I SCREAM U SCREAM

Uncle Mark sharing the goodness.
I love this picture.
Notice the orange Cheeto fingers. My kids love going to Grandma's and getting ice cream and Cheetos - because we never have them here.

Plane Watching

Gracie has become infatuated with airplanes and points them out whenever she sees/hears them. She points and says "air-peen".

And I am in love with her curls.

Today she and William saw a blimp while we were driving. Oh my, what excitement that caused.

Jalapeno Face

Apparently I got my hands all over the insides of a jalapeno and then touched my face. Notice the red finger mark on my face. It burned and my hands burned...bad.

Luckily, I was able to google that milk helps, so I soaked my hands in a cup of milk while preparing the rest of the meal, which turned out really good. It is a good thing I didn't touch my eyes.

Loser

Isn't she a little young to be flashing the loser sign.

She isn't really, I just caught her at an awesome time.

Let the wild rumpus start!

On a quiet Sunday afternoon Gracie wanted a rumpus and William was happy to oblige.

Russ and I just sat... and watched...and laughed... and took pictures. It was a grand ole' time.

Wishing

Here I am wishing I could be is California snuggling this little bundle of cute.Can you believe those eyes? Can you believe he is only a day old in this picture - doesn't he seem older? Can you believe I get to be his aunt?

Breakfast Buds

I really like having our little counter in the kitchen where the kids eat.

And Kung Poo Panda can watch.

Nerf Guns - what could be better?

William loves having Carter over to play. Especially when Carter comes with nerf guns in hand.
They were shootining in the front yard and a few went on the roof so Russ had to get them off. When he was up there they started shooting him. He made up the rule that if he caught the dart they had to fall on the ground.

It looks like Russ is a good catch.

New Years Day on the A

I woke up New Year's day with the sun shining through the window at me and knew I needed to get outside. So I suggested we hike "A" mountian in Tempe. I had not been up there in a long time and I am glad we went. Look at the building closest to Williams hand. There are plants growing up there. I always thought it would be fun to have a garden on top of a house. Maybe someday...



There were a lot of things to see up there.

Since it is very close to the airport there were lots of planes to see and now Gracie tells me every time she sees and "airpane".


William wanted to go see the "A" so Russ went up there with him.

They sat up there and talked for a good long while.While they did that Gracie and I played in the rocks. Gracies loves rocks and dirt.She started to pick up rocks and throw them over the ledge. After a while William came to join her.

I am glad we decided to do this and I hope this year is full of taking these kids on adventures and preferably things that give me a workout. You know, killing two birds with one stone:)

Cheerio bum #2

It has happened before

and it will probably happen again.

The man likes video games

A lot!

Little Drummer Girl

My friend brought over a little drum set for a video we were making and Gracie loved them.

Look at my little rocker girl.

I would love it if she loved drums when she was old enough to play them.

Ringing in with chicken and waffles

We had a small New Years gathering at our home this year (so we didn't have to get a babysitter). Here is Connie enjoying some waffles.

Lauren provided the food. And decided to turn her face when I tried to take a picture of her.
These biscuits were as good as they look.

It was delicious.

And the entertainment was beyond grand.

The man can sleep anywhere

I asked Russ to sit down at the table with me so we could discuss something (probably our to-do list for the next day) and he did, but when we were done talking I looked up and his head was leaning back against the chair and he was asleep. So I opened a book I got from the library that was sitting on the table and browsed through it for about 10 minutes and when I looked up he was like this. The man can sleep anywhere.
Anywhere!

Sweet party

A few days after Christmas 4 years ago, William's sweet cousin Marie was born and the world never saw such a girl! This year we all gathered at her new home to have a surprise party. When she came in she had a blank stare and did not know what to think.
But soon found the idea of a surprise party hilarious.She loved her pink balloons and I captured her admiring her cupcakes - this is not a posed picture she was just turning to me to say, "oh, I have always wanted cupcakes with pink icing!"My sister-in-law Angie had the genius idea to give all the kids a candle in their cup cake - everyone was so happy.I love Anna trying to blow with her pacifier in her mouth. But she did take it out to enjoy the goodness.Kids love cupcakes. I should be better about making them. I am not much of a baker but maybe a fun cupcake a month or something.

We also had this ginormous pizza. Almost as long a Gracie and seriously very yummy. I am all about the party pizza.
Watching her open her presents is sooo fun. There is no one more animated than this girl. She saw Connie bring is her gift and said, "oh I love it!" Then Connie said, "you haven't even opened it yet." and Marie said, "but I love it, I love it!"I had spaced her birthday and so that morning I decided to make some hair clips for her, made of felt fabric and buttons. They turned out cute but since I was in a hurry I did not hand sew them, which I think would make them cutter.

Here she is trying them on. I made them with all different colors and prints of fabric. I think I will be making more soon. I got the idea here.