Fun family outing...

We had a great family day! We have been wanting to hike up the mountain by campus, but kept forgetting we wanted to do it! :) We finally planned a morning for it.

Man, I forgot how steep the mountain was, that is for sure! We used to climb it all the time in college and I would run up it. I guess that is the difference of almost 12 years.

The kids were super excited!
I wish I could have this kids energy! He was determined to run up this hill. It is really steep, but he was determined. He made it almost the whole way up running. The problem was that he then wanted to run down the hill. That concerned me more :) He has such a tendency, still, to fall...I could see him rolling the whole way down! He does not always remember he can't do everything!

They both thought it was pretty cool to be up this high. The did not realize yet that there was more to climb :)

I love that they get to be close to a large university. We get to see great sports and it is a wonderful influence for them. It is cute though. Now, every time we drive by the mountain, they say "We climbed to the top of that!"

This was close to the top! We were on our way back down and I wanted a picture with the kids. I am great at taking pictures of them, but not great at getting into pictures with them. i want them to remember what I looked like "back then" one day! :)

She loves this picture since she can look at the radio towers on the top of the hill and say she stood "next" to those. We were all the way on the top!

I love family days like this. I know these are the memories that last for me, and I think they are the ones that will last with the kids. What better thing to do that something that makes a memory!

My little loves...

For Heart's Day this year, I wanted to do something cute for Hubby. I take a lot of pictures of the kids, but I don't always do themed or posed pictures. I wanted to do that this year. It was fun (but exhausting) to do. Trying to do it as a surprise was just as interesting though!

I loved seeing their personalities. When we went to the park, i had them each pick poses and spots to take pictures. It gave them some more motivation to actually smile :)

This is the one I used in the project. I could not resist the fact that Critter had the Love sign backwards! I had them both paint hearts on small pieces of paper. Then i framed the hearts and the picture. It was a big hit with Daddy.

Gotta love the fake pout. She was trying not to show me she was smiling and laughing. Nothing can hid her like her massive amount of long hair!

Of course, my girl wanted pictures of just herself. I am amazed when I look at these pictures...I truly can not believe how she has grown up. She looks nothing like my little baby anymore. She has grown up into such a sweet, feisty, independent, beautiful little lady. I want her to stop growing, but that can not happen!

She had definite ideas on what she wanted to do for her pictures. I think I sense a little bit of her momma in her :)

It is really hard to get pictures of Critter actually smiling. He is so much more reserved than his sister. He smiles, but when he sees the camera, he will put on his fake smile. I love the few pictures I can get of him where he is smiling.

My grown up girl!

It was so much fun to capture my own kids in pictures. I love looking at these and then looking back over the years. I love seeing their personalities shine through. They are my little loves...

Getting ready for heart's day...

I was so proud of my girl this year for heart's day. She really struggled with what kind of cards to get her friends. This was the first year that I saw that her classmates could influence her greatly. We were talking about cards and the conversation went like this:

Me: What kind of cards do you want to get this year?

Her: I don't know. My friends don't really like Princesses or Barbies anymore.

Me: Well, what do you want to do?

Her: I don't know. I want to get something that they will like.

Me: The cards you give are something that you like. You don't have to pick them for your friends. You pick whatever you want.

Her: a slight pout and concerned look on her face.

Me: You could always make your own cards

Her: OKAY! With a big smile :)

So, my girl sat down and hand-made cards for her entire class. She did not just make any cards either. She picked the color card for each child, decorated them very carefully, handwrote a message and their name. I was so proud of her. It was hard for me because it was really the first time i have seen peer influence in her life. I want her to stand strong for what she wants and believes in. She ended up doing that, with a little encouragement. She was so proud of the cards too.

Where have her teeth gone?

It took Pumpkin quite awhile to lose her first two teeth! Then....within a month she lost 3! At her dentist appointment at the end of December they told her she had 4 pretty loose teeth. Then she was on a mission to get them out!

The first of the three in the middle of January. She finally let Daddy take this one out! I have had to take the last two out...and it was not fun! I am not good at that stuff. It took me an hour to get them out. Daddy got this one out in about 2 minutes. Even she admitted "Daddy is better at pulling teeth than you are"
The second one from beginning of February! Our big girl got this one out herself. She was so proud of herself!

And now this last one from right before Valentine's.Day! This one, Daddy helped with again. I can not believe how much older she looks now with the top two teeth gone. As of now, the new teeth are not growing in...so I will have her cute smile for awhile longer :)

A house divided...

We were a house divided for the Super.Bowl.. this year! Hubby has always been a ..Giants.. fan and I have been a ..Patriots.. fan. So, it was interesting! He convinced Critter to be on "his team" and Pumpkin decided to be like her momma. It was pretty cute. We had family over and lots of good food. The kids hung out and watched the game.

Pumpkin made these signs...yes she made the top one with bigger writing than the bottom! She took the rivalry pretty seriously :)
The P's fans...

Critter would not take a picture with us since we were not wearing a G's shirt! This was as close as we could get.

It was a really fun day with the family. We all cheered for our teams and half the family was happy at the end of the night....just not the right half!

Athletic Kids...

The kids have been in gymnastics for awhile now. I am amazed each week at what these kids can do!

She so wants to do these things without help, but she is doing great! She is not built like a gymnast, but she is trying. That is what matters to us. We want her to be physical, healthy and active. This is helping with that for sure :)I think she is more competitive with the running aspects than some of the class. She gets so determined. I don't know where she will go with this, but as long as she likes it we will keep doing it! :)
Our guy on the other hand is picking it up a little quicker. He LOVES each class. His coach is challenging him. Each week he asks if we are going to play-class or teach-class. We go to Open Gym here on Mondays and his class is Tuesdays. He gets excited either day.

I know our guy is going to be tall like his daddy. That might change his interest in which sport he wants to do as he grows...but he is 4 and loves this! What better way to keep healthy and teach good muscle tone/memory than gymnastics at this point... Plus, I can not get even close to that kind of handstand....how can my son do it!

I mean, seriously....how do my kids do these things! Each week I can not believe what they are doing. I love watching them explore an interest and see what they like. It is really neat to be impressed with what your kids can do :)