Halloween Projects

I was feeling the need to do some fun art projects with the kids for Halloween.  So I headed to Joann to get some fun crafts that 4 and under could do and invited the kids' friends over for some messy fun.  They painted pumpkins and wanted more so I got out some animals and cars to paint.  They weren't satisfied with that so they all decided to paint their hands and bellies.  What a mess it turned out to be but sure a fun one.

Then we went for the glue project.  They made little pumpkins, witches, and ghosts with foam pieces, sticks, and lots of glue.  I forgot how much fun glue is when you are a kid.  Good thing it is washable and cheap!

Zackary and I made this for our front door the next day.  I think it turned out so cute. 

Big News at the Allans

 

Yep, there you have it. Little baby Allan #3! After 6 pregnancy tests and 3 ultrasounds, I felt it was is a good time to announce it on the blog. I am officially 12 weeks 2 days today and everything is looking great. Our sweet new baby will be arriving some time in April. Hooray! We will finally get our spring baby we have been talking about. The official due date is April 25, 2011.

I am really excited to be pregnant and I'm feeling great! I love being pregnant, except for my constant worry that I seem to get the second I pee on the stick. I'm very lucky to have a wonderful OB who totally understands my worry and will see me several times before 12 weeks. I have been lucky enough to get to see my sweet baby 3 times already. Next week I have the 1st trimester screen, I can't wait to see the baby even more. Here we go!

More Wedding

Here is some of my favorite shots of the 4 cutest little additions to the beautiful wedding. Reese and Ryan were the beautiful flower girls with perfect little tutus. And the boys with the khakis and button down shirts...irresistible. Aren't they just delicious? I think this picture in black and white is just perfect.

It truly captures the moment.

Now, we wouldn't normally take our babies to a wedding however in Mexico we really didn't have any other options. But all of them were sure troopers, they really helped get the party started. They were on the dance floor before everyone. Mind you, they might have been playing with their zoo animals and snatching seashells off the head table, but they were out there having a great time. Zackary was loving dancing to the music and learning the line dances. I thought it was so cute to see him having a great time dancing and cutting in to get the R & R for himself to dance/run with.

Thanks Kyna and Eric for a great time and letting our children crash your wedding! It was beautiful!

Rocky Point 2010

We headed down to Rocky Point for a fabulous wedding of some good friends of ours, that my sweet boys got to be a part of. They were the official ring bearers. They did such a great job, followed directions, and even stood up at the alter for quit a while during the ceremony. I was quite proud of them. You never know what your going to get out of little boys. The wedding was beautiful, sunset on the beach, what more can you ask for? All the guests wore white, ivory, or tan which makes for a beautiful setting.

This was our attempt at the end of the night to get a family photo. I'm not sure why we didn't try earlier in the evening on the beach when every one was in their prime. We waited until they were all danced out and wanted nothing to do with a picture. But hey, this is how we roll, totally random!

Great Choices

Lane is beginning to somewhat care about what he wears. Usually I give him two choices between shirts and shorts. He gets to pick one and he is happy that he made the decision, most of these choices stem from a great parenting class we took over the summer (more on that later). However the other day he was having nothing of choices and made is own decision, 2 different shirts, I explained to him that it was 2 shirts and no shorts, but I got over it and put on both shirts...this is an affordable mistake (same parenting class), well in his eyes this was surely not a mistake. So I threw on a jean diaper and we went about our day and he was as happy as can be...whatever works right?

This is his other new thing, whenever I bust out the camera he covers his eyes. I'm not sure what happened because he used to do a big cheesy grin and say cheese for the camera.

A Few Minutes

Now that the boys are a little older...I can make some popcorn put on a movie and bam! I get a few minutes to go get ready or get something done. I love that they sit in the chair together and share the same bowl of popcorn and drink. I hope these little moments last forever. These boys sure have a great time together. While they do have their moments of torturing each other, for the most part they are having great times together. I love it!

Dino Museum

Zackary, Derek, Ryan, Dillan, Lane & Katelyn

Today we spent the morning at the Natural History Museum in Mesa. Of course the kids call it the dinosaur museum. We met up with my sister in law Celia with her kiddos and Liz with her kiddos. We had a great time checking everything out. The kids got soaking wet panning for gold but could care less about that.  I loved watching them walk around covering their little ears frightened by the dinos roaring. 

They were all so good and enjoyed all the fun activities there was to do.

Washington D.C.

This was a start to an amazing trip. Delicious sliders and a mountain of onion strings.

Aaron and I headed to D.C. for a great vacation. The kiddos stayed at home with Nana and we enjoyed an adult vacation. Aaron had a conference for work so we decided to make a little vacation out of it, and boy it was nice. We had nice leisurely meals, walked, all over the city, spent time with a friend from college, and went shopping. Don't get me wrong, I missed my babies like the dickens and thought of them several times when there was something they would have loved, but it was great for Aaron and I to have some good quality time together. Here are some pictures that I thought were pretty nice, what a beautiful city with so much amazing history and things to see.

We got special treatment knowing friends that work in D.C.

We got to the top of a condo that overlooked the city.

Seeing the White House was amazing at night. 

Seeing giant green trees got us every time.  We had to take pictures with them in the background.

 

Washington Monument at sunset. Sorry for the blurriness but I thought the sky looked amazing with the monument lit up.

Picketing!  There was a huge rally at the capitol building when we were there.  We found some great signs in the garbage...ya I said it, we pulled them out of the garbage and we had several to choose from.  Don't mind what they say, we just picked the ones on the top.  Isn't that part of being at the capitol? 

In Front of the Camera

Finally!  A picture of myself and my boys.  I am always the one behind the camera trying to capture all the precious moments of my sweet babies.  But there is no evidence of mommy, I'm always there but you would never know it.  We were celebrating my folks anniversary and my Unky Kip got some great pictures for me.  So here you have it...finally!

Sculpta Bush

So I'm sure all my readers remember the post about the bush balls.  Well I received several comments... from friends worried their bush balls would be featured on the blog, some that agree with my issues, and some that like bush balls.  My dear brother said he was especially a big fan (hear my sarcasm?) of sculpta bushes.  I knew of a perfect one that I would feature just for him.  It is actually one of my parents neighbors.  They have these 3 perfect little birds in their front yard.  However, I think the daddy bird is a bit thirsty right now.  Hopefully he will pull through this hot summer. 

So here you go...a sculpta bush!

~more addendums to come

36 Years

My wonderful, amazing, kind parents just celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary.  What an accomplishment!  I'm sure they have had hard times but you would never know it, they are still happily married and in love.  They still spend everyday together, they have desks at work right across from each other and spend most of their free time together, the little that they have.  I am so lucky to have happily married parents and wonderful role models.  I love you!

Piggy Backs

I absolutely love that the boys are really playing together and that they both actually enjoy it.  At least if Lane isn't beating up on Zackary.  I caught Zackary giving Lane piggy backs and was imitating what Aaron and I do with them on our backs.