kindergarten round up

this is vivian. she is our soon-to-be kindergartner, and today was kindergarten round up. sigh...
i decided it was a very good occasion to introduce vivian to one of her grandma carolyn's favorite places...the victorian tea room. so i picked her up early and we went for lunch. she was SO excited, and was a very VERY big girl. she drank tea, and had red wine dijon brisket and fresh fruit.

when i asked if i could take a picture, she said, "sure...get one of my good manners, please!" ;) i must say i was very impressed. when the waitress asked if she would like a cup with a lid, she said no thank you. very polite, but very grown up. she didn't raise her voice, or wiggle in her chair. she kept her napkin in her lap, and even commented that the flowers were "lovely". it was as if i could see her growing right in front of my eyes. sigh....

it was a very special lunch, one i know i will never forget, for a multitude of reasons. but possibly my favorite moment was when the dessert tray arrived and vivian was asked to pick her favorite. after careful consideration she chose the "sampler", which was a combination of FOUR different desserts! i said, "that looks really yummy, i bet you will really like that!" to which she replied, "i think so too! but mommy, what are you going to have?" "honey, when ladies lunch they share dessert." "mommy, i don't know about that part!!!" hahahaha....sigh. :)

finally we headed to the school, where the kids were sent to check out classrooms while the parents listened to the principal and teachers talk. this was the only picture i got of sweet miss v, but i think it sums up her feelings of the day. when i asked her as we walked to the car what she thought she said, "mom, i LOVED it!!" i'm so glad to hear it........SIGH!!!!!!

easter best dress

i love these sweet babies.

and even though they REFUSE to pose for a decent picture.

they still are the cutest things i have ever seen.

the family picture was a no-go as well. (yes, i wear glasses. we have a screen at church that provides lyrics, i can't read it without them. and yes, i am old. and yes, i forgot to take them off.)

but back to these hooligans...

i really believe it must all stem from this cute man. (surely not from moi?!)

as they get older it really doesn't get any better...look at how vivian wanted to pose!

at least she offered to take a grown-up picture afterward. ;)
happy easter, everyone!

"happy easter morning!"

the title of this post is how i was awoken easter morning by my sweet son...you gotta love the kid's enthusiasm!

this sweet girl doesn't worry about such silly things as easter bunnies...she gets down to business...BREAKFAST! ;)

these two on the other hand....THEY were pretty excited!!

especially when they saw their loot.

and can you believe that bunny even left a note?!

vivian was super pumped about her lalaloopsy, tippy tumbellina.

and mr. b could not wait to play with his new story crew.

but the cutest thing was by far, sweet baby frances checking out her new baby.

:) i don't think a caption is really necessary, do you? :)

good friday indeed.

we headed to popa and dotdot's on friday to have a bit of easter early. these two sure do like each other...

the easter bunny had stopped by and set up an elaborate scheme of string throughout the house. vivian and bauer had to follow the trail and wind up all the yarn...

it was SOO much yarn, that sometimes it required a little help! ;)

finally at the end were these AWESOME easter buckets.

filled with eggs, a wii game, superman, and lalaloopsy clothes.

frances even got a sweet grandma to go with her new dollhouse...how does that easter bunny know?!

easter cookies

this little girl sure does look serious.

and, for some reason, so does this little boy...hmmm...

ahhh...COOKIES!! this year we decided to decorate cookies instead of eggs. (less mess, and more likely to be eaten by children!)

vivian liked the new tradition.

bauer decided take it to the next level and give his creation a taste...

"delicious!"

"i love it mommy...YOU try it."

ummm....yeah...that's...well, interesting.

"here daddy, try mine!"

oh yeah....mommy, was right. those are definitely very interesting! ;) i guess it is a good thing they are cute (the cookies and the kids, that is).

picture day

it was picture day at school, so i thought...why not at home, too?!

that boy of mine sure can rock a bowtie.

and those are awfully cute little girls, if i do say so myself!

but the best part is how much they love each other...it makes for a mighty pretty picture, indeed!!!

suess museum

i had read a little piece about the clinton museum having an exhibit on dr. seuss. the 8th (frances' actual birthday) ended up being a beautiful, windy day (and since the kids have never been) we decided to check it out.

like i said...it was WINDY!

but this little girl didn't mind, with milk in hand, she was ready for her special field trip!

bauer (yes, he loves all neckwear equally...) was very excited to see sam from "green eggs and ham".

and both big kids wanted their picture made with the grinch.

i, personally, loved the mulberry street unicorn. the exhibit was nice, but small...so we decided to check out he rest of the museum. the kids liked the "gifts" given to the clintons, and there was a neat collections of revolutionary miniature figures.

i think they liked the oval office best. :)

frances' first party

today we celebrated this beautiful little girl's first birthday.

lots of friends and family were there for the big occasion.

of course the big sister (with her bff ruby)...

and the big brother were very excited to get their party on!

the table looked so cute...

and so did the birthday girl. (i do believe that is one proud mommy!)

and soon it was time for cake.

at first she wasn't too sure...

but then she got a really good taste...

and then a nice BIG handful...

we did get a quick family shot before THIS...

i guess the gal likes her cake! :)

next the big kids had a quick sack race.

followed quickly by the little kids...

and what party is complete without a good tree swing?! it was a fun day with beautiful weather and wonderful friends celebrating our sweet baby girl frances. the last of our first birthdays....excuse me while i go have a good cry! ;)