Kamryn A.K.A. Spider-Toddler!

It's hard enough to convince my 10 year old Mason to climb to the top of a 32 ft rock wall and frankly I was impressed that he got within a few feet of the top before becoming too tired (and a bit worried about the height). Ashton and Rylyn also climbed to respectable heights as well. Ashton got about half way up and Rylyn was a good 15 feet of the ground. However, the surprise of the night ... Kamryn with almost no encouragement climbed all the way to the top.

Now granted the cable was supporting her weight, (in fact we had a rope clipped to her back to ensure we could pull her back down) but she didn't move up at all unless she actually climbed, and she giggled her way all the way to the top and when she was done, wanted to do it again. Should I be concerned that my 3 year old has no natural fear of heights at all???

Playset Resurection

Proof posative that one man's trash is another man's treasure. We bought this playset for $240, now don't go getting impressed by that, it was a total pile of garbage then (see previous statement). Basically it was a bunch of pieces of wood that vaguely resembled pieces of a worn out beaten swing set. (We should have taken a before picture). We have sanded, and sanded, and sanded (and then sanded some more) and then stained and stained, and run back and forth to the hardware store about a dozen times for different bolts screws and replacment pieces of wood. But we finally got it all put together. And counting all the other stuff we have replaced we are probably into it around $325ish; pretty sweet playset for that much eh? Next project "Bury the Tramp" .... but that is going to take a bit, maybe I will work on the closet shelves or the pool table for a while .... or nap. (Yes, thats my sweet wife hangin with the kids ... literally).

St. Patricks Day

Okay so I know it has been a long while since we posted, but we are making efforts to reduce some craziness in our lives and focus on some more important things. So I promise to be more diligent about adding to the post here.

Anyway, so a little background to this video. The kids were asked to make leprechaun traps for school as a school project. They came up with their own ideas and we (meaning the super awesome mommy not actually me the daddy) helped to build them. We painted some rocks gold and set them up to catch some leprechauns.

Needless to say when daddy came home from work in the morning, he found a note from the leprechaun saying how angry he was that he had to use some magic gold coins to escape the traps and the gold in them was fake =). For some reason this particular leprechaun decided to play a trick in return (it's only a coincidence that daddy found the note first of course). So the video following is the results of that trick. Enjoy.

Adventures is Bicycling w/ Ashton

Up until now, our little Ashton Bear, has had very little to no interest in riding a bike. We took the training wheels off the little bike in the fall last year, but other then a few 10-20 foot rides (followed by setting the bike down and making Daddy go get it), he really just wouldn't ride a bike. It's not that he couldn't learn he just didn't really want too, (and our Little Bear is like his namesake and grandfather, in being as stubborn as he wants), so we never pushed it.

Suddenly with kids driving electric jeeps and riding bikes etc all around our cul-de-sac, I asked if he wanted to ride and he just kept on riding. He crashed often as graceful as any child of mine could be, but just kept getting back up and going again. I thought video would be apropriate since we recorded Mason's first real bike ride. Oh and yes thats Rylyn who made multiple attempts at running over me.

Mason's Baptism

I realized we haven't posted about Mason's Baptism yet. He was Baptised on January 3, 2009 a couple weeks after his birthday by me his Dad =). At the same time our next door neighbor, and one of his best friends Alexis was also baptised (don't they look like a cute little couple).

Meet Jasmine! October 27, 2008

Mason and Daddy have Fiona, Rylyn claims Izabelle, and now Ashton has his Jasmine. On my way back from a trip to Arizona visiting my brother and sister we (my little sister, her kids, my girls, and I) stopped in Beaver at a gas station and there they were. The cutest little puppies for sale! They had no long tails to smack the kids in the head with, so I knew Ryan would have no objections...He hates long tailed dogs but cut those things off and he loves them. The no tail thing got my attention, but when I saw that she would match Fiona I was sold! I am super busy already, but I can handle more right? I know I am crazy, but there it is!

Ashton's Field Trip September 27, 2008

So much fun! Ashton loves school and asks everyday if he gets to go. We went to the pumpkin patch for a field trip with Miss Dawn and his Preschool friends. Ashton had his daddy and brother chasing him all around the playground, up and over the giant haystack ramp, through the enormous wooden pumpkin, and even down the pipes that went underground. Ashton is so active and coordinated; let him run and you'll see why we call him Ashton Bear!
We ran so crazy at the play ground I had dirty looks from the other moms there. Maybe I should have settled my brood down, but then if the other moms don't know how to rough up their kids, I feel bad for them. We Hellewellians play rough and rowdy, but we do it together!

On a side note I love how these pictures show the different sides of our Daddy. Just look at how he swings sweetly with his girls verses making his boys dizzy on the tire swing. Good thing Mommy recognizes the "I'm going to throw up if this doesn't stop" look.