New Playroom!

Thanks to a very kind former-parent, we picked up two new IKEA bookcases for our playroom. It only took 30 minutes for Ken and I to load them up, but it took 5 HOURS to re-organize everything. I love the way it turned out!

Congratulations!

On Saturday, we all met up at Mom and Dad's house to have a going away party for Elizabeth and Brian. They are moving next week to Illinois. We are so proud that they will be continuing their education at the University of Illinois. Elizabeth will be earning her doctorate and Brian his masters. It is quite a journey for them and I'm glad they are doing it together. We are very proud and can't wait to visit them.

Family Photos with a hidden gift card to IKEA.

Mommy Group Birthday Party

I joined this Mommy Group when Nathan was about six months old. The group consists of 8 mommy's that are SCPS empoyees. It is nice to meet up on our days off from school. Since all 8 kids turned 2 this summer, we decided to throw one big birthday party. We met up at Downey Park in Orlando. It has a very cool splash pad and pavillions. Each Mommy brought something special to the party. (I made/brought the cake.) And we did a simple gift exchange for the kids. It was so much fun and not stressful like other kinds of birthday parties. It was super hot so the kids got grouchy pretty quick. It was a great way to document how quick these babies are growing up.

Bounce U Playdate

On Wednesday, Holli's Mom arranged for our Mommy Group to meet up at Bounce U in Sanford. It was a huge place with lots of different bounce houses. Thomas and Nathan loved the basketball hoop one. Nathan LOVED all the ones that had balls in them. One of the bounce houses you loaded air guns and shot soft balls across the bounce house into hoops or in Thomas' case, he shot them at the kids on the other side. Nathan got the hang of climbing up the little steps and sliding down the big slide. He had absolutely no fear. The staff took us through two bounce rooms and then into their snack room for some juice and cookies. It was a fun place to visit. It's just hard to keep up with both boys in a place like that.

Great Day for Basketball

Today Thomas played in two basketball games. At the first game Uncle Mike came to watch. We were so happy that he could stay for the whole game. Thomas seems to play better during the first game. The second game is more draining for him.

Then in between the games it was team photo day. I forgot my form and once I found out we could use our own camera, I'm glad I decided to not order pictures. This is the one I took and I think it captured the team perfectly.

For the second game, Nana and Papa came, along with Emily and McKinley. At the second game there were even cheerleaders! Too funny! The boys played well and Thomas was worn out! After the game we went out to lunch with Nana and Papa since Ken was home sleeping from a very long day/night at work. We love fun Saturday's!

Nathan's Birthday Album

It may have taken me a month to get organized to make Nathan's birthday album, but it's finally done and it turned out super cute. I thought I'd share it with all of you. I can't wait to see it in person.

(It loads faster if you click on the link for the larger image.)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Science Center Fun

On Friday, we met up with the Rouse family at the Orlando Science Center. We hadn't been there since Spring Break and some things were a little different. This time the bees were in the hive, just like Thomas was hoping. They didn't have the Curious George Exhibit anymore, but they did have this huge Chess board with pawns. Nathan danced in the center of it like a huge dancefloor. ha! We had lots of fun and I was so surprised that no one fell asleep on the way home.

Back-to-School Shopping

Even though it's a few weeks away, I am proud to say that we are 98% finished with our back to school shopping. There's something very wonderful about the smell of crayons and new notebooks! I never wait until the last minute for this special occasion. Since Nathan is going to preschool this year I thought he deserved his very first backpack. Isn't it cute?! It's small enough for his two little "lovies". I can't believe he's old enough to start preschool.

Crayon Making

The boys seem to be acting restless lately. It was time for a project! We decided to make heart shape crayons using old, broken ones. The boys were so quiet and focused while pealing the paper off the crayons! Who knew that's all it would take to calm them?! The crayons are still in the cooling stage and the boys can't wait to try them out.

My Little Firecrackers!

The boys had a relaxing 4th of July! This may be the last year that I can get away with dressing them alike. Thomas thought it was silly that they had the same shirt. Getting them to pose in a picture together, at the same time, smiling, without fussing grows increasingly more difficult. These are the best shots I could get. (you should see the outtakes!) We ended the night in the driveway with The Rouse Family enjoying their fireworks, letting the kids do sparklers and Pop-Its, and yelling at them to stay away from the road and touching anything hot. :) Nevertheless, we had fun!

At least Nathan is "smiling" with his eyes!

Thomas Turns Six!

Thomas is now six! This is unbelievable to me. This little guy is growing up faster than I ever thought possible. This year he wanted to invite his friends to Chuck E. Cheese for his party. I loved how Chuck E. Cheese takes care of everything! (pizza, cake, goodie bags, decorations, balloons, entertainment!) Thomas invited his friends from school which he was so happy to see. They played games for hours, ate lunch, played some more and by the end he earned 1,300 tickets!!!! What does 1,300 tickets get you??? Well, 1 bouncy ball, 1 squishy ball, 2 stretchy octopuses and 3 Smarties candy. Yep. That's all! A huge thank you to Nana and Papa for continuing to buy tokens for Christian, Brian and Thomas for extra play time. It was such a fun day. It was nice that people lingered even longer since the kids were having fun. It sure is a loud place, especially on a Saturday, but so worth it. Happy Birthday to our dear Thomas! You're growing up too fast!

His new Angry Birds t-shirt

Nathan LOVED the ball game!

A little hesitant at first, but he warmed up to the costume.

Horsie Ride

Getting ready to enter the ticket blaster machine!

30 seconds of crazy fun

Cashing in his tickets