Trip to Indy and Grandpa's House

Last month, my sister and I took the kids to Indianapolis to visit family and for a baby shower for her (she is due in December if you weren't aware).  It was a great trip although busy since we always try to squeeze in visits with as many people as possible.

Friday, we headed down to my Grandpa's house. I don't think the kids have been before. He lives in the country with a pond so we promised Evan he could go fishing.  He loved it!

Even Caitlin got in on the action.

They caught 3 fish so here is Caitlin with the catch....

And here is Evan with the fish in their "fish jail".

After that, we walked over to my Aunt and Uncle's house as they live on the same pond. They showed us their syrup kitchen. They make Shagbark Hickory Syrup... delicious!

Then back to Grandpa's for a few minutes. The kids loved playing with this music box. It opens up and there is candy inside. It was always a favorite of I and my siblings as well.

One last group photo before we left...

Caitlin's First Haircut

Caitlin is well over 2.5 years old and I FINALLY took her for her first hair cut. The ends were starting to look pretty bad and she has been wanting to go for a long time (i.e. every time I take Evan she wants to get her hair cut too).  Well,  I really needed to get Evan's hair cut so I figured it was time.  She did so well! She loved it and talked about it for days afterwards. I of course had to document the moment.

Caitlin is ready!

This place (Pigtails and Crewcuts) is great for kids. They get to sit in special vehicles and they have movies on for the kids to watch.

Looking down at the stickers on the bottom of the airplane...

Final touches...

All done!

She loved it!

And one real quick photo of Evan's haircut...

First Day of School 2012

I know this is a little late, but I don't want to forget. These are pictures from Evan and Caitlin's first day of school.  They are both attending Westside Church of Christ again. This is Evan's third year there. He is in the Young 4s class on T/W/Th with Ms. Julie.  This was Caitlin's VERY FIRST day of school ever!  She is in the Older 2s class on W/F with Ms. Amber.  

They were both so excited to go.... Caitlin especially.  Evan was the sweetest big brother. He walked her to her classroom before I took him to his. I think we are over the whole crying when dropping off that has been happening the last few months. He did awesome when I dropped him off and I can report that since then, everything has continued smoothly.  He is enjoying school and all the friends and activities. It's nice to see him really learning. He can write his name by himself pretty well and is doing better with the scissors. I'm excited to see the progress already in just a few classes.

Caitlin also did pretty well at dropoff. No crying although she was a little unsure and kind of just stood there as we walked away. I'm happy to report though that she LOVES going to school. I think she wakes up every day asking if she can go to school. She gets very sad on the days that Evan gets to go and she does not.  I love how excited she is about it.

It's also nice for each of them to have some time alone. I am off on Friday mornings so Evan and I get some alone time.  Caitlin still gets alone time on T/Th with our nanny... every Thursday they go to her daughter Lucy's school for lunch. Caitlin loves to have lunch with the First Graders and be one of the big kids. Plus, those 1st grade girls love to dote on her and Caitlin likes to be the center of attention I'm sure.

Here's to hoping they both have a fabulous year. So far so good! I'm looking forward to all the activities and to see how much they learn and enjoy it.  

Heather Walker photos

Way back in March, you might remember that you all helped me to win a photo shoot with Heather Walker. She's this fantastic photographer here in Austin whom I met through MOPS.  Thanks to everyone, I was the winner so we tried unsuccessfully to schedule our session until finally in July everything lined up.  She came by our house after dinner one evening to capture a fun activity and then our bedtime routine (day in the life series).  It was so much fun and the kids really took to her. Below are photos from the shoot (all taken by Heather Walker). Thanks everyone for helping us to capture these memories and thanks Heather for the beautiful pictures!

Our fun activity was eating ice cream then splashing through the sprinklers.

Bath time!

Isn't she precious?

And finally storytime! I think Daddy is much better at reading stories than mommy.

And last is the kids snuggling together before bedtime. They really are best friends. I think these two pictures are my absolute favorites.

Evan's Cars Party

For Evan's birthday party, it was easy to decide on a theme: Cars! He loves the movie, the toys... everything. I was able to find some cute ideas off pinterest and even though it is SO much work to host, I was very happy with how everything turned out and best part was that Evan LOVED it.  And, I never could have done it without all the help of our family (both in town and from out of town).  They are so tremendous in getting ready for the party and then cleaning up. Seriously, I am so lucky!

Here are some pictures from the party.

Here are all the "Cars" food ideas.

The setup....

Sweet Potato fries (aka Mater's Taters)

Chocolate donuts that are supposed to be stacked tires

Our fruit bowl that looks like a car. Kudos to Michelle for the 95 carving!

Beverages: Antifreeze (lemonade) and Motor Oil (iced tea)

Pretzel sticks (aka dipsticks)

Cars made of apples and grapes

The highlight of the party was the "Car Wash" that we made. This really was the inspiration for having the party at our house. In case you didn't know, it is HOT in Texas in August. So, in order to have all these people over, we needed some sort of water activity because we wanted the kids outside for the most part. I saw this car wash in a magazine and it seemed easy enough to build.  So, a few weekends before the party we set about building it and here it is! I added some decorations to make it a little prettier but I think the kids enjoyed it.

There are holes throughout the pvc where the water comes out (kind of hard to see in the pictures).

Evan and Caitlin demonstrating

We also set up a tattoo station (aka Ramone's house of body art which if you seen the movie Cars, you would know who Ramone is). 

 And last but not least is the cake! My friend Kelly who owns Bootstrap Bakery made both the cake and cupcakes. She came up with an awesome design and it was delicious.

So, that's the party! I think Evan had a wonderful day and I loved how it turned out. Again, huge thanks to our families who always make it possible to pull off all these ideas I have in my head.

Evan's Bday

Evan's actual birthday was on a Wednesday.  I have to say that turning 4 was a lot of fun for everyone. Evan really got into everything birthday related.

Some notes about Evan so I don't forget:

Loves to play with Cars, Spiderman/Batman, Legos, other kids, soccer and his sister!

Loves to wear football jerseys.

Loves to ride his bike.

Still takes an afternoon nap most days (yeah!)

Favorite foods are still fruit (particularly berries) and probably pizza.

Favorite movies: changes daily but generally Incredibles, Cars, Cars2

Favorite TV shows: Curious George, Cat in the Hat

Learned to swim on his own this summer and loves the water.

Height: 43.5 inches (huge growth spurt.. 95%)

Weight: 32.5 lbs (17%)

Passed hearing and vision tests!

Love my morning hug he gives me each morning and when he cuddles up to me and tells me he loves me... hope this one never ends!

That morning, I made special pancake muffins for breakfast and we sang him happy birthday.

Then later that morning, our nanny Elizabeth took the kids to Kiddie Acres (a local small amusement park geared towards younger kids). I met them there from work!

Ready for some fun? You might not be able to tell but it was VERY hot that day.

Evan and Lucy enjoying the carousel

And then the airplanes

Caitlin really enjoyed all the rides as well

Caitlin and I on the carousel

Elizabeth made a little sign for Evan to wear (such a cute idea!)

Kids enjoying the boat ride

Elizabeth also helped him make a special crown to wear for his special day

Later that evening, family came over to celebrate and Evan got to open a few presents.

And then we had a small cake.

Happy Belated Birthday to my precious Evan.  It's so hard to believe you are 4 years old. We love you so much.