Rock Ledge Ranch

Thad has been asking for the past month to go to a farm and see chickens, sheep, cows, pigs, and horses.  We finally made it to Rock Ledge Ranch here in Colorado Springs.  It is beautiful there.  It was a nice afternoon and so Thad, Oliver and myself decided to go for a walk and see all the animals.  

Thad loved this pond with all the ducks.

This was a pretty cool tree that Thad could climb inside of.  He had to wear his soccer metal to the farm :)

The horses didn't want to come by us but we still got a good look at them.  Thad really wanted to pet one but maybe next time.

This piggy was being lazy laying in the mud.  

So excited being at the farm.  I love this kid so much and seeing all the excitement on his face is priceless.

Oliver was sleeping in the stroller most of the time.  I wish this picture didn't turn out so dark.  (I still need to learn features on my camera!)

He scared me a few times getting so close to the water but he really wanted to see those ducks.

We were the only ones walking around the ranch so it was peaceful.  Thad did want to see the farmer though! I told him he was probably taking care of other animals.

Oliver woke up so we tried one more picture on the self timer and every time I tried Ollie was looking over at Thad.

This place was so nice to walk through.  The leaves were falling and some of the paths made a bumpy stroller ride for Ollie but he didn't seem to mind.

I love going out and doing fun things with the boys.  Thad just wants to go, go, go all the time and he keeps me and Oliver hopping :)  It's much better being able to do these things whenever we want and not have to worry about working!

No cavities!

Yes, Thad is almost 4 and I have never taken him to the dentist.  Most of it was because I was afraid he would scream and cry and I didn't want to put him through it or me!  Well my child has surprised me and he was PERFECT at the dentist.  He let the lady clean his teeth with cotton candy paste.  He sat up there like a BIG boy.  I was so proud of him.

The dentist came in and Thad let him scrape his teeth and look inside.  He even got x-rays taken but when he came out of the room he said "I didn't like that part!"  I gag every time I get the x-rays so I can imagine how he felt :)  The dental staff were so friendly and great with Thad.  I don't think I would ever be able to work in a pediatric dentist office!  

Thad was excited because they gave him a glove to wear and he got to play with the water dispenser, the sucker that goes in your mouth and a little brush.  They had Lion King playing on a TV on the ceiling and he got a goody bag on the way out.  It was a great first visit.  The best part is no cavities!  We go back in 6 months for another cleaning.  The dentist talked to him about making sure he gets all the sugar bugs off of his teeth every morning and night.  

Boo at the Zoo

We have gone to Boo at the Zoo since Thad was a baby.  We had to start the new tradition with Ollie too.  We went opening night and as always had a great time.  Thad has been talking about being Woody for the past few weeks and when I took him to the store to pick it out, we left with Iron Man.  I think he saw the mask and thought it was cool and I wasn't going to argue with him (even though I think he would have made a cute Woody!)  

Oliver is wearing Thad's first Halloween costume.  He makes a pretty cute giraffe. 

Thad is usually afraid of the characters but this year he wanted his picture with all of them.

This one cracks me up.  These two characters freak me out just looking at them!

The zoo had about 30 trick or treat stations.  It's a safe and fun place to trick or treat.  It's also fun seeing all the other costumes.  Two years ago when Thad was Elmo we went by the Lion cage and one of the lion's jumped up and pawed at our little Elmo.  It freaked everyone out and I grabbed Thad like it was an open glass and the lion was going to eat him! This year the lions weren't liking the costumes either and they were growling on the other side of the glass.  I'm glad there is a thick piece of glass between them and us!

Love this little Iron man!

Oliver slept through most of it, but towards the end he came out to play.  I was holding Oliver and a little girl walked by and said, "look mommy, she is holding a baby giraffe!"  The mom explained to her that is was just a baby in a costume :)

Thad got these cool vampire teeth and had to try them out.

Thad and Liv.  Liv is a friends daughter and is a dancer and was one of the zombies that danced to Thriller by the graveyard.  

If you ever get a chance go to Boo at the Zoo! Or you can come visit us at Halloween and we can all go!

Preschool Picture

Picture day was a few weeks ago at Thad's school and I have anxiously been waiting for them.  Thad talked about climbing up on the stool and he said a lady told him to smile.  Thad has a unique smile and just smiles so hard and also uses his fists to show his excitement, so I figured that is what his school pictures would be.  I love this picture.  He looks so big and so handsome!  I just can't believe my baby is in preschool.  The time is flying by and needs to S L O W down!

My new addiction.....

I have discovered Pinterest and am now obsessed with it!  If you haven't checked it out go to www.pinterest.com.  It has so many neat crafts to do.  Most of it is stuff you can get from around the house.  

Here are a few of the projects we have done so far:

Rock Art- I had these rocks sitting around so we painted them.  I made our cute little rock family and glued eyes on them.  I glued magnets on the back and now they decorate our bland white fridge :)

Thad had fun helping.  He picked out his rocks and got to paint them.

I took a Cheerios cereal box, cut it to this shape and then glued scrapbook paper on it.  Glued a few magnets on the back and now it collects papers on our fridge.  At least it hides some of the clutter :)

I love this cute frame for Halloween.  I got a cheap $1 frame from Michaels and painted it black.  We glued eyes all over it and now we have a cool Halloween frame.

I need to get a picture of the boys for Halloween but until then, Thad decided to be my model of the frame.

I have so many projects I want to do from this website.  You can "repin" them and post ideas you find online.  It is highly addicting though so watch out!! Stay tuned for more crafts!

Fall fun

We went with our heart group- Mended Little Hearts to the pumpkin patch.  Thad was very excited to go and see his heart friends!

We went to Venetucci Farms and picked out the perfect pumpkins.

We went down the first row so it was a little picked over but Thad still found the perfect pumpkin.

Thad wanted to paint so bad one day so we decided to paint pumpkins.  At first he was so good with only putting one color on at a time but by the end one side was completely black from all the mixing of colors!!

He had so much fun painting.

I love doing little activities with him.  He has fun and it's good bonding time for the two of us :)

Kansas Visit

We went to Goodland a few weeks ago to meet the newest addition of the family.  Adam's sister Jena and Matt had their second baby Cora.  She is a little doll. She is so petite and so sweet.  

Aunt Jill got this dress for Cora and dressed her up :)

Of course the three boys- Thad, Maddix and Josh always have a fun time together.  They played outside for hours together!

 The neighbor had a truck full of pumpkins and let all the kids pick one.  They had fun picking out their pumpkins.

Jude and Oliver are buds

You might remember this picture from 3 years ago with Thad, Maddix and Josh.   We were trying to reinact the picture with Jude, Oliver and Cora.........

(I love how Thad is smiling and the babies are crying- Maddix (brown shirt) and Josh (green shirt) were just about 5 weeks old)

It didn't turn out exactly the same but makes for a cute picture!  Oliver is trying to eat Jude's shirt and Jude was getting sad because Cora was crying.  

This is little Claire and she is Adam's cousins baby.  We couldn't get over how Claire and Oliver look so much alike!  It's those big round eyes and cute little noses.  Oliver takes after the Kemp side of the family for sure :)

Cousins having fun playing but I made them stop for a quick picture.  Titus is always so good with the younger kids.  They all like playing with him.

 Cora and Oliver had the same little sister/little brother shirts so we had to get a few pictures.

They have good big brothers to help take care of the babies

 Little Maddix didn't want to sit on the couch so he snuck in on the side and he didn't even know I was taking his picture :)

It was great seeing the family for the weekend.  Everyone made it back except for the Younger's in Hutch.  It's always a little chaotic when everyone gets together but it's a good chaotic and fun to see everyone together.  The kids have so much fun playing and get along pretty well.  Of course they each have their moments but who doesn't!  Every time we leave family, Thad gets sad because he just misses everyone sooooo much!

Jena, Adam, Jill, Maddix and Beth