The Ivey Family: 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Auto Show

We took a family trip to the annual auto show at Cal Expo.

The kids checked out some Acuras with Daddy, then posed in front of a cool M&M race car.

JT's preschool field trip for the month of November was a "Daddy & Me" Lowe's project. They made super-cool delivery trucks with a race car that can fit inside. They had a great time and found a new thing to do together. Lowe's offers free projects for kids and their parents every-other Saturday morning. JT got safety goggles, a work smock, and a patch for compelting the project, as well as his new race car and delivery truck!

Camp "In"

The kids and I decided to have a camp "in" on a night when Jared was working late. We had hot dogs and beans under our "tent" (we put blankets over the kitchen table and ate underneath). We roasted marshmallows over the stove and made S'mores. Then we got out JT's sleeping bag and blankets and pillows and watched a show in the family room. We had a lot of fun - this is definitely the way I like to camp!

Friday, October 31, 2008

"Let's Pretend Day"

I have been able to pretty much avoid the whole subject of Halloween for four years, but with the kids getting older and becoming much more aware of the world around them, this was the first year that we really had to address it.
I am not a fan of Halloween for many reasons, and it is a challenge to balance between wanting to just shelter them from everything unsafe, scary, inappropriate, etc. and allowing them to have a full and happy childhood, filled with positive memories.
I am very grateful, once again, for JT's preschool, who used the opportunity to teach the kids about their imaginations and pretending this week, and then have a "Let's Pretend Day", where they could dress up.
JT was so excited that we found an Obi Won Kenobi costume, and he looked so cute! Lexie dressed up as a pumpkin and I think she makes the perfect one, with her red ponytail as her little pumpkin top! Ridge looked cool in his Giants sweatsuit and hat, he was just a "baseball dude."
Our church was having a Pumpkin Patch Bash, and I think it is awesome that many churches have this type of outreach now, to provide a safer and more wholesome alternative.
I decided to stay home with the kids instead of going anywhere this year. Jared was working late, so we decided to have a movie and treat night. They were so tired by late afternoon, that I can't imagine trying to have taken them anywhere. It worked out perfect, and I think that they had a very fun day with happy memories - Yay!

JT's class had a parade, sang some songs, and "Trick-or-Treated" throughout the church. I was mostly using the video camera, so I didn't get many pictures. They did a super job!

GrammaNeani's office is very close to JT's school, so we surprised her with a visit to check out the costumes. We also got to visit with Nana at her house for a little bit in the afternoon.

We also visited Daddy at his work. It was a lot of fun, everyone was so nice as usual - and they had a lot of sweets to share!

Pumpkins!

JT's preschool took a field trip to a pumpkin patch and the whole family got to come along! There was a hay maze, rope swings, and a tractor ride to pick out the pumpkins. We had a great time. I am so happy that we found such an awesome preschool for JT to be a part of this year!

This was our first year to carve pumpkins as a family and it was a great time! Daddy even won 2nd place in his work's pumpkin carving contest for the one that he and JT carved!

What a Big Boy!

Ridge is not very interested in baby food. He just sort of leaves it on his tongue like, "You expect me to swallow this?"

He likes the sippy cup, though!

I was so surprised when I looked over last night to see him crawling up into the bookshelf and pulling books out. He was quite proud of himself! It is adorable, but it feels like he is just growing up so quickly!