Five little monkeys swinging in the tree

Our tree has become the neighborhood hangout lately...all kinds of adventures!

Hitting the 2s early

We believe that Ryan is hitting the 2's early. Everyone always talks about the "terrible 2s" which is something I haven't dealt with...it's been more the "terrible 3s" at this house. Well, Ryan is just helping get the full parenting experience. He isn't "terrible" per say, he's more just a handful...but a happy little handful. We've pulled him off the light fixtures hanging from our ceiling, off of bookshelves, pulled him and various other objects out of the toilet, found him with open medicine bottles (with childproof caps), various forms of make-up, toothpaste, shoes, etc, been victim to one of his random "happy fits" which involve being pummeled with some sort of weapon and have watched him master climbing out or freeing himself from any form of physical restraint (cribs, carseats, strollers, etc). It's been a busy couple weeks with this guy! But, he keeps us laughing....so far!!!

My Knight...

Mark competed in his first ever martial arts tournament! He competed in the middleweight gi division in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and won 3rd place out of 8!! I am so proud of him for all the hard work, dropping weight, conditioning, bruises, sore muscles and tiredness he's gone through to get there. He's really worked hard and I am so proud of him!!! The rest of the Rabadi team did great too...everyone placed in the top 3...even the kids. All should be proud!

Fight Night Date Night

Mark and I got to have a date night to UFC Fight Night Live in Austin. We had a great time...saw McHammer & The Undertaker. It was a good card, great talent to watch. Fun times!!! :)

End of Summer Fun

It has been soooooo nice outside in Texas lately! We have enjoyed evenings outside playing, climbing trees and eating popsicles. We know we have awhile before it really gets cool outside, but we are enjoying this nice break from the 105+ days!!

Halloween Preview

Every year, my talented mom creates the costumes of the boys dreams. This year, she worked extra hard and fast because she had a 3 year old micromanaging the whole process. He was ready for his batman costume. Since the boys received their costumes on Thurs (9/9), they have worn them everyday except Sunday. I would say she has 3 VERY satisfied customers!!! Thanks Grammy!!!!

First Day of Preschool

Jake had his first day of 3-year old preschool on Tues. He was super excited to wear his new Batman tshirt and cape. Sadly, with the tropical storm that blew through here, he only got to go Tues. His school flooded in all the 14" of rain we had, so they have closed down until next week (hopefully). He is very excited about his teacher...he has the same teacher John had for his 3 year old year...and he LOVES her, as do we! We are looking forward to a fun year! The only year that Jake will not have to share a school with one of his siblings until he gets to middle school!

Big guy bike

John does not want to ride his bike with training wheels anymore after being the only bike at the bike rack at school with training wheels. Mark took him out Sat to work on it and they had some good success. This was the only "scratch" he came home with, so not too bad!!!

Big boy bed!

Well, it's a good, but sad day here. On Friday we 'upgraded' Ryan's crib to a big boy bed. He had learned how to climb out and as tall as his is, we were afraid of the consequences of him falling out of the crib. So here we are!! He was VERY excited and has done really well all weekend. Naptime has been a little rough, but his bigger brothers are great examples for him! We officially have no kids in a crib! It's been a long time since that's been the case!

Guess Who?

Jake and his little friend, Lily were playing the other day. It got kind of quiet (which is usually not good) and I turned the corner to find them doing this! So cute!!!

First Day of School

Well, my baby is officially in kindergarten now! By the time I'm writing this though, he's headed into his 3rd week. Things have gone really well so far. I had a couple tears the first day of school after I picked him up...just couldn't believe that the first-first day of school had come and gone already. We are loving it though. His teacher is fantastic and he is enjoying his classmates!

Marker man

No, Ryan isn't bleeding from the mouth or anywhere else here (thankfully). He just decided that markers were for eating rather than coloring. Thankfully this was the night before he had to go in for his 18-month well check so he got to be fuchsia for his appointment.

Tubing the Comal 2010

We got to go tubing again this year!! This time we took all 3 boys and had a blast!! My parents, Kev & Becky were there too! Jacob was even brave enough to do the tube shoot with Mark and my Dad. He loved it!

Scarlet Fever!?!?!

Well, in line with the latest in Familia Allen news, when we got back from Utah, the boys all got sick with strep throat. Jake was the first, followed by Ryan and then John. Jake and Ryan though decided to make it more exciting and went for the scarlet fever too! They were mighty rosy for a few days, but they have all recovered nicely and we're back to normal for awhile we hope!! Just in case you wanted to know if it's still around, yes, it is! And it's not as scary as it sounds...I was thinking bubonic plague kinda stuff...but thankfully no plagues...just strep and a strawberry rash!

Good things come to those who wait

On our Utah journey, Jake left his precious Woody at the hotel in Albuquerque. Thankfully, Aunt Pat was there to rescue him and mail him back to us. There was a lot of anticipation at our house waiting for that package. FINALLY, Woody arrived safe and sound and with him were these great shirts. Jake got a Batman shirt, Ryan a Thomas shirt and John Lego Star Wars. I have been doing a lot more loads of laundry lately as these seem to be the only shirts the boys want to wear! Thanks Aunt Pat!!!!

Chubby Bunny

Pretty much sums it up don't you think!

Off to school

John's school had a little kindergarten lunch to welcome the new ones to the school before school started. John, and his buddy Garrison, and I walked over to the school where we met up with Christopher. The boys had a good time meeting the kindergarten staff and eating a ton of pizza. It was a good warm up for school starting.