Santa 2012

Tyler really understands Christmas this year, he knows that Santa brings all the good boys and girls toys for Christmas.  Just after Thanksgiving his backhoe toy broke and he has been saying that he will ask Santa for a new backhoe for Christmas. We explained to him that when he sits on Santa's lap that is when he can ask him for what he wants.  We have been practicing so he knew what Santa was going to say, you know, what's your name, have you been a good boy this year and what do you want for Christmas?  When we were getting ready to leave the house to go he started to get scared, he has previously not really enjoyed seeing Santa.  He said he didn't want to go and told us that he didn't want any toys if it meant he had to see Santa.  Here is how we got the picture.

Christmas Trains

As if trains weren't already great, make one out of candy!  Grandma Peppmeier arranged a full on train making assembly line for Tyler and 4 of his cousins this week.  All the kids made their own train.  Tyler needed a little help but not too much, he is at such a fun age, being able to be more on his own and do fun projects like this one!  His best skill came with the sprinkles, he is more of a "pourer" than a "shaker" :) 

Soccer Tot

If I were to look back and change something, I wish I started playing soccer before I was a 5th grader.  So, it's official Tyler is in soccer.  We put him in a Soccer Tot class at the Tualatin Indoor Soccer Center where I play and he loves it!  This is the first class of any kind that he has been in without any parent involvement.  He goes out on the field with his coach, Tim, and the only other boy in the class Max.  It's great, I get to sit in the bleachers and watch, finally.  Tim told me after his first day that he has a natural "ball striking ability" and I told Tim that he, of course, gets that from his Mom :) 

 They throw out the cones and then go around tipping them back up with their feet.  On the first day Tyler organized the cones by color - not really a "soccer skill" but a good organizational one :)

After the cones are tipped up they then dribble the ball around trying not to knock over any of the cones.

A Date With Jacque

Last weekend, Jason took Tyler to McMinnville and went to the Evergreen Air and Space museum.  Not only was this a great boys trip - airplanes, helicopters and space shuttles... they also had a date!  We have missed Jacque being such a big part of our lives and she now lives in McMinnville so it was a perfect opportunity for them to get together.  Tyler talked about it for days, and Jacque bought him a toy helicopter that he didn't let go of for 24 hours.  We love and miss you Jacque!

The 2012 Tree's

This year we went to a new tree farm in Estacada to find our Christmas tree.  We missed the rain by a couple hours, as any Oregonian knows - a miracle this time of year, and were able to get both trees up while they were dry. Tyler wanted his own little tree for his play room and it ended up being the only quality photo for the day :) We got two trees, one for our living room and this one is Tyler's pick.  

Cute.com

I know that when you are a pet owner you always think yours are the cutest... and I definitely do.  Our animals drive us absolutely crazy at times, but when we all settle in for an evening and relax they do some of the sweetest things and are so adorable.  This is just a couple moments when I thought to grab the camera recently :)  We love you Spencer, Penny and Marcus!

We Think This is Funny

When we potty trained Tyler we would look through magazines while we "waited".  Recently he has been sometimes asking for some privacy and on this day he not only wanted privacy but to look through a new magazine that had shown up with Christmas toys in it.

Halloween 2012

Tyler made his own decision this year about what to be for Halloween.  He loves to watch a show called The Dinosaur Train at breakfast every morning.  He told me he wanted to be Buddy the T-Rex from the show.  Luckily I found a pattern on line and Grandma Peppmeier made it for him.  It was SO cute and he loved it!  Last year it took me a month to get him into his Halloween costume, he was scared of it, but this year was a different story.  He couldn't wait to wear it all day long! 

It's amazing what a difference this year was from last... this year we stood on the sidewalk as Tyler went up to the houses all by himself, often adopted by another trick-or-treating group, and got his candy.  Jason taught him about the "porch light rule".  He was saying,"This one's got lights on, this one has candy," and, "this one's got lights on, this is a pretty good house."

 I took him to see 75% of his grandparents (sorry Gary) but it's all we could squeeze into the morning.  We saw Grandma Hunt at her work and trick-or-treated around the office and then we visited Grandma and Grandpa Peppmeier.

New Boots

Size 9? Really, already - SIGH.... We have been waiting for a week for Tyler's new rain/snow boots to arrive and they just did - literally about a half hour ago.  We of course went straight out to the patio to splash.  We have a "sunken grade" issue in one corner that Jason has been threatening to fix for a while now, I think we found a reason to keep it :)  It makes a great splashing puddle!

Choosing "Fravorites"

Tyler has a lot of "fravorite" things lately.  Bobby is his fravorite stuffed animal, Spencer is his fravorite cat, Marcus is his fravorite boy-dog and Penny is his fravorite girl-dog.  He usually follows the statement saying  how much they love him for example, "Penny is my fravorite girl dog, she loves me soooo much."  

Penny just recently had a small bump removed so she looks like she has a black eye.  Tyler was so sweet, he was very gentle around her eye and always telling Penny that her eye looked good, or,"it looks better today Penny" 

Surgery Day!!!

I injured my knee playing soccer at the end of August.  I saw a bunch of Dr.'s and had an MRI and then learned that I had a medial meniscus tear and needed to have surgery to fix it.  Last Wednesday, I FINALLY had surgery (early actually thanks to my husbands connections at Kaiser - thanks Jason!) It went great, and I am well on my way with my Physical Therapy - I feel SO much better!  Can't wait to get back out on the soccer field!

 Pre-Surgery

 Off I go...

They wheeled me down to the surgery room and about 30 seconds later I think I was out - all I remember is meeting all the people who were going to be helping with the surgery, my Dr. came in and then I asked for some pictures from the surgery - which I should get next week :)  Next thing I know I was waking up.  The nurse said after surgery I slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up smiling.

 My first food - mmmm delicious saltines - I thought they were SO good!

Bouquets and Tomatoes

For the last 3 years or so I have been assisting/learning how to can stuff with my Mom.  We usually do peaches and tomatoes.  Previously she just always has the produce and I show up and help.  This year Tyler and I wanted to go with her to pick the tomatoes.  It was REALLY fun!  The farm was amazing, fresh produce for sale in the cutest little store (WOW I sound like a city girl) but really I wanted to stay all day!  There were tractors, rocks, dirt, plants and the most beautiful flower patch where we picked fresh bouquets, what more could we want?   Had a great day!

My Prize Tomato

Tyler's Weekend @ Merwin

Tyler recently got to go and spend a night at Lake Merwin with Grandma and Grandpa Hunt.  His cousin Kami and Aunt Mel also were there.  He and Kami had a lot of fun being silly together and Tyler had a blast! 

Happy 12th Birthday Spencer

Some Summer Fun

Last summer we got a small, round plastic pool for Tyler to play in.  This year it was time for an upgrade.  We go a 10' x 6' blow up pool that Jason and I could actually float in comfortably.  It's been a lot of fun for Tyler.  We also got to go for a ride on uncle Steve's boat one evening, we taught him all about flagging and we got to drive the boat!

Grandma and the Sprinkler

When Tyler and I are playing in the pool, or outside with water in general, I usually have him take off his shirt.  He will be climbing into the pool and I will have to stop him before he gets soaked, saying, "let's just take your shirt off, then it will be okay."  A couple weeks ago, I dropped him off with my Mom for the afternoon and I told him that after his nap he could run through the sprinkler in the front yard, just like I did when I was little.  So, after his nap, my Mom set it all up for him.  After a bit, he kept asking Grandma to run through the sprinkler.  She explained that she had her clothes on so she couldn't.  He turned to her and said, "it's okay Grandma, just take your shirt off". 

 Obviously she kept it on - thanks Mom :)

Doug & Kelly's Visit

My brother and his family make a trip out every summer and it always goes by too fast.  We squeezed in as many activities as possible this year; zoo, golf, bbq's, "adult" dinners... and as always it was so great to see them!  Tyler had a great time playing with his Montana cousins!

 Matt, Will, Tyler and Me @ the zoo

 Tyler has been afraid of these lion statues, but this day he got up the courage to sit on them with Will and Annemarie

 Doug found his letterman jacket at my parents house and then proceeded to stroll into the living room where we all were and "show off".  Two nights later, Jason and I showed up with ours and captured these priceless photos :)