Sander's 4th Birthday

Sander wanted a dinosaur theme for his birthday so we had the party at the Houston Museum of Science with a private tour of the dinosaur exhibit followed by some animal petting (all reptiles of course!). Here are a few pictures....

Sander doens't like when people sing happy birthday - to him - or anyone. So, he's covering his hears while we sing.

This is Sander at school the day before his birthday celebrating with dinosaur decorated cupcakes.

Lovin' the cake

We made two cakes. This is Matt's creation - "The Dino Fight" with a tar pit, blood and all!

This was a combined effort. It's made of 8 homemade cakes, rice krispy treats for the head, feet and tail and lots of frosting! We weren't sure if how edible or cuttable it would be so Matt made the 2nd cake. It ended up fine for the party!

Waiting to blow out the candles

Checking out the dino bones

Flying like Teradactyls - Sander is in front

The reaction after petting a slimy lizard!

Just hiding behind mommy to avoid another picture

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Sander's birthday. Here they are before his party. He chose to wear his dinosaur costume there :)

With mommy and daddy before the big event!

Random Fun

Here are some random pictures from the last few months. Nothing special but fun!

We took Sander to a Houston Dynamo soccer match. This was before we went to the game. Matt took him to the local soccer shop that morning and bought him is attire. We have season tickets so there will be many more game pics to come!

Getting ready to go to the game.

Sander LOVES building LEGOS. This is one of his creations. He wants me to send this picture to his LEGO magazine since they feature kids' LEGO creations every month!

Our Rocker Child

We went to the Houston Rodeo in March. The goats were a little wild. I think this one almost got Sander's finger.

Just another day on the farm...

How do I look?

Wonder if I can get out of here before he sees me?

We're not sure what he is supposed to be but Evan and Kyle liked him.

In Texas you celebrate Texan Day in February. Sander was a little cowboy for the day - hat, cowboy shirt, jeans and boots!

Our Little Cowpoke

Skiing in Boise

In February, we visited Zoe in Boise. We all went skiing for a long weekend in Sun Valley. We had a blast!

This is behind the house we rented. The snow was about 2 feet deep.

After skiing one day. Zoe was a great big sister!

Just relaxing with daddy after a day of skiing.

Sander took a 1 hour ski lesson on the first day. He really picked it up and loved skiing. We had him on the ski lift on day 2!

With his ski instructor learning the pizza slice

Zoe hanging out in the snow

He was determined to ski to Zoe on his own!

Takin' a break

Waiting for the shuttle

Learning how to get up - a valuable lesson!

First hit with a snow ball :)

We went sledding on the last day. The hill in the background is what we sledded down!

Quick group shot

Riding the magic carpet

Just enjoying the snow

They were pretending to be dogs (i.e. eating the snow)

Just having fun in the deep snow

Matt eventually had to go out and rescue him

Zoe's snow dog

Headed out to go sledding

Snow in the face!

Zoe sledding down the hill

January Fun

Hi everyone, just thought I'd post a few pictures from January. Hope you enjoy!

I ran in the Houston Half Marathon. Here are some pictures from after the race. Matt was at the finish line with Sander cheering me on :)

Sander got his first 2 wheel bike - with training wheels of course - although he was asking us to take them off after the first day!

Strike a pose!



Here's a video of Sander racing daddy!

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was a blast in the Tormollen household. We celebrated with Evan and Kyle on the 23rd, then again on Christmas Day with Sander and then again in NY with my family. This was a year for Zoe to celebrate at her house in Boise so Matt took a few days to visit her over the break and they had a great time together skiing! Here are just a few highlights from the Holiday.

Making our Gingerbread house...thanks to Aunt Cheryl for the outfit :)

Sander and his cousin Alexa hanging out in New York.

Christmas morning fun! It was hard to get Sander to look up at the camera with so many presents to unwrap.

Sander and Alexa playing their saxophones. Grandpa enjoying his beer in the background ;)

Sander had a truck-kind of Christmas. Thanks to Pop Ed for the yellow dump trucks and Santa brought the flatbed Mac Truck.

Leaving treats for Santa and his reindeer. They were first left on the floor under the Christmas tree but we quickly decided to move them when Kirby came sniffing around :)

Christmas Morning Fun!

The Year Without Santa Claus is a favorite Christmas show in our house. To celebrate the tradition, Evan and Kyle received Heat Miser and Cold Miser t-shirts. They wore them to the airport the day they left! I wish I could have seen people's reactions to them walking together through the airport with them on :)

We made our Christmas dinner when the older boys were with us. This is from that night working in the kitchen.

Mommy and Sander Christmas morning