The Blaufuss Company: 2013

If you give the boys a dirt bike...

If you give your boys a dirt bike, they will want to go riding.
If you take them riding, they will love it and ask to go someplace new.
If you take them someplace new (like the east side of town a good 30 minutes away) then inevitably your husband will drop the dirt bike from the back of his lifted truck while unloading it, onto his foot, breaking it.
If your husband drops the dirt bike from the back of his lifted truck onto his foot breaking it, you will be left to load the bike back up onto the back of the lifted truck with out a ramp, and then load the children, and then take your husband to urgent care. 😳

But seriously. Somehow when unloading the bike one Saturday, it got tangled in something and fell on Gregg's foot for real. Diagnosis: BROKEN! Rx: 6 weeks of recovery. No bueno!

At least the bike is still good for one thing!

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Dirt Bike!

I once read someplace that the definition of the word boy was, Noun: Noise with Dirt on it. I'd say that's pretty accurate, but add a dirt bike to the equation, and it's never been more true!

When Gregg started his new welding job, he told the boys that as soon as he was able, he would buy them their very own dirt bike! He's a man of his word. Carter and Kyle (and Cammie too I guess) now have there very own 50. They are in boy heaven. They are both doing so well with it.

Carter started riding a bike right before he turned 5 years old, and he taught his brother how to ride right after Kyle turned 4. So they naturally picked up the balance and control aspect. All that was left to learn to start riding was the throttle.

Carter started out very cautiously and would slowly pick up more speed with each pass.

Kyle is another story. He would hold the throttle wide open and go as fast as he could the minute he took off.

They both did so well that after only a month of riding, we took them to the dirt bike track in Tulare. Mom was way more nervous than the boys. They did awesome!

Carter can shift into 2nd gear all by himself. We don't let Kyle shift gears yet simply because he likes speed way too much, and that makes us a little too nervous still.

Cammie LOVES the dirt bike. Really she loves all motorcycles, and like Kyle, she loves to go fast. She's obviously too small to ride on her own, so every few laps Daddy would take her for a little ride. When she wasn't on the bike, she was perfectly happy to sit on the dirt and soak up some sun with Mommy.

By the end of they day both boys were doing little table top jumps. I guess I shouldn't say "little." When your only 3 1/2' tall even 2" off the ground on a motorized vehicle is a lot. And frankly you couldn't even get me to do that much.

Here is a video I took of Carter doing his "jump."

Here was Kyles very first "jump" that I managed to record!

Neither one has shown any fear, and they take instruction so well. They are both naturals and we are so proud of them!

Fall Fun and Thanksgiving 2012

Fall is my most favorite season of all! I love the weather, the colors, and everything else that goes along with it.

We've spent lots of time playing outside and enjoying the gorgeous SoCal weather!

Carter's "Native American wear" that he made at school!

Is is just me or is he the most handsome little Indian ever?

The boys made a bike jump that they were so proud of! They did really well with it, but Mommy had to stop watching because every time they'd go up, my heart would stop for a split second.

Not only were they not wearing any type of protective gear, Kyle wasn't even wearing shoes!

Crazy boys!

On a whim we drove to Clovis to spend Thanksgiving day with Chris, Penny, and the girls.

We were in the car for about 15 minutes before Kyle passed out cold!

That's my favorite way to travel, with sleeping kiddos!

Beautiful Baby!

Our esteemed Host and Hostess

The Adult Table

Oh ya! The meal was good!

Cammie was going from person to person trying to butter up someone, anyone, for more dessert!

It was a good time!

After dinner the teenagers and kiddos all pitched in to do ALL of the cleaning.

It was awesome!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I Love Fall!

Prince and Princess Tea Party

Recently we went to a birthday party for one of Cammie's friends. It was a prince and princess tea party theme.

Cameron dressed up for the occasion.

Cinderella and Prince Charming were in attendance.

Cammie was obviously thrilled! Bahaha!

Cinderella taught the girls how to dance like a real princess.

Prince Charming taught the boys how to sword fight and slay dragons!

Two battling brothers!

Sir Kyle

Then it was time for tea.

My prim and proper little lady.

Carter and his little love, Meyanna.

Mommy stole some loves from Kyle while he shoved his face with sweet treats.

Later Carter climbed the tower to save Princess Meyanna.

Cammie eventually warmed up to Cinderella, who was as sweet as pie!

A perfect little Princess!

It was an adorable birthday party, and super fun for all!

Wedding Bells and Sister Time

In October I had the opportunity to go to the wedding of my dear friend Brittany, with my sister Allie.

As teenagers Brittany, Allie, and I were inseparable. Now Brittany lives in Sacramento, Allie lives in Ohio, and I'm in Bakersfield, so it's incredibly rare that the three of us get to spend time together as a trio.

I feel so blessed that we got to spend the long weekend together, and see Brittany get married to a wonderful guy!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the wedding weekend and Allies visit.

Halloween 2012

Every year I look forward to Halloween. The weather starts to cool off, the cute and spooky decorations start to appear, and the kids get so excited starting to think about what they want to dress as for Trick-or-Treating.

My little Halloween Princess!

Kyle and Cammie were invited to a little lunch time Halloween party at our neighbors house a few days before Halloween. They got to paint their hands to make a ghost picture. Kyle LOVED it. All the kiddos were so cute!

Cammie got a little assistance from Nicole.

The finished product!

Going to the pumpkin patch is usually my favorite part of the holiday, but we were so busy (and broke) this year that we never made it. Nope, this year it was grocery store pumpkins for the Blaufuss crew. But, they all carve the same in the end right?

The boys got to carve their own, and they did a really good job!

Kyle was particularly meticulous, as with every thing he does. He did almost all of it on his own. I cut open the top for him, and assisted him in drawing a face. The rest was all Kyle!

Cammie and Kyndall supervised.

Cameron is our little "Baby Duck." So naturally when I asked her want she'd like to be for Halloween the answer I got was, "a baby duck!" I tried to sway her with suggestions of princesses and fairies and anything else girlie and pretty (and easy) but her reply was always the same, "Nope, a Baby Duck!" So I brain stormed and consulted the two best seamstresses I know (my Mom and Mother in law) and came up with this home made costume for our Baby Duck! The best part is that my little angel LOVED it. She wore it all night without messing with any of it. In fact I had to bribe her to get it off for bed. :-)

Carter had seen a Bandito costume in a magazine and had his heart set on it. I'm not one to spend a bunch of money on a pre-made costume, so I was trying to figure out a more cost effective version. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Zoro costume at a second hand store for next to nothing, and it was Carter's size! We added the cape and hat and viola, Carter the Bandito!

Kyle wanted to be Sully from Monster's Inc. Once he sets his mind on something it takes nearly an act of God to change it. Well the Monster's Inc. movie is not very recent, and I couldn't find a Sully costume (for a reasonable price) anywhere. I had thought about trying to make it, but I'm not that good of a seamstress.

Again I got lucky. My friend Jayme was visiting from Fresno one weekend, and she said that she might have a Sully costume that her son got one year and didn't end up using. She checked when she got home and she did still have it, and it was exactly Kyles size! She sent it to him for free! (She's the best!) He was absolutely adorable in it!