Busy Times

We've had a very busy past few days - getting mom moved over to the rental house. And I've come to the conclusion that she's got way too much stuff; and if you know my mom, you know that the majority of that stuff is in her kitchen. But we did get it all over there so now she can get back into normal life, at least for now. Here's a picture of the house that is being renovated; it will be several more months before it is ready to move into, and I'll keep reposting pics here as progress continues. Yesterday Frank and I and the kids were able to spend the entire day together for the first time in probably close to a year so that was fun. He has just finished one of his summer classes and I had the day off work, so we went out shopping for paint for the new bedrooms that are close to being done, walking around the mall for no real reason, and eating at Alex's favorite place, Fazoli's (sp?). Anyway we had a great time and Avril got a new outfit that she really loves. She picked out this deep purple crinkle skirt and white tank and purple headband and made me laugh when I put the skirt on her the first thing she did was twirl around to watch the skirt flare out. Such a girl. We spent FOREVER in Claires just trying to pick one thing out. She really wanted everything and I'm afraid she's inherited my talent of drawing out decisions until the people around you are pulling their hair out. lol. But she settled on a pink beaded bracelet. Then of course she accesorized with stickers on her belly and a pink rubber purse thing and called the outfit completed and strutted the mall. I'm a bit afraid of the future with this one, but at least it will be colorful. These other pics are from this morning while she was singing along with Dora. I had to share.

Avril's Birthday

So this week was the celebration of Avril's two year birthday. Her birthday was last Wednesday, but my parents are making a bad habit of being out of town on our birthdays this year, so we waited for them to come back. My lovely grandparents came in from out of town to do some balloons and help wrangle the kids, and we had a grand time. I don't know how Avril already knew so much about birthdays - she seemed to be a natural. She knew that we would sing to her and she would blow out the candle; she also knew what presents were and what to do with them. That made me laugh, she was in mom's room and didn't want to come out at one point so all I had to say was that we would sing a song and then she could open her presents. She said "Alright!" and ran right out into the living room. I didn't even know she knew what presents were. Anyway, she loved everything people gave her and really enjoyed having her friends there. It's really strange for her to be two already; I still remember bringing her home like it was yesterday.

Thanksgiving

And here is whyI look forward to Thanksgiving all year long beginning with the moment we get home from the previous one. Tons of food, tons of people, plenty of cards and playing around with the kids. There is nothing else like Thanksgiving at Nana's house.

The Magic House

Alright here are a bunch of random pics from our trip to the Magic House in St. Louis two weeks ago. The kids absolutely love it there and I'm sure you can see why. From the section just for babies, to the water and sand tables, to the village with the fishing stream, all the way to the third floor with the science experiments (there's Avril at the electrostatic ball and also trying to pull up a bubble around herself) they had a ball. We most definitely try to go as often as we can.

All Together

And here they are together. The tub picture was taken in Beanbah's tub with their favorite toys - the boats. Every grandkid probably knows the ones I'm talking about; they've been around forever.

The running one is one of my favorites because this was right after we moved into the new house and they were completely enjoying having a carpeted hallway by racing up and down it all night. I would never have guessed that would be such a hit! And here is our dog Arwen who ironically has born on the same day as Alex but one year earlier. At least the makes it easy to remember how old she is. lol.

Avril

Here is Avril enjoying her new house. She loves that little step; it is one of her favorite places to hang out. She is a quintessential girl who loves frilly pink things and baby dolls. The other day she came out of her room with all her beads around her neck, polka dot sunglasses on, a princess crown on, a mirror in her hand, and a crown and mirror for me. She came over and said "here go mama cown" and made me put it on so we could admire ourselves together. I had such a hard time not cracking up at her because she wanted to be taken seriously. When it's time to be pretty, it's just time. lol. And when she wears something pretty on her arm like nana's watch, she walks around with her hand on her side; just about the cutest thing ever.

Alex

And here is my handsome man last year. He'll be five this November which means he'll miss kindergarten by a few months; so I'm heading to sign him up for preschool this Thursday and hopefully he'll get in. Before Avril was born he had such difficulty learning to speak that he had a speech therapist, so he's pre-qualified for headstart. He doesn't need any help anymore with his speech, but this preschool is in the same building that he will be going to kindergarten in next year. It is also only three blocks from our house, so I am hoping that it works out well there. I know the headstart program in the neighboring town is really bad and doesn't challenge the kids at all; hopefully that won't be the case here, but if it is I can always pull him out and put him in one a few miles away at a church.

Younger Avril

And here is the queen of the household. These are some from one day old and some from last summer. Tomorrow I'll get a little more up to date. :) Boy how they change in one year!

Younger Alex

Okay, well I'm gonna play a bit of catch up before I get into keeping up with our daily life. I know several of you have not been around to watch the kids grow up, so I'm going to post several pics of the kids way back when. I don't have a ton of Alex when he was really small because we didn't get this camera till Avril was born, so that is when they start.

Here is Alex around age 2-3. This was during the time he refused to speak; he used sign language and grunted. Aargh! There were moments I wanted to give him away, but times it was really funny too. The Christmas of that year right before Avril was born, mom and Alex were making a gingerbread house and the stinker right out counted the red hots he was putting on the roof from one to ten, then wanted to put on more so he signed the word 'more'. I got that one on tape - it was pretty funny. I don't know what it is with my kids sticking out their toungues. They both do it when they are thinking.

Saying Hello

So I guess this is the first post. I'm not on my home computer, so I don't have any pictures to upload, but I'll just say hi to see how this thing works. Now that I'm looking at it, I don't see how to insert pics anyway. Sarah, can you tell me what to do?