the beginning of our journey...

as most of you already know...we will be out of pocket for a week or so. since we were moving in may, we missed our annual trip to florida, and are making up for it THIS week! when the truck was all packed, and the children were safely snuggled in their car seats* we were off.

after a quick lunch (and checking with our house\dog sitter)...

(why do we always sit boy boy, girl girl?)

it was just us and the open road for about six hours!!

finally, we arrived at uncle marvin's and aunt farris'. the kids were so excited to see everyone's favorite uncle and aunt!!

the next morning, after a yummy pancake breakfast complete with bacon, sausage, and eggs. it was off to enjoy their beautiful little farm.

mingled with a little rest time...

was the GREAT adventure of feeding the donkey cookies!

poor donkey, i bet vivian fed him TWENTY cookies!!!

bauer just had a great time being all boy...

he even had a lengthy conversation with amy the dog, AND the donkey.

vivian had such a good time when i told her it was time to go she said, "we don't have to go see mawmaw day." of course this made uncle marv SUPER happy, but being the gentleman that he is, he insisted that she SHOULD indeed go see her great mawmaw. ;)

after just a few more hours (about three or so) we were at cousin jennifer and tony's house, and were finally able to meet new cousin nicholas. we were even able to get with the "other" day's: amy, daniel, and lilly. it was so nice to chat and get together...stay tuned to see what is in store for the next few "days"...

:)

*please note the big boy in the forward facing car seat. he is SO happy being a big kid like his sister!!

the dentist

yep, folks...this big three year old went to the dentist, dr.dan. AND she did great!! i was so proud i might, or might not, have cried. she let them count, clean and x-ray her teeth!! go vivian!

miss rachel was so nice, she even let vivian step on the pedal to work the tooth brush.

and i think vivian was a little excited about the loot she scored: a princess belle toothbrush, a mini microphone, and a watch (for baby bauer, she said). when i asked her what was her favorite part she said, "watching incredibles on the ceiling. let's ask daddy to put a tv on MY ceiling." hmmm, yeah....let's do that....let's ask daddy! ;)

party, playdate, party, playdate, repeat....

lately that seems like all we do...but i'm not complaining! :)

last week we met the reeves' at the museum of discovery. the girls were so excited to see each other...it had been TOO long.

bauer had a GREAT time trying to build a little house. (ok, so he just played king of the mountain, but he still enjoyed himself!)

the week before we went to the zoo with miss p and her sweet sophia, who is a year older than vivian.

and our gymnastics friends, the whitehead's, met us there, too. it was pretty chilly, but the kiddos didn't seem to mind much!

everyone was so well behaved, they sweetly waved bye bye to the giraffe statues out front.

when the kids were out of school the bible study girls decided to get the kids together for a play date. here are the b's. hanging out and jammin' to fridge dj.

the baby girls. megan, erin, (twins obviously) and bella.

and the "threes". drew, drew, and vivian. how does she command their attention with THAT face?! ;) what IS she doing? oh, well...

then this weekend we had kaitlyn's first birthday. vivian LOVED the jumper!

bauer just loved being outdoors. (i KNOW, i promise i bought the kid a new coat that night...i had no idea he had grown so much!)

we also had cousin jackson's second birthday. he and vivian had a great time in the cars at the park.

vivian (as usual) really enjoyed the cupcakes.

seeeee....i told you i bought the kid a better coat!

popa bought jackson an enormous fire truck...it was a BIG hit! we have been having such a great time lately it has just been really hard to find the time to post. thanks for hanging in there, and bearing with me. i promise to get back to my old ways soon... :)

the sleepy post

as i began to organize this month's download of photos, i realized some of them had a recurring theme: bedtime. apparently, i have been so busy it isn't until bedtime that i remember to take out the camera! (sad...sad....sad.)

i did however, manage to caputre the cutest little punk rocker EVER.

look at that attitude (and his cute sister in matching pjs)!!

and speaking of cuties....what beautiful little angels!! and YES, they are asleep in our bed, we all fell asleep watching a movie.

please take special note of how vivian likes to spread out take up the absolute MAXIMUM amount of space.

AND how she uses this stellar skill to protect her baby brother.

wait...here she is protecting no one, and yet taking all the bed!!! does anyone else's kid do this? my sister was the QUEEN when we were kids.

and finally, one sunday afternoon the boys took a nap in the sun room while watching football. aren't they cute?

and on that note...i'm off to bed myself. i promise a much more arousing post tomorrow. ;)

our day's out

on saturday morning clif and i dropped the kids off at pawpaw and gege's and headed out to have a weekend together. there was a kink in our original plans, but we made due. clif suggested we go old school and watch football, drink beer (bloody mary for me), eat wings and just chill. so we did and had a GREAT time!! after watching both the hogs and the rebs win...

and trying to get a decent picture (didn't happen),

and clif playing a quick game of galaga, (he beat the top score, who knew he had such hidden talents?) we decided to call it a night and head home early.

the next morning after sleeping in late and having my favorite breakfast in bed, we headed out to play 18holes. it was a BEAUTIFUL day.

look at this course! we are so lucky to live in such a amazingly breathtaking part of the country!!

we even got cart 17!! teehee...thanks to gege and pawpaw for watching the kids. hope everyone had a great weekend.

halloween 2008

halloween was very busy this year (and drawn out). we went to six different halloween parties, but somehow i didn't take pictures at any? (really, i find this hard to believe.) BUT i realized this oversight halloween night and took pictures before heading out.

vivian as "frary" cheerleader, bauer as sweet football player.

vivian gets even "frarier" which cracks brother up.

"hey sis, what are you doing?"

"i can do that!!"

cheeeeeseeee mommy!

sweet baby bauer.

ok, so next halloween i promise to take tons of pictures throughout the festivities. BUT i did get this one great one after we finished at nene's, popa and dotdot's, and manny's. vivian was so excited about the snow white pumpkin...or maybe she just on a chocolate high!!

bauer colors

week before last (yes, i have been behind with posts) bauer finally took an interest in one of vivian's favorite pastimes. COLORING!!

after dumping all the crayons on the rug, vivian got right to work showing bauer her best techniques.

and bauer got right to work showing me his "skills", which included...

multi-crayon pick-up,

admiration of sissy's hard work, AND

taste testing.

hmmm. maybe we should feed him a snack before color time. ;)

silly gooses!

there are a million reasons why i love my kiddos, but definitely one of the top five is their amazing ability to make me laugh. not just giggle or smirk, but that awesome, deep belly laugh that as a kid comes so easily.

for example(s): this is one of vivian's doll toys. a little bouncy seat of sorts, BUT bauer thinks it is HIS bouncy! of course, if he does something she is soon to follow. she looks SO tall in this doll high chair.

then there is vivian and her incessant need for books at bedtime...one or two are not nearly enough. "i need PLENTY, mommy." this night i caught her sitting upright SNORING! :)

"hey mom, where did my cheerios go?"

"uhhh...check in your mouth, son."

"hide me, baby bauer!!"

"hey, we said NO paparazzi."

seriously, the BEST kids EVER!! :)

maybe i'll go dugger and have ten more...