For Hope

Happy Birthday, Sis.

Forrest the Pumpkin

This is Forrest sitting in the stroller Halloween 2007. It is just too darn cute. This is still how I picture Forrest in my mind. They really do grow up too fast.

Secret Spoon

Forrest and I baked a cake today. I had no intention of taking any pictures but he looked so darn cute sitting up on the kitchen counter with his apron on... I couldn't resist. Whenever I bake something the kids love to have some of the mix. They always try to secretly sneak spoonfuls so we just started calling it "secret spoon". Now they just ask for a "secret spoon" and I know just what they want. Forrest comes across so serious in pictures but he is quite the opposite in real life. He is so hilarious. To say he is animated is an understatement. Living with him truly is like living with a cartoon character. He is beyond excited about everything. If I say, "Forrest, we are going to the grocery store..." He squeals with excitement and jumps up and down. If I buy him a new toothbrush or tell him he can choose a movie to watch... Yep, he is just as excited. And when I say excited you need to picture someone winning the publishers clearing house sweepstakes. That is the kind of jump up and down excited he gets... About everything. I love that I get to be this boy's mama. I am so excited to see where his life will take him and to watch as he grows up. I just don't want him to grow up too fast because this is too much fun.

Halloween Tree

We love Halloween. I try and make them fun for our kids. To make things a little more festive around here, I decided to use our Easter tree and found some cute Halloween ornaments. It was the one that was exactly what I envisioned. The kids picked their favorite ornaments. They were pretty excited to hang them up on the tree. They love having the "Halloween Tree" (as Summer calls it) on our kitchen table. They decorate and re-decorate it daily.

Pink Ruffles

For months (literally) Summer has been begging me to get her these pink ruffles shoes that she had saw at the store. I had no idea what she was talking about. I would just smile and say, "Sure honey". Well, she didn't give up. The darn words, "pink ruffles" kept coming up. She told me they were a really fancy pair of shoes and that she REALLY needed them. The next time I went to the store I saw them and then I officially started ignoring the idea. Summer was persistent and I still didn't purchase them for her. It wasn't until I realized she REALLY needed a new pair of shoes after her other shoes got too small. I promptly went back to the store and put them in my shopping cart. I had them on her bed for her when she came home from school. Her smile was priceless. Summer's big grin outshines all of those ruffles on her feet. You can see how they are already worn out, she REALLY does loves these pink ruffles.

And, I love this little Kindergartner.

Marbles Museum

David and I loaded up the kids and took them to Marbles Museum in Raleigh yesterday.

They were in heaven.
Trains + stationary bicycle + pirate ship + arts & crafts + hockey + climbing wall + woodworking =
F U N

My Forrest

Forrest has been getting up a lot lately in the middle of the night. I wake up to a little one snuggling next to my bed and little finger pokes on my face. He wants to get in bed with David and me. I don't want to start that habit so I take him back to his bed where he says, "Lay down with me". I snuggle him for a few minutes and tip toe back to bed. That usually does the trick. Two nights ago however that routine was not working. I put him in his bed on three separate occasions. 20 minutes later the whole scene would repeat itself. On the third time I looked at him and said, "Forrest, this is sooo frustrating". He looked at me, started to cry and said, "I not fwusawating, I your Forrest". With that i just smiled, pulled back the covers to our bed and he hopped right in between David and me. How could I resist?

I took these pictures of my Forrest with his little makeshift umbrella yesterday. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I am making an umbrella with a wood stick on a pizza cardboard box" (he had found from the recycling bin). He was on a hunt in our backyard pretending it was still raining and inspecting the grass. I love this boy.

The Heart Messenger

Having Forrest at preschool is giving me some much needed Summer time. She is on fall break from her school for three weeks. I can't tell you the last time she and I sat on the sofa in the living room, just the two of us. Not that we never did... It's just that we would be in such a rush with her coming home from school, ballet practice, homework, dinner, bath, and then in bed to start this routine all over again the next day. These days however we can take over the sofa all to ourselves right in the middle of the day. We read books, watched movies, and played games together. Just the two of us.

This picture of Summer is so cute. I just love this girl so much. The other morning I woke up to find this card on my bathroom counter. It was made for me. The heart she cut out and the edge fringes are priceless and her writing and words are so cute. This is one happy girl.

I am going to keep this little card forever.

Color Splash

I love this three year old. A lot.

It's good to be 5!

Summer kills me. Seriously she makes me laugh all day long. Today I sat outside with the kids as they rode their bikes around our driveway. Summer was out of control. She was pedaling soo fast on her little makeshift stationary bike. She kept pushing herself faster and faster with her legs and then would lift her legs up in the air (she was getting very tricky) all while screaming, "This is awesome!" I was dying! Then she got quite clever and turned around to go backwards. I couldn't get a clear shot because I couldn't keep the camera still because of my laughter. And let me say, she didn't think it was funny. She was totally serious, just like her daddy on his stationary bike. This went on for a good hour. She's a keeper.