swim swim swim

what do you do when it is 105 outside and the heat index is a staggering 117? swim. and we have been doing a lot of it!

we had a lot of fun with vivian's main man drew at his house last week. even bauer got in the "swing" of things. (ok it's late...humor me!)

i tried to get a picture of everyone in the pool, but alas they are all almost 3, 3, and 2. what more could you hope for?

i did get a picture (sort of ) of their cool octopus spray thingy. it was really neat and vivian LOVED it.

then the next day we met the lee's at our neighborhood pool. look at aquaman harrison baker!

not to be outdone...here is miss vivian's best aquagirl! :)

snack time

i guess that since vivian got into the chocolate...bauer thought it would be a good idea to get himself a little snack also.

"hmmm these look good. i'll just put my hand in here..."

"....and try a few....."

"yummy. here mom you want some?"

"what?! aren't i cute? you aren't mad are you?"

no, son...it's a lot better to eat the cheerios than that last snack you tried!

a good sport

many people told me that vivian would think bauer was her baby (my mother included), but i had no idea that an older sibling had this much parental intuition. i must admit i find it sweet, loving and downright HILARIOUS...here are just a few moments of sibling love:

yes, that is bauer on the left...wearing one of my dresses from when i was little. vivian kindly pointed out that i wasn't sharing when i only dressed her up. (her point WAS valid.)

"hey mom, these aren't going to be in my senior yearbook are they?"

ohhhh...you bet your bippy they are mister! ;)

next, it was onto the fairy portion of dressup play. aren't they the sweetest little good fairies?!

what a pretty fairy princess!

ummmm....maybe this is ole miss tinkerbell? i'm not sure.

ok, i guess maybe bauer has had enough...i think this might be grumpy fairy! ;)

new house visitors

we have been blessed to have many folks stop by and check out the new digs. the harvey girls (megan and juju) came by and even got BOTH kids to smile AND look at the camera!! (and that is no small feat.)

and a couple of weeks ago aunt su brought setler over to play while she got a quick haircut. i know the only picture i took was while they were eating, but that was the only time they were all occupied. (and yes, it HAS indeed made me think about having a third!)

thanks to everyone who has come to visit...and if you haven't yet, what is holding you back?! head our way anytime! :)

bauer's first "sketti"

LOVE this face!!! really...are words even needed?!

"hey mom, look! you want some?"

"oh yeah? well you've got some on your nose too!"

"don't forget to take my picture mommy. i'm eating spaghetti too."

oh, but wait someone else in the house likes mommy's cooking. (no wonder the crazy dog has gained twenty pounds!)

THE chocolate syrup

so most of you know the story by now, but just in case you don't...here goes:
today, after a very long morning, it was time for vivian's nap. our pre-nap dialogue went a little like this...
m: would like some water?
v: no. chocolate milk, please.
m: no, vivian. not before bed, how about some water?
v: no mom, chocolate milk.
m: i'm sorry, no. it's water of nothing. you may have chocolate milk as a reward for taking a good nap.
v: ok, mom.
miss vivian gives me a kiss and heads to bed. ahhh, time to shower...i jump in and out in less than five minutes....wait, did i hear something?....nnnnnaaaaaaaaa. ok, blow dry hair...was that a noise? nope. start to fix...definitely hear something! will just peek at miss vivian. as i walk out of my room i notice her door is cracked and she is peeking out at me....dialogue follows:
m: vivian what are you doing?
v: nothing. (big brown eyes blink-blink-blink in innocence.)
m: what is that on your face?
v: what? (like she is suddenly hard of hearing.)
m: what is that smell? (it is a disgusting sick-y-sweet-y-nasty smell)
v: i thirsty.
m: what?! vivian, what is going on?
at this point i realize something is very VERY wrong. i open the door to find THIS:
an ENTIRE BOTTLE OF CHOCOLATE SYRUP 64OZ.(just opened the day before!) all over the room!!

and can i just say these DO NOT do it justice. it was on the couch, on the walls, on the floor, on the door...

on the mattress, on the sheets, on the babies, on the pillows, UNDER the sheets, under the rugs,

in the doll furniture, on the bumpers, in the babies eyes...i mean EVERYWHERE!!

i swear it was literally dripping from the furniture!! it looks like a bad csi episode!!! and all this happened in a matter of minutes. i was horrified, shocked, and totally insanely wanting to laugh but knew better. i took vivian (also COMPLETELY covered in chocolate syrup) to my shower and put her in, clothes and all, and told her to wait there for me. only then was it safe to take a few photos. :) luckily, clif was en route home, bauer was asleep, and jill called at just the right time to check online "how to remove syrup from carpet". so after an industrial carpet cleaner was rented, six loads of linens and various baby items were laundered, furniture was scrubbed a third time and daddy banned any and all chocolate syrup for the next two weeks, i finally sat down to ask vivian what happened.
m: vivian i want to talk to you about what happened today.
v: ok, mommy.
m: why did you get the chocolate syrup? (i figured she got it out of the fridge when i was in the shower.)
v: i needed it.
m: for what honey?
v: i was thirsty.
m: ok, but that was a lot of syrup.
v: i know mommy, it was too much. that why i shared it with my babies!
indeed miss vivian you did. :)

here is what that pillow in the first picture (yeah it's that brown thing on the ground) SHOULD look like. i told you it was EVERYWHERE!!

happy birthday, ladies!

so steph, do you remember asking where that gas picture was? well here it is, girl...i was saving it for this special day! ;)

and our dear, dear, beloved, thespian jill...as a angry but forgiving king during vbs. (or is she just taking a nap...the good lord knows she deserves one!) heheee...

ladies, it is truly wonderful to call you both my friends. happy, happy birthday...i love you! :)

FINALLY...

daddy is home! after a week in denver (q's headquarters) we were so happy to see him step out of the terminal saturday morning!

of course like any good daddy, he brought everybody presents. bauer got a tiny outside chair (possibly a bit too small, we didn't realize he had gotten so big!) and vivian got a whole barbie fishing kit!

these pictures crack me up. why is it when a picture is great of one kid...

the other kid isn't paying attention? oh well...

there is definitely love there, and that is what matters! :) and speaking of daddy and love...why might you ask, isn't he in any of these welcome home pictures? well, because just before i got out the camera vivian had made him super pretty....

teeheee....i snuck this one shot! he is strangely pretty...look at those eyelashes! :)

texarkana or bust

on thursday (since daddy was STILL in denver) we decided we would head to aunt shannon's to spend a little time with the crow clan. after dinner we went outside to play and admire shannon's new landscaping. we thought we might get a little group shot...

well, maybe later. ;) bauer and jackson had a great time riding around in the radio flyer.

if only SOMEONE knew how to merge these two jackson\bauer photos to make one shot...hmmm who could that be?!

vivian had a great time trying out jackson's scooter. we might need one of those. they are super cool!

soon baby bauer had enough sun and needed a shady spot to sit, aunt shannon was only too happy to oblige and offer her lap!

after all that play it was time for a bath...

what a bunch of crazy kiddos....no wait....

here are the truly crazy kiddos. while i was drying bauer, shannon was almost drowned by these two silly monkeys!

look how proud they are of their big mess. we basically just took it easy and did a bunch of nothing...and it was better than GREAT! the next day we played outside in the pool, in the sprinkler and on the slide. and when the kids went down for a very brief nap, shannon and i plotted together to get some great group shots. these are the results:

shannon thought they might be happier on a blanket. good idea...but nope.

i thought they might be happier standing. good idea...but a no go.

maybe we'll have more success with just two of them...ahhh that worked!

what sweet smiles. i still can't believe how much they look alike!

wait...vivian wants in on some of this action! :) so finally, we gave up...we figure there will be plenty of years to take pictures. after a brief stop at target we headed home for a very late dinner and to pick up daddy at the airport the next morning. when i got in the car to leave the outside temp read 104!! (by the time i could locate my camera in my purse it said 102), but i had to take this picture for someone...oh, you know who you are!