The Perfect Evening

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but we live in the same subdivision I grew up in.

Actually, we live less than a 1/2 mile away from my parents house.

Which I love.

And we have no plans to ever move again.

Which means, my kids will have memories growing up in the same subdivision I did.

Which I love.

A few nights ago, we decided to take a walk to the park.

The same park I played on when I was little.

I even made the comment to DJ, that when I used to walk around that park with dolls in strollers.

...and now I am bundling up my own babies in the stroller to take to the park.

The walk to the park is absolutely beautiful!

So much so, that we stopped to take the kids out for pictures.

Except Karson hadn't taken a nap so he wanted absolutely nothing to do with getting pictures taken.

 The colors on the trees were absolutely beautiful!

We will be heading back there this weekend for family pictures!

 {ps: after only letting me sleep for 1 1/2 hours on Tuesday night...she only got up ONE time last night.  Do you know when the last time she did that was.  Oh yea...so long ago I can't even remember!}

My little boy's mood improved when he saw the big yellow slide.

He was so excited!

The first time he went down the slide, he kinda flew off.

He insisted we catch him from then on.

Sweet Ella and I hung out in the grass while we watched big brother play.

Next fall, little girl, and you will be running around too!

 "Catch Me"

Daddy decided he was going to go down the slide too.

This was Karson's reaction.

And then somehow, Molly ended up going down the slide a few times too.

It was the perfect evening.

One we will be repeating many times!

Hello Monday

:: Hello Monday::

Hello, only getting up 3 times with this girl last night.

{as apposed to her normal 6}

  {hello newborn Ellary....I came across it when uploading a picture & just couldn't resist}

Hello, fall colors starting.

 

Hello,  beautiful moon on a quick trip to the beach this weekend.

Hello, making memories sliding down a diaper box at Nana & Bumpa's house.

Hello, trip to the Critter Barn with a friend whose kiddos are the same ages as mine.  

{Our girls are even Birthday Buddies.}

Hello, sweet girl all bundled up in the cold!

 

 Hello, Walking to End Alzheimers.

Hello, raising funds and awareness for a cure.

Hello, to my dream that my babies can one day live in a world without Alzheimer's

 Hello, Promise Garden.

Hello, remembering those we have last from Alzheimer's.

Hello, baked apple oatmeal in my oven making my house smell yummy!

Hello, to a wonderful week ahead!

Linking up with Lisa Leonard for Hello Monday.

Some Totally Random Facts:

My kids take a bath together, at least once a day.

Cranky kids: stick them in the tub & they are instantly happy.

That, and diapers gross me out...so every time Ellary has a dirty diaper she gets a bath....and then Karson joins.

She got this doll from Nana when she was born.

She loves it!

Karson calls it her "baby dolly."

She sucks on her baby's hair.  

Always.  

Like I have to stick it in the washer every day, because it gets gross.

He asks to "play outside?" all day long.

He starts asking as soon as he wakes up...when it is a whole 40 degrees here.

Then he tells me, "No play outside...too chilly."

Her blue eyes kill me.

They are just like her brother's...and I love them!!

I also love her Hanna Andersson quilted dress.

He drives his tractor everywhere.

And he loves to put anything in it.

Funny thing-he plays with these golf clubs all the time, but as many times as we have shown him how to use his golf clubs, he refuses to actually use them as golf clubs.

He loves trains.

He loves to be outside.

I won big Mommy Brownie Points for bringing the trains outside.

He has had some sleeping issues lately....this particular morning he woke up at 2am.

He didn't go back to sleep until 7am.

I finally put him in my bed, with my iphone, crackers, & juice, and he fell back asleep.

Holding my iphone.

Not exactly Mom of the Year...but it made for a much happier Munchkin!

I can not believe she is big enough to join her brother on wagon ride.

She thinks she is cool stuff...and she holds on like a good girl the entire time.

InstaFriday

Happy Friday!

Linking up with Jeannett for InstaFriday.

 After 5 months I officially give up.

This girl will not nap in her crib.

She will not.

I have tried for five months and it goes like this:

Nurse to sleep :: lay her in her crib :: wake up 5 minutes later  :: nurse her back to sleep :: lay her in her crib ::  wake up 5 minutes later :: nurse her back to sleep :: lay her in her crib :: repeat for 2 hours

Fact of the matter is...she needs her Mama to sleep, and that is fine by me.

 This is now where Ellary takes her naps...every day.

Sunshine.

Ducks to feed.

Slides to slide down.

Coats to wear in the cool fall mornings.

Combine it all together to make a fabulous morning outing with my kiddos!.

Our kids don't sleep so hot right now.

Mommy and Daddy are exhausted.

Mommy caught Daddy sleeping in Karson's bed at 7:30 last night.

"Mama, play Baby Ella's special bed?"

 Babies bundled up to stay warm make me happy.

She started this a few weeks ago.

At 4 months old.

Not cool Sister.

You are too young to hold yourself up on your own.

There is no denying she is mine.

That is me when I was a little older than Ellary.

In the same dress.

We look just a little alike.

Again...on her hands and knees...at 4 months old.

Not cool Baby Sis...not cool.

He asked for a Mickey Mouse pancake.

Simple things that make 2 year olds so incredibly happy!

"Karson help Daddy make dinner, tooooo?"

Oh how I love him!

My nickname is Sis.

My entire family calls me Sis.

Ellary has been dubbed "Baby Sis."

I was killing time at Target the other day, and saw this onesie and had to get it for her.

don't ask why I thought Target was a good place to go to kill time...bad idea

Have a good weekend!

Catch Up...

Have I mentioned my kids don't sleep?

They don't.

And if they do, it goes something like this:

...Karson goes down...Ella wakes up....Ella goes down...Karson wakes up...

Which means...my laundry isn't getting done, so blogging is definitely not getting done.

Guess what?!  My laundry is currently done...and BOTH kids are in their beds.

IN THEIR BEDS & ASLEEP.

ok my laundry isn't really done but just pretend it is

So a few random things....

Karson loves corn on the cob.  

A lot.

Corn on the cob tastes best if eaten with your eyes closed. 

 And even if it doesn't...it makes for cute pictures.

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This face makes me laugh.

 

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DJ works an alternate schedule in the summer.

1 week he works four 9 hour days, and one 8 hour day.

The next week, he works four 9 hour days, and has Friday off.

Friday off means family day.

One family day we spent at the Zoo.  It was fabulous. Karson loved the monkeys....which is good because that is all our zoo has.

Our Zoo is pathetic.

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 "Mama, eat dinner outside...please?!"

Every single night.

We eat dinner outside more than we eat dinner inside.

I love this.

The little things that I hope he always remembers....summer dinners outside.

 

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This picture is old...but I didn't know I had it and it makes me very very happy!

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I got a $5 bag of corn and a bucket for at the local feed store at the beginning of the summer.

I keep it in my trunk, and whenever we need a free outing, we head to the duck park.

He loves it.

After his bucket is empty, we head to the playground to play.

Did I mention, I have memories of the duck park from when I was his age?

 Do you spot the 2 baby ducks?  This picture was taken a few months ago, we were at the duck park this morning and Karson was very sad that the baby ducks grew up into Mommy & Daddy ducks.

Ella likes the duck park too.

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Our sweet Ellary was baptized at the beginning of September, and while that deserves its own post..it just isn't going to happen.

 

her little booties were mine when I was a baby

Funny story, for whatever reason, our church had Karson recorded as being a girl.  So he has been referred to as Ellary's "Big Sister" quite a few times....I called and had that changed yesterday. :)

Ellary is on the bottom left.

 

After her baptism we had lunch at our house.  I loved decorating for a girly party.

 

...and with that my sweet girl is awake. 

Happy Tuesday!