So long kindergarten!

The end of May brought Brayden's kindergarten celebration, also considered a graduation of sorts. It was the cutest thing ever and he was so excited! I can't believe that he is now a 1st grader! I'm so proud of Brayden and everything that he accomplished this year. He can now read at a 2nd grade level and is doing 1st grade math - awesome!! It was fun to see how proud he was of himself too.

On the last day of school there was a birthday party for one of his classmates that turned 7 and Brayden was so amazed that he can do everything his friend can do and is even ahead of the friend in math. He said "Mommy, I'm only 5 but Ryan is 7 and we can do the same stuff, except I beat him at math!! And we are in the same class!" Brayden told me that I was right, that he really is smart like I tell him all the time. I'm so glad he now realizes that he is smart.

Father's & Son's

May always includes the Father's and Son's camping trip and I think I look forward to it more than the boys do. I LOVE that I get a night to myself - even though that night usually just includes me hanging out in my PJ's watching a chick flick...FABULOUS!!

The boys all had a great time. They went up a little past Payson by the fish hatchery. The wind was blowing and it was freezing but they had a blast. The highlight of the trip seemed to be the campfire, which I'm told was the biggest campfire of them all. Good job guys! On the way home they made a stop at the hatchery too - what a great weekend - and they even made it back in one piece, that's always a plus!.

Help!!

A few weeks ago we were at the park and the boys were playing while Mark and I were talking. Since we were discussing something (it must have been important at the time) we were just letting the boys play on their own and weren't really paying attention. After a few minutes we heard this little, tiny voice say "Ummm, can I get some help here?" We looked around and saw this....

Somehow Landon had gotten off the platform while grabbing onto this ring-thing and was just dangling in the air. Mark rushed over to "save" him while I quickly snapped a picture. Luckily for everyone, Landon is quite the adventurer and wasn't too scared to keep playing - he actually thought it was pretty funny when he was finally down. This kid makes me laugh!

Spring

The past few months have been very busy for us...work, school, extra activities, etc. Life is fabulously busy all the time. Here are a few of our activities - loaded with pictures of course.

Mark's family came to visit and we had a blast with them! We took more pictures than you will see here but I can't find them. But we have great memories! We spent a day at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium and I definitely recommend it. It is quite a drive but so great! Mark took the boys on a great log ride and they all got soaking wet! We also saw some weird creatures and the boys pet a stingray - good times!

Easter weekend was a lot of fun too. We colored eggs at my parents and the next day we had an egg hunt. The boys loved it!

Spring in AZ is beautiful so we have spent a lot of time playing outside.

Brayden has had a wonderful year in kindergarten so far. His reading skills are amazing and he loves math! He can add and subtract double digit numbers and is reading Tarell's books now - amazing! They have also learned about cowboys and got to dress up and had a field trip to see dinosaur bones at the Natural History museum, just to name a few of his favorite topics. Brayden also just started soccer and is quite the player!

Landon just started a new preschool/daycare and is loving it! He has made some new friends and continues to develop such a fun little personality. We have been a little worried that his vocab skills are a little behind but the past few weeks his language has just exploded! He loves to ask questions and learn and it is so fun to see!

Tarell is the best big brother ever!! He is such a great helper all the time and is growing up so fast. Although he loves school he is really looking forward to summer. He keeps asking what we are going to do over the summer - I guess I should start planning since it is coming up so fast!

Christmas (Finally!!)

Our Christmas was fabulous - I love this holiday! We opted for a real tree again this year and found the most beautiful one. We had a great time decorating it together and it looked so pretty and peaceful, I never wanted it to come down.

A few weeks before Christmas Brayden lost his first tooth. Boy did he think he was grown up! At his dentist appointment in November the dentist saw that it was a little loose and Brayden obsessed over it and wiggled it until he wiggled it out. He looked so cute with a little missing tooth.

We had our family Christmas party on the 23rd (I had to work on Christmas Eve - boo!!) and it was so fun. There were even a few celebrities that made an appearance! Santa came with presents and all the kids were in awe! We even had our China and California cousins on Skype and Santa was able to send them a present using Christmas Magic - it was amazing! All the kids personally received their Christmas pajama's from Santa himself. Then, the Dancing Doll and the Dumb Baby made their appearances. Good times were had by all. Christmas morning was spent opening presents and visiting family.

A few days after Christmas Mark and the rest of the guys in the family went snowmobiling in Yellowstone for 3 days - BRRRRR!! The high during the day was 15-18 degrees. Surprisingly, no one froze. They had such a great time and look forward to doing more activities together.

My attempt to catch up...

A few months ago I was working on my laptop on the couch as we all watched a movie. In the excitement of the movie, one of my dear children accidentally knocked the small table that had my computer on it and spilled my drink....all over my laptop!! Apparently, rootbeer + laptop = fried motherboard. Bummer!! Sadly, my internet capabilities were greatly hindered by this. But, I am now back up, sort of. I have another computer that is several years old and sooooo slow, but it works! YAY!!

Well, the title says it all. I am waaaayyyy behind in blogging and have missed several major events. Let's see if I can catch them all now.

November 17th was Brayden's birthday. He's 5!! I can't believe it! He is so grown up, it just amazes me everyday. He started kindergarten this year and is doing amazing. He is learning math (addition and subtraction) and is reading. He gets so excited when he realizes he CAN do these things. So, for his birthday we just had a small party - grandma and grandad came over for Brayden's favorite dinner, spaghetti and meatballs. (The second picture was the present that grandma and granddad gave Brayden - it was a Star Wars toy wrapped to look like a robot! It was the greatest thing!)

November 20th was Landon's 3rd birthday. He is growing up so fast too and changes everyday. He is definitely feeling comfortable and part of our family and is, most often, a typical 3 yr old. He can be the sweetest thing but can be a terror too. Then he smiles and it's so hard to get mad at him - and he knows it so he uses it to his advantage! He loves to play and is always laughing - sometimes I'm not sure he knows what he is laughing at but that laugh is so cute! For his birthday, we had to celebrate a little late because Landon was sick but we did celebrate. Thanksgiving morning we met with grandma and granddad for a "Birthday Breakfast". Landon picked out his favorite doughnuts for everyone - he loved it.

The last day of school in December was Brayden's school performance and it was just too cute! His class sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and looked so adorable! He was pretty nervous at first but quickly got into the routine and did awesome.

(here is Landon waiting patiently for the performance)

Brayden is the youngest kid in his class but notice how much bigger he is? He is at least a head taller than everyone else. Hopefully one day all the other kids will catch up to him.

Ok, I think that gets us caught up until Christmas so that will come next.

Well folks....it happened! On December 31st at approximately 9:15AM, Landon Jameson Mariano officially became a Mariano! We are so happy! He has been part of our family since February so it's feels so good to have it be official now. Yay!!! Now, take a look at that face - isn't he a cutie?!?!?!

P.S. I realize that I am super far behind in blogging....I have 3 birthdays, a school program, Christmas, and I'm sure many other things to blog about and I will get to it eventually. Maybe I will even share the ill-fated story of my laptop and the reason I am so far behind....someday!