is now asleep on my bed.

Ryleigh was a "Disco Diva" this year. She has white go-go boots and everything. It was a pretty great costume. She was getting lots of compliments. She originally was hoping to be "goth" - ick - I am glad she changed her mind!

Spencer is Anakin Skywalker. Does this look familiar? Yes, it is the same costume that Ethan wore last year. Boys are so easy! They want to be the same things every year!

Ethan is Venom - look familiar? Yep, you guessed it, this was Spencer's costume from last year. Nice. Recycling is always good.

Livy was the Pumpkin. My mom made this costume for me on my first Halloween and then all three of my brothers after me wore it on their first Halloweens and all 4 of my kids have worn it on their first Halloween. It is a fun little tradition that hopefully will continue to be passed down. Well, off to bed for me now. goodnight.

Pumpkin Carving

Today after school we carved our pumpkins. We had wanted to do them earlier than the day BEFORE Halloween but time just got away from us. I think it was worth the wait because our pumpkins turned out fabulous. In the above picture Dan's pumpkin is on the left, then Ryleigh's, Ethan is Darth Vader, Olivia has the Mickey Mouse on top, Spencer has the traditional one and then mine is the Jack on the right.

So, last year Spencer was the one crying and freaking out about touching the goo. This year he planned ahead and plugged his nose. Ethan on the other hand ALMOST had a melt down but thankfully was able to overcome.

Ryleigh is getting so big! Of course she was talking on the phone while carving. She is so cute.

Here are the kids pumpkins and mine (Dan waited until later to do his because he was busy helping the kids with theirs when the rest of us were doing it!)

These last 3 pictures Ethan took. I love to see the world through the lense of a 6 year old.