Ian's oatmeal

Ian insisted on eating his oatmeal with a huge serving spoon today. This picture really doesn't show how large this spoon is. He ate all of it this way. And... he was quite pleased with himself.

Guess who is back??

Our friends are back! The frog adventure started last summer when we saw our first window dweller. They kept coming back all summer long... and even into October! Apparently, those frogs spread the word because we had one at our window this afternoon. He started on the window sill, but jumped to the branch before I grabbed the camera. I wish you could have seen the kids' faces when they saw him. Needless to say, they were pumped!

We debated whether or not they would be back this year.... and got hopeful when Sean saw a few in the yard the other day.

We will have a new daily activity now.... checking the dining room window!

I love vacations. Part 2

A daily highlight...

A dinosaur made of legos.... it was crazy!

Sean wishes...

Waiting for our dessert.... it was worth the wait!

Self portrait...

An alligator on the golf course. Clearly, you don't retreive your golf balls from this hazard.

A turkey on the golf course.... maybe the alligator's dinner?

I love vacations. Part 1

We (Sean and I) are on our last day of vacation in Florida.... He was down here for work earlier in the week and I came down to join him on Wednesday. We have had an incredible time!! The kids are with my parents and couldn't be happier, I think they might be a tad disappointed to "move" back into our house when we get back tonight! :)

Some highlights of our trip....

1. Discovery Cove... I got to check off an item on my "life list". Here's the proof!

(about the picture of Sean riding the dolphin... this picture was taken the moment he realized that a very large male dolphin was now swimming along side him. His name was Akai and Sean was being pulled through the water by Akai's girlfriend-of-the-day. Apparently Akai was jealous! It was hilarious!)

2. Sea World (one of my favorite places)

Even though we had an incredible thunderstorm while we were there, it was still a blast!

Happy 4th Birthday Reagan!!!

Dear Reagan,

I can't believe you're 4 already! These past 4 years have gone by so quickly... and they have been wonderful! You have grown up so much, especially in the last year. Your imagination has grown in amazing ways as well as your tenderness towards others. I have loved watching you develop such a fun personality. You're silly, imaginative, kind-hearted, caring, creative and busy, busy, busy! You love to do crafts of any kind... especially anything involving glue, paint or scissors. You're incredibly good at jigsaw puzzles these days! And not just the easy kid ones. You will often do 2 or 3 puzzles in a row-- some of them all by yourself! (by the way... you must get this from me, because I LOVE puzzles!) You love to watch Curious George and Veggietales and you also love to play games on the pbs and boz websites. I can't believe how good you are at using the touchpad on the laptop!
You still love flowers of any kind and had a wonderful time when we went to Vassey's and planted our hanging baskets this year. Yours is looking beautiful!
You love your brother and are right there to ask if he's okay if he falls down. You do sometimes torment him though.... we're still working on that. You are the first thing he asks for in the morning... he's always a tad disappointed if he's up before you are awake.
You are still an amazing sleeper, 10-12 hours at night and often a few hours in the afternoon. You still have "rest time" every day, I don't expect you to sleep, but you have quiet time in your bedroom. You will often times fall asleep!
You're still not a fan of meal time... especially breakfast. I think this might be something from me too... I'm not really a fan of breakfast either. BUT, it is the most important meal of the day! Are you tired of hearing that from me yet?

You bless my socks off every day... even on the tough days. I love you more than you'll ever know and I am eternally thankful that God chose me to be your Mom.
Thanks for teaching me so much these last 4 years, I am a better person because of you.

I love you!!!
Mommy

Saturday Morning Snuggle Hour...

Aren't they cute?

Happy Birthday Alicia!

It's my big (little) sister's birthday!!! WooHoo! God celebrated her birthday by giving us a spectacular day to spend outside.... so we went to NW Trek! It was such a fun time and it felt SO good to be outside. I totally forgot my camera, so I'm hoping Lish will post some pictures on her blog.

We're celebrating tomorrow with the rest of the family..... steak and key lime cheesecake! Yummy!

Happy Birthday Lish! I love you so much and count myself unbelievably blessed to be your sister and friend.

Reagan's 4th Birthday Party!

We had Reagan's 4th Birthday Party this weekend (her actual birthday isn't until the 13th).... It was such a blast! We rented out a "jumpy place" and let the kids jump until they dropped! I can't speak for the friends who were at her party, but I know that Reagan and Ian definitely dropped when we got home!!

Reagan was such a happy girl all day.... she has been looking forward to her party for quite some time and the day definitely didn't disappoint. Thank you to all of you who were able to celebrate with us. She felt very special!

Happy Birthday-Party-Day Babe! We're looking forward to celebrating again on your actual birthday!

We love YOU!

Crazy Sleeping Reagan-- Part 5

Seriously people. I really don't make this stuff up!

Here she goes again....



If you're new to this series, click here , here, here and here for more.

edited to add: when I got her up from her nap, I realized that she had actually unbuttoned her duvet cover and was sleeping inside of it. Hilarious!

I think I can safely say this now.....

Spring has FINALLY sprung!

Yippeeee!!!!

New backpacks = hiking!

Sean's work had their annual employee sample sale yesterday. Sean got our kids and our niece and nephew new backpacks. They were here when he got home from work yesterday and the kids got to try on their new backpacks! As soon as they were on, the all decided that they MUST go hiking. Right now. They started hiking around the house, up the stairs and all around.... all the while saying "hiking, hiking" in a cute sing-songy voice. Then the hike moved outside and the hiked all around the front yard, stopping to smell the flowers and the cocoa mulch.

It was SO cute! It was hard to convince them to take off their backpacks later!

Thanks for the new backpacks Daddy/Uncle Sean!! We LOVE you!