sneak peeks :)

Just a few sneak peeks from my latest photo shoots.

Anyone want fall or Christmas pics done in the next couple weeks while the trees are so beautiful for a very reasonable price?  Let me know!  :)

boo at the zoo 2011

I have taken my kids to Boo at the Zoo pretty much every year that I was their nanny and I claimed it as my thing to do with them even now.  I got to pick them up from school, which I LOVE to do.  Mr. Happy squeals and ruuuns straight for me and jumps in my arms and bear hugs me and smothers me in kisses every time!  :)  Then we headed straight for their house so we could get costumes and makeup on and be ready to meet our friends.

This year I had...

Little Miss Giggles, the pirate.

Mr. Happy, Count Dracula.

(He was this when he was two...which I might have to find a picture of here in a minute...)

And Little Miss Sunshine, Cleopatra.

There always has to be one silly picture when LMG is around...!  :)

So. Beautiful!

Then we were off to the zoo!  Where we met...

Jonathan the firefighter!

And my baby Madison...isn't she just one of the cutest things EVER???  :)

This is a great place for people watching while we waited for Leah and family to get there!  My kids asked me if Miss Shannon or Miss Leah were going to dress up and we decided that if anyone were to dress up, it would be Leah. 

We were right!!  :)  So fun!  Aiden told mommy he wanted to be a green bean...so she made him a green bean costume! lol.  And Anniebug was an Anniebug!

After walking through the candy stations, the carousel is our favorite stop.  It goes backwards for Boo at the Zoo!

I helped push Madison's stroller and this is how Mr. Happy walked pretty much the entire time I did.  :) We watched a dance performance and I held him so he could see over all the tall people and he watched the entire dance cheek to cheek with me.  He loves and misses his Kiki.  :)

Oh my goodness this is LMG to a T!  :)  Love her happy smile!  This was our annual after-boo-at-the-zoo stop at McD's.

We went home and everyone crawled into bed and was asleep in minutes...LMG didn't even make it through the bedtime story or goodnight prayers.  :)  Mr. Happy was even too sleepy for his favorite lullaby but still wanted me to snuggle next to him while he fell asleep.  

I think I'll be back with them in a couple weeks for an entire weekend and I can't wait!

toby weekend

I'm back.  Life has been a little crazy lately and I have hardly had time to breathe, let alone blog!  But once again I will try to get caught up in the next few days.  *Fingers crossed.*  

This week I am babysitting a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 1 month old while my friend is out of town.  It's an interesting experience - especially getting up in the middle of the night with the baby, which is really the one thing I haven't really done much in all my years of babysitting.  :)  However, I have had some help...from my friend's 17 year old son!  (He's Lauren's big brother.)  So far Josh has voluntarily fed the three year old dinner Sunday night, got the two year old ready to go out with me yesterday, hung out last night with me and the kids and then gave the two year old a bath and put him to bed, and today he hung out with us all day, made the kids' lunch, and made us all dinner!!  Hmm...too bad he's not about 13 years older....  ;)  

Ok, back to this post.  

A couple weeks ago I had Michael's nieces and nephew stay for the weekend as I usually do in October.  Emily decided to call it "toby weekend." 'Cuz she's just cool like that.  :}  We had a sort of low-key weekend this year but it was still fun.

We went to one of my favorite playgrounds.  I used to play here when I was little...only they just redid the entire playground recently so it is now even more cool. 

This is what happens when you try to get Abby to take a picture...

And this... 

...is what happens when your goofy uncle is around!

Her hair really was about as long as Rupunzel here...but she has since cut it off to give to Locks of Love.  :)

Exploring a trail behind the playground that neither Michael nor I had ever been down before.  It was a neat little hike and ended up behind our old preschool...which...from the back completely looked like a scene from the show Lost! Ha!

The next day we took them out to Crossville to see the world's largest treehouse.  There is a pastor who built it and there is a story behind it...google it if you want.  

This picture totally doesn't do this place justice!  It's just a place you have to go and see and explore for yourself!  And yes! you can go up in that highest part.

This is the view from that very highest part.  My heart might have been pounding just a little because you could feel the top part of the treehouse swaying just a tiny bit! 

Clairebear!!  (Lauren took this pic for me.) 

There are many, many names, etc. written on the walls of this place.  This one made me smile.  :)

Very fun lawn-chair swing.  Because hey, we are in Tennessee...!  lol  :)

Haha!!  I love this one.  (Also taken by Lauren.) 

Aw, so cute. :)  (This one taken by Em.) 

I hear we might not have an October weekend next year...in which case, we'll just have to make up an excuse for my kids to come for a weekend!!  :)