Good Until The Last Drop

Keira Jane couldn't get enough of my cup.

She was bound & determined
to finish every little
morsel of yummy goodness,
that was left at the bottom.

Which was nothing.

But she was just sure,
she could suck in dry.

So she tried over and over again.
I don't know WHAT she was drinking,
but whatever it was,
Keira thought it
tasted GREAT!

P.S. Keira took one step to me last night.
I think there will be more to come soon,
very soon!

"I'm A Number Now!"

,but not only are you a number,
you're #1!!!

Sydney started first grade with great
anticipation!
She could barely sleep the night before.
I even offered up my bed to help her relax
without Emma around.
It helped and she quickly fell asleep.
But awoke up with a jolt and a big smile
when I told her it was time to get dressed!

I suggested many glorious warm breakfasts,
but she choose a toaster strudel & chocolate milk.

Then she practiced the piano.

Which I have to admit....
melted my heart!

Then it was out the door with Dad,
to drop her off.

Last year Larry mentioned not being able to take
her to school anymore.
But I think deep, deep down he likes
being the last one to see her.

Here's to another good year!
And remember Syd,
you're always #1 to me!

SAHM Top 5 pick's

This "Stay-At-Home-Mom" is pumped with excitement
for school to start and for my life to fall back into place,
with a little touch of organization.
For the past few months I've been feeling
disjointed, sluggish and scatter-brained.
But now with things coming together
I can't help be gitty with happiness
to put my life back in order.

And to thank for making my life easy-peesy
I thank these top 5 things:
(in no particular order)

With a 2-story home and a baby that crawls,
this gate has become a lifesaver!
I love how it can stay up permanently,
acts like a door to the stairs,
is pressured against the wall and
doesn't need to be wall-mounted.

With Keira rapidly coming up to her 1 year old
birthday, I've begun to wean her with the
help of this fancy contraption.
This way we can skip the bottle addiction!

We are now 1 week away from starting
a preschool for Emma and 3 other friends,
with Mom's who are brave enough
to join me in taking turns teaching.
And I can't wait!

We all know how I feel about these
little gems.
My famous paper money,
my new best friends.

And we can't forget the drama that
was caused by finding our dream car
on a budget.
It was worth the wait!

For the past 20 years I've been
vehemently against vans.
I didn't want to be one of "those" moms.
But with easy access, so much space,
great gas mileage, and much more, I couldn't say no!

Summer Sum-Up

This summer I've seriously missed the boat
on bringing the camera to the pool and taking
action shots of the kids.

Last year I had tons of them.

This year, not so much.

Due to Keira wanting the clutch on to me
with her death-grip, until this past week
when she was finally comfortable to float in the water.
(with the help of the inflatable turtle we call Timmy The Turtle)
Keira get's a spray down of SPF50
by her equally "lily white" dad!

Although I missed the seconds before
when Syd was doing the splits in the air,
I still thought this was a blog worthy shot!

Sydney calls this her "triple twist".

Showing off her Ballet moves.

"Let's Jump Together!"

Rain or shine, this girl asked to go to the pool
EVERY DAY!!
.

I have a feeling that this is going to end up
as a belly flop!!

Forward, backward, either way is good for her!

Legs tucked in...check.
Eyes closed...check.
Nose plugged...check.

Emma in action!

Muscle Man

No fear!

His version of a twisty jump.

Big Splash!

Ben always enjoys a good game of find the rings on the steps!

He Puts The "B" in Boy

This quick photo shoot was anything
but easy.
Although, come to think of it...
lately, nothing has been easy when
it comes to this "ball of energy".

First of all, I couldn't get him to take his
toys out of his mouth.

And after confiscating them,
I asked him to tell me what was outside.
This is his version of...
"contemplating".

Then mistakenly I said,
"say cheese".
Is that a smile?
Or a very wicked, evil look of vengeance?

So we went another direction,
"Ben! Who do you love?"
Instead I got the best interpretation
of a face a husband gives when his wife
asks "does this dress makes me look fat?"

And I'm ashamed to admit,
but the 2 best photos
were taken of him
on the pot,
going #2.

What a boy!

Thanks, for a memorable experience
BEN!

Snow White

...has become a prominent nickname
for our Sydney girl.

She's still as quiet, organized, hardworking
and particular as ever!
And very excited to be starting the 1st grade
in just a few days.

After a couple shots of her stiff,
forced smile.

I began teasing her and asking her questions.

Just to loosen her up a bit.

And eventually the true Sydney came out!

This is the face she made after I asked her
if she had a "monkey-butt".

Time for silly faces!

Gotta love this spittin'-image
of a princess, kind of gal!

Almost 5

Little Miss Thang,
is creeping up on us and
turning the BIG 5
in less then a month!

Where does the time go?

When I first sat E down for
her photo shoot
these are the 2 INSTANT
poses she gave me.
What a hoot!

The photo quality isn't the greatest,
but I love this little crooked smile
she's been flaunting lately.

And those dimples, just melt my heart!

Serious face.

I told her to hold still and then
that 1/2 smile showed up again.

Time for some silly ones!

And that's Emma,
in a nutshell!

Wheaties Out, Sausage In

Recently I introduced the kids to a new breakfast meat...say so long to bacon and HELLO to sausage!

Usually I avoided sausage (even though I love it) because Larry wasn't very keen on them. But once my kids had a taste, they were hooked! Now, they eat 3 or MORE each!

Mainly I'm not much for cooking a big meal in the morning, so it's become a tradition to have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. So this morning Sydney was ecstatic to find out there were left-overs of her favorite food. I guess to her little tummy, 3 sausages and a glass of chocolate milk is the "BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS".