Papa is here!

Enjoying the 70 degree weather in December we played outside all weekend!! It was fabulous. 

Painting with her new easel and paints!

Dee plus plaint= bad news. 

Taking full advantage of our amazing weather we wore shorts, sleeveless tops and ate froyo outside!

On Sunday we were having too much fun for Mommy to take photos. 

We took Papa to the Marbles Children's Museum and had a ball. The kids were super active. I cannot imagine how they will be up early... but they will be! 

Dee leading Papa to the fun! 

What a fun weekend! Looking forward to many more trips from Papa now that we live on the same coast! -Whitney 

Photo Dump for the Grandparents

I take a bazillion pictures! Every so often I will just post a random group of photos for the grandparents that live all over the USA to see. 

Anna dress! 

Hanging out in the patrol car that visited school. 

So hungry he is eating applesauce from his shirt. 

Grammy sent me a BIKE!!! Woooooooo

Learning to use their new toys!

Sammie forcing Dee to have a Tea Party

Naked is his favorite outfit. He also spiked his hair with applesauce in this pic.

We've entered the almost 2s with tantrums in public. SHOOT ME NOW.

Playing at Marbles with Letters!

His favorite new face! 

Goodness Dee is getting ornery! BOYS!!! And shocking... Sammie is getting pretty sweet. 

But they're both pretty freaking awesome!

All Hallows Eve 2015

Who knew that you could celebrate Halloween for a week straight?! Welcome to the final installment of our Halloween festivities... ALL HALLOWS EVE! Thankfully some very sweet new friends invited us to their neighborhood for the occasion.  

About 4:30 on Halloween we headed to one of Sammie's schoolmates house for a pre-trick or treat gathering. It was so nice to watch Sammie and Dee interact with other kiddos. AND... Brian and I actually had conversations with ADULTS!! 

Pre Party Grubbing

This kid can eat!

After the party, we changed into costumes and the real fun began!

Our little Buzz LightYear.

Our friends had this fabulous cat in the yard and the girls were so obsessed. Little Buzz LightYear was a tad terrified of the cat but did try to tell it off at one point! 

Strawberry & Alice

Most of the time the kids were so busy all I captured were blurs! 

runnnn

Brian did manage to capture a pic or two that looked "normal" for our household.

Alice... not so tight!

Trick or Treat

You guys! This neighborhood was so much fun!! Everyone got into the spirit. Parents, Grandparents and children all dressed up. There was a "real" Minnie & Mickey passing out candy, treats for both children and adults at the houses AND tons of fun decor! 

It's Mickeeeeeey! 

Dee was pretty skittish at about this whole business at first. Once he finally wanted to go up to houses, I would go with him. He would sheepishly take a piece of candy and then hold it. I said "put it in your bag" a million times. Well... after sneaking a piece of candy he figured out what was happening AND... he ran to the next house so fast. I get up there just in time to see him shove his bag at the sweet lady and hear him say "IN DA BAG"! From that moment on it was hard to keep up with this new little trickster! 

IN DA BAG!

Now, Dee snuck quite a bit of candy between houses. He was putting wrapped candy in his mouth and we would just find him spitting out wrappers!! He is CRAZY! 

Once the festivities began to die down, we headed home. Sammie was allowed 2 pieces of candy and then she left her bag (full of candy) on the table for the "Switch Witch". (I hear you can purchase these Switch Witch dolls but thats not what we do.) We read the idea somewhere last Halloween and decided to adopt the practice. How it works for us:

1- Collect candy and only eat 2 pieces.

2- Leave your treat bag for the "Switch Witch"

3- Wake up on Nov. 1 with no candy and a present in its place!

Sammie was sooooo excited to see this doll the next morning! She only asked what happened to her candy once and hasn't been a thought since!! This plan works so nicely for us because we really try to limit sugar for our kids but want them to go and have fun on Halloween.

Alice In Wonderland from the "Switch Witch"

And if you're wondering... NO, Dee did not "qualify" for a present. He ate his weight in wrapped candy!! Plus... Mommy forgot to get one thinking he wouldn't notice! Oopsy!

Happy Haunting Folks!

-Whitney 

Our First School Halloween Party!

Halloween part 3... 

Sibling love.

The kids did this super cute little parade in their costumes around the school building today. I tried to get a video but the little brother was having no part of it. Sweet Sammie marched right by us with her hands on her hips barely cracking a smile. Such a mess that girl... I later figured out they walk from classroom to classroom with their hands on their hips. Why doesn't she follow the rules at home?!

Sweet pose. 

So Mommy-fail... I have forgotten the shoes for Alice... oops.

Fun day!! More to come!!

-Whitney 

Spooky Lessons

We are not crazy over scheduled toddlers but Halloween week sure seems to be eventful! 

On Tuesdays Dee attends KinderMusik in Cary while sister is at school. They had their Halloween party this week and it was precious. 

I love watching the kids interact with one another and musical instruments. Dee especially loves the drums. 

If you met Dee before he could walk you probably saw him "hop" from place to place on his knees. Well... He just jumps from place to place these days. 

Some of the kids do not care for the parachute in class... Dee eats it up! 

After class we run to grab Sammie and take her to ballet class. She was Alice In Wonderland today and so cute. 

Dee tries to crash ballet class every week. Poor kid just wants to be big.

Our new sweet dance friend. She was so excited to be a "cupcake fairy" so smiled that big for 45 minutes! 

We have 1 busy day a week but it was super fun!!! 

-Whitney

Photo Blast...

Well... I have TONS of random photos that I know some family members will enjoy...

Soooo blast of my kids below!!! 

Ballerina has a BIG dress up obsession. She is really only in normal clothes at school.

At our Pre-K Open House... I told her to strike a pose.

She also REALLY wanted me to take a picture of her doing this random pose.

Cinderella goes shopping with me regularly.

Shopping with Daddy. And yes... the got wine. 

Brother thought this bed was for him. No No No... its now broken. Oh well...

Mommy took a fingernail to my face! :( 

Snack time with the crazies!!

Learning to draw with Daddy!

Brother has started to LOVE slides.

EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. when Daddy comes home he is immediately forced into being a horse or monster. 

Starting to get into a routine and settle in to our new life. And so far... we LOVE it!

-Whitney

Happy 4th of July!!

I was so happy we were able to celebrate the 4th of July this year in Lake City. I have been telling the hubs about how much I love it for years!! And even more exciting... some of our favorite family friends from Oklahoma were in town for the festivities!! 

We began the morning at the local parade...

Ballerina, Colt and Lil Sam.

I swear we will see these 2 on their way to prom together some day.

Baby Dee got in on the parade action also!!

Ballerina was such a good girl during the parade. She watched and laughed and pointed and most importantly... collected a big bag of candy!! (That I took away... hahaha mean mommy)

After the parade there was a little park time with daddy...

Then all the friends headed to my parents cabin for some goooooood food!!

Of course we attempted to take a pic of all the kids... hahahahaha

Very fun day! So grateful for such wonderful family and friends!!

-Whitney