Daily Gratitude, November

My favorite part of the Holidays?  Recognizing what were grateful for.
{I'm also super excited for my new "Old School Chalkboard" that now resides on my family room wall}

I'm consistently inconsistent

However, I'm realizing that with my discipline tactics, I need to be much more on the consistent side then the other.  Sunday evening brought us to my In-Laws home for the weekly family gathering of dinner and conversation.  The day had already been sketchy as I was assigned to bring rolls {that I undoubtedly burnt}, as I was getting the children ready for church {and naturally they were being monsters} and so on and so forth.  Sitting in the congregation during sacrament wasn't any better, as normal, the kids were in and out numerous times and my patients was running dry.

Anyhoo, we are finally at dinner and Thomas wants to play outside.  He continues to push his limits with me in the way he talks to me and the way he acts or rather, reacts to my answers.  I simply stated that he must wear a jacket to go outside with the others.  Me, having forgot to bring the jackets now needed to rely on the backup source in the back room.  He naturally, was disappointed in my choosing and therefore started to throw his fit of fury and frustration by flailing his arms around and in perfect tantrum form throwing the jacket to the ground and running back outside to resume the game he had previously left.  I then proceeded to run after him and remind him that he was unable to play outdoors without a jacket.  He ran away from me, and thats when I had enough.  I drug him back into the house through the family filled living room past the kitchen and out the back door, letting him know he had lost his privileges of being at Granny and Papa's and that we were heading home.  He continued to freak out flailing his arms about and somehow make his way free of my grip.  Then as he ran out side around to the front of the house nearing the busy street {brown road}, I lost it.  Finally, after getting Tyler's help to catch him I took him straight home and threw him into the shower.  Cold Shower that is!  It was the first of what I'm sure will amount to many throughout his adolescent aged life.  I think he got the picture, finally.  I had to spray him down twice and then drag him back into the tub after being changed to threaten it once again.  He calmed down and so did I.  

I remember my dad advising my sister, Kristy to try this method with her children when they were acting out of control.  I wish my dad was here now while I need his advise on such matters.  I only have bits and pieces of what I remember him telling Kristy, as I was still young and far from these troubles of my own.  I felt confident in my decision to take him home and make a "Big" deal out of him disrespecting me, but it's still hard to do.  I just want him to be the good little obedient boy I once had.  He really was such a good baby and even toddler, then somewhere we lost him.  We lost his respect, and that's not cool!  I'm not ok with that and so I'm finding that I need to be more consistent in my discipline methods.  And even more then that, I need to get Tyler on the same page as me!  I think that's a lot of the problem as well, sorry Babe, but it's true. 

Se la vie, this is life and I know my troubles are far from over, in fact, I'm pretty sure they are just beginning.  I'm becoming a true Mother now.  One that needs to have rules and crap, lame.  But without it all is lost and if I don't change things now before they get too out of hand, well, I can only imagine.

Wow, this turned out to be quite the serious post.  That's not like me, but I needed to get my feelings down.  As I was scrolling through my photo's I came across the Instagram's from that evening and knew I needed to jot down the journaling that goes with them.  Thanks for listening, er...reading.

The remnants.

Apparently throwing such spouts is exhausting.  Not 15 minutes later and he was conked out.

Instagram October

So if you didn't already know, I'm kinda addicted to my iphone!  I could {and do} spend way too much time on it, searching my apps, checking my Facebook, Pinterest, Houzz... you get the idea.  However, my main obsession has got to be Instagram.  I'm hooked.  It's basically the only way I take pictures anymore.  My poor {might I add, lame} old camera has since got the boot.  So to catch the ole' blog up to speed, here's the month of October through the eye's of an Instagram.

Enjoy.





If you are also on Instagram and would like to follow my feed, my username is mimimade.  I'd love to follow you too!

Getting "Purse"onal

Sunday mornings before church I take the time to clean out and reorganize my purse from the following weeks adventures.  I thought I would document the contents of my bag, for informations sake {and cause I thought it was kind-off funny and random}.  Plus, it's a good way to see what people are like, I think.  I believe what's in a lady's purse can really speak volume's about them.   No?

Note:  I didn't edit or take anything out of this shot, so it's all here!

Contents:
1 Size 3 Diaper
1 Size 4 Diaper
Epic Receipt
Vintage Ephemera
Outback Giftcard
Wallet
Gum Wrapper
2 of Lola's clips
Loose Change
Water Bottle Lid
Bag of Crayons
Sharpie Pen
Sharpie Paint Pen
Top By: Karas Customs
Unopened Pack of Gum
Change Purse
Coupons
Hand Sanitizer
Fioricet {For Migraines}
Pill Box
Cosmetics Bag
Camera
Coupon
Part of a Shopping List
Crackers
Alba Lib Balm x3
Childrens Tylenol
Lib Bliss By: What's Your Virtue? x2
2 Packs of Half Eaten Gum
Bag of M&M's {Movie Last Night}
Receipt
Baby Wipes in Case
Bracelets {Under the Wallet}

Me: a to z

Age: 33

Bedsize: king

Chores that you hate: bathrooms, ironing

Dogs: no thanks, wet noses are gross

Essential start to your day: kissing my kidlings

Favorite color: any hue of blue

Gold or Silver: both

Height: 5’2

Instruments you play: zilch

Job title: mother, wife, cleaner, cooker, boo boo fixer, washer, organizer, crafter, designer, lover, laundress, party planner, shopper, diaper changer, bottle maker, friend, sister, daughter, server.

Kids: three

Live: mesa, az

Mother’s Name: rosemary

Nicknames: cami, mimi, cambot, cams

Overnight hospital stays: three {labor and delivery}

Pet peeves: stupid people, stuff out of it's place {i now know how my father felt when the stapler or scissors weren't put back in their proper drawer}

Quote from a movie or tv show: modern family, seinfeld, tyler {he says some pretty funny stuff}

Right or Lefty: right

Siblings: 2 brothers, 2 sisters, 5 brother in laws, 6 sister in laws

Time you wake up: whenever lola wakes me up

Underwear: sometimes i miss it

Vegetable you hate: beets, brussel sprouts {i've also never tried them}

What makes you run late: children

X-Rays You’ve Had: head, back, abdomen, chest, you get the point {but never a broken bone!}

Yummy food you make: homemade strawberry pecan ice cream

Zoo Animal: deer

Projects

This year for Mother's day I requested a little work around the house be done.  Well, my man delivered.  Not only did we finish up a few misc. projects but he also bought me a new one of these babies as a little extra Mother's Day gift!  Of which I am in love with, almost as much as some of the newly redone areas of the house.  Here's a little peek at why I've been missing from the blogging world.

Tyler painted the hallway.  I'm still working on making a chalkboard for inside the frame.  But I am tickled grey every time I walk down the hall {which is multiple times a day}.  Thanks babe, your patience amazes me every time.


We worked on our master bedroom a little as well.  I had Tyler hang another shelf that I've had for awhile, while I redecorated them.  I'm a fan of the outcome.

Then, I got an itch to create something and went to town on a massive canvas I purchased at Michael's.  Not sure if I'm completely done with it, but for now it will do.  I will have Tyler hang it up sometime this weekend.

I've collected these fun butterflies throughout my excursions to Goodwill and such.  I put a quick coat of spray paint on them and voila!  A fun {and somewhat unique} display for another wall.  I could use a few more, of which I'm sure will grow throughout the months as I find them. {Ignore the blue and white mirrors propped up on the side of my end table.  I'm still searching for a spot to hang them}

I had a little paint so I decided I wanted to paint the inside of my pantry door.  It's a fun little surprise that brightens my day each and every time I have to fish something up for the kidlings.  {Still a few touchups needed towards the bottom, another thing to add to the weekend list}

I made this fun little sign for the door that leads us into our garage.  Simple thrift store frame, spray paint, a little chalk board paint and instant cuteness.

We sold a few unused things lying around the house on craigslist and in return bought some storage pieces at Ikea.  I've wanted these for awhile and it's nice to have them along with all the toys {for the most part} organized within them.  I may end up regretting this in a few months, but for now it works great.  Eventually I will get all matching bins.

I got my Family Rules poster made into a canvas and hung up on the wall.  I'm loving it.  I want to make a thousand more of these.  So many ideas, so little time and money.  I did make this one, however,

as my Bunko gift for this past weekend.  It turned out cute and so easy to do.
I've also spent some time these past few weeks doing a little antiquing and misc. shopping for a client.  During which time I found this little gem,

Very excited about that.  I totally remember having this when I was growing up.  The kids love it.  Lola even tries to hide in it on a regular basis.  I've come to terms with the fact that she is going to slowly destroy it.  I wasn't really thinking of her destructive behavior towards anything of value when purchasing it.  Til then, we'll enjoy the fantastic vintageness it brings to the family of toys in the house.

oh yeah, and the best part of the week has been this new addition to the back yard.

Summer is here and I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time in this little puppy, with or without swimming suits.  As a mother to three children who don't know how to swim, this is a perfect solution {for now}.

A New Do =

Happiness!

It's amazing what a fresh cut and color can do for a girl.  Thanks Darcy!

My 14 for Maxermus

"Why I Love my Maxers"

1. He's nothing but perfection!  
2. He's ALWAYS happy and very easy to please
3. I love the little smell he has.  Each of my children have had their own scent.  I just love smelling him and knowing he's unique in so many ways.
4. He will sit for hours at a time in his bumbo.  What a blessing when the other two crazies are running circles around me.
5. He's a great sleeper.  For the most part we are able to just lay him in his little play pen and he calms himself to sleep.  Even if we have to rock him for a bit, he still sleeps great, only waking up once for an early morning feeding before going back to bed til about 9.  Wonderful!
6. He will go to anyone and be happy.  Some babies have real attachments to their parents and won't let other's hold them, not this kid.  He's just happy to be held!
7. He's in no rush to grow up.  He loves just lounging around and being a baby.  He doesn't concern himself with bouncing on his legs, eating baby food, rolling over; you know the normal stuff a baby would do at nearly 8 months.  He's perfectly content in being lazy, and right now I'm totally fine with that!
8. He gets the biggest smile when he sees me or his Daddy.  He is starting to recognize us and it's the sweetest thing when he grabs ahold of your neck and pulls in as tight as he can.  His mouth opens so wide and he try's his hardest to fit your whole face into his mouth.  I guess it's his own little version of a bear hug and kiss, I love it!
9. I love the little hand jesters and movements he makes and how he looks at them while he is doing it.  He gets mesmerized by the movement he is creating.
10. His little talk.  All babies have the sweetest little voices and to hear him use his just melts my heart!  I love to hear him try and keep up with the others.
11. He gets so excited when we wrap him up in his blanket to get ready to go to sleep.  He gets the biggest smile on his face just knowing that we know what he needs at the perfect time.
12. He gets SO excited when he sees or hears us start to make a bottle.  His little arms start flapping and his legs start kicking.  If we don't get it to his mouth fast enough he starts to get very fussy at the thought of waiting for such goodness!
13. He's very content with whatever it is we are doing.  Wether riding in the car, laying on the floor, strolling through the grocery store, being mauled by Lola or being held by a million little cousins.  He's just happy to be alive and loves seeing everything that's going on.
14. He has brought a spirit to our home that wasn't here before.  I'm not sure if it was him or the fact that I have three children now, but he has made me a better mother, wife and friend.  I am taking more time to focus on my family and husband, that before I always took for granted and didn't worry about.  I cook and clean and basically have realized the amount of responsibility I have with these children.  It sounds crazy but I guess it took three kids for me to figure this out.  For this change in my life I will forever be grateful to him. 

Well, as you may have guessed, this list was easy!  He is such a sweet blessing to have in our home right now.  How lucky we are to have him!

Showgirl's 14

Let me tell you, coming up with 14 things for this feisty little lady is gonna be a tough one, so bare with me here.  Here goes nothing:

"Finding the Love for Lola"

1. She's got Sass!  This is the understatement of the century!  I love that you can just look at her and see the sassiness oozing out.
2. She's smart.  Sometimes a little too much for her own good.  But someday this will come in very handy and even though it makes life hard for me right now, I love how much she is learning and how easy it seems to come to her.
3. She's an AWESOME sleeper!  We can put her right in her crib at night and she just turns over and falls asleep for usually a good 12 hours.  Like I said, Awesome!
4. Her big blue eye's.  Never in a million years did I imagine a blue eyed blondie for a child.  But now that we have her, we wouldn't have it any other way!
5. She makes me laugh.  Her silly antics can sometimes be a little frustrating as well as exhausting, but once the air clears I realize the hilarity of the moment and have to giggle.
6. Her curiosity for EVERYTHING!  She wants to do it all on her own and figure things out all by herself.  
7. She's a great eater.  She'll eat almost anything and sit in her high chair to do it.  This comes in very handy when I'm looking for a moment of rest and need to corral her for a bit.
8. Her sweet little voice.  She is learning so many words and is so cute when she says them.  She always asks me "Mommy, what you doing Mommy?"  I love that.  She is even learning how to count and her ABC's.  She loves to sing, er, have me sing to her and her mumble along.  This is one of the best parts of almost two year olds, hearing them try to speak and communicate with us.  It's darling!  Some of her other Darling words/phrases right now: I did it!, Erh's Lola's?, I Baynty{blankie} Mommy?, My Pretties{bracelets}, I color, my lip{chapstick}?, hold it mommy, sing it mommy, My Piylow Pet? and lots of others, too many to list.
9. Her little ponies.  When we are getting ready each day she is always so good to let me sit her down and do her ponies.  She runs over and sits in front of me and lets me wet her hair down and brush it out as she finds a pony for me to use.
10. I love her reaction to when her daddy gets home.  She goes running towards the door screaming, "Daddy Home!"  Sometimes it's the cutest part of the day.
11. She's GREAT in the nursery at church.  She'll head right in and is a perfect angel the whole time she's in there.  Hardly making a peep, just sitting at the little table playing with puzzles or reading books.  A far cry from her time spent at home.  So glad she's good for others even if she is a little stinker for me.
12. I LOVE that she LOVES books!  She will sit and look at books all day long.  She loves to sit and read the pages aloud.  It's really too cute to watch.  I hope she keeps that desire throughout her life, it's something I certainly lack!
13. I love all the little nick names we have for her.  Yowda, Lo Boat, Showgirl, lalalalalola, Lo Ro, stink pot, you get the idea.
14. Her sweet little tootsie's when we polish them.  Not very often are feet cute, but when she has polish on her little toe's {really even when they aren't polished too} they are too cute.  I could just eat them up!

Wow, I did it, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Even Tyler was impressed that I was attempting this one.  We love our sweet baby girl, but she certainly keeps us on our toes and busy, busy!

"Sorteen" things I Heart about Tommy

What I love about Tommy:

1. His Laugh. He is a genuinely happy kid.
2. His Smile.  It's never hard to find it, even when I'm mad at him, it's hard to stay mad when he flashes his pearly whites.
3. His Sense of Humor.  Not sure if he realizes it yet, but the kid's hilarious!  At least to us he is.
4. How sweet and kind he is towards his siblings.  He has always been so gentle and loving towards the babies, I never had to worry about leaving him alone with either Lola or Max. 
5. His obedience.  For the most part he listens and obeys when we ask him to do something or to stop doing something.  This has been such a blessing on numerous occasions.
6. His ability to learn.  He is growing so fast and learning all the things that come with that.  Counting, spelling, singing, writing, drawing, colors, etc. 
7. His speaking slurs.  His "F's" are S's and his "V's" are Z's, his "L's" are Y's and sometimes D's.  If you help him sound it out he can usually get the correct sound, but it keeps him little so we aren't too concerned with it yet.
8. How he breaks out into song around the house.  It really lightens the mood when you start to hear him sing "California Gurls" from the other room, and then follow that song with "I am a Child of God".  He has a very wide range of musical knowledge.
9. He's very coordinated.  I love that for Christmas he wanted a two wheel scooter and rode it like a champ since day one.  He's also learning to ride his bike without training wheels, he's been able to swing a baseball bat since he was 1 1/5 and actually hit a ball since he was 2.  He's got a great throwing arm and has some wicked moves on the dance floor.
10. He's usually pretty good at sharing with others.  It makes me happy when he does it without being prompted.  We are working on it, but like I said usually he's pretty good.
11. His Big Brown Eyes!  He is just as I always imagined my kids would look.  Dark hair, dark eyes glowing skin, great smile.  Darling. {cause don't we all imagine our children to be darling?}
12. He loves to cuddle and give loves.  I love that he'll ask me at night if we could cuddle together in my bed.  He's so sweet when he wants to be.
13. His love for Church.  He looks forward to Sunday every week, knowing that he gets to go to his class and see all of his friends, sing songs and learn about the scriptures.  I pray he keeps this enthusiasm as he continues to grow.
14. His overall health.  He has been a healthy kid since day one and I know he doesn't really have anything to do with that, just genetics, but it certainly helps me to love him a little more when the other kids are sick and he's doing just fine.  I don't think he's ever been on antibiotics, what a blessing!

14 Days of Love

I thought I would try and do something fun around the theme of Valentine's day.  Seeing as how today is the 1st day of February, I find this as the perfect opportunity to start a little Lovin.

14 Reasons WHY I'm in Love with my man:

1. I'm a better person because of him
2. He attends each and every church meeting, he sings the hymns, he accepts every call and shows his love and faith towards the Lord through his service.  He helps keep me going by the example he sets.
3. He works so hard for our little family.  Continually striving to do his best for himself and his employer.  He is dependable and never lets you down.
4. He works at improving himself every day {something I lack at times}.  He tries new things and pushes himself to achieve goals he has set for himself.
5. He loves me without fail.  No matter how rude I may be towards him at times or how lazy I get with the housework/cooking/kids, he would NEVER speak an ill word towards me or comment on my faults.
6. He is an AWESOME father!  He does more then any other "dad" I know.  He comes right in and helps out with whatever needs to be done.  Bathing, feeding, playing, changing, dressing, helping, whatever the situation calls for, he steps up to help out.  {and for the most part, he loves doing it.}
7. Somehow, he gives me everything I want {with a few exceptions}.  With decorating ideas, date night decisions, travel plans or Tax return purchases, whatever it may be, he's very thoughtful in making me happy when the decisions are being made.
8. He cleans the house!  Every night he does the dishes after dinner, he takes the trash out each morning before we wake up and he changes the Laundry most every night.  He even folds and puts it away a lot of the time.  He refills the water in the fridge so there is always a cold water bottle for me when I need one, he sets my alarm clock for me to make sure I get up to get Tommy ready for his carpool.  He comes home on Sundays in between meetings to get each of the children dressed and ready for church, then takes Tommy back with him before church to get him out of my hair.  He cleans the hall bathroom, does all the yard work and even mops the floors.  He's a rockstar!
9. He keeps me Honest {except when it comes to photo radar tickets, we have an agreement about those}.
10. He's very good with our finances, keeping us in line and mostly out of debt.
11. He's very clean and likes things organized {this is something we are both obsessive about, which is a good thing.  It keeps us both on our toes in keeping an organized home}.
12. He is great with our newborns, getting up each and every morning for the early feeding, and sometimes even in the middle of the night.  He lets me sleep in and feeds Max every morning before getting ready for work, then puts him back to sleep, so as not to disturb me.  AWESOME!
13. He is always a great example of how to act and react towards family members.  When either of our siblings/parents/friends do something we don't necessarily agree with, he is really good at not saying anything about it and letting them make their own decisions {cause clearly it's none of our business} Where I have issue's with this, if it's my family, a lot of times I call them out on it, or say something that I'll usually regret saying later.  I may even judge them and think I would handle a situation better, but Tyler helps bring me back down to the normal level at which I actually stand.  Hey, I'm working on it, clearly I have a long way to go.  He makes me strive to be better in this area.
14. Oh yeah, and he's pretty cute.  That's gotta be somewhere on here, right?

Seriously.

When did I get so fat?  
uhg.

The things we do for kids.

Dinner Time

I'm turning into quite the Domesticated Diva.  Dinner is now a daily thing {me making it, that is}, and my kids are loving it.  Not to mention that Tyler ate every last drop on his plate too!

The Menu:

Chicken Parmesan over Angel Hair Pasta

French Bread

& Powder Juice {crystal light, Tommy calls it powder juice}

{wanted Watermelon too, but we forgot to pick one up from Costco earlier that day.}

Anyway, I thought I'd document the event with some cute pics of Lola enjoying her meal.

Enjoy the pics.

I need to get a few different ideas.  Chicken over pasta or rice is getting a little boring.

Momma would be so proud!

I made dinner!
Parmesan Chicken over Fettucini with French Bread and Watermelon.

Kiki aren't you proud of me?  This is a dinner worthy of even you!

I often times invite my in-laws over to eat with us when I cook.  You can't just cook for three or four people, if I'm going through the effort I may as well make enough to spread the love, right.  Tonight my In-Laws came and Yaya.  So I broke out the cute dishes and voila!  Anyway, I think Tyler was a little impressed.  I've always known how to cook, I just choose not to.  It's not really my thing, but I hate the question of "What's for dinner?" so if I just make something then we can avoid the frustrating conversation of where to eat, what to pick up or what to make fast because everyone is hungry.
So, I'm making it work and doing what most Mother's around the world do.

I must say that once everything was done and cleaned up, I was exhausted!  This won't be a nightly thing, but definitely bi-weekly, at least.

Oh, and here's a little cuteness to enjoy.  Max is already 8 weeks old!  Whoa!  It's gone by so fast and yet it seems like he's been a part of our family since day one.  I couldn't imagine my life without him, he fits perfectly into our nest.

I know it's weird but I'm feeling like there is another little one up there getting ready to come soon.  I'm certainly not announcing anything, but I just feel like we need to punch out the next kid just as fast as little Maxers.  I'm just saying it feels that way, but I also know that the fundage needs to gather up a bit before any drastic "purchases", if you will.

Here's a few more cute pics to enjoy, because I don't discriminate.

Three Years of Blogging

I can't believe I've been blogging for THREE years now.  Wow, Happy "BLOG" Birthday to me!

{This photo has nothing to do with the post, but is just a cute picture of Thomas for a little bit of fun.}

For the past few months I've been slacking in the blog/journaling/digital scrap booking departments.  One of my resolutions is to start back up.  I love being able to look back on all the things we've done in the past few years.  Seeing all the fun pictures, remembering the Holidays and Birthdays.  I have the worst memory, so I love that it's all here just waiting for me to remember all the fun.

Anyway, Journaling my life is certainly a goal I can accomplish.  Only, not today.  It is now 1:30 am and I seriously need to sleep.  I find myself checking in on all the other blogs I follow and not keeping up with mine.  Unfortunately, it needs to be one or the other.  I need to focus on mine.  I thought maybe if I blogged about it then I'd be held accountable, in some way.

So possibly starting next week {after I finish one more HUGE scrapbook for someone else} I plan on coming back to the virtual world.

So, sorry for the absence but here's to starting fresh and doing at least two or three different "journaling" posts or Digi Scrap pages a week.

Wish me luck, I think I'll need it!

{a little more cuteness to leave you with, sorry about the poor photo quality, 

this was the best pic out of like 15, the little stinker}

Summer of '09, Greatest Hits

I figured I'd take a little blogger laxative and spill the memories for everyone.

So. Get. Comfortable.

Here we are on the weekend after the fourth. We go to see our fireworks show on the back nine at Encanto Golf Course. We are right up in the action, it's almost scary how close we sit.

Seriously, we were that close!

We went swimming with my fam for the fourth of July at my Mom's neighbors house. Toms LOVED the water that night.

He could jump in fast enough. He must have gone off the diving board 15 times.

My Brother Johnny and a naked Lola. She too loved the water.

The crazy jump competition. I thought this was a great action shot of Jimmy.

Love Joe's head just barely sticking up out of the water.

We also attended about a hundred All*Star games for Tyler's nephew's. Cody even made it to State. Good job to all who played. It made for some great entertainment for the family. Hot, but fun!

We hosted a couple different "Spend The Nights" at our place. Toms loves having his cousins come over to play. On this particular occasion we had SEVEN different kids spending the night. Not including our own two. Needless to say it was a full house! It's all about making memories though.

We also went to the public pools a few times. Here we took Toms{of course}, Buffy, Gracie and Emma. They love playing with each other so I try to get them together as much as possible to build their relationship. Buffy is my niece, from my side of the family and the others two are on Tyler's side. They love each other and even refer to each other as cousins. I think it's just so cute! I love 8 year old girls and all the fun they have!

Then we celebrated what would have been the 58th Birthday of my dad. He passed away on his Birthday so every year we get together as a family to celebrate his life and legacy. This year marks the 9th year he's been gone. Crazy how time flies. We sure do miss him.

{Dad and Cami at High School Graduation, 1997}

Next we spent a few different days at the mall playgrounds. Hey, it's cool and it's free! This is Jack, Tessa Toms and Seth {as well as some kid I don't know, apparently the other boys go to school with him}. They have a blast and it occupies them for hours and Tiff and I get to catch up. Good times!

Toms having way too much fun on the play train.

Lola not knowing what is going on.

Seth giving the kids a tour of the mall. "Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."

"Sup?" Lola in the hood!

Another trip to the mall with cousins. This time with Audrey, Joey and William. I loved this pick of sweet Audrey. You can tell she's having a good time. Thanks for calling us Jimmy to play. We need to do it again.

Picture time with Ashley and friends. You can see more of the shots HERE. Thanks for such a fun tradition Ash!

Toms was quite the poser!

Just hanging around the house, A LOT!! Here Toms is playing with Lola. She loves bouncing in her bouncer and he loves watching her.

Lola's First taste of food. Yum, cereal with Prune Juice.

Tommy FOREVER wanting to hold her! He really is much more gentle then I expected. ...and she loves him playing with her, go figure.

I finally bought Toms his own pair of big boy scissors. He's been begging for months. So he has his own little set of school supplies. Hey whatever keeps him occupied for 15 minutes at a time is great with me.

We also took Toms to the play place at good ol' McD's. One day we stopped and picked up little miss Provence to join us. They played and ate then played then ate. It was fantastic. They are still too small to climb up the play equipment so they just play around the bottom of it. Perfect, that means I never have to go up there after them. This was the best shot I could get. Toms was being silly and not posing for me. So I picked the one where P looks darling!

Me being bored while they played so I thought I'd play with the camera a bit. and yes, this was the best shot out of like 20. Sad, I know.

Wow, a lot, huh! Told ya. Thanks for all the memories. Goodbye Summer and Hello school year. Too bad we can't say goodbye heat yet!