Grandma Hen's grandchicks

We headed to the Portrait Innovations in Virginia Beach so Grandma Hen could get a picture of all three of her grandchildren together. The photographers (yup, that's plural on purpose) had their work cut out for them - you've gotta be fast to get a good shot of three kids, especially when two of them are young!

Bradley did a great job of helping his younger cousins.

This was my favorite group shot.

And, just for your viewing pleasure, an individual picture of P...

...and one of C...

...and one of Bradley. This was Bradley's favorite picture of himself from the photo shoot, so I followed his advice and chose this one for the blog, too.

Cheese!

Fun in the Sun!

Both of our boys LOVE to play outside, which thrills me. I love to see them running, climbing, and even jumping outside. It's a fun way for them to get exercise, and they don't even realize that's what they're doing!

To them, it's just splashing around in the pool,


or riding a rollercoaster.


P has gotten to be such a "big boy." He carries the roller coaster "car" back up the hill after he rides, "an' for C, too, 'cause he can't yet. I'm followin' the rules an' I'm helpin'." What a sweet big brother!



C finally got Rocky to hold still so he could pet him.



P also got a new red car from Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred. He took C "on a ride," but apparently he also wanted to make sure that the car was in excellent condition, because he repeatedly got out of the car to "check the engine".


No mother would complain that her son wanted to drive a safe car!

Customer in Training

Grandma Paige's Giant has small shopping carts with flags that say "Customer in Training". Daddy A and I had a blast watching P shop throughout the store, and I wanted you to experience our joy, at least vicariously. In the first video you'll see P buy "a bapple" (an apple), and in the second he does a dance that "Mommy can do it too, yes, you can". (I don't know what the "dance" would look like without dance lessons, which he picks up again next Monday). Enjoy!

fun at the House of Mouse

Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred took us all to Chuck E. Cheese one day while we were in Fredericksburg. (We didn't eat any meals there. We also try to let the boys associate the "House of Mouse" with cities in which we do not live. It's fun to enjoy Chuck E. Cheese in small doses and on special occassions, although to be fair, that's the only way we've tried it.)

Wiggly Concert

We were able to see The Wiggles live in concert again this summer, thanks to Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred. The boys picked out t-shirts and light up toys and danced along to the music. When the performers came out into the audience to collect roses for Dorothy, P and I got a photo with Anthony, who happens to be my favorite Wiggle. (On a side note, if you are familiar with the Wiggles, you may be as surprised as I was to learn that Anthony shaved his head!)


The Wiggles take time during their concerts to read out the signs their fans have made. Last year, Parker got a photo with Murray. This year, we made a sign that read, "C would love to have a photo with the Captain." Captain Feathersword came down into the audience and posed for a photo with C!

The boys are both still talking about the concert!

Riders in the Sky

I'll bet you can guess where we went to see Riders in the Sky perform... yes indeed, we headed back to Tweetsie Railroad.

P drove Daddy A around the "race track" in a red car.

Then we headed to the Hacienda for the special attraction. These guys are famous, but P knows them for their work on Toy Story 2 - they sing the "Woody's Roundup" theme song. Their show was excellent.

P has also recently hit a big Dora the Explorer phase. He especially likes "Swiper the Box" (that's Swiper the Fox, if you don't speak toddlerease). When we went to the face painting booth, he broke from his usual request for a train, and had a Swiper painted on his arm instead.

C is becoming quite the fan of amusement park rides. He and P rode the planes together.

Then C took a solo boat ride.

Once again, Tweetsie was a blast!

a double birthday

On August 12th, I turned 30 and C turned 19 months old. C had his 18 month check up that day. He came through the shots just fine, and I found out just how much our "bebe" boy is growing! He's now 26 pounds even and 32 1/2 inches tall. He falls just above the 50th percentile for weight and in the 57th percentile for height. As they say, he's growing like a weed in springtime. My love for him - and his brother - is growing like crazy, too!

the BIG 30

I mentioned in this post that Daddy A arranged for some visitors to help me celebrate my 30th birthday. What I didn't mention (or know at the time) was that Daddy A had some other plans, too.

The five of us headed to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. While I was engaged in conversation with Amanda, Daddy A let the wait staff know it was my birthday, which involved a very large hat and a delicious fried ice cream.

Then we headed to the brewery for a "special concert or something." Yup, you guessed it! The "special event" was a surprise party for me! Pastor Michael came back from Scotland just for the party. Or, you know, was maybe back in town but lying low til the end of his sabbatical. Something like that. Either way, he was there, sporting his new beard.

I was totally surprised, and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did!

I guess this is better than a birthday spanking...

Thank you so much, my wonderful husband, for my birthday surprise!

Backyard Fun with a Friend

The weekend before my 30th birthday, Daddy A surprised me by arranging for my sister Tiffany and her fiance John and my friend Amanda and her daugher MJ to come and visit. On Saturday morning, the three kiddos headed out into the backyard to play.

I gave C a fauxhawk. I liked it; I thought it was cute. No one else was impressed, but C didn't seem to mind.

MJ taught P how to use our two person swing. I found out that she has a "cheese face" too.

All three kids played in the sandbox together. By together, I mean that they played in the sandbox at the same time, working on their own projects, but it was still cute.

I really enjoyed a chance to catch up with my friends, and P keeps asking me when "girl" is coming back to play, so I assume he also had a good time. Thanks for visiting, guys!

Montreat Youth Conference

While Daddy A was away at Montreat with the youth, the boys and I went to visit a few times. Thursday we went to celebrate Eric's 16th birthday with some yummy My Father's Pizza f0r lunch and delicious cake f0r dessert after dinner. During "rest", or, ahem, "free" time after lunch, we hung out with everyone. We enjoyed the scenery and just being at Montreat.



The boys ate more freezie pops than I could count, and P talked someone into painting his toenails pink.



We ended up still being there when it was time for the group photo. We hadn't planned to be there, so we didn't have our Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. I dressed the boys in the polo shirts in the diaper bag (since that was the dressy thing I had with me), and I borrowed a skirt from Cara. Here we are in front of Lake Susan.

Montreat is a wonderful experience for our youth, their leaders, and our family. I'm grateful for all the help our church provides in making the youth conference possible for our youth each year!

a crafting update

I finished the pants I was knitting for the boys. (That's one pair for them to share - P wears them uncuffed, C cuffs the legs, and there's a drawstring waist.) Many thanks to Grandmere for helping me figure out how to weave everything together!

I was all set to focus on C's stocking until I was done with it, but I had been planning to sew a jacket for P almost identical to the one I made him two years ago that C has inherited. It has Peanuts characters doing autumn-like things (raking leaves, etc.) on it. I figured that since fall comes before Christmas, I should push that project to the top of my crafting queue. Then I decided to focus on the stocking like I had told myself I would so I could get it done. (I've been working on it off and on for over a year.) Then I remembered that on our last trip to Fredericksburg Grandma Paige bought the boys tennis shoes with Linus and the Great Pumpkin on them, I decided they'd go so well with the jacket that I did need to go ahead and make a new (bigger) one for P. So for the last three days, I worked on it a little bit every night, and now it's done! The lining is a different color than in the first jacket I made, and I put it together a little differently, but other than that, it's the same.

I haven't worked on the stocking though, so I'm back to focusing on that. Hopefully I'll do a bettter job than I have been...

peas

This sweet boy...

is getting quite a set of manners!

We've been encouraging C to say please when he asks for things, and today we had success! I took the boys up to Montreat to hang out with Daddy A and the "big kids" in our youth group, where there happens to be an abundance of Flavorice "freezy pops". (P had, ahem, six. I think. He quickly figured out he could garner lots of "popsicles" by asking a different person to fill his order each time he wanted a new one!) C wanted in on the action to, so when I gave the boys their first freezy pops of the day, I asked, "Can you say please?" C looked at me, nodded, and said, "Peas!" He continued to practice his new skill all day. Tonight, when I put him in his diaper and asked if he was ready to go night night, he said, "Yes, peas!" As his mother, I know I'm biased, but I think it's just precious!