More picture catching up

It has been so nice in the afternoons and mornings we have been spending lots of time outside. Since someone was a very lucky girl on her birthday she has lots of new things to play with outside. Critter just hangs out in the stroller and I get to sit and enjoy watching my girl play. I also get in there and color a little on the ground, I don't know many people who can pass up some fun chalk! We have had so much fun going on in the past week. I have lots to catch up on, at least here is the beginning. Hope you are enjoying the weather! :)

Thank you Auntie C for the awesome scooter! Pumpkin loves it. It even matches her bike helmet!I know this is a strange picture. But...Critter loves to stick his leg up like this when he is in the stroller. I guess he is just relaxing to the fullest.

I love this picture of her. She was racing back and forth with a pretend friend and then they had to stop and take a break. She just stood like this for a minute and was off again. I love their imaginations!

What better way to play outside than with a prefectly sparkly pink necklace!

Don't interupt my snack Mom!

Our driveway has been covered with all sorts of animals...I love it when the weather cools off for this fun stuff.

He can't wait to get in the action with sister. Right now chalk is not really part of the diet though!

Late but....

better than never! I am finally getting around to transfering some pictures of Pumpkin's birthday party to this computer so I could upload them. We really need to connect the internet on my laptop! It was such a great day spent with amazing friends and family. Thank you all who helped make our girls day so special. I got her this really cool 5 ft. princess sign for the house. Now I know I can think, but really 5 ft. is bigger than you think it is! Pumpkin loved it. I had to take a picture of her posing next to each of the princesses. I love my little tomboy princess!

Thank you KeeKee for making the last 3 birthdays for our girl SO much fun. You have truly made them memorable!
I had to sneak a pic of Critter in here. He LOVED walking with Daddy on the big trampoline. He thought it was so funny!

This was the time when they threw those blocks at the parents. Hubby and I tried to hide from her, but she ran out of the foam pit to find us and throw the blocks.

Not only is the cake good, but so is ALL the icing on the bottom of the princesses dress. Sugar high anyone?

It was neat for me to see her loving this Kaliedoscope because I collected them as a little girl. Now she can start one too. It brought back so many memories!

4 years

My dearest Pumpkin,
I have been trying to comprehend the fact that you are now 4 years old. I can remember each stage of your amazing life. I was able to spend a part of your school day wtih you today. I went during your time at the Harvest Festival and took pictures of you and your friends. It was wonderful to see you in your element. I felt like I had a window to your world. I was able to witness how caring, energetic, independent and silly you are when you are with other people. You are my amazing big girl. I loved it when I walked into your classroom, you looked at me and said "Mommy, what are you doing here. I don't want to go home.". It partly makes me sad because you adore having your own thing. I still have a hard time getting you to tell me about your day. You don't like to even hold my hand when we walk onto the campus. It does however give me the confidence that you are growing into a person who knows where she stands in this world and is not afraid to walk with her head held high. You do however still like to know that Daddy and I are here. We are always standing behind you when you don't want us next to you, to support you and love you. I feel like I am talking to a teenager. Sometimes it feels like that will be tomorrow.
You are such an amazing girl, my Pumpkin. You made me a mom. You changed my life forever. I can thank you for showing me a love I never knew before. You have done so much in your 4 years. You are a person that people love to be around, that makes me proud. You have such a caring heart and spirit. You love your family and friends deeply. I am so proud of you. I normally write you a letter each year on your birthday. I am still processing who you are and what I really want to say. I could not let the day go by though without saying "Happy Birthday". I loved the fact that I got to sing you Happy Birthday tonight and give you a special cupcake. I felt like it was a special moment just for you and me. You will always be my baby girl. I can not wait to see what this next year brings you.
Love~
Mommy

I will post some pictures later when I get them off of the laptop. Now, we still don't have Internet connection on it. They are coming though....

Fall fun

A great tradition we have in the fall is going to Mother Nature's Farm with my MOMS Club. This is our fourth year going. It is such a great little local farm and the kids always have a blast. It was a little different this year handling the two kids, but we all survived! I think that Critter has some allergies since he was feeling better and then we walked on the farm and his nose started running and his eyes got all red. It will be fun at change of seasons around here! Both kids wore their new Halloween shirts since it was a little coolish in the morning in the shade. We met quite a few of our friends there and ended up eating at the picnic tables. Pumpkin was not too happy with me when we had to leave, I think she would stay all day if she could. She was able to pick out her size pumpkin which made her happy. When we went with Hubby to pick out a "big" pumpkin, all she wanted was her little one. That is usually what we get each year, so it is what she knows. It was a great morning and now a great naptime! I just love the traditions we are developing as a family. What is your favorite tradition?

This one was her favorite...can you tell?

He was getting a little bit stuffy nosed at this point, yet he is still my adorable man!
I was SO happy to get a nice picture of the two of them. I have not gotten a new one in awhile.
Searching hard for that perfect pumpkin!
My ham....They get to decorate their pumpkins with markers and stickers. She did actually make a face for her pumpkin under all those stickers...you just can not see it anymore!
My girl....

It's been awhile

It's been awhile since I have been able to get on here and post anything. I have been around, just not quite in the mindset to actually write anything. Pumpkin did end up getting pretty sick for about a week. Lovely fever, followed by a little runny nose and cough. As soon as I took her to the doctor and ran a bunch of tests, she got better. Then of course as she gets better Critter and I get a little sick. Even with the economy, I think our family helped the tissue industry! We are almost all healed now. Still a little runny noses, but able to function normally. Even though Critter was a little under the weather, we took a family day trip up to Prescott on Sunday. Hubby has been super busy at work so the kids had not seen much of him and an escape from the valley was necessary for us all. We found a really cute Pumpkin Farm up there. Pumpkin LOVED it. It is called Freeman Farms and they do all sorts of farming up there. It was a really gorgeous day and we had a great time. Plus, Hubby got to be there for Critter's first official pumpkin picking. It was just what our family needed.

He really was not sure what to make of them at first!
I can not believe she will be four next week!
After MUCH looking in the patch, she finally found one she liked. Let me tell you, the girl has strong opinions on what she likes and does not!
These donkeys just brayed at her and she did not quite know how to react. Of course, I was laughing at her reaction...I know nice mommy!
A perfect fall picture of our boy. I love that it was cooler out so he could wear his new fall clothes!

Busy week

We have had a busy week over here. There have been some real fun things. A great birthday party, a book fair at school, a special treat of a big girl hair do, learning how to walk, and just general fun. Of course, this busy week ended with Pumpkin feeling a little under the weather. Not sure if she is sick or just worn down. We have been going non-stop around here for at least a month. Since she was SO sick back in July, I have become slightly obsessed when she gets run down. I never want to see her that sick again! Critter is letting go and walking multiple steps at a time. He gets SO proud of himself after he does it. His new game is to play peek-a-boo with people by moving his head around so he does not see you and then sees you. It is rather adorable. The kids are getting so big and learning so much each day. We are slowly finding our rhythm with the busy schedule with school, Atrium, MOMS Club stuff and then just finding time to be ourselves. Of course life is just getting busier, so we are trying to find the time to stop and just enjoy what we are doing at the moment. Here are some catch up pictures!

We went shopping last week with Nanny and stopped by a little girly store to look at cute stuff for Pumpkin. The girls who were working were a little bored, so they offered to do Pumpkin's hair. I said yes before I knew exactly what they were going to do! It turned out really cute. After about 30 bobby pins, tons of hairspray and two kinds of glitter....this is my big girl! She loved it. She was not too happy that I made her take a bath that night, but we have quite a few pictures to remember the occasion. I just can not believe how old she looks!
Okay, my ham for the camera! This is what I get for asking her to pose for me!


We had a great time at two great boy's birthday parties! They borrowed a friends HUGE water slide. Pumpkin loved it. It was a cowboy theme....doesn't Critter look adorable (no I'm not biased!) He looks so cute, you can not really tell he was trying really hard to get this hat OFF his head! :)

Yes, he melts my heart with those eyes!
He gets very serious when he is concentrating. He was trying to reach the lamb that was almost out of his reach. He is still crawling everywhere, but each day is getting steadier on his feet. He will walk a few steps towards me without really thinking about it. He is taking his time with walking. When Pumpkin learned how to walk, she let go the first time and never looked back. He is a little more cautious with it. That is fine with me! He is "talking" up a storm. I think he is trying to keep up with his mommy and sister. Unbelievably he has gotten 4 teeth the past 2 weeks. Totally different than Pumpkin. I only noticed another was coming in because his nose was a little runny and he was putting more things in his mouth. He is my big man now!