Fall is in the air :o)

The weather here is cool and crisp, and I must say this is my favorite time of year. I am sure to say the same when Spring rolls around. But for now I am going to love and savor the changing leaves, football mania, fall soccer and look forward to pumpkin patches and Halloween fun.

All ready for soccer!

Baby brother steals the ball! :o) 

Here comes trouble! 

Kaden stayed home to throw rocks and Addi went to the soccer field to practice. Even though the official practice was canceled tonight Addi and her teammate Emily practiced anyway since they had the field. 

So far this season I have made three soups. Cheeseburger, Chicken Noodle, and Tortellini Soup. 

The Tortellini soup was AMAZING! For you busy Mom's, try this recipe for a quick delicious meal. Saute onion and garlic in the pot, add 2  32 oz. boxes chicken stock, two cans diced tomatoes, corn (I used fresh off the cob, but canned works too), one cup fresh chopped spinach, bring to boil. Add one package frozen tortellini, boil 5 minutes. Done and Delicious! :o) 

The deer are back for the cold season. We have a group living in the back yard and another group living across the street in the front. 

I went to Addi's school for P.I.E. night and had a great talk with her teacher. The teacher told me some funny stories about my daughter, and I learned more about her days at school. I left her school feeling very proud of my little girl. 

Zoom Zoom

Life is moving at a much quicker pace these days with our little school girl. We are at the end of week two of Kindergarten. Addi comes home with a big smile everyday and stories about all the new friends she met. She loves going to the library and getting new books, and insists on wearing a dress to school everyday. (That will surely change this winter). 

Kaden had a hard time at first with Addi going to school and leaving on the school bus. We bought him a Little People School Bus, and watched "Elmo Goes to School", and he is fine with it now. He holds his bus tight as he watches Addi drive away, then acts the whole thing out with his Little People. 

He disagrees with me here that he needs a post breakfast bath :o)

All snuggled up in his rag quilt :o)

Waiting to greet his big sister! 

Arts and Crafts, Kaden's favorite time of day. (Next to meal time, and nap time ;o) 

Addi practicing her letters and holding her pencil correctly. 

Soccer is keeping us busy and happy. Addi loves soccer! They have been practicing for two weeks and their first game is tomorrow morning. It should be quite entertaining! :o) 

Last night Addi started Cheer class at a kids gym in Spokane. She is going to make an awesome cheerleader!       

She was the only kid you could hear cheering and she totally has the personality and energy needed to entertain a crowd. The mascot of her cheer class is a Hawk, which is also her school's mascot. I have a feeling she will bust some cheers out at school. :o)

In the middle of our crazy busy week was our anniversary. Luckily we celebrated the prior weekend, but Tony still had flowers, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us after soccer practice that night. Addi was impressed, as was I, and asked me, "Wow Mom! So, what did you get Daddy?" Ummmmmm, well, I wrote him a nice note and put it in his lunch that day. Does that count? ;o) 

The strawberries were AMAZING, and made fresh just for me! 

My beautiful flowers smell SO GOOD! 

Notice the large Zucchini on the table! My Mom picked me some fresh veggies at Green Bluff and delivered them to me. I am feeling quite spoiled. Tony is going to be eating zucchini for the next week straight! 

Starting with this! 

We are excited for the weekend to slow things down a bit. Addi is dying to get some baking done. Tuesday was her only day without an after school activity. When Tony asked her how her afternoon was, she said, "It was great! Reminded me of my lovely summer mornings!"

6 years of Wedded Bliss

Our six year anniversary is this Wednesday, but we will be at Addi's soccer practice so we celebrated a couple days early. My Mom stayed with the kids, and Tony and I had 24 hours all to ourselves! Wow. It was NICE! We only traveled ten minutes down the road but it felt like we were worlds away. We got a room at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino and there was plenty to keep us entertained on our special date. 

We started the day in the Q Sports bar for the Steelers vs Seahawks game. They seated us in the V.I.P. Clubhouse, and we very much enjoyed watching the shutout game, being Steelers fans in a flock of Seahawks. Yes, we were in Steelers gear from head to toe. Yes, we cheered and clapped every time we had a good play, and the Seahawk fans were quiet, since they had nothing to cheer about. We probably were not the most popular people there. ;o)

I had some awesome cheeseburger soup, soft pretzel sticks, and of course an ice cold brewski ;o)

That afternoon we saw Lynyrd Skynyrd live in concert. 

It was the last concert of the season in the outdoor venue. We had SO much fun!!! Our seats were amazing, the weather was perfect, and they TOTALLY ROCKED. A great rock show we will never forget!

Tony bought me a shirt, it says Sweet Mama :o)

Tony was dying to go to Legends of Fire, the cigar bar. He drank an expensive beer, and puffed on a nice cigar. He was in heaven. 

We had a nice dinner that night at Woodlands. 

Tony's was completely satisfied with his steak and prawn dinner.

And rhubarb cream pie for dessert. 

After dinner we played the slots for a bit

And then we headed back to enjoy our beautiful room. Before we left Addi asked, "On your big date are you guys going to kiss at midnight or something?" to which I said, "YES!" and she said, "OH brother! That's disgusting!" :o) 

It was our best anniversary, so far.......

Soccer Mom, Day One ;o)

Addi had her first official soccer practice this evening. I totally admire her coach for teaching eight 5 year olds the game of soccer. All the parents had a great time watching the fun. Addi was the first to ask to be the goalie, and also kept wanting to know what color their team would be. They are still deciding on a team name, but Addi is campaigning for the "Medical Lake Steelers". :o) 

Addi goes to Kindergarten!

Today was Addi's first day of school, ever! She has never been to daycare, or preschool, or anything of the likes and was way excited and a little nervous for her first day. I was on the verge of tears all day, but managed to hold it together quite well. Once she had on her new outfit her nerves were gone and she was ready to go! 

Waiting for the bus, which will pick her up and drop her off right in front of the house everyday.

Addi's first bus ride! 

Once she was on the bus we drove to the school and met her there. Here she is going over the bus rules. I heard her say, "Well, I don't listen so well at home sometimes, but I promise to listen to you!"  As we walked inside the bus driver said to me, "WOW! She loves to talk! We will certainly be entertained on our bus rides!" 

Picking out her cubby, and laughing it up with her new school mate. 

All ready to learn! I am so proud of my big girl, and all she has accomplished to make it this far! Never stop being a shining star Addi! :o)

When Addi got home she was exhausted! She was ready to lay down and rest. She told us all about her day, how she cut her finger using the scissors and got a bandaid, this awesome thing called RECESS, Cars 2 crackers for snack, how she told a joke about wedgies (which I told her we don't do again) that made everyone laugh, how she was instructed to save her singing for after class, and how her teacher put her on the wrong bus and she had a nice ride around town. I was wondering why it took 50 mins for her to get home when we live a half a mile from her school. She said it all got sorted out and they finally found her right bus. Oh boy. Here we go. :o)