First Hair Cut

Emily was totally making fun of me when I said that I was going to get Owen a haircut with the older boys.  She didn't see why it was needed soooo here's the shaggy "before" pic.

Look at the curl coming over his ear!  That needed to go!  I like it nice and tidy looking :)

The first challenge was getting Owen to not eat the hair that was surrounding him--so Em handed me a paci to solve that problem.  

Then came problem #2--keeping him still :)  Yeah, good luck, I have not yet found a solution to that one!

Sooo here was that "after" shot.  It was not longer in the front than the sides and over the ears it was not all shaggy anymore.  Personally I love it (except for the fact that he looks more grown up--that I do NOT approve of!)  Either way he's such a little cutie!!

New Christmas Clothes

I was so excited to find this fun pattern for the girls dresses--I was hoping it was "grown-up" enough for Emily but still cute and fun.  Then when I found the red disco dot fabric I just knew it would make the perfect Christmas dresses.  My kids are so patient with me--this was a super hectic Sunday morning and the last thing they wanted to be doing was taking pics but they decided to humor me ;)  You'll have to excuse Ethan's tie--Jason was already gone at early meetings and I am NOT able to tie ties properly no matter how hard I try!  I assure you that once Jason saw Ethan he promptly re-tied his tie.   

90 Second Savvy

This was Andrew's 90 second video--yeah, I know it's actually longer than 90 seconds--I really loved this.  I particularly loved how much fun the kids have making these videos and the fact that it's a project they do alone...they write the script, direct it, edit it by themselves :)

90 Second The Name of This Book is Secret

So for another book report the kids did a 90 second version of their book--which I really thought was a fun idea--we got the idea from watching other 90-second books on YouTube.  I liked how they were able to cut it down to the bare bones of the story but still include the important ideas and events.

Throne of Fire Trailer

Emily and Andrew both read Throne of Fire and as a final project for them I asked them to make a movie trailer for it.  I really enjoyed the book and LOVED what they did for the trailer.  I really enjoy it when they let their creativity shine through :)

Arrow of Light

Andrew has been working so hard to get his Arrow of Light.  Several times a week we would pull out his Webelos book and knock off a few requirements.  We had a lot of fun working together on this during this past year.  I have to admit I am not too big on scouting--it's kinda like a foreign language to me and I just can't seem to get what is going on half the time so because of this I was not quite sure what exactly we needed to do to complete Andrew's Arrow of Light so we just decided to earn everything--yep, everything.  He got all the pins...some of them he even did more than the basic requirements because he was enjoying the subject.  So because of that he actually got a special award...I think it was called a Webelos Super Achiever.  I am so proud of Andrew for how hard he worked and how much he enjoyed it all.  

Happy, Happy Birthday Ethan and Olivia!!!

Ethan and Olivia had a wonderful 6th birthday!!  It was the first day we have taken off of school this year and they got to pick how the day was going to play out...they got to choose what to have for meals, what activities we'd do-EVERYTHING!  Of course, Olivia used her sisterly influence to make sure they ate what she wanted and we went where she was planning ;)  But we all had a terrific day!  We started off opening gifts and then after breakfast we headed over to Sports Connection for some jump and play time.  It was fantastic because, being a Wednesday morning, the place was empty and I think the kids played for nearly 5 hours before I could drag them away.  All in all it was a wonderful day and I feel truly blessed we were able to be together to celebrate this very special day.

Karate Belt Testing

One of our favorite new after school activities is Karate.  The kids have been working hard to earn their orange belts.  They were so nervous, but totally prepared.  It was really fun watching them all up in front  of the instructors trying their hardest to perform all the moves correctly.  Ethan is particularly intense trying to do everything flawlessly.  Abby Jane could probably use a little more practice at home but she is so darn cute out on the floor I just love watching her!

A Hafener Halloween

So as a family we chose to do The Wizard of Oz this year--it's the first time I have been able to convince ALL the kids to join in--although I know several wanted to do something else!  I went as Aunt Em, Jason was the Wizard, Emily was the Wicked Witch, her friend Alex was the Tornado, Andrew was the Scarecrow (what a good sport!), Ethan was the Tin Man (he wanted to carry the AX!!), Olivia was Glinda the Good Witch, Owen was the Cowardly Lion and Abby Jane was Dorothy.  Of course on Halloween night everyone got to choose their own costume but a few of them stayed the same :)

 Super scary vampire twins!!!!!  Honestly, this one of Ethan DOES scare me a little ;)

 Carving, planning, creating, it's all very serious business around here!

 Let me tell you, hollowing out 7 pumpkins is a TON of work...this is actually the first year Jason (or anyone else for that matter) helped me at all...usually it's just me, the ice cream scoop and the pumpkins.  The plus side is we get a lot of seeds to roast!  YUM!

EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Buzz and the cowgirl, they literally were choosing who to be minutes before we went Trick or Treating. Lucky for them a third of my closet happens to be Halloween costumes!!

 You'll have to excuse Abby Jane's hair.  This is the day she went to get staple in her head and I didn't dare brush her hair or really try and control it in any way.  By the evening she was fine and happy to go get some candy!

Project Time, aka My husband ROCKS, aka The BEST Dad EV.ER.

This is the beginning of a backyard transformation for us.  This was the first of what I am sure is to be many trips to Lowe's to buy a car full of wood!  Jason and Andrew are building a tree fort and attaching the slide, rope ladder and fireman's pole from the old swing set and also adding a new rock wall.  Plus we will be getting a wonderful new playground for the backyard.  Really I am hoping to never have to leave the house again!  If only WebVan were still around I think I could manage it ;)  I'll let Jason post about the finished product and all the hard work he and Andrew put into it but for now I'll just say WOW!  and Thanks for being soo awesome!!  Love you!