Sugar Coma

I was making cupcakes for my work Christmas party and obviously you can see that someone was helping me in the kitchen.  I did let him lick the spoons after I was done with them.  I'm pretty sure he was getting more than I was aware of just by the looks of these pictures.  We were watching a movie (afternoon quiet time) and he was sitting on the coffee table and the next thing we knew he was passed out on the floor.

And it begins...

I guess the boys have figured out Chloe is getting a little more sturdy and trying to play with her a little rougher.  I think Zackary sees Aaron and I playing with Chloe and has started rolling around with her.  He is very gentle and does really well with her.  And as you can see, she loves every second of it.  Those boys can always make her laugh.  Oh and other big news today.  My little Chloe started crawling today, she is officially moving forward now and is discovering all the toys around.  Time for the big clean up!

Of course there has to be a dog pile. 

Little Helper

I'm not sure what it is about feeding babies, but I can tell you this... Everyone loves to, even 3 years olds.    Lane and Zackary typically fight over who gets to feed Chloe.  It really is cute, but sometimes causes a little too much drama around here.  Usually because they haven't ate yet and can't seem to sit still to feed themselves.  I try to let them take turns and actually sometimes I let one of them to really help me out.  She doesn't care and as long as there is food she will take it.  They both do a good job, it just creates a little more of a mess, remember this mess?  I do love that they are so interested in her and take such good care of her.  She has 2 great older brothers to look after her.  Lucky girl! 

Birthday Party

We celebrated Zackary's 5th birthday and Lane's 3rd birthday at Makutu's Island this year.  And I tell you what.  IT WAS EXCELLENT!  This might be one of the best places for a party.  The kids have a blast, they provide all the food, drinks, cake, planning, cleaning, organizing, and fun.  They even serve the kids and organize the present opening and recording of gifts.  Seriously, this was so easy and enjoyable for everyone.  

We got to invite all their friends and not be crowded and the best part was they help load the car with all the loot and we went home.  No clean up might be the best part (well except for the actual celebration).  Happy Birthday to my sweet little boys.  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate. 

I love that Lane is sitting cirss cross applesauce waiting so patiently for his turn to open a present.

Biker

I had to do a quick update for anyone following this.  I mentioned a couple of days ago how the boys got new bikes for their Birthday/Christmas presents from their grandparents.  Well here you have it.  Zackary is full blown riding his big boy bike without training wheels.  No joke this kid picked it up in 4 days.  All we do is help him get started for about a second and he's off.  I'm am so proud of him.  I knew he could do it.  

Thanksgiving 2011

Well, we hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house this year.  And was it sure fun!  I love hosting parties, activities and such.  I love to open up our house to everyone, I always have.  So, since Aaron is such an awesome cook, he got to do the cooking and I got to be in charge of drinks, decorating, and assisting.  It worked out perfect.  Both sides of the family were here to celebrate, I am so thankful that our family can all be together at once.  It makes our lives so much easier.  Here are some pictures from or celebration.

We kept the kids busy with lots of activities.

Here is Aaron's massive turkey he cooked.  Pops was showing him how to carve it up.  This might have been one of the best turkey's I have ever had.

Chloe loving up on Opa.  She loves to be held and just stroke his beard.  It's so funny.

The table turned out beautiful.  I was very proud of our great first Thanksgiving party.

3

Our little Laner is 3!  Man this kid is awesome, although he can be difficult at times, he is really a sweet little boy.  We say he is 3 going on 13.  And he has quite the sophisticated palate.  You would never guess he is only 3.  He prefers stinky cheese (Gorgonzola and blue cheese), lattes, and he enjoys cooking with us.  If you have read previous posts, he is our little early bird and likes to get up and help himself to the pantry for some breakfast, sometimes he just goes for what ever is on the counter.  Such as cupcakes, muffins, candy.  I have to be really good about putting things high and out of sight or he will find a way to get it.  He still is a furniture mover, I probably move the kitchen chairs back to the table 50 times a day.  He is always at the counter into something.  This kid is lust so dang cute I can't stand it.  Good thing, because he can sure work us over sometimes.  Happy Birthday Lane!  We love you so much!

I took cake pops to celebrate in his class at school and we had a little celebration in the evening.  

7 Months

Our sweet Chloe is 7 months old today.  These pictures turned out so cute. I tried my hardest to get a smile and no luck.  But she is still as adorable as ever.  Chloe is still the happiest and easiest baby.  She sleeps great, she goes down laughing and wakes up laughing.  She loves her big brothers and is totally entertained just watching them.  She is so close to crawling, but she can pretty much scoot wherever she wants to go.  Usually she is going backwards or rolling.  She does the cutest little smile and crinkles her nose, usually for her Daddy, I just can't get enough of it.  I love every day with my sweet baby girl!  Here are some of my favorite pictures of her from our holiday photo session this year.

Chalkboard Mason Jars

So I've become totally obsessed with Pinterest.  Man it can suck you in for hours upon hours of just looking for more stuff to do, more tasks to complete, more crafts for kids, everything you could ever imagine is on Pinterest.  So if you have tons of extra time, (just like I do, oh wait, I don't) hop on the ol' computer and waste some precious time.  You will be happy you did.
I however recommend actually doing the projects not just pinning all day!  I thought these mason jars with a little chalkboard square to write you name were so cute.  It was perfect for our first Thanksgiving Day dinner at our house.  You see, Aaron (my amazing chef husband) was in charge of cooking and I was in charge of decorating and getting everything organized.  Teamwork!  So I started my project over the weekend.  It really didn't take that long, I also suckered Aaron into helping me tape.

I had to put 2 coats of chalkboard paint on.  This was a 2 day process, because it got too late for me to stay up and wait the four hours between coats.  Needless to say, I had 2 little helpers the next morning painting the second coat.  They did a pretty good job and didn't make too big of a mess.

I cut out cute fall fabric strips to tie around the top of the glass to add a little fall flair.  I love flair!  Luckily my mom seems to have everything on hand and brought me over several options of fall fabric.  So I got to avoid another trip shopping spree at Hobby Lobby (which might be my new favorite store, that happens to be about 3 miles from my house).  

Here is the final mason jar chalkboard glasses.  They looked so cute and were a huge hit at the party.  Everyone got to write their name on their cup, there was no mistaking your beverage this time.  I recommend using liquid chalk, which I also picked up at Hobby Lobby.  I doesn't smudge easily, but wipes off with water.  

I'm so happy these turned out so well.  They will get used often.  I can just change the tie to be festive for the occasion.  I can't wait to use them again!

Early Birthday

The boys got an early birthday present/Christmas present from their awesome grandparents today.  New shiny bikes.  Big boy bikes, no more of the little monkey bike, remember this one?  Big, shiny, real bikes.  I didn't want Zackary to have training wheels anymore so we just decided to go cold turkey with them, and hopefully this doesn't happen again.  You might think, sheesh, he is only 4, but seriously the kid is pretty much doing tricks on the 2 wheeled super fast scooter, that is actually Aarons!  So NO training wheels!  

Man, look at the smile on his face.  Priceless!  He was so excited. 

And here is Lane's big, shiny, new bike.  So I let him have training wheels.  He is just turning 3.  

He sure took to the bike quickly.  Totally riding around the block within minutes of getting on. 

 I love my little athletic boys.

Aaron started off running along side of Zackary, and was letting go for short periods.  If he kept peddling he could do it, but he kept getting distracted by everyone watching and what his feet were doing.  I was pretty impressed by how well he was doing right away.  Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted on our bike riding progress.

Wedding Day

The third day was the BIG day.  We were pretty low key in the morning, we walked around, ate some more food, I even managed to get a nap in.  Hooray for naps!  Here is a beautiful picture of my mother and I.  She looks so amazing!  I'm pretty sure I have only a hand full of pictures with her.  I'm printing this one for sure.  She is the most amazing person I know.  

And my handsome husband, who decided to shave is awesome chops right before the wedding.  He didn't want them to take away from the wedding pictures.  That's how awesome they really were.  

And here starts the craziness of another night.  The dancing begins.  It was an absolutely beautiful wedding.  The ceremony was short and sweet, I guess to get the eating (yes more eating), drinking (yes more drinking), and dancing (oh and more dancing) started.   They had a band playing great music.  We all had such a great time.  What fun memories we created with our entire family.

Here is Danielle, the beautiful bride, and my new sister in law.  

Thanks for the great time Matt and Danielle, congratulations!