aarrrrr!

Mr. Happy is in to pirates these days. He always has been really... see? :)

I have called him my little captain for a long time. His bedroom used to have a firetruck theme...but is now being turned into an awesome pirate room. So when Laura mentioned she had a big box that she could bring over to make a pirate ship out of...Jack's mouth dropped open and he was VERY excited! (Not to mention that making something out of a cardboard box was on our summer list!)

Leah is into pirates right now too - so it was a perfect match! Laura and I worked on the general design...and Mr. H. drew everything he wanted on it.

Terrible cell phone pic... but after Laura and Leah left, he even fell asleep in it for a little while!

Then we took it up to his room where it fits in just perfectly!

Ha! He and his sisters figured out that this little stuffed animal fit perfectly through the porthole and was also used as a cannon ball. :}

I promise we feed him really well!! lol The boy just has so much energy he runs it all off in a heartbeat!

Aw! He almost has a baby six-pack! Lol

Thanks for bringing the box, Laura! It was a huuge hit!! :)

just checking in... :)

Hi! Just checking in to say I'm still here. I have been A) without internet for a week and 2) been playing single mom since last thursday, so I haven't had a chance to blog! Tomorrow is my last day of being here with my kids 24/7, since their parents get home tomorrow night...so hopefully I will get caught up soon. There is a lot to share from this past week!

For now, I'll leave this pic that Laura's husband, Mike, took of Leah and me tonight. Apparently we both got the memo to wear dark jeans, pink shoes, and purple shirts - with ruffles down the front! :)

(Hey Mike...how's that for picture editing...! lol)

really late easter egg hunt

Because Leah's 2nd birthday party fell during the week before Easter, we didn't get to have the egg hunt we wanted to do until the week after Easter. But it was just as much fun!

zoo day!

I might love them... just a little bit....... :}

I love that these two and their mommies are often up for spur of the moment outings!

I also might love him just a little bit too........ :}

My three little monkeys!

Ha! This next one is my favorite from today.....

Teehee!!! So funny and cute. I love that the zebra is wearing Buzz Lightyear sunglasses!! ;)

two!

So as usual, I'm a little behind in my blogging. Last Wednesday we went to Leah's birthday party. Laura always does SUCH a great job of decorating and letting things up!! And we all had a lot of fun just being together again!

The birthday girl. She now answers "two!" whenever you ask how old anyone is - herself, my kids, Mommy, Kiki.... :)

Laura did a nursery rhyme themed party because Leah is very into nursery rhymes these days. She had set out spiders for the kids to color and stickers to decorate them with.

Little Miss Sunshine here is going to make a great babysitter in a couple years! She loved getting to hold Annie for a couple minutes. :) I think Annie liked it too. :)

Ok, seriously! Check out these peanut butter sandwiches - in the shape of a clock!! (Hickory Dickory Dock...) So cool!!

I should have gotten more close up pics, but each snack had a nursery rhyme to go with it! And if you have read my blog for very long...you know who did that cake there in the middle. Do you know the nursery rhyme that goes with it?

"Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds,

baked in a pie......

...When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing;

Wasn't that a dainty dish

To set before the king?"

(Cake by Leah, of course!)

"Leah, say 'Cheese!'"

Isn't it funny how so often the other people around will "blow" the candle out with the birthday person? :}

Jonathan here LOVES birthday parties. But there MUST be balloons. And cake. And presents. Of course. He couldn't wait for Leah to open her presents and finally it was time!

Great job on the fun party, Laura!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEAH!!!

little bo peep

Had to get these edited and up tonight because I have another photo shoot tomorrow evening! :) Just pray the rain will hold off until afterwards!!

Here are *some* of the rest of Leah's 2 yr birthday pics. I had come here to explore with Michael a few months back and couldn't wait to come in the spring when everything was green and flowering! It was definitely beautiful!

She loooves "circle flowers" and oh boy! were there plenty of them here!! She "shake! shake! shakes!" them instead of blowing them. Very effective! :)

We knocked on a lot of doors trying to see if Aiden was behind any of them. He wasn't. Aw, nuts.

She loved these red chairs! And mommy and Kiki were happy to beat the belly dancer over to them who was also there having her pictures taken. Ha!

Ooh, how I wish I had a video of this! :) She was holding this little chick toy and singing to it: "Rooock a bye chiiiiick....."

Soo. Sweet!!

Pausing to hug the tree during our peek-a-boo session... :)

And then Aiden came for a few minutes!!

They are so funny together! Aiden was peeking through the V in this tree and Leah wasn't quite sure of the point of this...although she did try it too. :)

And of course, I couldn't not take a pic of this little cutie! Can you just barely see her new accessory?? Here...you can see it in the one below...

She got her ears pierced!! She is just so fashionable! :) And yes, she's a pro at blowing bubbles! lol :)

Next we found a great tree to climb! By this time it was dark enough that I had to turn on my dreaded flash! Bleck. I do not like having to use it. but oh well. These two pics make me smile! :)

Flash again...ew. But look! Little toddlers holding hands...tooo cuuute!!!!

Some day these are going to be engagement pictures.

If these two can overlook the fact that little Leah would have the same name as her mother-in-law.... Teehee! :)