Halloween

These pictures weren't taken on Halloween because when Halloween came around Tyson wouldn't put on his costume. He was excited to be Yoda, so I let them get dressed a few days before to make sure the costumes fit. Good thing I took pictures then cause he wanted nothing to do with the costume a few days later. Oakley loved his costume. He loved pointing his hand like he was shooting a web, and he loved that the suit had built in muscles. I'm glad I found it last year on clearance that day after Halloween, and that it fit him this year. Note to self: Always buy costumes the day after Halloween.

 

 

Zoo trip

We got to go to the zoo with my sister and her family while they were in town for UEA. It was a little busy, but not too bad. We still loved it. Oakley of course had to have his map the whole time. He loves looking at maps. If only he could read them.

 

 

 

 

 

Another New Door

We always have a house project in the making. Our most recent one was turning our living room window into a sliding door so we didn't have to go through our garage and around to get to the back yard. It wasn't very high on Wes's remodeling list, but on mine it was, and I'm the planner/designer so I get what I want, usually. I just hated how the kids were so far away if they wanted to be outside and I needed to be inside. With this door, they can go right out onto our patio and play all day long, and I can see them right there.

 Anyway, we hired my friend Rich to come and install it for us. Of course I forgot to take a before picture, but here's a during picture:

 and an after picture. The original window didn't go all the way to the ground so he cut the brick outside and tore out the bottom of the window to make the opening. Then we just slid this huge thing into place. We could tell a temperature difference right away. The windows we had didn't close all the way and they let tons of air in and out, and it was so drafty in that room. Now it's nice and temperate. We love it!

 

 I can't believe how much we've used it already, even though it's getting colder. I love the stairs and the openness of the windows. I especially love that I can open the glass and just have fresh air blowing through the screen. It was well worth the money.

A sore nose and scones

Our little Tyson is such a tough guy. He beats up on Oakley and usually wins. He is so active and always on the go, but sometimes his feet aren't fast enough for him, and this is the result:

 

 Poor little guy was running around playing in the back yard when he tripped and fell on the cement. The only problem was he was holding a stick in his hand so he couldn't catch himself and landed flat on his nose. He got a nice nose bleed and a pretty good scrape. I'm just grateful the stick didn't end up in his face.

 

 One of our favorite Sunday meals is scones. It's so easy and everyone loves them. Oakley is a big helper when we make them too. He loves to roll out the dough and he actually does a pretty good job. You can't really mess up though when the Rhode's dough is already shaped in a ball.

 

Pirate Party

This year Oakley asked to have a "Pirate Party" for his birthday. One of his friends got him watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and we borrowed The Lego Pirates game from my sister and he's been playing that, so I guess that's where he came up with the idea.

It was actually pretty fun to plan. Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Each of the kids got a pirate hat and a mustache, although the mustaches didn't stay on very long, and that hats were kind of small, but it was the thought that counts right?

 

We let Oakley invite five friends cause he was turning five years old. I think that's a good rule to go by. It was much more manageable compared to last year.

 

First they all got to walk the plank that I made. They loved walking and running across and then jumping in to the lion pool that we have.

Even the two littlest ones tried it. Tyson loved it, but Parker wasn't so sure about it.

 

Then we played musical islands, which is like musical chairs but you had to find an "island" to sit on when the music stopped. This pretty much just turned into a run around game and pile on the island game, but they liked it.

Afterwards we had pizza and root beer, one of Oakley's favorites.

 

Then I let each of the kids take a 30 second turn digging for buried treasure in our turtle sand box. I had put plastic coins and little treasure chests and pencils in there. Once everyone had a turn then I let them loose to just find whatever they could. I think they liked it.

The best part of the night was the treasure hunt. I had taken pictures of different places around the yard and in the house and I hid them at each place. So they would look at the picture and run to the place and find the next picture. It was so funny to watch them run from place to place. They were really good at taking turns opening the envelopes. A few times Oakley would look at the picture and then yell "Follow Me!" and start running to the next place. 

The end of the treasure hunt was inside the hot tub building. At first they went in and were looking for another clue, and then they finally realized that there was a treasure chest right there on the floor in front of them. Haha, they were funny. Inside the chest were some chocolate coins, an inflatable pirate sword for everyone, and a goody bag for everyone. They had fun sword fighting afterwards.

Then last but not least we had cake and ice cream. My friend Sheri made this adorable cake for Oakley. She is so talented. Maybe some day I'll attempt one myself, but for now I won't stress out about it.

Oak loved his party and I enjoyed throwing it for him. He's grown up so much in these five years. He is usually very thoughtful and loving, and he is my big little boy. Love him!

What Tyson's been up to

Tyson is such a funny boy. He is so happy all the time and he can sure talk. He can say almost any word that he hears and he is really good at communicating. He gets in to so much more then Oakley ever did. I think he has the curious, mischevious side. Here are a few of the things he's been up to.

 Chill'n on the chair while he watches his favorite movie "Finding Nemo".

 Sitting on the big chair while playing the iPad.

Acting innocent after drawing on himself and the counter top with permanent marker. He was so proud of his "art". 

 Playing with big bro in their newly filled sand box. Of course none of the sand stayed in the sandbox.

 Showing off his skid mark on his nose from biffing it on the cement.

Laughing with mom in the car while waiting to pick up Oakley from school.