I can only hope that the recent purchase of a new laptop and a new computer with = more frequent blogging. I am tired of making excuses for why it's not updated. No doubt the kids will look back and know that 2011 was a busy one.
Through the busy times we still have a ton of fun. I don't have access to many pictures yet, but I'll update with what I have from my iPhone. More to come, I promise.
I updated last about Cole's birthday party...but a few days later we celebrated on his actual birthday. Of course we dined at the standard Blubaum birthday spot...Red Robin! Here is the birthday boy playing his favorite money wasting game.
Here he is again sporting his Spiderman gear from Auntie (picked out by Lukas of course!).
We pretty much start celebrating Christmas on November 1st in our house. We love Christmas so much that just the days in December aren't enough for us. Cole's first viewing of Charlie Brown Christmas (with his Charlie Brown tree next to him), was in early November.
Can't forget K...enjoying one of brother's birthday gifts!
On Thanksgiving our friend Amanda brought her dog Scout over. Scout is one of Kenleigh's favorite "people." She does a bit of over loving on Scout, but her heart is in the right place. Here they are snuggling on the couch before Thanksgiving dinner. 
Elfso arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving and greeted the kids with a fun festive breakfast. They were so excited that Elfso was back and get up each morning filled with excitement to see where he will be and if he brought them a treat from the North Pole.
Most people know that Cole is passionate about whatever he is into. Lately it is Wizard of Oz. He's obsessed! As a treat a couple of weeks ago I took him to see the show at a local theater. It was 2 1/2 hours long, with intermission and he did GREAT! He loved it! I treated him to McDonald's before the show.
Can't forget to show you how high up our seats were..2nd row from the top. Yikes! I wasn't willing to pay the high tickets price, just in case he got bored with the musical in the first 30 min. Lesson learned...
The kids definitely love to imitate what we do. Sometimes this is cute and funny and sometimes it's an eye opener about yourself! :) Two cute moments lately...found the kids "driving" my Tahoe, each sporting a pair of my sunglasses. 
Miss K loves to put on make up with me on the weekends. I finally just bought her some cheap of her own...I can't bear to waste mine!
This past week the kids had their Christmas Concert at school. Adorable! All the kids were decked out in their holiday best and sang songs like, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Joy to the World and Happy Birthday Baby Jesus. Both the kids did a great job. Cole sang his heart out and Kenleigh sat front and center in a chair, smiling looking adorable and never sang a word. Oh well, at least she didn't come crying off the stage like Cole did last year. Small wins. Afterwards we went to their classrooms for cookies and celebrating. Here they are, so proud of their performances!
The costumes did not disappoint this year! Have to throw in our family photo as we were impressed with ourselves this year!
Had to throw in one of Amanda's "Yellow Brick Road" and Vanessa as the one and only "Miss Piggy!" 
By the end of the night Cole was in his Halloween PJ's and ripping into his gifts. I think by 9:30pm he was finally asleep...yikes! It was a great party...Happy 4th Cole! 
There are my cuties! We had pictures from their 2nd trip, but apparently not on this computer. More updates later, I guess!
Here she is enjoying her "Happy Birthday" song...also featured, my friend Rachel's famous cupcakes! 
Can't believe my baby girl is already 2! Thanks for all the fun, smiles, snuggles and love Miss Ryan. We love you beyond words!
I forgot that back in late July we took the kids to the Circus! We got free suite tickets (thank you Auntie Karla!) and took the kids. They lasted a little while...long enough for Shawn to spend around $50 for drinks and cotton candy. Here are the kids and I enjoying the show, sorry for the close up!
Next we headed off for our annual trip to Sunriver. Kids ages 5 1/2, 5, 3 1/2, 3, 2 1/2, 2, 1 1/2. Eeek! It was a crazy good time! Highlights included naked hot tubbing for the kids, bikes rides, trips to Goodies for ice cream, long days at the pool, watching Michael John perform and Rock Band performances after the kiddos went to bed while we ate Kristie's amazing popcorn and drank Ryan's yummy drinks!
When we got back it was time for Miss K's first day of "school!" She is enjoying 2 days a week at Risen Savior (where Cole goes 3 days a week). She is having so much fun making new friends and learning at school! Here she is on her first day, getting ready to head out the door. Spilled water on her dress while brushing her teeth, oops!
As the kids get older their sibling love gets stronger! That's not to say we don't have drama moments, but for the most part they are buddies and want to be together. We've started to do combined book reading at night instead of the divide and conquer approach we've used for almost 2 years. It's going okay...when Sis actually sits still and listens to the book. Most nights she just takes whatever book you are reading out of your hands...so we read about 2 pages from multiple books. Here are the kids snuggled up with Dad reading. Our special family friend Clifford also pictured. We are huge Clifford fans! 
It's hard to believe our baby girl Kenleigh is going to be 2 in just a few weeks. She has grown up so fast and the past few weeks make us feel like she is even more of a big girl. I have carried around a secret about her for almost a year now. Kenleigh obsessively loves her pacifier. Cole loved his too...until about 13 months and then he moved on. Not Sis. She turned 1 and I thought, oh we'll get rid of it in the next month or so. Then 15 months and I still thought, ah she's fine! 18 months passed and she still was so attached to it. With her 2nd birthday approaching we knew it was time to get serious. Thank the lord for Miss Emily, the kids nanny. Emily decided one day she was getting K off the binky and almost just like that it was gone. We've had a successful couple of weeks and Sis only asks for it now and then to which we say, "no more binky" and she says, "no more...Grammy took them!" Not sure how Grammy got the bad wrap for the no binky policy, but it's working! Additionally she is working on potty training. She is so cute in her pink princess pull ups...so different than with a boy! She had a great week of doing big girl things in the ladies room so we celebrated with a giant cookie! Cole got one as well when he had success in that area. Here is her "potty" "train" cookie. Picture below shows that I think she loved it!
Speaking of growing up, I almost cannot stand how grown up both Cole and Kenleigh look in this photo. They look equally as unphotogenic. Sheesh!