"Its disgusting!"

At school Eli got to have a special Daddy-Son pumpkin carving night this week, so I decided that Zachy and I would have a Mommy-Son carving time at home with his pumpkin. He was so excited. Typically we let the boys paint the pumpkins instead of carving them. Not only is it easier for us not having to do all the work for them when they were too little to carve themselves, but it was also fun for them to just have complete control over their pumpkins...and the added plus- painted pumpkins last much longer than carved ones. Wooohooo for non mushy pumpkins by halloween night! But this year since school was having this special carving night, we figured go for it. Here is Zach all excited to start cutting his big pumpkin...

And here's him scooping gutts....

He plugged his nose the entire time. He was not happy. He informed me of how "disgusting" it smelled. Every time the gutts got on him he ran for the towel making many uncomfortable sounds. I think next year he'll ask to go back to painting the pumpkin.

Admiring his pumpkin, very happy he's done touching gutts.

He himself didnt actually carve the pumpkin because he didnt want to touch it, so instead he sat and was my model. He told me to make the smile just like his. How cute is that!
Happy Halloween!

Happy 3rd Birthday Madok!

Such a cute birthday boy!

The kiddo's posing for a picture.

At one point in the party they turned off the lights and had disco party lights and music... this is Eli busting a move. haha I think he was doing the robot.

The birthday boy slides!

Zachy climbs!

And of course, you cant keep the Dads under control no matter how much you try...here's birthday boys Dad Kory going for a slide.

Daddy trying to bounce Eli higher and higher. He's such a bully at the bouncey places. Poor Diane went home wounded because of my crazy husband.

And Daddy breaking the "feet first" rule. Big no no Daddy! (If our kids dont follow directions well, its his fault not mine!)

Happy Birthday Madok, thanks for having us at your fun bouncey party!

Run Dolphins Run!

Im so proud of my little "Dolphin". He was such a big boy and made the calls all on his own asking for support in pledging his laps this year. Yes, I even got a little watery eyed listening to him make the calls. Thank you to everyone who supported Eli and his school for this fundraiser.

Eli was so determined to run as many laps as possible. Im so thankful that I get to be home with my boys and am free to participate and volunteer at school as much as I do. To see the joy in the boys eyes that Im going to be at something special for them at school is priceless. When Eli found out Id be working at the Dolphin Dash he got really excited. He stopped at the water station I was volunteering at on every lap to tell me how many he'd run so far. :)

Eli ran the entire time. I was really impressed. It made me tired just watching him. It was a little rainy, but never slowed him down one bit. Maybe a track star in the making???

Having a quick water break......

and off he goes....

8 Laps! thats almost 3 miles in 1/2 hour! Impressive for little six year old legs.

Thumbs up to the Dolphin Dash, my 8 laps, and everyone who supported and pledged my laps. Thanks!

Look Ma' no training wheels!

For a few years now Ive wondered if Eli would ever ride a bike without training wheels. I didnt want him to be the last of his friends to learn, or be 15 and still afraid to try. Before he started Kindergarten last year I really tried to get him to take off the training wheels so we could ride to school some days, but he wanted nothing to do with it. And with how our house sits on the hill of our street, I was always a little weary of pushing him to do it when he wasnt ready in fear that he would get too much momentum going and crash and never try again. So the beginning of summer came around and Zach asked to have his training wheels taken off his bike. I figured if he was asking, then Eli was getting his off too. So did they learn to ride bikes this summer? NO. Infact neither of them really touched their bikes or tried at all the entire summer.
Summer came and went, and Fall snuck up on us. One day just after school started, Eli was at school and Zach and I were working in the yard. Zach decided he was going to ride his bike, so I tried to teach him. He's gotten really good at rolling around and balancing on it, but not quite the peddle and brake parts yet...baby steps. This is where I decided to put into effect "Waibel sibling competition". Jakes siblings are all so competative and its totally in our boys blood, so why not use it to my advantage right? So, Eli gets home from school that day and I inform him that Zach is almost riding his bike on his own, and Eli immediatley wanted to go out and ride. Got right on and rode off, not wanting our help! Guess he just needed that little bit of sibling competition...Im remembering this tactic for future situations. haha

He was so proud of himself and rode constantly for a good hour up and down our street as Mommy freaked out occasionally. The brakes....didnt come as naturally to him as the taking off did. And he likes to watch his feet peddle....not the most safe way to ride. So many times I was yelling "EYES UP!" and "WATCH OUT FOR THE MOTORCYCLE" (really nice one the neighbors visitor had parked on the street) and "BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEESSS!"

He was very tired when we decided to call it a night. He informed me that we were riding his bike to school the next day. I told him that we had some more work to do on the braking and then we'd talk about it. I cant believe how big he's gotten in just the last few months.

Aviation Museum

What a fun Fall Saturday afternoon at the McMinnville Aviation Museum. Again, one of those things we've had on our "to do" list forever and finally got around to doing. We had a great time, the boys loved all the planes and tanks and the park there is absolutley the coolest.

Such cute little buddies.

Mommy and her big man in front of a pretty cool tank.

Ready for take off!

Hot air balloon confusion

So a few weeks ago Grandma and Grandpa called to tell us that they were flying around our town in a balloon. We went outside our house but were not able to see them over the hills unfortunaltey. Fast foward to a few weeks laster....Im driving the boys to school and traffic is going all crazy, people pulling over to the side of the road...stopping right in the midddle of the road...swerving all over the place....and a big air balloon is flying over and trying to land in a feild nearby, the cars were trying to watch it all happen. Zach and Eli got so excited, so of course we followed suit to all the other traffic (but of course I pulled over to the side of the road safely unlike some of the other cars). The boys were so funny, they swore this balloon was carrying Grandma and Grandpa still, weeks after the call. So we didnt get to actually see Grandma and Grandpas balloon, but we were able to see this one to get a good idea of how much fun they had on their flight weeks earlier.

Portland Pirate Festival......aaaaargh!

What a fun day! Thanks Ben and Alisa (and Alisa's mom and dad) for inviting us to join them at the Pirate Festival this year. We'd talked about going in years past but never got around to going until now. It was one of the coolest festivals ever. Pirates pirates pirates galore matey!

We got to watch our favorite pirate band perform! Captain Bogg and Salty, yes we own their cds and rock out to them in the car quite often. Infact there is one song in particular we're not allowed to play while Jake drives... he gets too crazy when it plays and if he's driving then he forgets he's driving and ends up speeding some.

The entire group signed swords for the boys!

This little pirate is all tuckered out and refuses to dance to the music.

...but he sure did enjoy the bouncey slide!

Until next year mateys........