Aliya's Petting Zoo

Aliya has adjusted very well at her new school (not a surprise at all). Her teachers rant and rave about how well she is doing. She has enjoyed it but I still miss her old preschool. I love that I can just drop her off at the curb but I miss her old teachers and the interaction I had with the other moms. Ah well! Anyways, although there are no cool animals on the schools grounds, one day they brought in a petting zoo for the kids. I dropped Kai off with Aunt Steph so Blakers and I could see the animals too!

Here are the kids in Aliya's class. I have no idea what their names are. Guess that means I need to spend some time in her class! Unfortunately that isn't going to happen until she is in at least first grade.

She loved the llama. She kept putting her head on it because it was 'so soft'. Ewww!

These piggies were Liya's favorite. There was a mommy with her two baby piglets. The babies were pretty cute.

Blake seemed to enjoy himself (although you could never tell from this pic). We were the last class to see the animals so the animals were pretty tired. A couple of the goats were laying down. Twice my son walked up behind a goat and jumped on its butt. I was trying to be the responsible parent and not laugh out loud but it was pretty funny. Poor goat!

This picture is classic Aliya. She tries to mother-hen everything. I swear I daily have to remind her that she is not Blake, Taeya or Kai's mom. If she wants someone to go someplace, she'll maneuver them to get her way -- even deer!

Funny how Blake liked watching 'naughty' ram the most. I guess the ram had been 'bad' earlier in the day and got put in time out. Guess they are kindred spirits!

This is a dumb picture but ended up funny. So I took this picture then went to turn off the camera and put it away. Afterwards, I looked up to see Blake holding the bunny about a foot off the ground by both ears. Again I was trying not to laugh but I thought it was hilarious! That kid is such a boy.

Nuncle Jeff

We were lucky enough to get a visit from Uncle Jeff the end of September. We had all but written him off since he decided to head to school in Paris so we were all thrilled when we found out he had to return to the States and was going to spend a couple days with us. Jeff is Tony's youngest brother and a ton of fun. There has been a couple times when he's put one, or all, of my children's lives in peril but its all been in the name of fun. The kids of course love him (don't we all) and they immediately planned out all the fun stuff they wanted to do while he was here: do a cooking challenge (we watch way too many food competitions) and decorate for Halloween. The cooking challenge didn't happen but the Halloween decorating did:

One of the main reasons Jeff came was to see Kai. For 2 1/2 of my kids births Jeff was out of the country. When Tae was born he was in Africa, for Aliya's birth he was in Romania, he was actually in the US for Blake's birth and for Kai's he was somewhere on an airplane heading to Paris (hence the 1/2 - I think he was somewhere over the Atlantic but who knows).

This is everyones favorite position with a newborn. I don't know what it is but once you get a newborn snuggled in and asleep on your chest, its the best sleeping pill ever!

Uh-oh!

Have you ever wondered what a big ole box of Sam's Club diapers look like spread across your bathroom floor? Neither had I but I found out! My almost two year old terror has been on the rampage lately. Anything he can destroy, mess up or break, he does. I am just thankful he hasnt figured out how to open wipes containers ... yet. Its a coming!

I guess I should appreciate how proud he is of all his hard work!