My Cars? My Cars???

This little bucket here is where we usually keep all of the little man's cars - hot wheels, tractors, vans, whatever - I don't know why we started using a watering can, but it's what we had and I guess it just became his "car carrier."

On Friday night, my little guy was walking around with this little empty bucket saying "My Cars? My Cars?" Dirck and I asked each other if we had seen where all his cars went. Neither of us had. We assumed they were in the bottom of the toy box or neatly arranged underneath the dining room table or maybe in a drawer somewhere in the boy's room. We did not however, expect to find them like this:

This is from our Television console. This hole has a little metal top, and I guess the hole is there so you can run cables, etc through the table. I've noticed that he has been playing with this little metal top alot lately, and I just happened to get a glimpse of something colorful inside the hole.

Closer examination proved that not just a few cars, but ALL his cars were stashed away inside this hole. The little monkey must have put them there for safekeeping (probably to keep them away from his sister).

Well, order has been restored. The cars are safely back in their rightful place, and the little man has been playing with them all day!

It's Picture Time Baby!

We went to the park this morning for some pictures with the very talented Ms Becca Pento of Be You Photography. I can't wait to see how these turn out. We took some pictures of the kids all over the park and then ended with a fun cake smashing in the gazebo to celebrate the little lady's first birthday.

Here's my little man on the train car. He really liked the steering wheel on this train.

Here's the little lady - just starting to dig in to her yummy cake.

Here's a few pictures that I snapped while I was cleaning up all the cake in the gazebo. My little guy loved the sucker that Ms Becca gave him for being such a good boy!

Getting their pictures made is one of my FAVORITE things to do, and if I was a rich woman. . . . . well, I'd do this all the time! I can't wait, can't wait, can't wait to see the images that Becca captured today!

THIS

THIS, among many other things of course, is the reason that I love my husband! Here he is - in his own little moment - playing with the girl - making her squeal and laugh and snort and giggle.

THIS melts my heart. THIS makes me realize what a good man he is. THIS makes me grateful that we have kiddos together.

THIS is just one of the many reasons why I think he's wonderful.

Our Helper

He's a good little helper - always willing to help us with a task. He's always picking up little bits off the floor and putting them in the trash. He likes order and consistency, and at times I wonder if this could really be my kid?? I'm certain he got that from his daddy.

He's helping his dad bring the trash can in from the end of the driveway.

He insisted on pulling it in himself.

He's such a big boy now!

My Girl

It's hard to believe this sassy little thing is a year old.

Time flies so quickly.

Slow down little munchkin.

Don't grow so fast.

Oh, how I love this little girl!

Teeth Brushin' Time!

The boy got a new electric tooth brush in his Easter basket this year. This made brushing his teeth so much easier! He actually likes to do it now. Yay! The only problem was my baby girl always wanted his tooth brush. She has a cute little pink baby tooth brush, but she would purse her lips together and turn her face any time I came near her with the brush. But the boy's tooth brush. . . . . . well, she would try to get it from me, and she would open her mouth and lean into me when I was brushing his teeth as if to say "Me next Momma - Please!" So I broke down today and got her her own pretty pink electric tooth brush.

She thought she was big stuff.

The boy had to supervise her to make sure she was doing it correctly.

"Do it like this. . . . "

He even thought he would do a little tutorial on Maddie, but Maddie didn't want any of that! And when we went to take it away from her, she pulled it out of our hands as if to say "I'm not done yet!"

Yeah, I think teeth-brushin' time is about to get a lot easier around here!

Dinner

I went all out tonight. I made homemade Bolognese sauce with homemade noodles. Ambitious, I know! Delicious, it was!

Here's the Bolognese sauce . . . .

Here are the Noodles . . . . . .

Is your mouth watering yet?

Can you believe 2 whole cups of this went into the sauce?

Did I mention it was delicious? Did I mention that I drank the rest of what was in the bottle? Did I also mention that I felt much like the name on the label of the bottle after I drank it???

Here's the kicker . . . . . My kids LOVED it! They cleaned their plates!

That made me smile (or was that all the wine. . . I forget. . . . )

My girl would open her mouth like a little bird when she saw me eating the noodles from my plate.

The boy just ate his food in relative silence (relative is a relative word, you know. . . . )

It's fun to try new things when I have the time to do it. I hope you are enjoying your long weekend!

Scout's Place at the Table

The girl has made good friends with our dog, Scout. Scout loves her so much that she lets the girl sit on her and bounce up and down. Scout just lays there and lets her play - she's a good dog. This is why I think Scout tolerates the girl's affection. . . .

Can't say we ever fed her from the table before the kids came into the picture. Now the dogs hover around our legs during meal times - waiting for the kids to offer them some tasty morsel of whatever it is that they don't want.

Yeah, she knows she's not supposed to feed the dogs from the table, but she's so proud of herself for making a good friend.

It's a good relationship with these two, so who am I to spoil it?

The Kids

Here's a few pictures of the kids from this morning. I've had some time this afternoon to post some pictures.

Ahhhhh . . . . naptime. So wonderful!

Have a great weekend!

Me, Myself, and I

Here's an attempt at a self portrait. I was holding the camera above my head and looking into it. I guess I cut off half my head, but it's the only decent one of all the ones I took. Have a great weekend!

Welcome to the Jungle . . .

Not the flower jungle. . . .
. . . . the Jungle Gym!

The boy got this new toy for his birthday from his Nana. Unfortunately for him, his birthday is in January, and a new toy like this doesn't do too well when there's 6 inches of snow on the ground. But now it's beautiful outside, so Dirck and I set it up this weekend just in time for the girl's party. The kiddos had a great time on it.

My kiddos continue to have a great time on it.

Aren't they such big kids?

Oh, and the teeter-totter. . . . they love it! Especially the girl. She thinks she can do anything her brother does!

And the boy. . . . well, he loves it too, but nothing can compare to his Daddy's tractor!

And Dirck. . . . . well, he just enjoys watching the kids.

And me . . . I enjoy watching him watching the kids. I'm greatful that I have kids with this man. I love that he loves our kiddos so much!

My Little Artist

We got some sidewalk chalk for the summer.

The boy has really been enjoying coloring on our front stairs. I think he's the next Picasso or Van Gogh (minus the craziness - I don't wish that on him!), or Matisse (minus the syphilis - yuck!) or Monet. Yeah, I'm gonna stick with Monet.

It's always fun to be around this little guy!

Whew! What a Day!

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity!

My Mom was in town so we all went to the Turkey Creek Festival at the Park. It was LOTS of fun! First of all, my little man got to ride a school bus! He's still talking about that. He also got to ride golf cart - which again, he's still talking about.

He got to bounce around in a big inflatable carousel and he even got to ride a pony!

Oh, I hope I can remember the look on his face when he realized he was going to get to ride a real pony! It was PRICELESS! The Festival was complete with a petting zoo and of course a romp around on the playground. He was in HEAVEN I tell you. . . .HEAVEN!

After the Festival we went home for nap time. After the kids woke, it was PARTY TIME! Yep, my baby girl turned one this weekend! It's so hard to believe, because it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital, and I couldn't believe how tiny she was next to her brother. Anyway, we had a great time complete with cake and cake, and cake!

Happy Birthday little lady! I'm looking forward to many, many more fun times with you and your brother!