BACK TO SCHOOL

All the kids in our neighborhood are going to school tomorrow.  Davis, Diana & I went outside hoping we'd get to see Laila & Gabi before they go to school tomorrow.  Sure enough they both came out (well in all honesty Davis rang Gabi's doorbell a few times despite my pleas for him to stop (lol).  Davis is sad he can't go to school too.  I keep telling him he isn't even 3 yet (he will be in October) and he can go to pre-school next fall.  He said "but Mommy I know my letters and sounds!"  He proceeded to tell me every shape, color, animal sound, and number he could think of.  Poor guy is sad that all the kids are going to school.  Next year we will be sending Davis off to pre-school; I think he'll be ready.  What will Diana and I do all morning??

A CLASSIC

Who doesn't have a photo of themself as a child hanging out in the cupboard. Diana will clear this drawer out and sit in here for a good 15 minutes yelling "hi mommy, hi Davis" over and over....I know every parent of toddlers wonders why we even buy toys : -)  Please excuse the messy shirt and the lack of pants with a full diaper under the Little Mermaid underpants - today was a long day!!

BETTY BRINN - BIRTHDAY PARTY WEEKEND

We had 3 birthday parties this past weekend. The kids took a really long nap today to make up for all the fun they had this weekend. These are some photos of the kids at Betty Brinn where the first party was at. I love the photo of Diana going down the stairs. I tried to help her and she said "no Mommy". She is growing up fast.

CAMERON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Our first birthday party of the weekend was for my friend Kathy's grandson Cameron. Cameron's party was at Betty Brinn which is such a fun place. The Jacobs family was there as well so Davis & Diana got to hang out with Garrison. Diana tried to keep up with the boys all day and did a pretty good job. She met a little boy who was only 9 days younger than her; it was cute to watch the two of them together. We were so happy to see Cameron and celebrate his birthday with him. Cameron is what I call one of our "miracle baby" friends as he was born several months early and overcame many odds to survive. We love you Cameron - Happy 4th birthday!!

GABRIELLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

The second birthday party of the weekend was for our neighbor Gabi.  Davis & Diana adore Gabi and love that she always shares all her toys with them.  She is a very polite little girl.  Gabi had a huge party with all her little girlfriends over and was still very excited when Davis & Diana came over.  I thought that was very sweet as Gabi and all her friends were quite a bit older.  She made our little ones feel very welcome.  I had to laugh watching Davis bounce in the big "girly pink" castle and then being surrounded by all girls picking up candy after they broke the pinata.  It's funny to think in a few years girls will be yucky to him and a few years after that he will love the opportunity to be the only guy with all those pretty girls. I did get one photo of Davis and Gabi (it wasn't easy) but I told him to stand by her and protect her - his protector face and his hand on her back is priceless. He told Gabi she was safe.

JOSH AND DREW'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

The third birthday party of the weekend was for our five year old twin neighbors Josh & Drew. The boys were kind enough to let Davis & DIana come over to play with all the big kids. Diana was more concerned with sneaking back into the garage looking for cake. I caught her in this photo licking crumbs off the spoon she had. She was so sad when the cake was gone.

RAMS GAME

Michael and I went to a Rams game this past weekend. We stayed walking distance from the Arch and could see the baseball stadium from our hotel room. A good friend of Michael's plays for the team and was kind enough to get us tickets. We also got to check out his Super Bowl ring from when he played with the Giants. We can't wait to go to more Rams games. Next time we are hoping to take the kids!

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FUNDRAISER GAME

Michael played in a fundraiser softball game at Halfaer Park last week to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club.   The kids loved the cookie station where you could frost and decorate your own cookie and it helped that there was a playground right there for them to play on too.  Davis was determined to go across the monkey bars on his own but of course needed Daddy's help.  I think he forgets he is only 2 sometimes : -)  I didn't get a photo of it because I was chasing him down but when Michael was playing Davis ran out on the field.  One second of me turning my head and he was outta there.  Diana was cheering him on and screaming for her dad the whole game.  They both got to sit in the dugout and Davis introduced Diana to everyone as "his sister in the purple dress".

DON'T EAT THE PLAY DOH DIANA!

Davis loves creating things with his Play Doh.  Miss Diana always wants to play too but she doesn't quite understand why she can't eat the play doh.  I guess that's why the box says for age 3 and up.  So, I decided to give her a piece of bread so she could use the cookie cutter pieces with that - then she could eat her creations as she wished.  It worked out great.  Look at Davis' serious concentration here - he is all about projects and creating things lately.  It's hard to believe next fall he will be going off to pre-school!

ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS

We sat around the fire pit last night with Charlene & Leila.  Diana came out for awhile to try some smores but just couldn't stay up any longer so she went to bed.  Davis made it quite a bit longer and as you can see had his first experience with roasting marshmallows.  He looks so serious and concentrated in this photo as he was instructed to be "very, very careful".   He had his cars couch all set up with his roasting stick and his bag of marshmallows.  I think Leila had fun too - this is such a cute picture of her.  She is a fun & beautiful girl.  Davis just adores her.

MY 29TH BIRTHDAY

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. I was talking to my Mom about how much I have changed since I became a mother and for the better. So many things that were important to me now seem so trivial. I spent my 29th birthday at home with my toddlers. My day started cleaning up a rather nasty mess in the bathroom ( I won't share any details but let's just say it involved Davis and his urinal - yikes!!) The next part of my day involved playing outside with the inflatable pool with my friend & neighbor Charlene, her two children, and my best friend of over 9 years - Crystal. Charlene made lunch for all the kids and Crystal brought me a Starbucks and my favorite dessert. The day ended with us roasting marshmallows and hot dogs ( a new experience for my kids) a glass of wine and a shower with no one bothering me : -) That was such a great day to me and there were no elaborate gifts, no big surprise party, no trips, no need to dress up or put make up on - just a great birthday celebrated with people that I care about it. Often women gauge holidays and birthdays by the jewerly, clothing, or material things they are given. We've all worked with people or know people that will ask "what did you get for your birthday" versus "did you enjoy your day?". Here's to a birthday where I received  things money cannot buy - a great husband, wonderful kids, kind friends who make kind gestures, and being comfortable with myself just the way I am. It's a great feeling!!

Anyhow, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was buried yesterday and my Mom e-mailed me the eulogy given at her funeral by her daughter Maria Shriver. She thought I would enjoy it. This is the part I really liked:

"....I'm especially glad that young women are hearing about her, because she was a woman who didn't choose, and women are often told you have to choose to be this, or that, this kind of woman, you have to dress this way, talk this way, you have to have one opinion. Well Mummy wasn't like that, she didn’t choose.

She let all the different parts of her go out, and that's what made her unique. She didn't allow herself to be tamed, or contained. She achieved herself, her true authentic self. The very same woman who made grown men quake in their boots when she stepped foot on Capitol Hill was the very same woman who spent quality time with each and every one of us, making us feel loved, making us believe in our self. She spent quality time with each of those grandchildren you saw here on this altar, building sandcastles, looking for leprechauns, looking for mermaids. She didn't choose between being strong and soft, complex or simple.

As her story goes out this week, I believe that she will become a new torchbearer for women of our time, sending a new message. That you don't have to be a certain way, you don't have to fit a stereotype, that over your life you can have a full, complete, spiritual life -- a life that is about others and a life that is about family. Her story, I believe, teaches that women are complex and they can live out every simple, single aspect of that complexity...."

Here's to the last year in my twenties being about people and not things. Family and not individual. I can only hope someday my children will say these great things about me!

DAY AT THE BEACH

We went to the beach yesterday. Michael took the day off for my birthday. My actual birthday is today - I'm 29 - but Michael had a golf outing today so I agreed we could just switch the days : -) Davis loved swimming with his dad. Miss Diana didn't want to be in the lake water at first - you can see Michael copying her sad face in the first photo and then wiping her tears away in the next photo. She was ok after awhile but prefered to stick to the sand. These photos are so precious to me. I'm happy to say I spent the majority of the time relaxing on the beach - Happy Birthday to me!!

MORE BEACH PICTURES

BUBBLE BATH!!

I got my hair cut Wednesday night and this is what Michael did with the kids while I was gone. Looks like they had fun and like I am rubbing off on Michael. He is getting good about taking pictures : -) Note: purple monkey joined in on the festivities as well - he has become a daily bath time friend ....thanks Bumpa!!

THE CHOCOLATE MONSTER

Davis loves chocolate. I caught him making himself a glass of Hershey's chocolate hold the milk style. Yes, my son was drinking pure chocolate. When I caught him he told me "don't look, go away". I keep my camera right on the kitchen counter so I grabbed it got some photos and proceeded to take Davis to the time out chair. He told me that if he can drink chocolate everyday he will poop in potty everyday. I called him my little chocolate monster and he burst into tears - "I'm Davis Mommy - call me Davis!"

SPRAY GROUND

We went to the Spray Ground at the park over the weekend. Even though it was nearly 90 degrees out Diana still got the shivers - probably just her excuse to cuddle with Daddy :-) I hope to spend a lot of time here over the next few weeks - how can summer be winding down already?

GARRISON'S THIRD BIRTHDAY PARTY

We attended Garrison's birthday party at Pump It Up on Saturday - that place is so much fun no matter what your age. It's a perfect place for a birthday party. It was fun to see Davis and Garrison together. Garrison didn't want to eat his cake so Davis decided that he would just feed it to him. Diana was her energetic self trying out lots of new things including shooting hoops with Daddy - we had a blast!! Thank you Garrison for letting Davis take the train home - he is loving it!!