Trip to the Photographer

Okay, so really I don't ned any excuses to take the kids to get more pictures, but I needed an excuse for Joe. Luckily Makayla was turing one! We took the three kids to get updated picture. This time Jaden actually followed directions and smiled nicely in the pictures!



Both boys enjoyed the attention they were getting from the photographers!




I think Jonathan looks so much older than 6 in this picture. He is such a mature little 6 year old. He also is a ham in front of the camera!





Jaden was being so good during this trip and was trying so hard to follow in his brothers footsteps when it was his turn.

Then we added Makayla to the group. She really did not know what she thought about her brother holding her...

Makayla looks to me like she is asking, "What did I do to deserve this...?"

Jaden was so proud to be the big brother in this picutre. Makayla is just looking for the exit!

Makayla seemed much more comfortable when she was alone in front of the camera.

I could not believe that Makayla was able to sit on this block by herself and not fall off. She sat so still and we were able to get this great photo!

I think Makayla's face says it all in this one, "Can you tell me again why I am doing this?"

I love the sparkle in Makayla's eyes in this one!

As usual, Jonathan was hamming it up.

I was so excited that Jaden was able to follow directions this time and we got some great shots of him!

Okay, this was the best group shot we got of the kids on the second background. At least Makayla didn't look scared this time!

We were doing everything we could think of to get Makayla to smile. It took giving her one of her dolls to get this smile out of her...

So her doll and mobility were the things that we making her smile this day. Makayla was pretty much done at this point and just wanted to move.

I love this picture too. This is Makayla looking up at me while she was stanging next to some blocks. I think she looks so sweet in this one!

General Summer and Fall Activities in the Ciszczon House...

We hung a basketball hoop in our garage this summer and the kids all had a great time playing ball with us. Makayla even took some turns with the ball!





Here is Jonathan on his first day of school. Jonathan is in first grade this year. He is doing great! I was a little worried about how he would do with full day school since he still took naps during the summer. He is doing really well during the week, but still takes naps on the weekends.



Here is Jonathan showing us how dirty his desk was after only 3 weeks of school. I was hoping that was a habit he did not get from me...

Makayla had a big step this summer and joined the family at the "big table"!

She also started pulling herself up and walking around furniture.

This day we had spent about 4 hours running in the sprinklers with our neighbors and apparently Jaden was a bit wiped out. I don't think I have ever seen Jaden not finish his dinner before this!

Now that I am home with the kids, I have been trying to find different projects to work on with Jaden. This day Jaden found the package with the gingerbread train we never had time to make last Christmas and decided he wanted to make it. I think it was wishful thinking!

With being home, I am also able to go on field trips with Jonathan and his class. Jonathan was so excited to have me come with his class, but I had to laugh when he didn't want to sit by me in the bus.

We were on a trip to the Fair Oaks Farms. We were able to see all about the 3,000 cows they have, how they are milked, fed, sleep, how ice cream and cheese is made, etc. This was Jonathan's favorite cow at the whole farm!

The coolest part of the whole trip was watching this little cow being born. It was really neat to experience this. When I asked Jonathan what he thought of seeing the cow born he told me, " I think the Mommy cow's bottom must really hurt." I still laugh when I think about it!

Jaden helped me make some applesauce this fall. He really liked helping stir the pot. Of course I think he enjoyed eating it more!

Jonathan recently had Spirit Week at school and got to dress in costumes instead of his uniform. He still really loves to dress up and even put his "Cowboy day" costume together all by himself.

Jonathan and Joe started Cub Scouts this fall too. It seems to be going very well and both of them are enjoying the time together without anyone else interrupting.

Makayla has started really showing her personality and making lots of funny faces. I love the fact that I was able to get a picture of this one. This face seems to be her current favorite to make!

Makayla Turns One!

Oh my goodness, can you believe it has been a year since we got Makayla?!?! We surely can't! Miss Makayla turned one year old earlier this month on October 6th.



We were having Makayla's party on the weekend after her birthday, so I decided to make cupcakes for her to enjoy on her actual birthday. She seemed pretty happy about the attention.

Then we put the cupcake on her tray and she just looked at us like she was saying, "And what do you expect me to do with this?"

The best part was when she got some of the icing on her hand. I thought she was going to melt!

I figured we were trying to celebrate her birth, so I should probably give her something she would consider celebrating about. I'm not sure what we would do without puffs in our pantry!

Here is the cake we ordered for Makayla's party. There are quite a few boys in the family, so it was really nice to be able to order pink and flowers!

We love being able to utilize our church of gatherings. It makes it so much easier to serve and celebrate with our family and friends!

Here is the birthday girl with our friend Beth.

Makayla received a few different dolls and she got excited every time. Man I love having a girl!

Here is Makayla with one of the dolls she received for her birthday. All in all she ended up with 6 different dolls that day. Joe was asking what she was going to do with 6 different dolls, wasn't that too many. All you have to do is look at her face here to see that Makayla feels like she can never have too many dolls!

Soccer Boy

Jonathan decided to try soccer this season. We chose for Jonathan to play in Upwards, like he did for basketball. They have 4 kids on the field at any point in time, so Jonathan had a lot of playing time with his team only having 8 boys total.



We are not sure if it was due to Jonathan being 9 months older, this being his second team sport experience, or just the fact that it was a different sport, but Jonathan seemed to be more aggressive in soccer than he was in basketball. He was actually not afraid to get in the middle of the group of kids and go for the ball! We are very proud of his progress!

Here are some picture of his games:

Jaden really seemed to enjoy the outdoor games where he could run and play in the open field while Jonathan had practices and games. During one of the games Jaden decided he was going to coach. It just cracked us up!

Makayla was the team's cheerleader!

Now that soccer is over, Jonathan is getting ready for 2010's basketball evaluations. I can't imagine what it is going to be like when Jaden and Makayla are into sports and other activities too!