Late Summer Como Town Fun

With snow currently on the ground, it's fun to look back on our photos from the summer.  Here we are in late summer at Como Town.  The kids had a blast that day, as always.  Mother Nature...please bring back the warm sunny weather soon. (Mike says: "But not before we get enough snow for a snowman.")

 The Ladies

Mommy and her three munchkins 

Daddy got in on the swing action but almost didn't get out of the seat.   

Cameron - Bumper Cars 

Firefighters (Cameron in charge of the hose, Kyle the driver and Lauren calling out orders)

HealthKick 2012

Our Tae Kwon Do Academy sponsored a fun-filled event that helped raise money for our local children's hospital in early November.  Both boys participated in the wonderful event with the help of some special sponsors (aka family members).  The boys raised money and then performed three awesome board breaks.  Each of them proudly raised $100 with no help from mommy and daddy.  What a great way to teach the kids about giving back to others.  In addition to the board breaks, there was a demonstration by the Academy's SWAT team and a special appearance and performance by Tyler Weaver.  He is a professional Hyper Pro athlete with too many martial arts titles to name.  So very proud of you both.

 HealthKick 2012 Participants

 Kyle's Hammer Fist Break

Kyle's Palm Strike Break - Quickly Followed Up By His Axe Kick Break

 Cameron's Hopping Side Kick Break

 Cameron's Hammer Fist Break - Quickly Followed Up By His Hopping Axe Kick Break

   Cameron, Tyler Weaver and Kyle

Halloween 2012

The kids had a fabulous Halloween.  Lauren wanted to dress as our cat, Sonoma.  She loves animals.  Both boys still think ninjas are the best and recycled their costumes from last year.  That helps the budget - thanks boys.  Beside the traditional night of trick or treating door-to-door in our neighborhood and coming home with a huge haul of candy the kids loved handing out candy to those that came to our house.  We also attended the Halloween party at our TKD academy.  The kids loved it!!!  There were games, a costume contest, dancing, candy and a performance by the SWAT team.  Even Lauren got into the action with some dancing and she showed off her TKD skills that she has picked up from her brothers.  Happy Halloween!

Lauren dressed as her favorite cat, Sonoma 

 Happy Halloween from Kyle (the red ninja), Lauren (the black cat) and Cameron (the black ninja)

 Love how this captures Lauren always in motion

 Such a good big brother

Fun Halloween Party at Lee's Championship TKD Academy 

Meow 

 Knife Strike

Be Afraid

First Ballet Recital

After months of practice, the big day finally arrive - Lauren's first ballet recital.  Lauren was so excited to show off her moves and mommy was looking forward to watching her performance (daddy had to work and her brothers were in school).  Bad news, her teacher broke her collar bone and could not be at class but the show had to go on.  Well sorta, the substitute ballet instructor didn't know what dances the girls had been working on and they were too young to explain it all so the recital was very short and disorganized.  Lauren told me afterwards that she was sad she couldn't show me some of her dances.  We tried to get a private performance at home with no luck.  Lauren told us she needed the music and her friends - so cute.  She loved dance class, so I am sure we have many more recitals to look forward to in our future.

 Practice Day - She insisted I take photos of her in all her outfits

 Showing how she releases a "butterfly" in one of her dances

 Telling Linus about her upcoming show

The girls were so confused on what to do 

Sweet 

 She perfected her bow

DIY Children's Photo Shoot

In the midst of just living a busy life with three little ones, we neglected to get professional photos done of the kids this year.  Normally, I drag them into a studio around their birthdays.  This involves carefully picking out their clothing, perfectly combing their hair, bribing them to smile naturally, then agonizing over which pose to select.  This year, we opted for a do-it-yourself photo shoot of the kids, and we must say the results were not too bad.  (I think they're spectacular! --Mike) We love the new photos on our fireplace mantel - three adorable kids, all smiles. What more could you ask for?

Lauren - Age 3:

Kyle - Age 6:

Cameron - Age 9:

Cameron's 9th Birthday

In early October, we celebrated Cameron's 9th birthday.  Wow, where is the time going?  We had a small party with our Minnesota family on the Saturday before his birthday and a nice family dinner on the day of his birthday.  Happy 9th Birthday Cameron.  We love you to the moon and back. 

 Pokemon Cards - Just what he wanted.

 Books and Board Games

Great Pokeball Cake - Thanks to Grandma Judy 

Happy 9th Birthday Cameron!!!