Field Trip to the Planetarium

Makayla had a field trip with her preschool class to the planetarium. We got to watch a movie about a robot that goes to the moon and the sun. Then we got to walk around and look at all the exhibits and learn more about our solar system. 

 "One small step for Makayla...one giant leap for mankind."

 Wait... I thought men are from Mars?

Love being with this cutie!

Check ups for Caden and Brynn

These two little cuties had their well check ups and got to go together. 

At 4 years old Caden is 35 pounds (45th%) and is 39 inches tall (20th%). We were so excited to see how he has grown. Caden was always around the 15th percentile in his weight, and the 10% in height, but since he had his tonsils out last August we thought he was filling out. To see it on the charts was reassuring. The doctor said his height will probably catch up, too. We just love this little guy!

At 18 months old Brynnli weighs 21 pounds (10%) and is 32 inches tall (60%). We were really excited to see her above the 5th percentile in weight!

They both did great at the visit and are developing right on schedule. Caden got shots, and even though it hurt, he was so brave. Brynnli got a heel stick and didn't even flinch. We are so thankful for healthy babies!

Sunday Best

Ok... how cute are these three? We are the luckiest parents in the whole world. We got our cuties all dressed up in their new spring church outfits. 

 This little girl! 18 months and full of personality. She was so proud of herself in her new dress and cheezed it up for pictures.

 I love dressing up the girls in matching outfits. I know they won't want to do this their whole life, so I will do it as long as they will let me.

Spring Soccer

Caden started Spring soccer and he loves it! 

 He is still a little hesitant when he is playing. He doesn't like to be aggressive and gets confused when we tell him to steal the ball because he's just so sweet and has been taught his whole life to share. I love this about him.

 Caden's favorite part about his games is the treats after. Honestly, I think he plays just for the treats!

 This little cutie likes to practice her tricks during the games... check out that form!

 And this little cutie hangs out in the stroller.

 Yep, we love our little Cader Mater and love even more watching him play soccer.

Happy Birthday Cader-Mater!

Oh I just love this little boy and have no idea how he is already 4 years old! We all just love our Cader-Mater so much, and loved spoiling him on his special day. 

Caden was so excited when he woke up and wanted to open his presents. We told him he had to wait until later that night.

 We took Makayla to preschool and then I told Caden he could choose what we did that day. He wanted to go to Fiiz and get a drink and a treat. He got to choose his own drink and chose a kiwi flavored sprite with gummie frogs in it.

 We had to wait for a few hours for Makayla to be done with preschool and Brynnli to wake up from her nap before we could go to the next Caden chosen event: the "em-uezium of Natural Curiosity." We have been here quite a few times, but every time we go we manage to find new things to do. All the kids had so much fun. They drew pictures

 Climbed the rock wall

 Put on quite a few shows... which were all hilarious!

 We also went on the zip line, played with the sand, and built some pretty cool towers. The kids must have had fun because all three of them were zonked out on the way home.

We picked up Daddy and then headed to Caden's pick for dinner... are you surprised? He picked "The Enchalada"

 Caden was pretty amazed at his very own fried ice cream.

 After dinner we came home and Caden finally got to open his presents. He got a tool box, outfits, Legos and a soccer net.

I'm pretty sure he loved all of his gifts! We finished off the night with Oreos and birthday interview questions. Here's Caden's answers at 4 years old: 

1. What is your favorite color? "Uh, uh, uh orange"

2. What is your favorite toy? "I like my Spider Man Wegos!"

3. What is your favorite food? "Carrots" 

4. What is your favorite show? "Jake the Pirate and Daniel Tiger"

5. What do you like to eat for lunch? "Ham and pickles."

6. What is your favorite thing to wear? "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

7. What is your favorite game? "On your ipod. I like PBS Kids."

8. What is your favorite song? "Jake the Pirate... Yo ho Mateys Away! There'll be treasure and adventure today.... Did you hear it?"

9. What is your favorite book? "The Little Boy Who Lost His Name because his name is Caden."

10. Who is your best friend? "Makaywa"

11. Where is your favorite place to go? "Walmart. Because we get fun stuff for you and us at Costco."

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A firefighter"

13. What is your favorite thing about Makayla? "Play in her room."

14. What is your favorite thing about Brynnli? "That she plays" 

15. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? "Play with him. We like to play soccer."

16. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? "I wike to play with you."

Oh Caden! How is my handsome little boy already 4 years old? You are truly the sweetest boy! We love how thoughtful you are and how you always look out for your sisters. We love watching you learn new things and try new things even though you are a little scared. We love watching you play with Makayla and Brynnli and know they are your best friends. We love your extra detailed stories, your imaginative mind, and your contagious laugh. We love watching you play soccer and seeing how you improve each game. We are so impressed with how well you are doing in preschool and learning your letters. Mommy especially loves how you tell me "thank you" when I tell you I love you. You have brought so much joy to our family and we just can't imagine our family without our little buddy. Happy Birthday to our favorite little Dude!

Cars Party

A few months ago I started asking Caden what kind of party he wanted for his 4th birthday and he immediately told me a "Jake party." I told him he had that last year, so he had to pick something new. We tossed around a couple of ideas before he excitedly agreed to a "Cars" party. I loved this theme because we often call Caden "Cader-Mater," so we knew this would be the perfect fit for him.  

We had his party on Saturday, April 2nd. To say Caden was excited for his party would be an understatement. We started decorating the basement the night before, and Caden ran around the basement for hours screaming with excitement. 

 We decorated the basement as such:

Birthday poster and balloons. I made this poster and it was by far the most time consuming one to date, but I thought it turned out pretty cute.

 Cars birthday cake

 Drink table with "Rusteez Bumper Ointment" (Root Beer) to drink.

 Luigi's Tower of Tires

 Mater's tow cables.

 "Nuts and Bolts"

 Spare Tires (Mini Oreos)

 And Ramone's House of Body Art (tattoos)

 Cars centerpiece and more balloons.

 Tyler came up with this great idea to make a road leading to the basement. Loved it!

 After Caden's requested pizza for dinner we opened presents. Caden's face in this picture gives you a tiny glimpse into how excited he was.

 Man is this little boy spoiled! He got Spiderman and Fireman Legos, Jake toys, a toy gun, a soccer ball, and a lot of stylin' clothes!

 Love this supportive family of ours! They make the parties so much fun.

 After presents we sang "Happy Birthday" and Caden got to blow out the candle on his cake... okay, so we had to sing and blow out the candle twice because someone didn't know if they recorded it all.

After cake our whole family had a rematch of the kick ball tournament and then played dodge ball. I completely forgot to take pictures, but it was so much fun. Caden holds the record for the longest party. 6 hours... and honestly it would have gone longer but some of our family had a late night movie to get to.

Loved celebrating this handsome little boy's birthday. We love you Cader-Mater!