Zach turns "5"

Happy Birthday Zach

It was a Ninja Turtle birthday.  We just happen to have green bowls that were easy to turn into turtle faces for breakfast.

We like to open presents first thing in the morning.

Looks like he is happy with what he got!!

Good think it was Halloween because he wanted all super hero costumes.

Spiderman

The HULK

Ninja balloons.

Of course pizza for dinner because that is a Ninja's favorite food (with green sewer slime jello).

What a party!

Even an awesome Turtle cake.

Mason plays soccer

Soccer was a hit last year and Mason couldn't wait to play again this year.  He has really improved and doesn't just stand in front of the goal when it gets to their side to protect it.  He chases the ball down the field and kicks it to his teammates.  He even made a couple goals!  It was a terrible fall for outdoor sports and several games were canceled due to snow and thunderstorms.  They did play one game in rain.  Mason didn't complain about it for one minute and seemed to enjoy the whole thing.  As we were getting in the car he said, "Mom, even my underwear are wet!"  He thought it was so funny.

The SPIDER!!!

One day when we got home from school the kids came running into the house screaming about a massive, hairy spider in the garage.  I told them to take the fly swatter and squish it.  They headed out to do that and then quietly came back in to get some supplies.  This is what I found 20 minutes later.  Rylie and Mason in their explorer vests with a small train track set up and the spider riding in the train.  Zach was in on it too, but he was mad about something when I was taking the pictures.  I am not sure when the transition happened from screaming about the spider to playing with the spider.  They even had to find another spider and crickets to ride with the first spider and keep him company.

Rylie's outfit is another story:

She came home from school way excited about going to the opera on a field trip.  Somewhere she got the impression they were supposed to dress up.  She talked about what she was going to wear for a week.  The night before we had a babysitter and she had her help pick something out.  After school the next day she was sooo bummed.  They didn't actually see an opera they just talked about what an opera is and you didn't have to dress-up!

While the other kids were playing with spiders, Tirzah was in the bathroom singing and fixing her pony's hair.

She is of a different breed than the first three.

Mini Marathon

A new part of the local marathon was the Mini Marathon for kids the night before.  I signed the kids up for it a few weeks before and explained it too them.  They were way more excited about it than I thought they would be.  I had to map out a mile for them to practice running everyday to get ready for the race.  Half way through the first day of the practice run Mason decided he was done, but Rylie ran it everyday for 2 weeks. 

Jacob had been gone for 2 1/2 weeks and just happened to make it home in time to meet us at the race.  The kids were so excited he could watch them.

Mason did the half mile-he is the third boy from the front with gray shorts on.

Tirzah even ran the 40 meter dash.

All the kids were given these very nice shirts for participating.

Rylie is right in the center with pink shorts and bright yellow shoes.  She is doing the mile.

She made it!!

Mason breaking a record

Mason is way into records lately.  Every book he checks out from the library has something to do with breaking a record.  He loves the Guiness Book of Records and animal record books.  On the way home from school one day he decided to try to break a record and put on all his clothes.  He talked about it with Rylie for a few days and then these pictures appeared on the camera.  Rylie documented the whole thing for him.  They even wrote down the amounts of what he was wearing, but it got lost.  He wore all his underwear, socks, pants and shirts.

Rylie also put on all of her socks.