Labor Day Weekend 2012

We had a pretty relaxed holiday weekend spent with family and friends. John & Cindy brought the twins over on Friday night for some playtime, pizza, and movie watching. Carter got to have his first sleep over.... all three of the boys slept in his room! It was a late night for them -- bed around 11pm, and up before 7am... yikes! But they had so much fun! Check out how cute they are watching a movie on the floor together! (Eric & John took over the media room, as Tennessee was playing their first game of the season, obviously that had priority over The Lorax).

On Sunday we went up to John & Cindy's to spend the day, and our friends, the Chiles, joined us. Eric, David, Carter & Olivia spent a lot of time fishing and playing outside,while Stasha and I stayed inside with the babies. We ventured into the heat a few times to watch the kids play and take pictures, but it was such a hot day, we didn't stay outside for long!! 

Eric and David took the boat on the lake to fish and ended up staying out there for almost 2 hours.... 

came back all sweaty and sunburned, but with lots of fish!

Daddy and his boy doing some fishing off the dock.

Casting out...

.....and reeling it in. :) Big boy.

 David fishing while Olivia chases a butterfly! Haha, such a girly thing to do!! 

 See it? The orange thing on the top of the flower near the water line.

 David reeling in a fish, and Olivia watching.

 LOVE her expression!! 

 :)

We had a really nice and relaxing time on Sunday. Thanks to John & Cindy for their hospitality and cooking a really yummy brisket for lunch!! It was a great day!

On Monday my parents and granny Mary came over to visit and have dinner. And what would you expect that we had for dinner?? Yep, fish tacos.... fresh ones! (Well, not me because I don't eat fish. I had beef tacos. But from what everyone else said, they were "amazing.") All that fishing paid off. :)

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!

First Day of Preschool, 2012-2013

After a very busy, fun, and at times stressful summer, we are now back to the grind. Carter had his first day of preschool today, at the same school he was at last year, but two days a week this year. I was happy to have him go back, but it did feel a little strange to have the house so calm and quiet all morning long.

Playing coy.

 Soooo grown up.

 And a quick pic with sis. 

She was a happy little girl to have Mommy to herself today! But we did miss our Carter. :) 

.
Carter was very glad to see us when we went to pick him up, but was one VERY tired boy since he didn't nap at rest time. He had a great day, though, and we are looking forward to more fun this school year! 

Time Outside

We were lucky enough to enjoy a few days of cooler weather here lately, and we have taken full advantage! It's so nice to spend time outside and not have to wrangle kids into swim diapers and/or swim suits, smear sunscreen all over them, and pack an embarrassingly huge bag o'crap to accompany us to the splash park or pool. And this definitely has us all looking forward to fall! 

Carter's been cruising in Lightning McQueen a lot, and Ella has been a little jealous....

....so Carter took her for a spin :)

Pretty girl hanging out in the backyard.

Looking for trouble....

HA!

And just last week, she got her first major boo boo --- Poor baby girl slipped and fell (while climbing one of these chairs one evening) and skinned her chin on the concrete! OUCH! Even Carter has yet to have a skinned chin, so Congrats Ella, on beating your brother to the punch on that one! :)

Too serious....

There are some grins, maybe?

... aaaaaaaand, he's done letting me take pictures of him, so I will resume with the photos of the one that will allow it (for now). Sigh. 

Carter can always make her laugh! 

As much as we have enjoyed playing out back, we have also really enjoyed being so close to one of our favorite parks. This is the kids ride to the park each morning. Easy life. 

We had Carter's 3rd birthday party at this park back in April. When we walked to the park for the first time a few weeks ago, Carter said to me as he saw it in the distance, "Ohhhh, is this my birthday park, Mommy?! Oh, wow! I LOOOOOOOVE this park!" I'm so glad he remembers it as his "birthday park," and so very grateful he will be able to make so many childhood memories here. 

Swingin'

Wouldn't be complete without a picnic lunch....

...and some friends to climb rocks with! 

Lovin' this fall preview..... can't wait for the real deal!

We had our friends The Chiles over this weekend, and Carter and Olivia had lots of fun playing together!

 Carter took her for a spin in his hot rod. Seriously, how cute is this??

 Looks like they're headed out for their first date.

And Carter was nice enough to hand over his keys to Olivia. She had lots of fun driving, too.

And I can't leave out the babies....
Ella and Dylan, future BFFs!
Ella wanted to give Dylan kisses, and possibly eat her bow :)

 4 months apart in age, and almost the same size! Ella, you're going to get passed up!!

Just Carter

I've got to focus on my boy for a minute and do a little bragging :) 

So bare with me. 

Carter has made vast improvements in his swimming skills this summer! 

Here are a few quick videos of him swimming with Coach Stephanie. I'm so proud of how far he's come! 

We've been playing out in the backyard more lately since the evenings aren't sweltering! Carter has been practicing baseball, and he's getting pretty good! I'd love to have him play on a team soon. We'll see. :)

Eye on the ball!

Look at that stance!

Check him out!

A little background on the following - Carter met his 3 little best friends before he even turned a year old. These boys have been in his life for a long time, and I hope they always stay a part of each others lives! We got them all together for a fun little photo shoot earlier this week, and Laura and Ashley each got some great shots. How fun is it going to be to look back at these pictures in 5, 10, 20 years?! LOVE them. 

And yes, we color coordinated. :) HA!     

Carter, John, Gavin, Mason 

All age 3