Kidney Party

My dear friend Trish had a hard year in 2011. She received news that she was in kidney failure after not feeling well for some time. After months of Dialysis she finally was able to have the kidney transplant early in 2012 that she needed so desperately. To celebrate she had a " happy kidney party"! It was a great time to get together and spend time with a group of friends and be thankful for all that we have. Congratulation Trisha! Happy Kidney!

Preschool Graduation

It was amazing that this day was already here.  It feels like in a blink of an eye my oldest went from a newborn to an official "school ager."  He was thrilled for his preschool graduation day.  Mom and dad were not as thrilled.  It now meant that he was becoming more independent and more a little boy instead of our baby.  When he started preschool at Kingdom Kids two years ago I couldn't have imagined the positive impact that it would have had on him.  Our little boy was learning more then I could have ever imagined and was so confident with himself!

We started graduation morning off with a special "Peyton and mom breakfast date."  He ordered his favorite meal of pancakes and sausage and we talked all about the program that his class had been preparing for. 

 

 

 

He was all dressed and ready to go! 

The program was great and there wasn't a dry eye around.  It is amazing how a preschool graduation can bring tears to every parent in the room!

 

Mrs. Majiala was his teacher this year and he adored her.  She was so kind hearted yet firm.  She had a class of 16 and 11 were boys so I can only imagine how her afternoons were:)

We are very thankful he spent the year with her.

  Now on to the next big thing.  KINDERGARTEN!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming Lessons

We ended another season of swimming lessons in May.  The boys once again amaze us with their fish like abilities.  Peyton complete Eels and Landon is still in a Parent and Toddler class until he is 3.  We were lucky enough to get the lessons at "almost" the same time this session.  Peyton finished about 15 minutes before Landon so he was always so good about watching a waiting patiently for Landon's class to finish.


Landon was by far the bravest little boy in his class.  He really didn't want anything to do with Jeremy and me helping him swim.  He was much more content trying to figure it out on his own ( I think he gets his stubborness from his dad:))

Chop Drop

They boys once again had a wonderful Easter.  We were lucky enough to have something called  "The Chop Drop" in Rochester this year.  A local church filled thousands (literally thousands) of eggs and dropped them from a helicopter for the kids to collect.  They had all kids in areas according to age groups.  They boys LOVED it.  This mom thought it was a bit scary that the helicopter was flying so low.





They boys were very successful at filling their baskets!

April 2012

April was a very busy month for us. Peyton and Landon got to spend a week with Grandma and Grandapa Swanson while Jeremy and I traveled to Jamaica. It was a great time for both parties. While there the boys enjoyed: Canoeing... Blowing Bubbles.... and celebrating Peyton's 5th Birthday! While the boys were busy were were enjoying this: with these great people!

Blast Off!!!

Our Sweet Peyton turned five on April 3rd! This year we decided to have an all kids party. He had the time of his life! He has been talking about having a Rocket Ship party since he turned 4 so I had some time to gear up for the challenge. He had 14 friends over to celebrate.


They all started a the party with a pizza dinner! Luckily it was so warm outside that we were able to have all the kids on picnic tables on the deck.


They played lots of games and Peyton opened gifts and blew out his candles.


The kids were so well behaved and we made sure to have a lot of things for them to do. To end the party the kids all had a "Jet Pack".

I was so thankful for our backyard and the park behind us because it was a cloud of running children with Jet Packs!


Happy Birthday to our Sweet Peyton. We are thankful everyday for your love of life and that contagious belly laugh!

Giddy Up!

Peyton's longest and dearest friend Brynn turned 5 in March. The kids of course had a great time at her Cowgirl Party! It is amazing how old they are getting. Check out these two photos- what a difference 5 yrs makes. Happy Birthday, we love ya Brynners!

Little Drummer Boy

This is an oldie but a goodie. I have had this on my phone for some time but it still makes me laugh everytime I see it.

Landon got a drum set for his birthday and LOVES it. He also LOVES the song "Jingle Bells." Well he put them together and put on a little show for us one afternoon in late January.


I do have to say I love his committment to the holiday season.

Love, Hate Relationship.

It has been amazing to see the relationship between our boys grow. As Landon has gotten older there of course has been many little "tifts" between them. Landon is very agressive towards Peyton and Peyton is so good about it. But, Peyton stuggles to have patients with Landon when they are playing together. Landon LOVES to jump on Peyton.

Today as Peyton was playing on the floor, Landon jumped right on his back and started to ride Peyton like a horse. I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

It was the next moment that just melted my heart...

"I can read now!"

Peyton has always showed in interest in books and reading. He has known his lettes and sounds for some time now but I have really never tried having him put them together to have him read. The past couple of weeks he has been trying to sound out words that he sees around him so I knew it was time to introduce a few easy readers to him. Well they arrived in the mail on Wednesday and by the end of that evening he was reading! He is so proud of himself and now takes 3 books out of the box and reads them all by himself. I couldn't be prouder of him!


He has been announcing to anyone that will listen, "I can read now!"

I have seen many kids start to read in my 10 year career as a teacher, but there is NOTHING like seeing your own baby read for the first time!

Hockey: Rookies 2011-2012

Peyton just finished his second season of Hockey. He has made AMAZING progress this past year. When he started in November 2010, he cried the whole first practice. By the end of the season this year he was scoring goals and one of the best skaters out on the ice (well maybe in his mom's eyes).

He ended his season with the Hockey Jamboree on January 28th. The kids did a great job of showing all of their family and friends thier skills.

The game started out with the National Anthem and then an introduction of all of the players.


Then the games began. Peyton was fotunate to have 3 of his good friends on his team this season. He also had his dad as one of the coaches. The kids had a blast together at each practice.



He Shoots, He Scores!!!


Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jeannie came down for the Jamboree.


Peyton also got a trophy for his hard work this season. He couldn't have been prouder.


Landon has become a very avid Hockey fan this year watching his brother.



We are fortune enough to have friends that live across the street that have kids that a dad that share the love of hockey. So, the guys in the neighborhood built a rink in their backyard. So skating been one of our favorie Sunday afternoon activies- well as long as the weather is not too warm.

I was VERY apprehensive to have Landon skate. I thought it was be very frustrating because he is still so little and has trouble on his feet at times let alone on skates. Well, we took a chance and got a helmet and some skates.

I think this picture does a great job of illistrating just how big his helmet is.

So we strapped on the skates and headed over.
First he started out holding my hands. Then he tried his hand at pushing the chair around.

Next thing you know he pushed the chair away and he was off.

He literally skated for over and hour. It was amazing and he loved every minute of it and has every weekend since.

Happy Valentine's Day

from the Eckhoff Boys!

New Year's Surprise!

My brother Davis has been in Kuwait since July. We have had the chance to keep in touch with him because of the internet but as the holidays approached it was very hard knowing that he wasn't going to be home. Early in December Davis found out that he had been granted his 2 week leave early. He was orginally scheduled to come home on Leave at the end of March. He wanted to make this a surprise for my mom. After much planning and a little paperwork delay we found out he was on his way on December 29th and he would be here on New Year's Eve.

The surprise couldn't have gone any better. After the surprise we moved into party mode. We had a wonderful dinner and a fun night of spending New Year's Eve together.




The boys had a wonderful time spending time with uncle Davis. Over Christmas Davis had changed his Facebook name to "Davis Maverick Mueller". We all thought this was pretty funny so Peyton made his own "Maverick" face.

So when the boys got together here is what we got (note, that Landon did not want to be left out of the picture).


The night was so fun and the it was filled with many laughs.

The boys spent a lot of time catching up for lost time. The boys have spent time talking to Davis over Skype the last six months. Landon has had a fetish with kissing Davis on the computer screen. Silly enough the tradition continued in person too.

Peyton decided to a little nose rub with be a little more appropriate.


It was one of the best new years we have had. It was a wonderful surpise and something I will always remember.

Christmas 2011

The Christmas Season at the Eckhoff house started the weekend after Thanksgiving with our annual tree decorating. We headed out to pick out our perfect tree. I do have to say that this year we got a GREAT ONE!!! Every year the tree seems to get a little better! We also headed to the store so the boys could pick out their ornament for Christmas 2011.

It was no surprise that Peyton pick a Hockey themed ornament.


Landon picked out a farm scene.



They were both very proud of their ornament and their decorating skills.


We also went to visit Santa early in the month. Peyton was a little apprehensive but did go and sit on Santa's lap. Landon wanted NOTHING to do with the big man.


The boys both got the stamp of approval.


Peyton also had his Christmas Program at Preschool. He got all dressed up and sang his heart out!!!



Once Christmas finally arrived...

They obivously got more than enough presents and we got to spend time with our family. As they get older holidays are different each year. Landon understood "presents" this year and Peyton of course was there the whole time to show him the way.



This year we had an "Elf On A Shelf" named Mickey that stayed with us during the Holiday Season. He was a very silly elf and each morning when he returned from reporting to Santa at the North Pole we found him in a different spot in the house. They boys were so excited to get up and get dressed so they could search for him each day!

He did get himself into a little mischief some nights:)

The BIG present this year was a Fire and Police Station. They have spent many hours playing with it!

To our surprise Santa even found the boys at Grandma and Grandpa Mobraten's house. They were very spoiled.