I ask them every year not to do it, and every year they do it. They turn a year older. Aidan is now five years old. I told him "Aidan don't do it", and he looked at me and smiled and said, "I'm going to do it". Five is a big year for both me and Aidan. This is the milestone where my baby is now old enough to start school. It's a big change for both of us. Aidan will now have to go to school full time, no more days home with mom. He is going to preschool, but it is only part time so there were many of days that he and I would be able to spend time together - sometimes with Alexandra and sometimes, it would just be the two of us. This will all end next year. I know he's ready for school. It's just difficult sometimes to watch your children get older. I can remember his birth, just like all my children, like it was yesterday. I think that this is a moment that every mom will always remember and hold dear and never forget.
For Aidan's five year birthday party we celebrated at our house, and Aidan wanted another Spiderman birthday party. I don't think I know of any other kid who had the same birthday party two years in a row. But if this is what he wanted, it was fine with me.
The boys hanging out at the bowling alley for Ashlyn's eighth birthday party. They all had a lot of fun.
Ashlyn wanted her party at the bowling alley and it was Hannah Montana. It was nice because I just had to show up with the cake and the dad's watched the kids bowl and got in on the action as well. My only complaint though was I hated the smell of the bowling alley. It smelled like an ash tray, but I was told that no matter what bowling alley we went to, they are all the same. Yuck.
Ashlyn is now eight and she thinks that she is fifteen. She is no longer into Princess stuff and Hello Kitty - "that's for babies". She's into Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. Is this what they call the tween years? She's also getting into the stage where she doesn't want me to show any public displays of affection. This will embarrass her. At least I know to ask her first before I hug her or give her a kiss around her friends. She will just smile and shake her head no. But she still wants me to go to her school parties and read to her class so I guess it's not all bad. My two boys though have not gotten into this stage yet. They both still love hugs and kisses. I can ask Landen at school if he minds if I give him a kiss or hug and he tells me, no he doesn't mind.
We have also decided to take our kids out one at a time by themselves with just Adam and myself to celebrate their birthday. It's their date night with mom and dad. We do this at the half year mark and a couple of weeks after their birthdate. We really enjoy doing this with them because it gives them time with just the two of us and they get all of the attention. They get to choose the activity and the place to eat.
I finally got my hands on the camera and was able to take a picture of Adam.
Okay not everything went smoothly. I think I slipped three times throughout the whole process. I wasn't too happy about busting my butt, but I would do it all over again if I had to. I'm racing back to the car to go horseback riding in a few minutes. 
I often wonder if we could have done the majority of the hike if not all of the hike. A couple of miles was challenging. Adam said that when we came back he wanted to hike up and camp out at the top. I hope we can go back some time in the near future because I'm not getting any younger. By the grace of God maybe I can be one of those people who ages well physically. I do want to go back. I just can't imagine trying to tackle this when I'm close to fifty.
Notice the edge. One slip and you could be a goner.
We saw people hiking as well and from time to time we were able to switch cameras.
A view when you turn around from the hike. This is what we saw when we looked up from behind us.
Adam loves the outdoors and did not want to miss a thing. So we attempted to hike on the Kalalau trail. We could not do the whole thing because we were scheduled for horseback riding at noon. We managed to get in a couple of miles. Below Adam could not resist taking my picture. Hey you better have an empty bladder before attempting this trail.
The trail was like the rain forest, very wet and slippery. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was a challenge. The whole time we were on our hike, I was thanking God for my arms, legs, and movements that allowed me to take in this breathtaking scenery personally. I felt like I had experienced a glimpse of heaven. I was also wondering who out of all my friends could have made this hike. It was a challenge bigger than what I expected, but I'm not a professional hiker so that may make a difference. Believe it or not we even saw people in flip flops. That was crazy. I didn't even have my hiking boots on, but my sketcher's seemed to hold up well.
The trail changed throughout the hike and these are some rocks that we had to hike on while on our journey. I will post several pictures of our hike. It was amazing how different the view was from different angles with each view taking your breath away. The whole experience cannot even be put into words. 
Ashlyn and her friends chillin after bowling and her party.
Okay Landen and Aidan decided that they would be the same person for Halloween. Landen wanted to be Aniken Skywalker and Aidan wanted to be Darth Vader. Unfortunately Landen did not go trick or treating because he continued to get notes from school saying that he was misbehaving and not listening to the teacher. He was warned beforehand that if he came home with notes from the teacher for misbehaving he would not be allowed to go trick r treating. He got a note and we had to follow through. We have been having some issues and he has been doing better. We have an appointment later this month to see a child specialist regarding his behavior at school. He went from being a favorite in kindergarten to a child who receives conduct marks often in first grade. It's a little hard for me because Landen's personality and attitude is the mirror image of myself. He's definitely my child. It will be interesting to see what the specialist has to say. I think we will have to use our best judgement in the end. We are on a three month waiting list to see the specialist. She suggested that we do not punish Landen at home for his misbehavior at school because his punishment of the teacher moving his folder at school is enough. Hmmmm!!! I wonder what Landen's teacher would think of this. And to be honest I don't think Landen feels any consequences for bad behavior with a folder being moved. We are just taking it one day at a time with this one. It does seem that Landen is doing better. I am concerned, but not taken by surprise by the whole situation, because I do know my son, and as a parent I can only do the best that I can. And I don't expect my kids to be. It's all part of growing up. 
And here's Aidan as Darth Vader
I ask them every year not to do it, and every year they do it. They turn a year older. Aidan is now five years old. I told him "Aidan don't do it", and he looked at me and smiled and said, "I'm going to do it". Five is a big year for both me and Aidan. This is the milestone where my baby is now old enough to start school. It's a big change for both of us. Aidan will now have to go to school full time, no more days home with mom. He is going to preschool, but it is only part time so there were many of days that he and I would be able to spend time together - sometimes with Alexandra and sometimes, it would just be the two of us. This will all end next year. I know he's ready for school. It's just difficult sometimes to watch your children get older. I can remember his birth, just like all my children, like it was yesterday. I think that this is a moment that every mom will always remember and hold dear and never forget.
