Some random pictures I've been meaning to share

Here's Cori and her two 'best friends'. The three girls are all within a couple weeks of the same age and hang out a lot. Mostly because their mom's do and stuff- but they're pretty cute together. Cori has started trying to say Sarah's name. Tonight at dinner Sarah was upset and Cori kept 'talking' to her and trying to make her feel better. You could totally tell what she was trying to convey by the tone of her voice and her gestures. Totally cute!
Megan/Minnie mouse. She put on this 12 month costume at someone else's house. ROFL. I couldn't resist the pic.
Cori and Sarah getting a bath in the sink after dinner.
Sarah was supposed to be napping. We came upstairs and Jeffery and Annika had climbed into the crib and all three of them were jumping happily. Yeah, no sleeping there!

Happy Birthday to Megan!!

We've also recently had a birthday! Megan turned 4 on September 5th. So we celebrated on Labor day with a big family/friend party. She got way more presents then any kid needs (of course) and was thrilled at every single one. I think that 4 is the best age for birthdays. They finally 'get it' but aren't so gimmie, gimmie that it's obnoxious. She was completely thrilled at every single present she opened and it was so fun!

Of course we have our tradition of the birthday pinata- Megan wanted a purple bunny- he ended up a little creepier then I was going for- but I guess it makes it easier to whack right?

Mommy and Megan with the 'scary bunny' as Megan called him.

Blowing out the candles...
Picking up the loot!
The cake.
Megan was a miracle baby. Go here to read all the details. She has such a fun little personality and really is a joy in our home. The last several months she's been maturing and growing by leaps and bounds. She's finally figured out the potty training thing (now for the night training) and talks non-stop. She says the funniest things, of course at this moment I can't think of any of them... She loves to play Barbies and dolls and Polly Pockets and her newest favorite thing is money. Grandma Pechin gave her a purse with a handful of pennies in it for her birthday and she's been carrying it everywhere. That's the best way to get her to do something currently is to offer her a penny.

She loves to play with her sisters- most of the time and is really good at making Cori laugh. Megan gives the greatest hugs and kisses and frequently just comes up and gives hugs for 'no reason'. She also is incredibly silly.

We love our Megan and treasure every moment with her. Happy Birthday Megan!!!

Preschool

Preschool also started last week. I'm once again doing preschool co-op with some other women from church who have kids Megan's age. We rotate houses and take turns being the teacher. We made up a simple curriculm- but most of it is open to whatever the teacher wants to do. We had fun- but it was crazy last week- mostly because it's the first week. We also have two more kids this year then we had last year.

Here is a video of the kids doing a parade in the backyard. Like how orderly they are?? It was hysterical though.

School has Begun!

August 28th was the first day of school. I can't tell you how excited we all are! I didn't take pictures on the first day (cause I'm the best mom ever) but here is Ashley on the second day of school:I can't believe I've got a second grader! That's crazy! Her teacher is Mrs. Bates- and I'm not so sure about her yet. I'm hoping to help out in the class room soon so I can see her in action. They watched a full length movie (Brother Bear 2) on the third day of school. That bothers me more then a little bit.

The New Beta Blogger

If you use blogger upgrade to Beta version (for free) so that I can comment on your blog. If you haven't upgraded then you can't comment on mine (and I know you wanna) and I can't comment on yours. So do it- all the cool kids are. Beside editing your template is 100 x's easier. I finally updated my blogroll. If you're on it and don't want to be shoot me a note.

A big fish story

So before we even went on our trip the girls were excited about going. If you asked them what we were going to do they said we were going fishing. I don’t know if we had made an offhand comment or what- but Megan especially was really, really excited about going fishing. So we borrowed some gear from Steve’s dad so that we could take them while we were up there. The thing is that fishing isn’t very fun. No offense to you fishermen/women out there- but really- hours on end holding a pole and rarely catching anything? Not my idea of a good time. Also you have to hold still and be quiet- which is not something that my kids excel at. But we were going to give it a shot.

So our first day in Tahoe we went fishing. Got it out of the girls systems. The great part? It took 30 minutes and all three girls caught a fish! Ashley caught the first one which was 14 inches long. Megan caught the next one that was 16 inches long. Annika caught the last one and it was 12 inches long. They were all trout. We had a good dinner that night.

The Girls Waiting to fish
The best part? We found a trout farm that would provide all the gear and the bait and let you fish there without a license (because it’s private property) and you only pay for what you catch (by the inch). So the pond was swarming with fish- and it didn’t take long for the girls to catch a fish each! But the very best part? They cleaned the fish for $.50 a piece.

The action from across the pond (There’s a fish in the net Steve is holding- it’s the one Annika just caught)

Learning the art of fishing

Megan the fisher girl
Ashley with her fish.

We took a picture of all the girls holding a fish- but the camera for some reason didn’t take it! Grr!

So there was our fishing adventure!

I'm a slacker

Sorry. I'm not blogging. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'll be playing catch-up over the next couple of days. The things I'm promising (with pictures)?

1. Our trip to Tahoe
2. Fishing (Ashley caught a 14 inch trout, Megan caught a 16 inch trout and Annika caught a 12 inch trout)
3. Our state capital
4. The second day of school (since I forgot to take pictures on the first day)
5. Megan's birthday party
6. Random fun pictures

Here's one to tide you over...
Annika kept putting grapes in her cheeks and smiling and saying 'cheese'- it was so cute. She looks like a little chipmunk though.