loibners

our week....instagram saturday

2012-02-12T01:06:00.001-05:00

Highlights
-puzzles-to kill a mockingbird-dancing-couples dinner-friends-
Other things that I can't call highlights
-Ben leaving-stitches-sweet swollen little boy-

our week....instagram saturday

2012-02-04T11:53:00.001-05:00

Highlights
-two rivers park-mexico chiquito-little rockers-old mill-chic fil a-playgrounds-zoo-dinner w friends-puzzles-hermit crabs-zumba-

february catch up

2012-02-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

my goal for february is to catch up on my blogging. i am to august of last year so i need to get busy. i am planning to be up to date by the end of the month...wish me luck.

In August we took a trip with my parents to San Diego. Peter and the boys had never been to California and I had only gone once when I was 13. The four of us got there a day before my parents and wasted no time getting to the water. The beach is so beautiful with amazing cliffs and rocks.

It was dreamy weather in the high seventies, low eighties and we were ready to enjoy every second of it. I love it when you can wear shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

After dipping our toes in the Pacific we walked down the street and found an amazing sushi spot.

It was a great first day.

our week...instagram saturday

2012-01-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

highlights of the week
-word-celebrating my dad's birthday-first visit to @armod since remodel-pizza with cousins-100's day-quality time with my hubby-nice weather-outside play time-birthday party fun-

friends at the beach

2012-01-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

I saved the best for last. The week we spent at the beach was great for family time, but we also had some great friends to hang out with.

-swimming-crabbing-big dead fish-hot dogs-toes in the sand-luke books-guitar playing-beach football-fireworks-dancing-glow necklaces-banana pudding-beach drinks-jelly fish-

this next picture makes my heart so happy. wilson is the sweetest big brother and this picture is such a clear view of that. he loves campbell so much and when we were taking this picture he was trying to talk him into giving me a real smile. didn't work, but so sweet. i heart him!

and these next two are some of my favorite memories. sitting in this circle listening to Bucket and watching my boys play beach football....love it!

beachy (more beach)

2012-01-24T12:29:00.000-05:00

a little more of how we spent our week in Gulf Shores.

we spent a lot of time with our toes in the water, toes in the sand and for some of us we spent a lot of time with our whole selves in the sand.

we also spent some serious time building sand castles.

it was so happy.

beach 2011 (instagram)

2012-01-23T00:17:00.001-05:00

beach people

2012-01-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Last summer was vacation CRAZY! We were on the go most of the time and made some priceless memories. And while I totally can't pick favorites, our family trip to Gulf Shores was unforgettable. We are very lucky to both have families that go and do fun and different things, but because of that we are generally traveling with our families. This was our first "real" family trip just the four of us. And making it even more fun was that we knew several other families at the beach that week staying 5-15 minutes from us and got to enjoy family time and time with everyone.

I would not have called us beach people, I am afraid of the things that live in the ocean and have always thought sand was itchy and that I would never stop picking it off my kids, but i was wrong. I think we might be beach people. The first full day at the beach it was cold, like in the sixties and rainy. We laid around and watched movies and listened to the waves and it was wonderful, but the boys (all three of them) had the itch. They needed to put their feet in the water and so off we went and in they went. I sat on the side with my camera in a poncho and watched my boys as they became beach people.

colorado-summer 2011

2012-01-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Remember back in October when I said what was coming next on the blog? Well I didn't think it would be three months later, but better late than never. We had such a great year in 2011 and I want to make sure and document that for our family.

In July the four of us loaded up with two of our favorite people, Bailey and Tony, and headed to Colorado to meet the Chinos on their annual camping trip.We spent around a week at an amazing spot just outside Crested Butte.

It was a week full of family, fun, food & friends.

highlights:

-looking for deer-throwing rocks-making wished on dandelions-riding bikes-senior pictures-fireworks-pie eating-Catan-snow cones-digging in the dirt-hikes-coffee shop-family photos-shovel-camp fire-smores-Dynamite-camper-washing dishes-football-Guess Who-the bus that doesn't cost any money-playgrounds-hair washing in a bucket-

I love these people and as much as I like running water and indoor plumbing there is nothing that can compare to the time we have shared in Colorado.

2011 in review (iphone addition)

2012-01-01T00:21:00.000-05:00

We spent some time today talking about our favorite things from the year.

snow.skiing.birthdays.graduations.trips.sand castles.swimming.legos.camping.family.box sledding.new additions.live in friends.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

2011 was a great year full of memories

happy new year!

merry christmas 2011

2011-12-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

It was a super fun year at the Loibner house.

We are wishing you a very merry Christmas!

excuses and cupcakes

2011-12-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

in all of my years of blogging this is the longest i have gone without posting on this blog. i have done a little better here, but not that much. it has been a busy Fall. i am working hard to manage my time and not make myself crazy and though it makes me so sad this is an easy place to cut back. my love for instagram and pinterest makes it a bit easier because i feel that at least i have those outlets and they are accessible from my phone as i wait in the pick up line at school. i have high hopes that blogging will be a regular part of 2012....we shall see.

Today I am here to remind you of the Chino's annual Cupcakes for a Cause Cupcake Sale!

The sale is happening on December 23rd at the Chino House!

This year each of the Chino kids have picked a charity that their portion of the money will go to. You can see more info on that here.

You can stop by to have a cupcake with us or go ahead and let me know if you would like to put in an order. We will box up your treats and have them ready for you on Friday.

Cupcakes are $2 each

Chocolate with Very Dark Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Chocolate with Peppermint Frosting

up next

2011-10-05T14:44:00.000-04:00

our july trip to colorado

maybe at some point i will catch up to real time :)

the most fun...day 6

2011-10-05T14:35:00.000-04:00

it has taken me a while to get to these last pics...the last day....because it just feels like i am closing the book on this amazing adventure.

on the last day alison and i woke up early to see the sun rise and enjoy one last quiet morning on the boat. on the mornings we did this i loved seeing the sun come up over the ocean, the quiet, the beauty, and as the sun rose i loved seeing the ship come to life.

this day we were at sea all day...glorious. we went to a future cruisers meeting, sat at the pool, went to a country dance lesson and heard music at the end of cruise party.

This night was short dress night and we met early on the serenity deck for extra pictures.

i love these women and they will always have such a special place in my heart.

just in case you missed it we took photos every night with the person sitting directly next to us. so glad we did that...they make me smile.

the birthday girls, minus Dee.

i am ready for my next cruise.

the most fun....day 5

2011-09-26T13:17:00.000-04:00

This was a Tuesday and we woke up in Cozumel. The water was amazing and turquoise.

We were all so excited about heading to our private beach, Nachi Cocom, and it was all we could have hoped for and more.

The day flew by way too quickly and was crazy good.

This night was maxi dress night. We were all sun kissed and ready for dinner back on the boat.

taxis. bar. pool. beach. shells. swim up. shot. guacamole. stories. massage. hammock. laughs. bionic woman. beds at the pool. grass umbrellas. coconut ice cream. Joseph. concrete block. salsa. Jesus. Nachi-Cocum. snorkeling. blue water. no "spring break" party like atmosphere. shopping. slingshots. headbands. RayBans. sushi. SB wins. bread pudding. 80's night. maxi dress. show.

the most fun....day 4

2011-09-23T10:22:00.000-04:00

This was a Monday morning. Alison and I woke up at 5am to go up on the deck and watch the sun rise. We laid on the deck and watched as the boat pulled into port in Progreso Mexico. It was a cloudy morning so we didn't get to see a true sunrise, but it was beautiful and as the sun came up we could see the gorgeous blue/green water.

Diane and Rhonda headed out on an excursion to see the ruins and the rest of us took it slow, laid by the pool, and eventually got off the boat to check out the shops on the dock.

We got back on the boat for lunch and spent the afternoon laying on the adult only deck with its beautiful blue chairs.

Monday was hat night....I loved hat night.

progreso. empty boat. serenity. green water. maracas. cigars. sunrise yoga. return cruisers happy hour. hat night. kick'n. coconut cake. 70's night. tommy green jr.

the most fun....day 3

2011-09-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

On this day we woke up in the middle of the ocean. I sat in the window of our bedroom and looked out. Amazing. We got coffee in our room at 7:30 and it was dreamy to sit there and stare at the ocean with our coffee. We had breakfast in the dining room and then spent most of the day in our deck chairs overlooking the pool.

At some point in the middle of the day we drove into a little rain storm. It was one of the most beautiful sights and the best part of my day. We found a covered area on the side of the boat where we could sit and watch.

This night our theme was black dresses, tiaras and boas.

steel drums. thriller. rain. right, left, center. lobster dinner. conga line. piano bar. bread pudding. karaoke. hot tub. friend with the dreads. flat millie. monkey heads. father's day. bingo. woop there it is. dance club.

the most fun....day 2

2011-09-20T11:01:00.000-04:00

Our morning started at the Hampton Inn in downtown Mobile. We had coffee in bed and lots of laughs. Then headed downstairs for breakfast. When we stepped out the front of the hotel we could see our boat in the distance....the Elation! We got to the boat around 11 and stood in an hour long line to check in. We got our sail and sign cards and walked up the big ramp to board the ship.

Once we were on it was like a big party. We had fruity drinks by the pool. We laid in the sun, laughed and danced as the boat pulled away from shore.

We had a theme for our dinner clothing every night and the first night was feather earring night.

i'm on vacation. spa giveaway. massages. drink tasting. allen. karaoke. steak. comedy show. feathers. front of the boat. shrimp cocktail. baby got back. midnight pizza. towel animals.

the most fun...day 1

2011-09-13T13:18:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful Friday morning when I met up with these eleven lovely ladies to set out on the adventure of a lifetime. This day and the five that followed will forever be some of my fondest memories. These women have taken up permanent residence in my heart. We are the WOO and it was #cruisazy and truly THE MOST FUN!

We left NLR and headed to Mobile, making a lunch stop at Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales. It was a super fun road trip and some of the best food ever.

It took all day, but we reached Mobile in time for a delicious dinner (there will be a food theme) and lots of laughs before resting up to get on the cruise ship in the morning.

Simon is FIVE!

2011-09-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

In June, just before Alison and I left on "the cruise", we all had the pleasure of celebrating Simon's fifth birthday. It was a pool party full of friends and fun.

I love all these cute little faces....especially the ones that Simon and Campbell are making while singing happy birthday. Campbell loves to sing and Simon is not so sure about being sung to.

time flies

nine cousins

2011-08-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

In June we had a week with the Davidsons. It is a pretty rare treat to have them visit in the summer and we made the most of it. Pretty sure we swam everyday, had some good food, lots of fun and they were even here for VBX. And they let me take a few pics before it was all over.

All the kids have such distinct personalities so i really wanted to give them a chance to show it and i do see each of them so much in these next photos....LOVE!

I am so crazy about these nine little people.

family photos

2011-08-26T16:59:00.000-04:00

I took these photos last spring to let our photographer from last summer know how we had used some of the photos from our session.

i love them all so much and am looking forward to adding to these from our newest photos.

Campbell's graduation

2011-08-24T11:09:00.000-04:00

At the end of May...maybe June...our little man graduated Kindergarten. His first day of kindergarten seemed like yesterday and as he walked across the stage to get his "diploma" I had a vision of him at eighteen graduating high school. An exciting day and a little sad.

When did he get so big?

Wilson got to come down from his class to watch Campbell's graduation. He is such a sweet and supportive big brother.

hot springs farmers market

2011-08-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

In late May we took a weekend trip to Hot Springs. I have always wanted to check out the Hot Springs Farmers Market and was so excited to talk my mom into a quick trip. It was super cute with this pavilion they built and a good selection of farmers, bakers and even live music.

If you get a chance I would say check out this adorable market in downtown hot springs. I can't believe summer is over and the markets will be closing soon....flew by.

field day

2011-08-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Field day was at the end of May and though it is hard to imagine it was actually a pretty cool day. I remember Campbell having chill bumps after getting wet and Wilson would not even do the water games.

He did love the tug of war game and both boys loved the sack race. Campbell was all in on the water can game.

It was a weird change to have both boys in school and try to go between both classes. For the past two years Campbell has followed Wilson around at field day and I think he was thrilled it was his turn.

happy boys and great friends

book character day

2011-08-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sometime in May the boys had book character day at school (i know it is August). Such a fun way to get the kids talking about books they like and how important reading is. Wilson knew he wanted to be someone from Harry Potter, he went with Colin Creevey, and Campbell picked one of my favorites, How I Became a Pirate. We borrowed a HP cape, wand and tie from the Chinos and with a camera from my collection Wilson was set. For Campbell I sewed a stuffed parrot to his shoulder and with some tattoos, a bandanna, and a belt he was good to go.

When they got to school each class got to parade around to show how they had dressed and what book they had chosen. It was pretty adorable.

Wilson and his best buddy had both dressed up from Harry Potter...loves.

Trying for a little blog catch up....like here is what we have been up to for the last four months :)

first day

2011-08-16T11:25:00.001-04:00

It was a CRAZY summer, full of fun. Because of all the fun it flew by and I totally cannot believe that the boys are back in school. I have a first and a third grader.

The boys let me grab a few pics yesterday morning and then we were off.

It was a great day and despite some tears shed last night (tired boys) they were excited about another good day today.

WOO

2011-07-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

Word on the street is that one of my WOO sisters has a birthday today. Thought it called for a few more #cruisazy pictures. And a Happy Birthday!

Colorado Springs family photos

2011-07-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

Last week we had the pleasure of having our family photos taken by the fabulous Kristy Rowe. Kristy took our pics last year while we vacationed/worked in Colorado and when we planned another trip this year I knew I wanted to work with her again. We love the pics! You can see more on her blog.

Woop for the WOO

2011-06-25T23:14:00.000-04:00

For the last week I have been on an amazing adventure with some beautiful friends. We were celebrating three big birthdays with a five day western Caribbean cruise. It was a trip I will never forget filled with women who will forever be my WOO sisters.

WOO (women of the ocean) 2011 on PhotoPeach

cousins

2011-06-17T00:35:00.000-04:00

We had a great week full of family, vbs, swimming, food, fun and lots of cousins.

Our nine had so much fun together this week and we are so thankful for each other.

zoo day

2011-05-23T14:24:00.000-04:00

Last week was a crazy week. I got back in town Tuesday afternoon and then had two field trips in a row. On Wednesday we got to go the zoo with all of the Kindergartners. It feels like this year has flown by and i cannot believe that C is about to be done with Kindergarten. I am pretty sure I was at the zoo with Wilson's class just a second ago, how could it have been two years???

It was a perfect day for the zoo, no rain and temps in the 70s.

We saw the new penguins...so cute...and lots of birds, cats and monkeys.

This chimp was so grumpy and actually started throwing sticks at our class...crazy.

This guy was not grumpy. He was thrilled.

It was a great day with our littlest man!

mama

2011-05-08T08:00:00.003-04:00

I am a luck girl. All around me are wonderful women. Women who have taught me through words and action to be a wife, a friend, a sister, a mama. I am so thankful for these women.
I am also thankful for my mama. She is an amazing woman. She taught me to be strong, to fight for what i believe in, she taught me to laugh and be silly, she continues to teach me how to love with my whole heart, to not take myself too seriously, and how to be a better mama to my boys....and to dress well while doing it :)
Happy Mother's Day!

happy birthday!

2011-04-30T13:19:00.001-04:00

I am so thankful for my husband. He is an amazing man and father.
Happy Birthday Pete!!!

easter

2011-04-25T19:56:00.000-04:00

i love easter. the opportunity to celebrate our risen God. the reminder of how much i love and appreciate our church. time with family. good food. and the silly fun of all the egg hunts.

we headed to pete's parents after church, our norm, and prepared for a lot of easter treats and fun.

these two were so silly. they were trying to be patient while waiting for the eggs to be hidden.

then they were off!

we do a very "fair" hunt where we hide an equal number of eggs for each kiddo and they hunt for their color.

this is the boys checking their loot.

we then made an attempt at family photos.

and grabbed a pic of all the kiddos...we also had pete's cousin and her cute little guys for lunch and the hunt.

last, but not least we dug into the desserts and sang a little happy birthday to our big eight year old.

he is risen indeed!

eight

2011-04-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

it hurts me to say that my sweet first born is eight today. how did this happen?

we looked through his baby book tonight and it felt like yesterday that we were holding our little man for the first time. i love this big guy and am so thankful for all the things he has taught me over the last eight years.

happy birthday Wilson!

we love you

our carnival party

2011-04-18T11:25:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we threw both boys a combined Carnival birthday party.

After last year I decided that I would push hard to combine their parties this year because they really like the same things and I felt like I had thrown the same party twice.

A few months ago I ran across a blog post about a carnival themed wedding and fell in love with the carnival theme...i love a theme. It seemed age appropriate and I was hopeful that we could do an outdoor party with homemade games and lots of fun carnival detail.

I got carnival tickets that the kids won for every game they played. old fashioned soda bottles with adorable striped straws. mp and i made oreo pops. craig popped corn and we had individual popcorn bags. we also had fruit skewers and hot dogs.

we were lucky with a beautiful day for the party, i think it was 80 degrees, but it was super windy. because of the wind the table was not as cute as i would have liked it to be, but i am pretty sure that didn't matter much.

i think my two favorite things about the party were our Carnies (jr high and high schoolers who came to run the games) and the photo booth (i made it out of a large box and it was SO fun).

it was loved by all the party goers.

and we even got a few with our birthday boys.

i also loved the face paint...the mp special...

and the bounce house..

and all the other games and goodies.

it really was a great party and we all had so much fun.

and even managed to grab a family pic.

a sweet friend made all three boys these tie t-shirts and they make me smile.

happy birthday boys!

nashville. day 4.

2011-04-12T10:23:00.000-04:00

Our last day we really just got up and headed out. It was Campbell's birthday so we did breakfast and a few presents before we hopped in the car. We got home mid afternoon and had a little family time before heading to a special birthday dinner for Campbell.

Campbell requested Hacienda for dinner...it is his favorite. Some of our closest family friends were in town so they met us and my cousins and Mimi & Papaw.

The birthday boy was beyond excited and got totally spoiled with yummy treats and sweet gifts.

It was a great end to our mini vaca.

I tried to get a picture of all four of us every day of this trip and it was more challenging than I would have liked....there aren't any I'll be printing, but I am still happy to have them.

nashville. day 3

2011-04-11T15:18:00.000-04:00

On our third day in Nashville we got up and going early and hit the Nashville zoo. It was really warm this day so I was super glad we had gotten there early. It was a great zoo with wide open spaces where the animals are roaming.

The boys loved the meerkats and the unbelievable playground. The playground felt like the home of the lost boys in Peter Pan...so cool...they would have stayed there all day.

Wilson fixed his own hair this day...what do ya think?

nashville...day 2

2011-04-11T14:33:00.000-04:00

I am making myself share pics from the rest of our spring break trip before i allow myself to blog party pics from this weekend, which i am dying to do.

On our second day in Nashville we headed to the Gaylord Opryland hotel. It is the largest non-gambling resort in the world...a fact i learned on our small boat ride inside the hotel...and it is beautiful. I wasn't sure how entertained the boys would be, but they loved it. There are paths everywhere that they explored, gorgeous flowers, waterfalls.

It was a great time.

That night we took the boys to Pete's aunt's house to hang out and play and then we left them there while we did an adults only dinner with my parents. So fun!

spring break. day one.

2011-04-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

I feel like I am loosing at keeping up with this blog and my gut reaction is to quit, but I am going to press on in this attempt to document our family and the places we are and things we do. I am also contemplating combining my work and personal blogs (thoughts?) For today I am going to work on a little catch up.

SPRING BREAK...we headed to Nashville for a few days of fun with my parents.

The first day we went to the Adventure Science Museum. It was so fun! A must see if you are visiting Nashville with kiddos. It had great hands on exhibits and a huge jungle jim-ish thing.

We spent about 30 minutes playing on this water table that is explaining the way blood travels through veins.

After the museum we headed to an outlet mall and then back to our hotel. We walked to dinner at Joe's crab shack and took a carriage ride that night (pics are on my phone and i am without the cord)

my baby

2011-03-24T14:09:00.000-04:00

I can not believe that my baby is six years old. The time has flown by and i think i might still look at him like a three year old, he is the baby.

We had a great time celebrating Campbell on his birthday, the boy likes attention, and we took a little time to look at pictures and tell stories from the day he was born.

Happy Birthday C!

e's b-day

2011-03-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago my parents and my sister-in-law threw a surprise birthday party for my brother. At the last minute my boys both started running a fever and so Pete ended up staying home with them. It ended up being step throat and by Monday we all four had it. I am really a week or two behind on life because of us all being sick and to blog about the fun of Eddie's birthday is my attempt to jump back into my blog.

It was his 35th birthday and they did a casino party, so fun! I played blackjack almost all night, I would never be brave enough to play it in a real casino...with real money, do this was just my speed.

There was also a craps table and a poker table.

And very best was the opportunity to catch up with old friends and family.

Happy Birthday Eddie!

valentines

2011-02-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

i love love and so i heart valentines day.

over the snow break we did a little valentine crafting and took a few valentine pics.

last night pete and i had an early valentine date and tonight we are planning a little family v-day date.

happy valentines day

xoxo

carrot cake

2011-02-11T09:07:00.001-05:00

i read today on twitter "moving less. eating more." the more these snow days go on the more i am feeling that. and it hasn't helped that yesterday i made carrot cake. i made it as an early valentine for pete, but it has been a treat for all of us.

the recipe i use is from the better homes and gardens cookbook...and i add a few things.

i added 10 oz. crushed pineapple, 1 cup nuts and 1/2 cup flake coconut with the carrots. i also put nut all on top (probably another cup)

i put a heart on top for my valentine.

few more from breck

2011-02-09T12:57:00.002-05:00

We spent the days skiing and the nights hanging with the Pierces and going to sleep early.

I realized the last day that I had taken almost no pictures of our family so i took my boys out for a few pictures...this did not go well.

I love the mountains and we had such an amazing time. The boys are now skiers and that makes me smile.

i do realize that Wilson's eyes are shut, but it is our only picture of the four of us and i am pretty sure i could get frustrated with him all over again if i think about it too much, so i am just sharing anyway.

bye, bye mountains....hope to see you again soon.

breckenridge winter vacation

2011-02-09T12:56:00.000-05:00

On Friday night we got back from a week long trip to Breckenridge. It was a week full of family and fun. I took my camera, but really only took a few pictures...it was SO cold.

We took our first full day there slow, but did go on a little walk around town.

It happened to be the week of the Breckenridge ice sculpture competition...so cool!

remembering: december swimming

2011-01-18T13:46:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe that Christmas was just a few weeks ago and looking back I am realizing that i did not blog about all the fun we had.

We had LOTS of cousin fun, including this day that we got to swim at the indoor pool at Grandmothers apartment. It was all 9 cousins + Tony, who is an honorary cousin.

The kids swam hard and even put on a little synchronized swimming show.

Happy Kiddos

five ones

2011-01-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

I love numbers and couldn't resist posting something on 1.11.11

We spent the day inside and in our pjs.

We have loved this unscheduled break from reality.

And are now preparing to start back to our normal routine tomorrow.

snow day #2

2011-01-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to have a snow day today. We slept late and laid around in pjs until 10. And then the real fun came when we suited up and headed out to enjoy our beautiful 6 inches (unconfirmed, just what i heard).

The boys and i played in our backyard. Lots of snowballs and licking snow and a few snow angles and a quick mommy lead sled ride.

That was all the warm up for our early afternoon trip out. Craig picked us up and dropped us off at a local golf course, along with the rest of NLR. It was great sledding and we all had so much fun!!!

We even got to catch up with some cousins and Bailey...that always makes for a great day.

Then we headed home where we were soon joined by Pete.

He and the boys headed out for one more snowventure while i drank my third cup of coffee and caught up on a little blogging.

And tomorrow we get to do it all again!

baby it's cold

2011-01-10T00:44:00.000-05:00

hello and happy new year!

We are still trying to catch up from our wonderful Christmas break and today we were given the gift of a little snow so tomorrow we will be getting a SNOW DAY!!!

It might keep me behind on work and laundry for one more day, but it will be totally worth it.

Today we spent the day hanging with the Chinos and Pete's parents. We laid around with hot bags and let the kids enjoy the snow.

merry christmas

2010-12-26T22:44:00.000-05:00

I am really trying to stay away from my computer for the next week, but I did want to stop in and say hello and Merry Christmas. We have had the most wonderful last few days with our families and are hoping to keep the fun coming over the coming week.

cupcake sale

2010-12-20T20:38:00.002-05:00

Cupcake Sale

for World Vision

Wednesday, December 22nd!

3-5 pm

5913 Eagle Creek

North Little Rock

Flavors:

Chocolate with Very Dark Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Chocolate with Peppermint Frosting

Cupcakes are $2 each

Get your orders of a dozen or more in today!

email:

alisonchino at gmail dot com

We already have 250 of our 500 cupcakes sold!

Yea!!

home for the holidays

2010-12-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

On Friday the boys both had their Christmas parties and their last day of school before the Christmas break. I am so happy to have them home for the next 2 1/2 weeks of fun and family time.

i love this guy

2010-12-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

11 years.

Happy Anniversary!

cupcakes

2010-12-16T13:34:00.003-05:00

It’s coming!

Our annual cupcake sale will be next Wednesday, December 22nd!

3-5 pm

Flavors:

Chocolate with Very Dark Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Chocolate with Peppermint Frosting

This year all the money is going to World Vision .

Cupcakes are $2 each.

Email or leave me a comment if you would like to reserve some cupcakes.

We will even wrap them up for you.

gingerbread houses

2010-12-08T23:33:00.001-05:00

Tonight we had the Chinos over and we go in on a little of there daily Advent fun. Today's activity was gingerbread houses. Alison picked up these gingerbread kits and all of the kids were super excited.

We started out slow, trying to figure how to get them to stay together and squeezing the icing out of the provided bags.

but it really wasn't long before we were all deep in icing. i kept having to wash my hands so i could snap a few pictures.

the kiddos were all so cute.

and had a blast.

at the end we made a joke about how the kids could eat their house as long as they used no hands....it was a joke, but we had no problem getting them to play along.

my boys

2010-12-06T08:30:00.002-05:00

i am crazy about my kiddos! i took a few pictures of each of them a few weeks ago to include on our Christmas card...it is always an adventure with these funny little guys.

pie

2010-12-06T01:12:00.000-05:00

over Thanksgiving i got together with Bailey and Julie to make pies. I think we made 10 all together and it was super fun.

I might even have the confidence to try it on my own now.

indian pow wow

2010-11-22T18:09:00.000-05:00

the fall is wonderful and full and a little hard. i feel like i have been a blogging slacker. i have kept up pretty well on my photo blog, but the family stuff has not been happening....no time. when i do have the time i struggle with where to start? do i go back and do what i missed or start from today and work backwards? i really don't know the answer, but i MUST start somewhere and so here we go. TODAY the Kindergartners had an Indian pow wow. they dressed in vest and headdresses and did special dances around a tepee. it was super cutie.

feels like yesterday that wilson was having his pow wow.

mcgoodens and razorbacks

2010-11-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

Last weekend my mom and I took the boys and headed to NWA for the football game, some shopping and a visit with great friends. On Saturday morning I photographed the McGooden family and then all of our boys (4,5,6,7 & 8) got to play. I love and really miss the McGoodens and appreciate so much how quick and easy it is to catch up. Our boys are the same way...they jump right in.

Here they are in the past...2009, 2008, 2007

After some serious playing and some less serious shopping we headed back to the hotel and got ready to call those HOGS!

We had a great time!

pumpkin patch

2010-11-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

I am pretty committed to taking the boys to the pumpkin patch each year and it seems like now that they are in school it is hard to fit in. Two Saturdays ago we had a small window and so I jumped at it. I am pretty sure it was 90 degrees and that there were one thousand people at the pumpkin patch, I will not go back on a Saturday, but the kids really did have a great time.

Mary Polly and Simon went along for the pumpkin picking fun.

The kids each picked their own pumpkin, enjoyed the hay ride and hay tunnels.

When we got home my ~~grumpy~~ sweet boys took a well deserved nap.

And I put all the pumpkins on the front porch.

pumpkin carving

2010-11-02T13:15:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday we decided to finally carve our pumpkin. I would like to carve them all, but it is really harder work than it seems. I dislike the cleaning out and wish that it was easier to make it look the way I want it to.

Pete did all the hard work while the boys and I watched on.

We were all thrilled with our final product, but Wilson wanted to add a speech bubble. We tried writing it on, but it looked crazy so I spent the rest of the evening slowly and carefully carving away the bubble without cutting through.

It was a fun night and we ended up with a cute pumpkin.

I love looking back on our jack-o-lanterns from years past.

2008
2009

disney....day 4

2010-10-29T12:04:00.000-04:00

On our fourth and final day at Disney we headed to Animal Kingdom. I really love Disney, all the parks, but Animal Kingdom is so beautiful and it might be my favorite. It has the best roller coaster, amazing shows and gorgeous scenery. We skipped the dino-land with our little ones, it has longer lines and some rides that are for bigger kiddos. Our first stop was the safari. It is like a ride through the best zoo.

then we got to see the tree lady. Campbell loved her so much, he talked about her all day. She kind of freaked Reese out.

Then we took the kids to get their faces painted and Amanda and I snuck off to ride the big roller coaster.

cuties!

We met some characters and then headed to the Lion King show. I LOVE the Lion King show!!! We got to sit in the front row and Campbell got picked to play instruments with the animals at the end of the show.

We had the best trip! And a month later I am wrapping up my Disney blogging.

disney day 3

2010-10-29T10:43:00.000-04:00

Day 3 we headed to Magic Kingdom and Mimi stayed at the hotel for a little rest and quiet time. The kids ate popsicles at 10 o'clock in the morning, we rode lots of rides and got to meet Mary Poppins. We left the park in the early afternoon to make our lunch at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. This is my favorite character meal because you get to meet the fab five, Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. The kids were so excited and the food was pretty good too.

That afternoon we headed to downtown Disney, it was very rainy...so no pictures. Just as the rain stopped we headed back to the hotel for a low key dinner, a little swimming, marshmallow roast, and the electric light water show that we could see from the balcony of our room. We were all so tired this day. If you have more time I think day 3 is the day to take a break. Ended the day playing with the Indiana Jones toys Campbell got and the Little Mermaid toys Reese picked.

Disney...Day 2

2010-10-15T17:22:00.000-04:00

On our second day we got up and got going, arriving at Hollywood Studios around 10 minutes after it opened. Apparently everyone in Orlando also thought Thursday was the best day for HS, it was packed. It was also the hottest day of our trip and in my opinion HS is not the best 5 year old park. They have lots of preschool stuff which our BIG 5 year olds thought they were too big for and some fun bigger kid stuff, but mostly shows instead of rides. Our main reason for visiting this park is because of the Toy Story ride that none of us had ever been on. We got a fastpass for it, but our wait was about 6 hours.In the mean time we did get to meet some characters, have a character lunch, Amanda and I rode Tower of Terror, saw Indiana Jones show, ate ice cream, did Little Mermaid show, and visited the Star Wars shop.

Campbell, who is currently loving Indiana Jones, was so excited about this show. Amanda got picked from the audience to be an extra which made the whole thing even more fun.

When our time came we were all thrilled to use our fastpass for Toy Story, it had a 2 hour standby line. I am not one for a 2 hour line, but the ride really was great and I was thankful that we waited around for our fastpass time. For those who don't Disney or haven't in the past 10 years the fastpass is amazing!

Straight after Toy Story we hoped on the boat and headed to Epcot. We got to do Figment, Soarin, and spent lots of time in the Nemo ride and aquarium.

This might have been one of Campbell's favorite parts and made me want to take the boys to an aquarium some time soon.

The kids really held up well and we for sure pushed them to the limit by staying in the park to watch the fireworks from the outdoor restaurant in Mexico.

This night we took a taxi back to the hotel and Campbell was so excited that he had to call Pete and tell him all about the yellow taxi....funny how we could have stayed in LR and rode a cab and C would have thought that was amazing!

Disney Day 1

2010-10-14T13:43:00.000-04:00

We headed out of NLR on a Tuesday evening, almost a month ago, to spend the night in Memphis and catch an early morning direct flight to Orlando.....so I guess this is really day 2, but day 1 at Disney. We arrived at MCO around noon with two anxious kiddos. Luckily because Disney is amazing and has every little detail covered we did not even have to wait on our bags. We headed straight to our hotel and hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. I think we were on our first ride by 2 o'clock.

Amanda and I are Disney crazy (think between the two of us we are around 20 visits) and we had planned the days with colored coated charts and plans for what to see and what days to see it. We started the day with the Buzz Lightyear ride, a crowd favorite. If you zoom in on the pictures of the picture below you can see that my mom and I are taking it very seriously.

Next we headed to the Tea Cups, this was my absolute favorite ride as a child. We were super lucky with small crowds. We rode this 2 or three times this first day.

These pictures aren't great technically speaking, but I love them! These kiddos were having the time of their lives.

This was our first time to do the Disney Dining plan and I think C's favorite part was all the dessert. He got to have ice cream every day.

The above picture is important because I think it might be the only time in my life I have seen my mom on a roller coaster....even if it is in the kiddie land it still counts.

On our first day we were lucky enough to meet Reese's favorite character, Stitch, and Campbell's favorites, Chip & Dale. And we got to meet every one's favorites, Mickey and Minnie.

Campbell and Reese were really up for anything! They loved all things fast and as soon as they were over they were both asking to go again.

We got to see and do so much that first day and were out of the park by 7 to go to our super yummy dinner at The Wave.

I have not blogged in a month....crazy how the time flies. I am committed to blogging about this wonderful trip. We took Wilson and Dylan when they were 5 and had such a great time with these 2 five year olds.

oops. more breckenridge

2010-09-16T10:56:00.000-04:00

Remember how we went to Colorado, like 2 months ago? Well then we came back and I blogged a little, but then as often happens I got a little side tracked. I am back to finish blogging our trip.

On our second to last day we decided to head through the tunnel to visit cute little Georgetown, CO. We walked around and had a little lunch and headed back toward Breckenridge in plenty of time to meet the photographer that evening.

Or that was how the plan went. We got on the road and after driving about a mile came to a stop on the highway. There had been a wreck in the tunnel and all the traffic was being rerouted over Loveland Pass. It was one of the most beautiful and scary drives i have been on. When driving up the road to the pass you spend the majority of the time on the outside of a road of switchbacks. I couldn't decide if I wanted to take pictures or cover my eyes.

At the top we hopped out for a little photo op, leaving grumpy Wilson and my terrified mother in the car. I have to say my feet were very happy to touch the ground.

We arrived back to our condo with just enough time to throw ourselves together, a group effort, and meet the photographer.

birthday

2010-09-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

Friday and Saturday Alison and I had the pleasure of celebrating our birthdays a little early with some sweet friends. It was a 24 hour celebration and it was full of good food, laughter, music, dancing, yoga, crafts and swimming. It was absolutely wonderful!

Happy Birthday to us!

www.whitneyloibner.com

2010-09-05T13:39:00.002-04:00

The website got a facelift! Take a look:

www.whitneyloibner.com

cuties

2010-09-01T17:18:00.000-04:00

it is that time of year again, i will soon be posting countless pictures of my boys playing soccer. they have both started practicing in the last week or so and we are very excited about this season. wilson is happy to still be on a team with dylan and one of his best buddies and we are all so thrilled about campbell's team because we know everyone and almost all of them we know very well. when we found out who was on the team we were so excited and though we were questioning the skill level i was pretty sure they would be the cutest team ever. i was right about the cuteness (they are ADORABLE!!!!), but it also seems like their skills have improved over the summer. bring on the Fall.

diane

2010-08-31T22:12:00.000-04:00

It make me really sad when I somehow let a ton of time fly by without blogging about something I did. This is for sure the case when it comes to this dear friend's birthday. This Spring I had the great pleasure of heading to Petit Jean to celebrate Diane's 50th with a wonderful group of ladies. I actually slid my way into the party by being the official party photographer. We ate good food, told great stories, hiked, laughed, cried....it was a wonderful time celebrating a woman I truly love and admire, a woman who can do jumping moves on top of a log and look good doing it.

She is a mother to five and a friend to many and it was truly a JOY to be a part of her special day.

Breckenridge Family Photos

2010-08-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

We had known for quite a while that we would be in Colorado for the first week of August and for almost that long I have been looking into having our family portraits made while we were there. My boys all spend a LOT of time in front of the camera, but for me it is a rare occasion and often a picture taken by our seven year old. I really believe in what I do and the importance of capturing the times in our lives because they are all gone in the blink of an eye. I wanted to capture Campbell now just before Kindergarten and Wilson before he is too cool and before he has lost all his baby teeth. SO on our last full day of vacation we meet up with the wonderful Kristy Rowe of Moodeous Photography. I found Kristy online and knew right away that our styles gelled perfectly. She was so easy to be with and as you can tell below the boys had a great time. I might have spent a ridiculous amount of time planning our clothes, but I think it was worth it....i love them and we even got to wear long sleeves....in August.

I took a few of these from Kristy's site, but please jump over there to see the rest and give her some love.

reading

2010-08-23T12:59:00.000-04:00

Over the summer Pete and the boys have started reading chapter books. It is so cute and even though I am a little sad because it feels like we should be reading board books I do love it. As a bonus all the books so far have a movie, a little treat waiting every time they finish a book. They have read the Hobbit, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and are currently on the third book of the Chronicles of Narnia. Pete is even working with the boys on reading comprehension. Every night before they read a new chapter the boys take turns telling what has happened so far in the story (that might be Wilson's favorite part.)

On Friday after school the boys all cuddled up on the couch to read another chapter and about 5 minutes in I looked over and saw this.

It's hard being a Kindergartner.

after school

2010-08-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after school I picked up my two big boys and we headed to Starbucks to visit the daddy and grab a little after school treat. They were both excited to share about the highlights of the day which included recess, lunch, gingerbread hunts, new friends, new supplies, and the big kid desk you get in second grade.

They were all smiles and full of energy, that I am pretty sure was just a way to not fall asleep and maybe a little Frappuccino.

Today after school we headed to Orange Leaf and grabbed a little treat with Mimi and Papaw. Next week might be a reality check when we just come home after school instead of going out for a frozen treat.

back to school

2010-08-19T17:44:00.000-04:00

Today, after the fastest summer ever, the boys started school. I am the mom to two elementary students. A second grader and a kindergartner. And i can not believe it. I had a restless night consumed with thoughts of how fast the last 7 1/2 years have gone and how i know that in a blink of the eye i will be having these same feelings about a middle schooler, high schooler..... When I finally got out of bed about 6, sure i could not stay in bed any longer, i saw that our neighbors had been rolled, a NLR tradition where seniors roll the juniors the night before school starts, and was stuck again by how soon that will be us. Do you think the boys will be as entertained by it then? They wanted to ask our neighbors if they could please try to pull it out of their trees.

To the delight of Wilson and Campbell our house got "mini-rolled." I am pretty sure they would have played with that toilet paper all day.

Instead their mean mom made them take pictures and lost in the moment I forgot to change my camera setting and ended up with some very washed out photos.

We were all so excited for our little Kindergartner. And though he put on a very brave face I can tell as I look through these that C has on his nervous smile.

Both boys really had a great day and after some tears shed I had a fine day too.

MP and a Lisa Leonard Giveaway

2010-08-19T10:31:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we celebrated MP's birthday. It was a pie party with chicken pot pie for lunch and blackberry pie for dessert, both requested by the birthday girl. We love that girl and I cannot believe she is ELEVEN.

In an effort to think about anything other than my BIG kiddos being at school I am going to spend some time with my google reader. I came across a wonderful giveaway on Lisa Leonards blog. She is giving away $100 for her site and $100 to Target. Could it get any better? I think not. Go check it out.

This is the adorable Lisa Leonard necklace MP got for her birthday.

Copper Mountain, CO

2010-08-18T12:21:00.000-04:00

The next day we headed to Copper Mountain to see what was going on there and scout out options for skiing this winter. Our day at the fun park had been fun, but both boys were sad to miss the big trampoline...it had a 1 hour line. This one at Copper had a very short wait and the people working there were wonderful.

Both boys LOVED it and did so many flips that I lost count.

For buying the the jump tickets we got 4 free lift rides so all 4 boys took the lift up to look around and do a little exploring, my mom and I explored the shops.

Peak 8 Fun Park Breckenridge, CO

2010-08-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

i started getting picture togetherfor this post and quickly realized i had way too many. i really love these templates for moments like this because i can still put lots of pictures, but don't leave people scrolling for an hour to look at all the pics. this is from our first full day in Breckenridge. we had heard about this super cool summer fun park at Peak 8 and it was all it was promised to be. maybe a little Disney over Breckenridge (lots of people and lines) but it was worth the wait and for sure a highlight from our trip.

first up was the maze...pete and wilson were off and running, leaving c and i behind, but we held our own and got all our stamps.

then to rock climbing where wilson dominated. he made it to the top in a blink of the eye.

ps. i spent a large portion of our trip just watching how big that kiddo is getting to be.
campbell gave it a go, but didn't make it and didn't mind.

a ride on the lift took us to the alpine slide, the main attraction. i think i loved this as much as the boys. it was SO fun!

and since you can not park on the mountain at the fun park we got to take the gondola back down to the car. this was my mom's first lift/gondola ride ever and we were all extremely proud of her, she is VERY afraid of heights and she did great.

as we finished up it started to rain and we stopped for lunch at Blue River Bistro. it was super yummy.

Breckenridge Colorado

2010-08-13T13:21:00.000-04:00

We have know for a while that we would be in Colorado for a wedding the last weekend in July and decided sometime ago that after Pete and I finished our work we would stay a week for a family vacation. We were lucky to be joined by my parents who watched the boys while we did wedding things and really helped us have a great week.

The wedding was in Colorado Springs, where I had never been and was beautiful, and then we headed to Breckenridge. I have a longstanding love affair with Breckenridge....we skied there 3 years while I was in high school and Pete and I have been back a time or two. It is an adorable town with yummy food, fun shopping and the nicest people. We visited some old favorites and discovered some fun things I had never seen.

did I mention

2010-08-05T11:22:00.000-04:00

that we are in the mountains?

We have had the most wonderful week and are trying as hard as possible to soak up every minute of this 60 degree weather before returning home to 100+. I find myself thinking about the temperature a lot. I am hoping that next week when I am at home melting I can remember just a little of the glory of a Colorado summer. At this moment I am sitting in Starbucks drinking hot coffee next to a fireplace. I have on jeans and a summer scarf......IT IS GLORIOUS!!!!!

wedding day

2010-07-31T16:38:00.000-04:00

We are full on in wedding mode, Pete is on the flowers and I am on pictures, i love it when we get to team up. It is an absolutely gorgeous venue and we are enjoying every minute

Even took a little break to grab some Chipotle.

It is a good day.

matchy

2010-07-26T23:13:00.001-04:00

On Saturday night we had the pleasure of seeing one of our high school friends get married. I threw Wilson's camera in my purse (I have not been able to figure out how to turn the date and time off of Wilson's camera and I finally figured it out tonight!!!! yippy) and actually pulled it out to get a very few pictures.

I love an opportunity to grab a pic of Pete and I so that we can remember the special times we get together. On this night it was also important to me to get a picture of Amy and I because this is the second time in a month we have shown up somewhere dresses very similar. Funny.

Thought I would also throw these pics in from Amy's birthday, I forgot to blog about it, but it was the other time we dressed alike. Amy has joined us in her 30s!!! I think the 30s are actually pretty great.

summer sunday

2010-07-18T23:02:00.000-04:00

We almost always have Sunday lunch at Peter's parents house, a tradition we all love. We eat and get to catch up and nap and kids play and occasionally, really pretty often because there are a lot of us, we get to celebrate birthdays. Yesterday was Cole's birthday (he is 13!!!) and so today we all got to celebrate together.

After all that fun the Chinos headed home to get ready for their first day of school tomorrow and we got to have Simon over and continue the Sunday fun.

We decided to let the boys play in the sprinklers while we watered the yard. As you can tell Simon is not sure about this plan. Despite the fact that it is 1 million degrees outside he kept telling me he was cold and maybe we should go in. That guy cracks me up!

more from the fourth

2010-07-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

On the Fourth the boys and I headed to Hot Springs for a few days of family, friends, food and fireworks. The boys swam for countless hours with some great friends and passed out when it was time for bed.

We also took a little trip to the firework stand with Papaw and picked up a few small fireworks, the boys were beyond thrilled. The bumble bees were their favorite.

Pretty sure this picture is evidence that I am the crazy mom who makes her kids wear goggles when playing with sparklers.

The goggles didn't last.

I talked my parents into trying to spell hi with the sparklers. It did not work great, but we had fun.

My parents are super cute and I love that without being asked my dad made a heart with his sparkler and was giving my mom a little kiss.....I love those two!

in blue

2010-07-07T17:29:00.001-04:00

Pretty rare to grab a picture of all 4 of us, all in our blue for the fourth
I used my go-go gadget arms and took a few.

We had a great 4th!

c's special day

2010-07-06T17:43:00.001-04:00

We started Campbell's special day off by driving back to Little Rock and straight to a playground.

A game of chase, hide-n-seek, and some digging in the sand.

After some serious hand washing we headed to Mexico Chiquito (Campbell's pick) for lunch.

And then off to The Wonder Place. We have not been there in a long time and we had a great time, played for 3 hours.

We also hit up Laman Library for some reading and a movie rental and went out for dinner and ice cream, then home and played hard in the sprinklers. It was a great day with Campbell.

I love this sweet little guy and so enjoyed spending a day celebrating him.

market days (red & blue)

2010-07-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

This morning I got to have a grown up trip to the market. The boys and I have been making it to the NLR market, but the LR market is a little much for me to do alone with them. This morning Pete was home and I got to go to both markets with Julie and even have a little breakfast and coffee, it was fabulous.

As I emptied my overflowing basket onto the kitchen counter I was struck by how much of my food was red-ish and blue-ish. So perfect for this 4th of July weekend.

Food plays such a big part in our holiday celebration and I can't imagine the 4th without some berries and LOTS of tomatoes....my counter might have four varieties of tomato sitting on it now.

And since I am not planning a flag fruit pizza this year I decided to make a flag with my market goodies.

Happy 4th!

w's special day

2010-07-02T19:32:00.000-04:00

Two summers ago Pete and I decided that we would make a tradition of doing a special day for each of the boys every summer where it was just us and one boy and they got to have a whole day of fun and attention. It actually sounds a little sad to say that we really have to plan for this, but it is true. It is super rare to have time alone with one of our boys and that time is very special. I guess it is actually so hard that it took us two years to do it again. The boys knew the special days were coming and Wilson had been planning it all out in his head, I love that first born planner. Campbell headed off to spend the day with Mimi and Papaw and we started the day with a bike ride.

I am so crazy about this little guy. It's funny how just this little bit of time really helps me see him, who he is and the big boy he is growing into. Also makes me want to cry a little, but that's a story for another day.

After the ride we headed to Purple Cow for a cool off and yummy lunch.

After lunch we hung out for a while at Barnes and Noble and then headed to the River Market to play on the playground and walk on the bridge. Then we drove to Hot Springs for dinner at Kobe, met up with Campbell at Mimi's and took a little late night swim.

We had an amazing day with Wilson and slept hard because Thursday we started all over with Campbell.

berries

2010-06-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

The boys and I have been trying to make it to the NLR Market every Saturday morning. We all have a hard time controlling ourselves, but I think we might as well go berry crazy while they are available. Every year when berry season passes I am sad that we didn't indulge more.

I think the beauty of these berries and the incomparable yumminess of a local tomato makes the heat a little more bearable.

daddy

2010-06-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

My boys are super lucky to have a great daddy.
Happy Father's Day Pete!

field day and follies

2010-06-10T23:04:00.000-04:00

With all of the end of the year festivities I had forgotten to post these few pictures from field day and follies. Campbell and I headed to Wilson's school to partake in the fun.

Wilson's grade did a line dance, he was pumped about the boots and cowboy hat. He did a great job and we all had a super fun day.

fun with cousins

2010-06-05T14:27:00.001-04:00

We are lucky enough to have the Davidson's in town for a few days which means cousin time. It is pretty much a nonstop party around here.

These pics are from the last time we were all together, Thanksgiving. As you can see they are a cute group and know how to have some fun. Also funny to look at these pics because I am pretty sure a few of the cousins have grown a good 6 inches in the past 6 months.

cookies and last days

2010-05-31T17:52:00.000-04:00

Thursday was Campbell's last day of school and as a little thank you to his wonderful teachers we made his favorite cookies for them. I found a M and M cookie recipe on their website and C and I made them together...I love cooking with my boys.

Campbell really wanted to do it all and I was amazed by how long he lasted in the kitchen.

When they were finished we wrapped them up for his teachers and directors and a neighbor.

We took them on his last day. I took my camera thinking I would get this great pic of his whole class on the last day at this wonderful school, but it didn't go down like that. I could not get the kids attention and some had left and my child was completely uncooperative. Oh well....this really is silly Campbell.

And I did manage a picture of the boys.

take me out to the ballgame

2010-05-29T12:13:00.000-04:00

On Thursday night we had the pleasure of being invited to the Travelers game by the James. I was afraid to take my camera because it had been raining on and off, but I threw Wilson's camera in my bag so we could get a few pictures of Flat Stanley.

I did manage to get a few pics of the boys, and of course Flat Stanley, but none of the James family. Amy even got one picture of the 4 (5 if you count FS) of us.

We had a really great time!

I used Wilson's camera to take these pics and I was able to crop out the date that comes up on the bottom of all pics I take with his camera, but I am curious if anyone knows how to turn off this feature....it ANNOYS me! He has a Nikon point and shoot camera with a touch screen and the menu is very basic, think it is a 230. I cannot find anywhere to turn this off, but I know it can be off because it use to be. Any advice?