Playing with Cousin Syd

Cousin Syd came over for an hour this afternoon and the kids all had such a good time. Syd didn't want to leave, and honestly, we didn't want her to either.

Earrings

Today K. got her ears pierced without even a whimper about the pain. She's so proud and has shown everyone we have ran into today.

Your turn...

P. is obsessed with these goggles/mask that R. used to go four-wheeling (more appropriately called 4-wheelin' where we live) last Saturday. He wants me to wear whichever one he isn't wearing at the moment. And K. was excited to use my camera to take our photo (at P.'s request). Yeah, I know I look like a weirdo, but anything for the kids, right?

In training...

This weekend, amidst the chaos of everything else going on, P. decides he wants to start potty training. We've tried it before now, but he wasn't ready and I'm not into pushing him. He's doing great - only two accidents today. He's loving his Cars pull-ups and we're going to start with underwear on Thursday when I'm off from work for an extra long weekend. Wish us luck.

My camera obsession...

Sometimes I can't help but take 100s of photos in a teeny-tiny amount of time. My children grow a little tired of it, but to me these are memories of their current ages and stages of their lives. I love unposed, in the moment photos. Here's a few I took Sunday.

Raising a boy...

is so very different from raising a girl. I am learning the many differences daily. For example, notice anything different here?

Surprise!

As you can see, we couldn't wait to cut into the cookie cake. We all had a slice Friday night. ;-)

Our Saturday night plans were all a hoax (as most of you know) - R.'s parents and I hosted a surprise party for him instead of the "family meal" we were trying to pass off. I think we did OK, but he was certainly suspicious. I didn't get a ton of great pictures because I was a little busy running around, so I'll post more when others email them to me.

Hope you had a great birthday, R. We love you.

In the strangest places...

It seems I often find my children in strange places within our house. The other night I walked into K.'s room after I had put away the laundry and found them here:




They were watching a movie while sitting in the laundry baskets. P. said he was pretending to be a puppy in his puppy bed. K. said this was her new bed. I hope the economy doesn't get that bad.

Getting ready for the big 3-0...

Tonight I've been baking for our little family celebration that will take place tomorrow. Saturday night we'll join R.'s parents and our good friends Chris and Sara and their baby R. to celebrate R.'s turning 30. This year I couldn't just make him one cake; I had to make two. I hope we can make it until tomorrow before we cut into them...

This is the cake I saw here and couldn't wait to make.

This is a giant chocolate chip cookie cake found here. I made it last year and it was a huge hit.

Another first...

Tonight K. lost her first tooth. We're all so excited, especially K., who is eagerly awaiting the Tooth Fairy's arrival.