HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, LUCAS!!!!!

This year was a monster truck themed bowling party. I don't think any of the kids have actually been bowling before, so this was a lot of fun! Lucas had 4 out of 5 friends attend! Here are some pictures from his party...Enjoy!

Alana in the past

Ok, so I'm taking this mini iPhoto class these next couple weeks and I made my first slideshow with it. I LOVE iPhoto! Alana is the star of this show, particularly because the folder I was looking at and first tried had a huge number of Alana pics. So I decided to just make it of her. It was fun remembering what she was like just a year and a half ago! She grew so quickly!



Family update...James is officially out-processing from the military! He's very excited, while I'm a bit nervous, and Katie will miss seeing her Dad perform in the Army Band, something she's seen him do all her life! So it is the beginning of the end...or the end and a new beginning...hmmm....

Katie is still trucking away at school, work, and organized social life. She still LOVES school and is so incredibly independent!

Lucas is learning Spanish and knows his numbers up to 15! And he can count a little past 30. He is learning to write better at school and is doing great there! He will be 4 in December and we are already planning his Bday...he wants a bowling party with Monster trucks. Lucas is really excited for it and can't wait for it to come.

Alana is the youngest in her class and is apparently the smartest as well. She knows about half of her letters, can count to 8, knows all her colors and is a joy to be around at daycare. During her parent-teacher conference, Jessica started out with a huge THANK YOU! Alana has a love/hate relationship with another girl in her class...they are either best friends or are having cat fights. Either way, what does this say for a teenage Alana?

As for me...I'm surviving...looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks...

Until next time ~

Lucas "reading"

Here's Alana in a beautiful dress! What a girl! And then a closeup of her boo-boo above her right eyebrow. She tripped and fell into the edge of the wall at daycare.



Here's Lucas in his costume. He LOVES it and both he and Alana can't wait to go trick-or-treating! They've been "practicing" at home!

So here is Lucas reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Alana...very cute! Yes, he's naked...if you were wondering, but it's rather dark, so...



Finally...SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, ALANA!

Alana is now 2 years old! September 10th was her actual birthday and we held her birthday party on Sept.12th outside at our house. We kept it small. 2 of our guest could not make it...one child refused to take a nap and was having a meltdown and the other one was sick...the flu is going around up here, so a lot of people are sick! Lucas's friend, Torin, came as well as Little Curt and Renzella, a caregiver with whom Alana bonded with dearly while she was at Open Arms daycare center.

A little bit about Alana at 2 years old. She absolutely LOVES her brother! Alana always wants to do whatever Lucas is doing, so it is difficult to pin down exactly what she truly likes from what she likes because of Lucas. She loves to eat, but is NOT a carnviore. If there is one food she could do without, it is meat of any kind. But we get her to at least eat some anyway. Alana loves school and is now with Lucas in the big-kid part of the daycare. Alana only uses her pacifier during naptime and bedtime. She is extremely easy to put down to sleep! :) Alana has always been into clothes. In fact, for awhile, she absolutely refused to put on dresses, but will now put them on with a smile. Many times we bring out something that she will not wear, so she is a bit picky sometimes, especially about pants. Alana is starting to get into barrets and likes that they are pretty. She's getting a bit too big to conquer the dogs like she used to and is almost into 3T clothes!

That's it for now...Here are a few pics...

Grandma Morgan sings to Alana

Thought Grandma Morgan would like to know what went on at the other end of the phone while she sand to Alana...too cute!

Oh, the trials of broken bones...

So, June 7th, two days before the nice long 10-day TDY (work trip for those of you who aren't familiar with military terms...) we were having a great dinner with great friends who were leaving for the lower 48 the following weekend for good...Pizzas were baking, conversations were going, kids were laughing and bouncing on the couch...and then...Alana crying. She had bounced right off the couch onto the floor on all fours. So, at first, we thought it was nothing...then as the crying never seemed to stop, James and I wisked Alana away to the ER while our friends spent some quality time with, obviously not us, but with Lucas. We were in and out of the ER with Alana in a quick 3 hours, splinted fractured leg and all, home to say good-night to Lucas who was still a bit upset with us for not giving him kisses, noses, and hugs before we snuck out of the house...pic is below of Alana when returned. She had a very rough evening! Grandpa Morgan did a digital signing of the photo on her splint.



The splint was replaced on June 10th with a lovely pink cast, the color of which was picked out completely by Alana! She was brave and did well that day! Beware...she may get you feeling completely sorry for her in this upcoming video!



I spent the first two weeks keeping her off her splint and cast...it wasn't too difficult since it caused her pain to walk on it before. However, she still enjoyed bike rides to the park (shhhhh...don't tell Grandpa Morgan! He'd freak out!) and swinging on the swings (again...don't tell Grandpa Morgan!). At least she was off of her leg, right?!?! Here is Alana having fun on the swings! Believe or not, she could swing just as well with a cast on as with it off! It was only 2 or so weeks ago that Alana was scared to swing and would only swing just a little itty bit! But because Alana wants to do EVERYTHING Lucas does, she kept asking to go "bigger" and "Bigger" and "BIGGER"!



Here's another video...this time Alana is sharing her joy of a cast with our furrier kiddos.



So, case settled...Alana is doing wonderfully. We can't keep her off the cast now and it has become a part of her. She has worked her magic and learned to live with it. She can basically do everything except take a bath, go swimming or play in the rain, or walk up and down the stairs (although she has already tried...). She will be out of her pink pretty and into a walking cast on the 8th of July. SO glad it will be off before our trip to Oregon!

First Camping Trip

We took Lucas and Alana on their first camping trip! At Rose Hip Campground along the Chena River. The kids had a GREAT time! Alana is such a little explorer and Lucas had no problem finding a multitude of things to do that scared the living daylight out of us; luckily, we found ourselves home the next day having all survived. Lucas loved walking through the brush, with Alana shortly behind him. They jumped off benches, dug in the sand, walked in the water and roasted hotdogs! It was a great time! With a little drizzle and sunshine mixed in between. Unfortunately, it got a bit too cold during the night and we booked it on out of there around 4am! Must go b/c Alana has found me with the computer...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Easter festivities...

Another Easter down...the fun is over and on to another week. Festivities commenced when littles one arrived Saturday evening for dinner, egg dying and the much anticipated egg hunt! Kids ran around screaming in delight, eating...or not eating...dinner because of hunger or excitement. Lucas's friend Alejo and Torin attended as well as Curt who is Alana's age. Alana kept up with the bigger ones while Curt observed, as he hadn't been to visit in quite awhile.

This was my first Easter-egg dye with a bunch of little ones. We cleared the floor, covered it with newspapers and sat the kids down around 5 plastic tupperwares for the eggs. They all eagerly sat and waited patiently while trying their best to put rubber bands around the eggs awaiting me to get the colored water ready. Each got their turn at putting food coloring into the water and each had plenty of eggs to put in as well. Because they were toddlers, one solid color with white lines from the rubber bands weren't good enough...they had to take them from the green to the yellow to the blue to the yellow to the orange to the red...until the red spilled...then there were only 4. Anyway, the eggs turned out totally awesome, almost like dinosaur egg colors. Very earthy and hippie! (see above) Here are a few pics of the event...





And here is the egg hunt...a little story behind the incredible amount of eggs we "hid"...we were at Walmart a couple weekends ago and just hanging out in the toy section when Niki and her son, Torin, ran into us. Not 5 minutes later did someone come over the announcements stating that there would be an egg hunt in the infant section in 5 minutes. "Well" we thought, "Guess we are doing an egg hunt today". So we grabbed each kid a basket and off we went...needless to say, each kid, to include Alana, completely filled their basket with eggs and had an absolute blast. So home the eggs went. I'm sure there are eggs buried in the snow that we'll find when everything finally melts! And so...on to the egg hunt photos!

Florida Trip

A wonderful trip to Florida happened last month to visit James' family and to take Katie on a Disney World trip. She has been such a great daughter and wonderful big sister! We thought she deserved it after all the attention we've given to Lucas and Alana the past few years! He are some pics and videos for the trip...We had a family get-together, playground time, great day at the beach, and a dinner out with the older neices and Katie! Some Disney World, etc, pics/videos will follow along with some of Lucas and Alana at SeaWorld. I hope you enjoy the update!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

So Cute!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Had to post these tonight! I hope Alana and Lucas play this well most of the time in their lives!

Lucas had swimming lessons this morning and did wonderfully! He really, really wants to swims, even after a few times going under. He's definitely ready for the next level! And Alana is her own person and testing the limits. Lucas and Alana were in the tub this evening and she knocked Lucas's cars off the side of the tub. After telling her it would be time to get out if she did it again, she then did it again! So, out we went, up went the gate to keep her out of the bathroom and to eat dinner we went. After some hamburger and ketchup in the hair, we were back to the tub only to find out she was a bit (okay, a lot!) too fast for mommy and into the tub she went, shoes, socks, and...lucky for us she was a diaper girl at the time!

Sometimes Lucas will get up before Alana, turn the light on, and him and Alana will play for awhile. It is the cutest thing and James actually got it on tape! Go Honey!

The Latest...

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Hello All! Only a week and a half until we leave for the warm weather of Florida! Very exciting! We have planned a vacation with just James, Katie and I to go to Disney world, Epcot, and Hollywood studios while the littlest grandkids visit their Castleberry Grandparents. Hopefully they will have fun...I know we will! I am looking forward to meeting my newest neices (one is over 3 years old!) and nephew born last spring. Time sure flies.

Up here, weather is warmer, days are longer...my favorite time of year up here. We can finally see the light, with summer right around the corner. Ice carvings are happenin' and the Ice Art park and slides will be open next week. Fun, fun, fun! Trip to Florida, Visit from my parents shortly after that :)

Must be off...I'm surprised I had enough time to write all the above! Until next time~

So, Alaska officially turns 50 this year! The fireworks celebration was held last night and was wonderful! That had intended to have it last weekend, but put it off because it was -40. Yesterday was a balmy 30 degrees ABOVE zero! We viewed the fireworks with some of Lucas's friends and their parents. Alejo's mom, Ellen, brought popcorn, which Lucas spent half the time eating. Alana loved the fireworks and wasn't scared...she oohed and aaaahhhed with Daddy. Katie enjoyed them as well!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Katie is currently selling Girl Scout Cookies. This is the first year we are not reminding her or being involved in any way except for when she asks us to be and so far she has sold 119 boxes!!! Her goal this year is 130 boxes, which is more than she has sold any other year and she is doing it all on her own! It has been very cool to watch her grow with this and take the initiative! Here is a little video of Lucas and Alejo...it's pretty cute.


Here's a cute video of Alana and Daddy singing the itsy bitsy spider...she wasn't as into it as she usually is, but at least I got something on video! And for some reason I couldn't get the video to load up normal (although I saved it right-side up), so please just tilt your head to the left for best effect. Until next time...adios!

Our newest addition to the family....

Blond, blue-eyed and cute as a button! He's extremely curious, adventurous, and loves his water bowl! We welcome him with open arms into the Castleberry family! (technical difficulties finally subsided!)

Lucas and his colorforms Silly Face that he made...he was SO proud! Alana, the moviestar...