Cupcake Cutie

We arrived in Pittsburgh tonight and will be heading to my grandma's tomorrow. Mark and Makenna were so excited to see Doug, Bethany, and Madison. After eating all of their dinner, Bethany offered the kids their treat, a mini cupcake. As you can see, Makenna thoroughly enjoyed hers. I said she almost looks like me in these pictures because the little chocolate pieces all over her face look like freckles!

Glasses, Hats, Boots, and More!

Each sporting their own hat
Mark showing off his glasses

Moving on from cowboy to Knight and Hat to Boots

Mark and Makenna love putting on glasses, hats, boots, and really anything they can get their hands on. Anytime Mark puts on a hat now, Makenna starts in with, "hat, hat!" And when I ask her if she wants one, she says very matter of fact, "YES." So today I got her a hat out too. They usually fight over sunglasses, but today they found Mark's glasses that he got at his Halloween Party. It was so funny seeing him in them again. After they were done with that. Mark found his Knight stuff and put that on, then Makenna found her new snow boots from Madison and insisted on wearing them. They didn't last long though, and I hope she gets used to them soon, because the snow has already started and isn't going to stop anytime soon!

Standing Tall

Here are some pictures of Makenna from today. You can see in the one she is standing on her tippy toes. Don't worry, we didn't leave the house today, so her bare legs never felt the cold air.

Mark's Artwork

Both of his Turkey projects...we hung them up together
After reading Dog's colorful day

His Frog from "Green Week"

Leaves he glued on and his colored the animals

This was his first time finger painting!

His Turtle from "Green Week"

He painted this and stuck the sunflower seeds on it.

His sheep from "Black Week" He even cut the grass.

I have not done a good job of showing you all of the wonderful artwork that Mark has done in Preschool so far this year, so I picked out some things to show. I think he is doing an amazing job!

Stomp, Stomp, Pop, Pop

We had a package delivered to our house today and the kids (that is Matt, Mark, and Makenna) had a great time playing with the packaging that came inside of it!

Half Cowboy/ Half Indian

Mark always loves dressing up in his cowboy stuff and even liked it more today because he was wearing one of his cowboy shirts. After he had his stuff on I asked him what he did at school today. He told me he made a headband. I was confused until he pulled it out of his bag and put it on. He said, "I am an Indian like Makenna." So for that moment, he stood with his Indian headpiece on and his cowboy boots. It was too cute.

"OPERATOR"

Matthew taught Mark the song "Operator" by Jim Croce. This is Mark's attempt solo with very little help. Below are the real words:

Operator, well could you help me place this call?
See, the number on the matchbook is old and faded.
She's living in L. A. with my best old ex-friend Ray,
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated.
Isn't that the way they say it goes? Well, let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it, So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow, I've learned to take it well --
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real, but that's not the way it feels, no no no no, That's not the way it feels

"A Bow"

Makenna was up in her room and found all of her hair bows. She kept saying, "A Bow, A Bow! Here mom." She wanted me to put them in her hair.

Our Little Ballerina

Here is a video of Makenna twirling around like a ballerina.

Mark, Adison, and Rhede

Here is a couple of pictures of the kids over at Jill's house last week. Everyone thought that Jill had triplets.

A Hop, Skip, and a Jump

Makenna loves to skip around now. She says, "hop" and skips around everywhere. It is just too cute. Tonight we were getting ready to get into the hot tub and she was skipping around the kitchen. She just thinks it's the greatest thing. Later on this evening we were playing in the basement and she found Mark's Hermie the Elf doll. The next thing I know, she has him by the hat and was saying, "hop, hop" and was making him hop up and down on the floor. It was the cutest thing. I would've tried to get a video if it wasn't so dark down there. She is just the most active girl!

Aspiring Artist

Here are some pictures of Makenna from the other day. She found the pencil that Matthew bought her in Disney and wanted to hold it. I thought, sure, what harm is in that....oh, I had no idea. I was cleaning up the kitchen and when I turned around I couldn't believe my eyes. Makenna was standing at the kitchen wall, coloring on the wall with her pencil. I had to do a double take and make sure it wasn't Madison standing there...(hahahaha J/J)....but no, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. I screamed, "Makenna! NO! NO!" She instantly became hysterical and so I ran to get my camera, of course...Matt was pissed b/c I made him stop cleaning it so I could take a picture. I hope she learned her lesson, but I'm sure she didn't.

Sugar Rush

Here is a video of Mark and Makenna when they got back from trick or treating on Halloween. They were on a Major sugar rush and kept dancing around. Makenna was making herself so dizzy she almost fell down a bunch of times.

A Helpful Big Brother

Here is a video of Mark trying to help Makenna up onto the couch. He does know that he is NOT supposed to do this, but of course he did it anyway. (And obviously Matt didn't stop him until the end.) He does try to be helpful sometimes, even when it's wrong!

Practice makes Perfect

Here is a video of Mark and Makenna from a couple weeks ago practicing trick or treating. As you can see, Makenna was already practicing getting her "treats" out of her bag!

A Hearty Dinner

Here is a video of Makenna eating some Pork Chop, green beans, corn, and potatoes last week. She has been doing pretty well feeding herself lately. She struggled at the end of this video, but I think it was because the green beans were soggy. She can feed herself and entire container of applesauce and can get bites of chicken nuggets on her fork, dip them in ketchup, and eat them as well. There's one thing for sure, Makenna will NEVER go hungry.

Volleyball

Ever since Jill took Mark to that Chesterton Volleyball game a while ago, he has been obsessed with volleyball. He always asks me to play and he has actually gotten pretty good at it. Here is a short video of him practicing his returns. He can also set the ball really well too!

Playing in the leaves

Watching the leaves fall

Buried in the pile

It was beautiful outside yesterday and we were at Craig and Judy's in between my work shifts. Craig was on vacation and was able to keep Mark while I worked. They raked leaves and whenever they would get a pile together, Mark would run and jump into them. They had a great time. I couldn't believe that I didn't have my camera with me, so these pictures are actually ones that I took with my cell phone. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mask

This is the pumpkin mask that Mark made at Preschool at their Halloween party.

Mark's Band

The Stage
" Please stay away from my stage Mom"

Playing the Blues

Mark has started to build stages on the couch lately. He puts all of his intruments on the couch and stays that is his stage. I am not aloud to come close to the stage b/c they need room to play. He has loved playing this toy saxaphone lately. He never puts it down. He is still so musical and even got to play with the band again this past Sunday at Church. We will have to see where he end up with all of this.

Curly Girly

Here are some pictures of Makenna from the other night when she got out of the bathtub. Her hair is so curly when it's wet! I just can't get over it. The bottom has been staying really curly too when it dries. She just has the cutest blonde curly hair!

In Daddy's shoes

Here are a couple picture of Mark in Matthew's Halloween costume. He wanted to do it, this was not me at all, but it was sooo funny!!!

(Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been a rough week. I hurt my knee pretty bad on Sunday night at soccer and haven't been able to walk so I have just been laying around resting in hopes that I can get back to my running, soccer, and volleyball next week!)

Trick or Treating

Mark and Makenna had a great time trick or treating last night! Mark didn't even last as long as Makenna did. She was the sight to see throughout the experience. She did say Trick or Treat and Thank You, which I was very happy about, but this was how she trick or treated: She would first stand up in the wagon and say, "I Do!", then she would run up to the house, sometimes say "trick or treat" and sometimes she would just say, "please!", then they would give her the candy, (if they would put it in her bag, she would pull it out), then she would run to the end of the driveway, and squat down to pick which piece she wanted to eat. She would then hold it up to me and say, "Opee." (no, that wasn't a typo). If I told her not right now she would proceed to eat through the unopened piece of candy until the wrapper would melt off and she would be able to eat it. So by the end of the night she had chocolate all over her face! Needless to say, she had a great time, and I really think this will be her favorite holiday! Mark on the other hand, not so much. He got scared at the guy across the street that was dressed as a monster and that's all he wanted to talk about for the rest of the night. Cebra and Mike came out and convinced him to go out again with them for a little while longer, which was really nice. It was overall a great night and the weather was perfect!