A Day at the Park

One day while Jaybird was still on Christmas break, I decided to take the kids to the park for a picnic. It was kind of a cold day, but we were needing to get out of the house and it sounded like a fun little outing. That morning at the grocery store I let the kids each pick out a Lunchable to take to the park on our picnic. After we got home and put all the groceries away, we bundled up and headed to the park. It was pretty chilly while we were eating, but once we started playing, it wasn't too bad at all. And the best part was that NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE!! :) We had the whole park to ourselves! The kids LOVED it! :)




This picture is of Sara Grace and I riding the seesaw together. :) She just thought it was the funniest thing that I got on there with her! She just giggled and giggled! We had a good time! :)



Jaybird, of course, is an old pro at the whole playground thing. He had a great time running from toy to toy and not having to wait his turn to play on anything! :)

The kids played REALLY well together, too. They rode several of the rides together. Here's a video of them on one of the rides. And, as a side note, I know it LOOKS like Sara Grace busts her face in this video, but I'm pretty sure she didn't! :) She came close and that's actually the reason I stopped the video when I did--attempting to avoid a busted lip. But, when I watched the video at home, the look on her face toward the end looks like she actually DID bump it. There was no crying though, so I'm pretty sure she didn't get hit.....or maybe she's just EXTRA tough! :)

Some fun peek-a-boo pictures. :)







Jaybird was quite the brave boy this day. It made me quite nervous, but he seemed quite calm. He spent quite a bit of time just standing up at the top of this climbing ladder. He'd let go and hold his arms up in the air. I think he knew it was making me nervous--which made it all the more fun for him! :)







Here is a picture of Sara Grace's slide experience. She wanted BADLY to do the slide. She begged in her little Sara Grace babble to do the slide. So, I helped her go up the stairs and make her way over to the slide. Then, this is her response (facial expression translates "You've GOT to be kidding! I'm NOT going down that thing!!"):

And, here's a video of another of her slide experiences. Just to translate "Sara Grace-ese" for you, she says, "Please, please." And then, "Down." And, I'm guessing the screech at the beginning can be translated into, "MOMMY!!! I REALLY want to go down the slide, but I'm too scared!!" :)

Sassy Girl

Here are some new pictures of Sara Grace. They are from about a month ago, but I still thought they were "post-worthy". :) I think she looked pretty cute (and sassy) in her fancy dress and fur coat. She's looking a little bashful in this picture, but don't let it fool you--she loved every second of prissing around in this outfit! :)

This picture was taken a few minutes later. It's very classic Sara Grace in more ways than one. She loves to sit in her bouncy seat--which she is MUCH too big for. (We've actually put it up since this picture was taken. The little girl I watch that I still kept it out for is too big for it now, too.) So, aside from sitting quite unladylike in the bouncy seat, check out what she's been caught holding. YEP! One of her favorites--DADDY'S WALLET!!! She loves to go through it. Smart girl! ;)






And, this picture doesn't really go with the others, but I thought it was sweet so I added it on. I caught this picture of the kids the other evening. It was dark outside and all the lights were off in Sara Grace's room except for her Christmas tree lights. I walked by her room and saw Jay and Sara Grace playing with her manger scene so sweetly together. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but seeing the two of them in that soft light playing with the manger scene was just so precious to me. :) (I guess it was a mom moment!)

Cute Little Shepherd

Apparently not everyone is as fond of Sara Grace's SNOT picture as I am. I've had numerous requests to replace it. So, here you go!! :)

Last night Jaybird had his Christmas performance at school. He was a little shepherd and did such a good job. He sang all the songs and did all the motions! I was so proud of him.

This picture is of him right after he got his costume on in his classroom.


This shot is of him on the stage. He's just below the REALLY tall cherubim. As a side note, Autumn (who I've watched since she was 8 weeks old) is on the row below Jaybird and one to our right. She's the middle of the three angels on the front row.

I thought this picture was sweet. It was during Away in a Manger. "The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head".....

I think this was Jaybird's favorite song. He was very emphatic about the "GO" part! :)

Silly Sara Grace

Just thought I'd share some of Sara Grace's silliness. This first picture wasn't really her fault. Actually, I kinda felt sorry for her. Poor little girl. She didn't really seem bothered by it! (The joys of motherhood!!)





This video captures a fairly regular occurance in our home. Sara Grace loves to put her blankie over her head and wander around the house. Sometimes she does it to be funny and try to get a laugh out of someone. And sometimes she does just because. This was one of the just because days.....

Fruit of His Labor

About six weeks ago, Jaybird was looking through a magazine of mine and saw an advertisement for Build-a-Bear. He often sees things in magazines or on TV and says he'd like to have it, but this particular day was a little different. On that Build-a-Bear advertisement, he saw a picture of a cheetah and went balistic! He was hopping around, saying, "Mommy, Mommy, I really really really want this. Mommy, REALLY!"

So, not being the kind of mom to just go buy it for him, I told him maybe if he wanted it that bad, he could start doing some jobs and earning some money to buy the cheetah. So, we made him a chart listing his daily jobs (feeding the cat, putting silverware away from the dishwasher/setting the table, making his bed, and watering the plants). We also had a part on the chart marking how much money he had saved. The cheetah's picture was at the end as the final goal.

Long story short, he saved up enough money and after several trips to go "visit" the cheetah at the mall, he finally got to go build his cheetah today. He had a BLAST! He was so excited. He had even earned some extra money and wanted to buy it a shirt or hat or some type of accessory. He ended up picking out a Batman t-shirt. Sooo, his new best friend (as he calls him), is a Batman t-shirt sporting cheetah named Furry.

This afternoon, Sammy had a really great idea. He said that since it was Furry's actual birthday, we should go get a birthday cake for him. So, Jaybird, Furry, and I went up to the grocery store to get a birthday cookie cake. The lady at the bakery/deli section was really nice and even wrote "Happy Birthday Furry" on the cake. She thought it was really cute. When we got home, we put a candle in the cake and sang Happy Birthday to Furry!

Sara Grace anxiously awaited her slice of cookie cake!!

It was a really fun day for us. We were a little silly, I guess, but Jaybird had a great time and it was so fun to see the sheer joy in his eyes as he finally saw his hard work pay off and his goal obtained! :)

Last Soccer Game and Team Party

Jaybird had his last soccer game on Oct. 25. He didn't seem to really enjoying playing that day. It was more like the first game he played where he just ran around in circles and was more concerned with how and where he was running rather than getting the ball and scoring. He has since told us that he doesn't want to play any more soccer right now. He wants to play baseball. And he says maybe he'll do baseball-soccer-baseball-soccer. I guess he means the order he'll play things?? Maybe we'll play spring baseball and fall soccer?? :)

Here's a shot of Jay and his trophy. He was quite proud of it. And, I was impressed they actually provided fairly child friendly trophies. The soccer ball is like a foam material and spins on its axis.

Jay's team: Back Row (L-R): Jordan, Will, Jaybird. Front Row (L-R) Lyndsey, Chase, Grant.

Jay and Chase enjoying some air hockey. That's my boy!! :)

Jay had a blast playing in the McDonald's playground with all of his little teammates. It was quite fun to watch him!

Cute (and oh-so-yummy) team cookie cake:

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun time tonight at the Harvest Festival at church. Here are some pictures of the kids. Sammy snapped this one of the kiddos on the porch before we headed over to the church.

Here's a sweet shot of my little ladybug.

And, here's a shot of Sara Grace and her skunky friend, Ellie, checking out Ellie's loot!