My cowgirl...

I LOVE the fact that Hubby has Fridays off. It means I get to help out with Pumpkins class a fair amount. They do a lot of their special activities on Friday, so it works out perfectly!

Last week was Kinder Rodeo Day. They had 9 different stations set up for the kids to do. It was adorable! I got to help out in the "jail".....we took pictures of the kids in the "jail" and then they got to eat popsicles. Needless to say, there was a lot of energy in my station! I am truly amazed at the conversations you can have with a group of Kindergarten kids.....really amazed!

She took this very seriously! If you look close, you can see her tongue sticking out :)

They got to dress in their "cowboy" gear. She picked this outfit out all on her own....she has some pretty good fashion sense. She did pull the typical kid thing that morning though. The sides of her hat had come un-stitched from the main part. She asked me at 7:46 to fix it, we normally leave the house at 7:50. The ONLY reason i fixed it at the VERY last minute was because i knew the kids would be outside from 8:15-11. I do think it was worth it for the pictures too though :)

My beautiful girl. There are times I look at her and realize how quickly she is growing up. She is so fiesty and independent, yet so full of love! She was playing with her loose tooth here. I really do not know how this thing is still in her mouth. We can see almost the entire bottom of it when she plays with it. Yet, she is like her mother, so she is stressing about it. New things do not always go over well with her :)

Doing pretty good at horseshoes!



It was such a fun day with her and the other kids. I am going to take every opportunity I can to help out in the classes. I figure the longer she likes me in class the better! :) I love that I know her friends and who she talks about when she talks about school.

A day with my boy...

One of the hardest things for me when Pumpkin started school was not being able to take her to do all the fun things we used to do. Then....I realized I had over 3 years of taking her fun places and I could now do the same with Critter. I have noticed that our adventures this have been a little longer and more adventurous due to Pumpkin being in school longer and Critter being older.

I was finally able to take him to the zoo the other day with a group of friends. It was so much fun seeing him play with his friends and explore without his sister telling him where to go! :)

Can you tell how much fun he was having!
My FAVORITE place in the zoo is the little monkeys. I love the fact that you can go into the exhibit and see them. I think out of every animal, i have the most pictures of these guys. This little guy was walking right over our heads....well not RIGHT over since we did not want to get covered in a present from him :)

He was having so much fun on these animals. I have cute pictures of both the kids last time we went, but we also had to sort of go along with what Pumpkin wants. This time I could just let Critter explore and do whatever he wanted to do!

It is hard to see, but this is his "WHEEEE" face. He was acting like he was a cowboy.....never mind that he was on a lion....he still thought he was a cowboy!

"We almost forgot the giraffe's!" That is what he told me as we tried to leave. We did not see the giraffe's first like we usually do since we were catching up with friends. Can you tell he is a creature of habit like his momma?

Speaking of like his momma....

I got him a new book at the zoo shop ( I am such a sucker for books, it is getting silly). He wanted to see it as we left. He walked out of the zoo "reading" his new book!

No, this is not posed. He walked out like this. :) I just love it though. He is my boy! How can I say no to him when he asks for books? This is even at the library. We now have to bring a tote with us to the library since we can not carry all the books he wants to bring home. Trust me, I am NOT complaining about his love of books though!


It is so nice to be able to spend such nice time with my boy. We signed him up for preschool starting in September, so I am soaking up as many moments with him as I can. These darn kids are just growing up WAY too fast for me!

Outdoor fun...

It was a GORGEOUS weekend last weekend. So, Hubby decided it was time to pay attention to our cars. He spent all afternoon Friday and morning on Saturday taking care of his truck. it had some issues we thought we needed to take it to a mechanic for....but Hubby fixed it! He was so proud of himself. Then as a Valentine's gift to me, he detailed my car on Sunday. I loved it, even though now I don't want anything to spill in it or it to get dirty at all! :)

Since he was outside with the cars, the kids got lots of time to play outside. Since we do not have a play filled backyard, we play out front....so one of us has to be with them! They had so much fun.

Pumpkin has gotten really good at roller skating. She outgrew her first skates and got new ones this past Christmas. They are a little more grown up and she had to get used to them. Well....she is used to them now! :)

Yes....this is Pumpkin dancing the "robot" while skating down the driveway. I forgot to switch my camera to video for it, but it was so funny.....you can see her style looking at the 2 pictures. Scary thing is that she has better moves than her momma! :)

My boy. I was trying to get his furrowed brow. When he is concentrating or figuring something out, he furrows his brow. This did not quite capture it, but it is a darn cute picture!

I do not get these looks captured with my camera too often. I look for the smiles and happy moments. But...these looks are just as precious. This is his get away from me with that camera look! :)

"Oh MOM, I know we have been playing outside for 3 hours, but I don't want to go inside and take a bath!"



It has been so much fun playing outside lately. We have some new neighbors with kids and have gotten to know some other neighbors. Yesterday there were 8 kids playing outside after school. It is a lot of fun and this is why we moved to this neighborhood years ago. We could see this happening. It is neat when kids knock on the door to play outside with your daughter! There will probably be more pictures/video of outdoor adventures coming. I LOVE this time of year!

A love filled day...

It is funny how Valentine's Day changes over the years. I remember when Hubby and I were first dating, we made a big deal out of Valentine's Day. It was filled with nice dinners out, flowers, gifts, lots of planning and commercial romance.

How kids have changed that! :) We spent Monday evening with a nice home cooked meal of Hubby and the kids favorite foods. We had heart shaped cupcakes and just hung out as a family. Even though times have changed....I almost like these days better! This is what life is about, the simple things and the love we share together. Hubby and I will have time once the kids are grown to go to dinners again, but for now, I am really happy hanging with the 4 of us!

My attempt at cute Valentine's pictures :) My adorable man this morning told me the cutest thing. I was carrying him back from bringing Pumpkin to school. The kid is HEAVY! So, I asked him if I could put him down. He said "No". I asked him why....he then grabbed my arm, cuddled to me and said "Because I love you too much!"......how could I put him down then?!
This is what I got when I asked him to put his hands together again. I like to try multiple pictures.....this was not quite the Valentine love I wanted to capture :)

My sweet girl. She was sad since she had school and church on Monday. But...she perked right up when she saw dinner and the cupcakes. Man....love these guys!

Hope you had a day filled with love, friends and family!

My sweet girl...

My girl is growing up! There are times I look at her and realize how quickly the time is flying by....

She likes it when I braid her hair when it is wet, then it gets to be curly the next day. Since there was something sort of big on TV on Sunday, it was a perfect time for early baths and a good hair braid session! Since it had plenty of time to dry overnight....it was CURLY yesterday! Since Pumpkin has my hair, getting it to curl is quite a feat :)

She has grown up so much. I love that she is learning and expanding her horizons. She is still loving school and really picking up on reading. She still sometimes struggles with wanting to be home....I do hope that feeling stays for awhile though! It is nice to know she wants to be with us during the day. I am just so excited to see what she does in the years to come. I know she will be full of adventure and surprises!

There will be a post coming any day now with our first lost tooth! It is VERY wiggly and we can see the next tooth coming in. Very exciting times around here :)

Momma's Boy...

This boy is my boy! To say this kid likes books is an understatement. One of his favorite places to go is Story time, whether it is at a friends house, bookstore, or library. He loves to read! The other morning before taking Pumpkin to school he grabbed a book to "read". I could not help but snap these pictures :)

He loves us reading to him as well. We read before naptime and bedtime. Whatever book we read to him, he wants to cuddle with while he sleeps. Usually Hubby or I get tired of reading before he does! I love it! He may look like a mini-me of Hubby, but he has my love for reading....

Fun Family time...

Dear friends called us Saturday morning and asked us to go to the Zoo with them at noon. We had not hung out as two families in a long time....but it was during Critter's nap time. We debated and then realized that a nice family/friend day was worth a tired Critter! :) I am SO GLAD we went. It was a gorgeous day and it had been ages since we had been to the zoo...

For some reason (Pumpkin) it has been hard to get pictures of the kids where they are both looking at the camera and smiling...not making goofy faces. This was as close as we got. No matter what they are doing in the picture, I am cherishing the ones I get with them. I am trying to get better about getting pictures with them....so they know I was actually there for all these fun times :)
What better thing to do when you are at the zoo looking at animals....but to climb a tree! This is so Pumpkin. She is my princess tomboy! She loves adventure, but loves all things girly as well. I am so curious as to where this one goes in life...

They all had to take turns on this frog. What I love the best is Pumpkin "hiding" next to the frog. I told her I wanted pictures of each of the kids....I got it....sort of! :)

She had such a great time. I am glad that she still gets enjoyment out of days like this, especially when the other kids are younger than she is. But, she adores these friends of ours and it made her day to spend time with them!

Is it okay to get sad about how fast she is growing up?

One thing that all the kids talked about from the time we got to the zoo was the StingRay area. I love that Pumpkin asks every time to go here, but usually pulls her hand away before she actually touches any of the animals. When she does accidentally touch one, she is not sure how to react. I was holding Critter back....even with his sleeves pushed up they got soaked. He was trying to touch the bottom of this pool. He loved it! He is usually my Mr. Cautious...but not always. When he decides he likes something or wants to try it....he jumps in feet first!

What they were trying to touch...

Like I said, it is hard to get a "nice" picture of them. They are now into making all these goofy poses and faces. I do think it is pretty cute!


Thank you B and family for the invite :) It was such a nice day. I am so glad we went and we will have to do it again!

Now, onto more adventures!