Conlan The Reader

We are so proud of Conlan. He just finished his 2nd quarter of kindergarten and he is reading! Check him out below. We ran out of room on the card before he was finished, but it will give you a good idea of how amazing he is (yes, we are those sickening parents who are really proud of our children), enjoy!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Santa can make his way to the McCoy household now. We had been waiting, and planning to take pictures with Santa for a while, but schedules did not permit. Conlan was so excited he was bursting at the seams to tell Santa what he wanted. When the big moment arrived, he forgot what he really wanted so he told him he wanted star wars figures. It was reminiscent of that moment in "The Christmas Story" when Ralphie sits with Santa. Aisy however wanted nothing to do with the man in the suit. She screamed and threw a fit. To be expected when you are a little one!

Conlan and Santa. We thought this Santa looked like the real thing! He was very jolly and sported a real beard.

Notice Aisy's hand in the mouth. It is the only picture they got without her mouth wide open screaming. Too funny!

This is where the sitting went from bad to worse. "Get me out of here Mom"! We know she will look back and laugh at this one someday!

Aisy's 9 Month Portraits

Here are Aisy girls 9 month pictures. We realize she is almost 1, but better late than never right? She did so great with her photo session. She was done in 15 minutes. The picking out of the pictures took longer than the session did. Each one came out so sweet. Here are just a few pictures we wanted to share of our little doll! Please enjoy!

Holiday Newsletter

Happy Holidays 2009!

In an effort to go green this year, we decided to save a tree or two and do our letter online. We have so much to be thankful for and are grateful for all of you in our lives!




Bryan

Bryan has been a very busy boy this year. He is still doing traditional real estate. This year has been a good year (considering), but he is still trying to figure out how to generate consistent income instead of the roller coaster this last year has been. He bought and sold a couple of 4-plexes this year with investors and is working very hard on getting the last one sold. He has also teamed up with a couple of partners to source and move Bulk REO properties. He spends his evenings working, in his free time he works, and for fun you can generally find him working. But he does manage to take most Sundays off to spend with his family.


Jenna

Jenna just finished up her first semester at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is going to school for Interior Architecture and Design and is truly blessed to have found a fully accredited online degree program so she can stay home with her babies. It has kept her very busy with many really, really, really late nights. Some mornings she high-fives Bryan as he is getting up to start his day and she is just going to bed. Another 3 1/2 to 4 years to go! She is still a Domestic Goddess, and loves being home with her babies. In her free time she has been running an ebay t-shirt business, being Conlans Class-Mom and is getting ready to put up her handmade art (H.ART) cards on etsy.com. Never a dull moment for this mama!


Conlan (5 years)

Conlan has had a big year! He started kindergarten in August, and although he did not want to go at first (see an earlier post about his first day of school), he loves it now. Con is doing really well and has adjusted just fine. He can read now, amazing! Mom gets to be the room mom for his class and also gets to go in and help out once a week too! His teacher is absolutely wonderful and we feel very lucky that Con was chosen for her class. He has made some sweet new friends and he will be turning 6 in a few months. He is still a hockey fanatic and enjoys playing Star Wars, roller blading, riding his bike and being chased by girls on the playground. Cons imagination and storytelling skills are excellent. Sometimes we have a hard time knowing truth from fiction and he has such a great sense of humor now that we end up doing a lot of laughing together.

Aislinn ( 11 months)

Our little Aisy joined our family this year and has been such a blessing and joy in our lives! She turns one next month, where has the year gone. Aisy is walking along everything, but chickens out when it comes to letting go. She is more than ready to walk, but it is all about her own timing. So we stand by patiently waiting! Her pebbles talk and imitations of brother are hysterical. Both Con and Aisy adore each other and they get along really well considering the age span. Our little firecracker is into everything and loves to screech at the top of her lungs. Daddy thinks she is showing her natural musical abilities... Mommy thinks she is just acting her age.

We hope all of you enjoy your holiday season no matter where you are. Love those around you, laugh often and live like there is no tomorrow! May you have a beautiful 2010!

Love and hugs, Bryan, Jenna, Conlan and Aislinn

Please check back often as we like to update our blog frequently!

The Holidays are here!

With Jenna and school and Bryan's work schedule we have been terrible about posting lately. Jenna decided to steal away a few moments from finals and projects to update everyone as to what the McCoys have been up to. More to come soon, enjoy!

Bonding Moments

Aisy has become our little music girl. She loves to sing! If she is crying, we can get her to stop (sometimes) by humming something and she will join right in and forget how upset she was before. Bryan likes to play the guitar and now Aisy likes to join in too.

The North Pole is Exploding with Elves

Conlan was in his first play. With a lot of help from Ga-ga Nanny and some old t-shirst and felt, our Con became an elf! We even were graced with an appearance by Elfis (Elvis). It was so sweet to hear all of those little voices singing. We know it will only be a matter of time before those little voices become big voices that want to borrow the car keys.


Conlan decked out in his best elfish gear. We also know that it is only a matter of time before he tells us he doesn't want to dress up either!













A sea of singing sweety pies. It was adorable!










We had a hard time finding our little man, but there is a close up. He's the one in green and the very pointy hat. Not sure he was doing much singing, but at least he was having a good time!

Ga-Ga J's Pre-Thanksgiving Weekend

We got the chance to spend the weekend before Thanksgiving with Ga-Ga J in Palm Springs. It was a great time and a nice little weekend getaway. We didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few from the weekend.

So happy together!

Uncle Matt brought his kids and Aunt Audra brought hers. When you added them with ours, it equalled pure chaotic fun. Here is one of the few moments that they were settled in and quiet. Can you see the halos on their head?

The girls enjoying a spot of tea!

Twi-tards Unite

Jenna and her family are big fans of the Twilight series! If you haven't read them, don't waste anymore time, go buy them. Okay only if you are a sappy romantic like we all are! We were all so excited for New Moon (the second movie) to come out that we went all out. Sasha and Sienna flew out from California to join us. Jenna
made Team Edward/Team Jacob shirts. Mom got Team Carlisle. We bought tickets to the midnight showing and we were ready. We know it is very childish and silly, but when have we ever pretended to be mature? It was a blast and we are so glad we did! It satisfied that romantic side in all of us, well at least until the third one comes out!

Pictured at left was a part of our group. L to R: Brianna, Sienna, Jenna, Roxanne, Destiny, Teresa and Sasha!


Go team Edward!

International Night

We adore Conlan's school! The class size is small, the teachers/administrators are awesome (you can tell they LOVE what they are doing). This past Friday we were treated to International Night. I wish I had more pictures, but they had the entrance of the school set-up as a security check-point in the airport. Each student and family were given a passport to travel to the different countries. Each classroom was transformed into the country of choice. Conlan's class chose Japan. Con's teacher did an amazing job in transforming the classroom. The pictures do not do it justice, but trust us it was fantastic. Bryan and the kids travelled around the world, while Jenna got to help out in the class and serve Japanese foods (teriyaki chicken, rice, and sushi). A fun time was had by all and we wanted to make sure to share the pictures so you could get a small taste of what it was like. Enjoy!

Conlan's teacher hung several pink paper lanterns from the ceiling. It looked awesome. This wall featured fun facts about Japan and also had a bunch of items from Japan. Buddha, gong, sandals, etc.

Sushi cupcakes anyone?

The kids learned about Mt. Fuji, and now anytime Con sees mountains around us he asks if they are volcanos. Underneath the display you can see the kids' version of Mt. Fuji.

The kids made their own version of the cherry blossom tree. Branches with pink tissue paper. They came out so cute.

Each of the kids got a chance to make their own version of a zen garden. The rocks represent mountains and the rake patterns in the sand represent water. We are going to find a special place in the house to put Con's. But we are a little nervous that the cats may think it is a new litterbox.

The kids version of the lanterns. They all did a great job in making and decorating them!

The Japanese flag, and next to it the kids version of the flag made out of tissue paper, so creative. We didn't get a picture of it, but on the white board there was a shoji screen with samurai warriors in shadow. It looked awesome.

We made a pagoda out of spray painted boxes, vellum and lights. It looked great when it got dark.

Conlan with his teacher. She is so amazing, we love her! Con could not have gotten placed under a more wonderful teacher. She is so patient, loving and kind with the children and really embodies everything a kindergarten teacher should be!

Con's whole class was dressed up too! They all were adorable and it was so much fun to see everyone get into the spirit! They are in front of the giant version of the cherry blossom tree and the kid's fish kites. We are looking forward to some of their upcoming events. They really know how to throw a party, which is right up our alley!

Peek-a-boo

Aislinn is on the move and is walking along everything. She is still a little cautious to walk on her own yet. When Jenna sits at the computer to do school work. Every so often she will look down and discover a little munchkin looking up at her. So we will play a game of peek-a-boo, which of course is the funniest thing to a 10 month old. She is such a little sweetie. Below is a picture of her peeking out from under the table at Jenna.













We couldn't resist sharing this picture either. This is one of those rare moments that she decided to sleep during the day! She has decided naps are a thing of the past. If she does get a nap, she cat naps for 20 minutes max. Yikes, it is a challenge to get things done!

Precious baby girl!

Halloween 2009

We started our Halloween with a fundraiser for the school, early morning krispy kremes. We will let all of you know next time we have a fundraiser. If you don't live close you can order certificates. The day was a lot of fun. Mom and Dad both took the day off from school and work and a great time was had by all. Here are the pictures, enjoy!

We decided to give Aislinn the pumpkins and see what she would do with them. Straight into the mouth. Not sure they tasted all that great, but she seemed to like them!

We got Aisy to pose with the pumpkin. Our cutie pumpkin girl!

Conlan did not like touching the "pumpkin guts" as he put it. So Dad cored out the pumpkin.

Con decided he wanted a smiling spider. So Bryan carved it for him. It turned out really cute, nice job honey!

We had to get creative this year with costumes, so Jenna made them. We used a lot of what we already had, but we will say that the Goodwill is a treasure trove for costumes. With a little creativity you can get a Jedi Kit Fisto (from Star Wars) and an eclectic flower fairy.

The McCoys. Bryan and Jenna got creative too. Bryan went as an 80's hairband drummer and Jenna was a Halloween witch

Bree went as McGonnall and Caydon went as Harry Potter. Our neighborhood looked like Hogwarts. There were a lot of kids dressed as the Harry Potter characters. We think that Caydon and Bree were the cutest! What can we say our opinions are biased!

Destiny as Alice from Twilight (punk rocker style), her hair looked awesome! Roxanne as the Which way Witch. There is a joke in our family that if she doesn't have really good directions or a person telling her where to go, she will get lost, love you Mom! They both looked fabulous!

While out trick or treating Aislinn lasted a block. Conlan lasted all night, but the adults pooped out. On our way back to Mom's for chili and cornbread (we like this new tradition) we decided to do Halloween caroling. It was a lot of fun and helped all of us forget how tired our feet were. Below is a picture of the candy stash!

We hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween. It's official, here come the holidays!

Aisy Girl

Aislinn is 9 1/2 months old and is so much fun! We are enjoying watching her development and seeing the cute little, quirky things that she does! We love our littly Aisy girl, she is such a joy!


Here she is practicing her royal pose. When Mommy put the crown on her head she let it stay there and wore it all around the house. When we went to take it off she screamed. Uh-oh, this may be a bad thing. We may be setting ourselves up by calling her our little fairy princess. Too cute!














All tuckered out! She has decided she doesn't want to nap or sleep anymore. On this day she was so tired, she fell asleep before dinner eating a teething biscuit.














She just started waving yesterday! We were working in the backyard doing some weeding. Conlan was playing baseball and Aislinn was watching. When Mom said "Yay Con-Con" she would clap for him! Here she is rooting her brother on!

Here comes Fall

Our blog is in a desperate need of an update. Jenna has fallen down on the job lately, midterms will do that to a person! Here are a few of the things we have been up to: Conlan had picture day at school, Aisy got her 9 month check-up (We can't believe she is already that old. Everything went fine), Con took a field trip to the local farm and Dad got to go along, we made caramel apples at Gaga Nanny's house, Daddy and Con got to go and check out some really cool old school planes and we have had a 2 week break from school (Conlan). We have been having a bunch of fun. Life is great and we are enjoying time out from rushing to and from school everyday! Mom will start on Conlan and Aislinn's costumes for Halloween today. We are getting creative this year. Look for the post for Halloween so you can check them out! Have a fantastic day!

One of our favorite traditions come Halloween/fall is to make caramel apples. We like to go gourmet! Yummy. Below is Conlan, very focused, making sure his is just right!

His school visited the local farm. Con's class was learning about farms before they went. They got to grow a bean sprout in a cup. They got to pick a pumpkin before they left.

Here are some of the planes Bryan and Con got to go check out. They are part of a traveling air museum and they came to one of the local airports for a night.

Con got to climb inside the cockpit of a Japanese Zero plane from WWII. This is one of the only 2 that still flies.

Happy Fall to all of you!