Pie Pie, Pie Par = Caterpillar

Ava is more interested in saying, "cheese" for the camera then she is in the pie par.

I'm sure this caterpillar is thinking...What in the world are these people doing?

You say tomato, I say tamato...my kids say pie pie or pie par and the rest of us say caterpillar.  As usual we went outside after dinner, mainly so the kids can run off their energy before settling in for the night.  Blake found a caterpillar crawling up a branch that was left from the latest storm.  This was very exciting to my 2 1/2 year old son whom loves insects (unlike his mommy).  He decided to try and coax it into a yellow cup, but it was not interested so we watched for a while and then decided to kiss it good bye while we played ball and mowed (toy mower also referred to as mo-mo).  As usual I told the kids they had five minutes until we had to go in for bath.  Not that a 18mth or 2 1/2 year old understand this, but I do it anyway.  We cleaned up and decided to say good night to the caterpillar, but we could not find it.  I lovingly told them that the caterpillar was probably busy getting ready for bed too.  They accepted this answer and we trotted inside for our night routine of bath, snack and Cailou.  I was getting a treat out for our dog, Tad, when I looked down to see this caterpillar on my shirt!  I ran over to the kids to see if they noticed anything strange about my shirt and Blake was so excited to see his caterpillar hanging on to my shirt.  I on the other hand was less than pleased to have a creepy crawly on my shirt (he was on me through bath and snack), but I tried to remain calm and told them I would be right back in after I peeled the sticky legs off with a thick blade of grass.  Just another exciting evening in our house:)

Just another Day at our House!



Peek-a-Boo!




Beauty Queen!

One of our favorite games is playing Peek-a-Boo!  I guess because we can all play and it always makes us giggle in delight.  Don't you just the simple life:)

Another fun time is wearing Mommy's shoes!  Even Blake likes to stroll around when I leave my shoes unattended (which is frequently).  Ava is my dramatic movie star.  Isn't she just precious.  Her smile is contagious. 

Just Hanging Out!

I love the summer months when most of the day is spent outside playing.  You always get plenty of vitamin D and the kids just seem to sleep better.  I love the sun and warmth and grilling and just relaxing outdoors.  Which explains why the inside of my house is dirty!  My deepest apologizes for those of you that enter my house during the summer.

Blake and Ava love all of Daddy's big boy toys...tractor, mow-mow (lawn mower) and 3 wheelie (4-wheeler).  Blake constantly asks if he's going to get a ride on something and Ava lights up like a Christmas tree and oohs when she sees Daddy coming on a riding toy.  Here are some photos of my babies with their Daddy on the Big Boy Toys!  Mommy tells Blake and Ava that she doesn't know how to operate those big toys (partially correct at least) so we will have to ask Daddy for a ride.

Daddy also taught my little ones to hang on a tree branch...thanks honey!  Blake likes to hang from the tree and Ava well she thinks she big stuff.  I had to take their picture "hanging out".

Look Mom, One hand...see anything boys can do, girls can do better!

Power Wheels

Blake and Ava love their "new" wheels!  Luckily Blake doesn't notice or care that he is sporting around in a Barbie 4-wheeler.  As long as it goes he is a happy boy.  Ava is fun to watch because she hasn't grasped that she is controlling the 4-wheeler.  Sometimes she is getting off and hits the button to go, but it makes her laugh.  I blessed to watch them experience the little things in life.

Summer Fun

Before school ended we went on a picnic to kick off the summer of fun!  Now that Blake and Ava are getting bigger we have had some new experiences and today was no different.  My girlfriends and I loaded the kids with old clothes and PB & J sandwiches and headed to one of our local parks.  We let the kids wade through the stream to keep cool.  My two have never waded in a stream before.  Blake was a little cautious, while Ava had no fear or problem diving right into the cold water.  They had a wonderful time helping their friends fill their bucket with water and rocks.  Mine even enjoyed climbing up and down the bank of the stream.  Blake said he liked throwing the rocks...little did he know we did that to ensure if there were any snakes that they headed downstream!  Then we headed to the picnic table to eat the popular PB & J sandwiches, goldfish and peaches.  After eating the kids chased butterflies.  Blake also liked when his friends Kate and Ethan chased him. We cleaned up and headed home.  I was feeling great about another outing that I have accomplished with my little babies.

Ava and Blake in the stream.  Note that Ava is wearing her birthday t-shirt!  No it's not her birthday, but I needed something old  and I figured that she wouldn't be able to wear next year!  My mom said we celebrate our kids everyday!

Blake filling Ellie's bucket. 

Ava splashing around in Ethan's bucket of water.

Strawberry Picking

Holly and her girls (Kate & Ellie), Erin and her two (Ethan & Emma) and me and my two (Blake and Ava) set out to go strawberry picking.  I would highly recommend going to pick strawberries.  This was Erin's and my first time attempting to pick berries, let alone bring a gang of little ones.  We had a blast and I can't wait to pick blueberries in July!  We left my house a little after 9am and were picking by 9:30am.  The weather was picture perfect, after the last couple of days of heat and humidity, we had 75 degree temp with no humidity ,we were the only ones picking and no bugs!  The kids had a great time.  I was nervous with Blake and Ava, but they did a great job.  I had Blake picking out red objects around the house in the morning and wearing a red shirt to help remind him of picking only the red strawberries.  Ava picked one, squished it and tried to eat it.  All in all they were content and happy the entire time.  We then came back to house to play and ordered pizza (we sent the male runner to pick up...thanks honey).  It was a lovely morning.  Thanks Holly, Erin and kids!

Blake, Ava, Kate, Holly, Ellie, Emma, Erin, Ethan (hiding behind "mom")

Our First Sprinkler

This was Ava' first day in the sprinkler.  Can you tell she loved it and did not hesitate to dive right into the water.  She is my girl with no fear!  Blake also enjoys the water and he did not hesitate to get wet or helping "sissy" get wet.  The difference between the two is Blake was more selective on getting wet and Ava will plant her face right in the water for as long as she can stand it.  It was a fun morning with lots of sun and water.  I am looking forward to many more days with a sprinkler and maybe a pool outing too!