My Ninjas

We had trick or treat night in Ankeny last night. Cale is the Ninja Turtle- Rapheal and Zach is a plain Ninja.

Cale loved his turtle shell.

Zach hurt his toe- I think he jammed it at school, so he was limping and decided not to go house to house and instead be the person to hand out the candy. I was a little shocked by that, he is usually all over Halloween.

Cale and I braved the rain, cold and wind last night. He had several layers on underneath his costume- we had to make sure we could see his shell on the back.

Fall

I love fall! We all celebrate our birthdays. I think we might be confusing Cale, the other day Cale said Zach wasn't 7 because he keeps having birthdays and that he will be 5 at his next birthday because he has already had a birthday party. We due tend to celebrate a lot - we have a birthday party with Eric's side, my side, Zach's biological family and then just the 4 of us. This year we left out the kid birthday party. That's a lot of cake! Cale wondering when we are going to turn the heat on :)

Cale and his cousin Owen looking at Cale's new Car's leapster game- which was a big hit!

The boys with cousins- Lexy, Cassie and Sara.

Notice I had to start to make smaller cakes- so Eric and I don't end up eating all the leftovers of a big cake. Next year for the boys, I might just open a jar of frosting and stick the candles in it- that's the part they seem to enjoy the most!

Happy 7th Birthday Zachary

I can hardly believe Zach turns 7 today, where does the time go? It doesn't seem like it was that long ago and we were waiting in the hospital for him to be born. Seven years later and I know more about dinosaurs, outer space, bugs, rocks and pokemon all from my intelligent 7 year old. Before I was a mom- I thought about all the things I would be able to teach my kids, I never dreamed that I would learn so much from them. Zach not only teaches me about all the facts he knows about various topics that I knew nothing about, but I learned about a kind of love that you feel like you would die for them and you place their needs way above your own needs. I learned even more about patience- waiting for them to sleep through the night, to smile, then to walk, to talk, to tie shoes, to understand basic rules and the list goes on.

As I think back to the past 7 years with Zach- I just can't help but smile. What a nice young man he is growing up to be! I am anxious to see what wonderful things his future holds- Eric and I joke with him about how he going to be a detective or something that deals with details- he has a memory for facts and notice subtle changes like no one else I have ever met. For now, he says he wants to be a teacher when he grows up and I think that is wonderful too!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Almost 7 Years Old

6 Years old

5 Years old

Zach through the years

Four Years Old

Three Years Old

Two years old

One year old





Zachary Joseph Josten born at 10:47 on October 15th, 2002. Wt 7 lbs 15 oz, length 22 inches. I fell in love with him the moment he was born and feel so blessed that we were able to be given such a wonderful gift!

Waterpark

This weekend we spent the night at an indoor water park. It's a new one to the Des Moines area, off of Merle Hay Road. We have been to several different indoor water parks in the past and I think we will go back again. Pros- it's close, love getting in the car and only driving 15 minutes, it's perfect for the age of our kids and relatively inexpensive when compared to other indoor water parks. Cons- when we got there Sat. afternoon- the water temperature could have been warmer and it won't take too long and our kids will out grow it. Cale enjoying "swimming" in the water.

The place had a pirate theme. Also big screen tv's in the back- so Eric could keep one eye on all the big games on Saturday- Everyone is happy!

Zach to the left and Cale to the right. Cale hasn't had any swimming lessons yet, so he enjoys having the life jacket ( and me too). I have him signed up for November.

By the time we left on Sunday, both Zach and Cale were going down the big slides alone. We would catch Cale, but Zach didn't need any help. I couldn't time a picture to save my life- oh well.

Ready for a swim! I do love going to indoor water parks- it's something we all enjoy doing together, it wears out my highly energetic children and I don't have to spend half the day lubing up my pale boys full of sunscreen :)

Happy Birthday to my Honey

Eric's 36 th birthday is in the morning! Unfortunately it doesn't work out to take him to Vegas tomorrow, he will have to settle for the MP3 player the boys and I got him. My prayer is that he continues to celebrate birthday after birthday with me until we are in our 90's. I thank God for Eric every day, I feel very blessed to be married to such a wonderful man, my true best friend and who I enjoy sharing all the moments of my life with.