Rock climbing!

First time rock climbing....the kids did great and loved it!

Dress up time!

Our sweet little Nash...he is the best with the kids and even wears a crown when Elaina wants to play dress up with him. A couple hours later he had reindeer ears on. We love our buddy!

Fireworks!

Close to our house this past weekend was an event with food, bounce houses, music, and fireworks. Since it rained and Jon was out of town so I was solo, I decided to put the kids in their pajamas and watch fireworks from the back of the car. Thy loved it! And Elaina held onto the lightening bug she found getting into the car until the way home when she decided it was either sleeping or dead and out the window it went! 

Her new accessory

Earlier this year we found out that between November 2011 and November 2012 Elaina had pretty significant hearing loss in her left ear. There is no known cause and the good news is that (a) it happened later so it hasn't effected her speech (b) it's only in one ear (c) over the course of the last six months it hasn't gotten worse. We will continue to have her hearing monitored closely. Yesterday Elaina got her hearing aid and she loves it! It is just like her American Girl doll's. the mold is sparkly pink and best of all she said "Mommy I can hear everything now!! " In pretty typical Elaina style she is positive and excited about having the hearing aid. I just love this sweet girl and her attitude!

Can you even see it?? It's hidden behind her ear and the mold is clear with sparkles. It's hard to even see it!

Summer begins!

My pretty girl after her first time wearing sponge rollers.

The kids are doing Safety Town put on by the police department where they learn about all kinds of safety...bike, car, poison, fire. They love it and Skylar LOVES his shirt!

Her first dance recital was a big hit! She loves dance!

One cool dude:)

Elaina's Artwork from last school year

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Big Girl Bike

If only she wouldn't fight us on wearing the helmet, she would get to ride her bike more! She is more than capable of riding but fell the first time and now is a little bit nervous. Like most other things, she quickly caught on to how to ride.

Happy Monday, Happy Warm Weather!

A few weeks ago we got a glimpse of summer with weather in the 90s. Kids totally took advantage and played with their water table and then decided to make their own pool. Elaina's lips are pretty blue because while the temperature of the air was in the 90s, the water certainly wasn't. Of course it turned cold a few days later but now we have had several warm days in a row. The start of summer before the humidity settles in is always the best. For the time being we are enjoying the beautiful weather!

Vaughn

We are having a hard time knowing you are gone. You were never just a dog...you were truely our first baby and you will live in our hearts forever. We couldn't have asked for a better dog to be part of our family. For Skylar and Elaina to know such an amazing dog as their first one was such a blessing. Rest in peace sweet girl...we love you!

We are here...enjoying the spring weather!

Did a Leprechaun come to your house? Well he made a visit to our house on St. Patrick's Day! He loved the marshmallow rainbow Elaina made so much that he left her and Skylar a small pot of gold...with chocolate of course!


Miss Sleepy Head examining the "gold" and shortly after digging into the chocolate.


Rarely does Skylar sit still long enough for us to read him a book let alone look through one himself. It does happen on occasion and it makes this teacher's heart happy to see!


It is princess this and princess that with Elaina! She isn't as interested in playing with Barbies (now Tinkerbelle is a different story) but loves to dress up in anything she thinks is princess like. Of course heels are a must!


Crown...check, heels...check, princess dress...check! Ready to pose:)


Even a trip to the zoo requires a touch of princess!



First HOT day of the year in early April and the kids played with the water table then created their own "pool" after emptying the bin with the summer toys. The air was warm but the water...not so much. Both were chattering their teeth the whole time but smiling and loving every minute of it! Bring on summer!!
Quick pre-dinner trip to the park down the street. No one is ever there and we had fun playing all by ourselves on the slides. Best part of where we live...so many parks all around us. It is never boring!!


So grown up now!
I finally broke down and bought a membership to the Museum of Transportation. The kids love Creation Station (where we had their birthday party) and when it is nice, walking around looking at the trains is a fun way to pass an hour.

We had never taken the train ride here but now that we have a free passes, we went for it. Little Miss Excited with Mr. How Does It Work?
Love my little Laina Belle!

A perfect way to spend a beautiful spring Sunday morning...in the woods at Longview Park!




PS Do you know how much I love my iPhone?!? If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have any pictures!

Spring is here...

So I put my little ones to work:)

Christmas

FINALLY!! I am caught up with pictures from December! Here are some from Christmas. This year was so much fun as the kids were really getting into everything Christmas related.


A few days before Christmas they were enjoying a candy cane after baths and decided Vaughn needed the reindeer ears. Vaughn being the best dog ever, patiently sat with the ears on for a picture. So cute!

It was simply perfect that it snowed on Christmas Eve. We got just enough during the day for Elaina to make a snowman with Daddy...
And then to go for a little ride on the sled. She loves the snow and was especially proud of her snowman that faced our window and she closely watched until it melted.
Opening the Advent calendar each night after dinner was a big event for the kids. For a few weeks after Christmas, Skylar would still ask for "calendar" after bath.

Getting treats ready for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve. Elaina insisted that Santa needed chocolate milk (something she learned from watching a cartoon).

Reindeer cookies, sugar cookies, carrots, and chocolate milk....we are ready for Santa to arrive!

Presents, presents, and more presents!

Elaina was up around 5 but she patiently waited for Skylar (and Daddy) to get up before even asking to open her presents.

Waking up to even more snow on Christmas morning.... the view from our back patio.

The keyboard was a BIG hit (and the first present to be taken away because they were fighting over it!)

Skylar with his drill (aka his "hair dryer").

Trying to get a picture of Elaina and Olivia, they fell backwards onto the presents but didn't even seem to notice. Oh and this is round 2 of the tree being completely surrounded by presents! We had already opened all the other ones from the previous picture.

Skylar's new Tonka police car was a big hit!
What a surprise, Elaina has no shoes on (surprisingly she still has on her tights). One of these days she will stay in the entire outfit I pick out for her!

After presents and dinner, ending the evening watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Grandma

Cookie Decorating

It isn't Christmas without some cookie decorating! We had my friend Erin and her daughters over to decorate cookies (well just her oldest, Ryanne, since her other daughter is only 6 months!) We have been getting the kids together since they were about 9 months and it has been so fun to watch them grow. Cookie decorating with 3 year olds is something you can't take too seriously. They spent more time eating the icing and dumping out the sprinkles. Still it was a lot of fun!

We made the sugar cookies before our friends arrived. A good idea since Skylar lasted through the dough rolling for about 10 minutes. Elaina on the other hand LOVED the process.


Skylar with a mouthful of mini M&Ms.

Hard at work and if you look close, you can see the green frosting on her mouth.

Skylar's work of art (yes, there is a sugar cookie under there!).