School's out - It's a ZOO day!!

                                                                        

What is one of the best things to do on an 85 degree sunny day in September? Go to the ZOO!  I took the kiddos along with my friend, Alyson - her son Riley - and my sister-in-law, Cissi - and her two sons Chase and Colton to the Sedgwick County Zoo.  We love it there!  Probably because we fit right in.  I have threatened to leave the kids more than once with the monkeys!  I swear people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  

We had a great time and got some great photos!  And yes, I am going to share most of them with you.  I can hear National Geographic calling my name already!! Ha!  Just a couple of notes - my absolute favorite animal at the zoo - the Otters!!  Although, today, the hippos were interacting with us and it was so neat.  You see the pictures of them with their mouths open?  They were waiting for people to pour water from their water bottles   in their mouths.  It was pretty neat!  I have never seen a hippos teeth - but, we did today!  They have teeth way down in the back of their throat practically - and the are BIG teeth.  Their tongues look like a human brain - pretty gross actually! The picture of the foot - is the hippos foot pressing up against the glass in their tank..they have huge feet!  The elephants were showing off as well - there was one that was trying to reach people with his trunk. They are amazing animals. 

I think in all of the times that I have been to the zoo - the animals  were the most active and responsive today. It was a lot of fun!  Enjoy!

Carlee's new toy.......

Hello!!  I wanted to get something up for this week.  I have had a cold so, I have been a little slow on things.  We are getting ready to go to conferences for the kids - but, I wanted to get this picture up of Carlee.  A dear friend of mine at my office, Lois, gave me this little push toy for Carlee.  She LOVES it!! Thank you Lois!!   Hope everyone's week is going well. 

Mostacciolli!!!

Carlee LOVES mama's mostacciolli!!! She ate more than Cayden and Vanna tonight.....little piglet.

Last Call.....

Ok Ok Ok....all of these postings that are prior to this one were posted today.  I just created this today - so, I spent a lot of time on it - and by the way, I think I set it up wrong - so, some of you may have received about 100 email notifications that there was a new post...uh....sorry about that.  Won't happen again...you know these computers sometimes have a mind of their own!! Ha!  Anyway - I was working so hard at getting this done and holding Carlee - I hadn't realized that she was sitting there asleep...so, I guess that means - Time to quit mom.  Vanna took this picture - the kids thought it was hysterical!!  So - goodnight for now.  I hope you have enjoyed all of this so far.  We'll be back again soon!!! Love you all!!

Papa Cliff

This isn't a great picture - but, I wanted to put a picture of my dad up.  He came in from Kansas City last weekend and we had a nice time.  We threw him a little surprise birthday party for his birthday next month.  I hope to have some better pictures of him and the kids soon to post. Happy Birthday Dad!  We loved having you visit!

Working with my dad....

This picture just warms my heart.  Carlee is always interested in what her daddy is doing.  If he is hammering...she will pick up the hammer and try when he is not looking.  The funniest thing - the other day he was working and he was bent over nailing some wood and all I hear is clink, clink, clink....I looked over and she was standing there cleaning out his tool belt - while he had it on! As you can see - she is right in the middle of it.  I am going to teach her how to fold laundry!  She is already pretty good at unloading the dishwasher and cleaning out cabinets!

Fun at the park....

This is our friend Brienne....another person we love!!  We took Carlee to the park for the first time and she had FUN!!!  

More Wedding pics...I know I know.....

I love these pictures.....

The one of Cayden and Colton....uh...long story, we had a little de-pantsing? at the wedding reception....pretty much we all lifted our dresses or pulled down our pants and had on these HUGE boxers that spelled out "Just Married".....so, Cayden and Colton took it upon themselves to put a pair of boxers on and then stuff them with all the other ones.  These two are like peas in a pod....it's entertainment just watching them.

Professional Photography

I borrowed my sister's fancy camera and Matt and I took some pictures of the girls out in our front yard....pretty good huh?  Now, don't all of you come running at once to get your pictures taken...I am pretty expensive! :)

Matt is showing the kids his tackle box and explaining everything...pretty sure Vanna's thinking - I am not touching anything dirty, Cayden is thinking - that would be cool if I could catch a fish by his eyeball and Carlee is just wanting to chew on all the lures.......

Vanna's first fish too. And, I was right - Vanna didn't touch anything dirty...wonder where she gets that from? I don't have a clue!

Uhhhh.....what can I say? With the price of groceries going up so much...it's cheaper to just go to Sam's and buy dog food.....

YUCK.  We have moved the dog food up a little higher.

Carlee's 1st time at the lake....she didn't care for the cold water - or the life jacket for that matter.  We have since gotten her a different life jacket and she has turned into a fish.  LOVES the water.....

My Cousin Christopher's Wedding

These are two of my favorite pictures.  

One is of me and my cousin Christopher who got married in March.  He married a wonderful woman named Katie.  We just love her!  The other is of the women on my side.  From left - Cissi, my sister-in-law - married to Chad, my mom Janet, me, my sister Cari and Robin, my sister-in-law - married to Casey.  We had a blast in Kansas City where they got married! They got busy that very next month and are now pregnant....we are all so very happy for them!

This is Papa Steve. (Matt)  He loves to ride his bicycle........he rides everywhere.....

Uhh......let me explain.  Cyvannah decided to do a swan dive off of the toybox at the sitter's after repeatedly being told not to.  Well, this was the result.  She got 7 stitches.  We tried to cheer her up by donning shower caps at shower time!  A family who wears shower caps together...stays together..... :)

Carlee is all ready to go on a walk!!! She loves to walk.....we try to go often......her new thing is riding in the bike trailer.

She loves that too - but, is so small in that things...kind of funny to see.  She just takes her sippy cup and looks out the side of the window.....

Cousin Johnna

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the kids cousin, Johnna.  She is 3 months older than Carlee and she lives in Kansas City for those of you who didn't know.  The picture with the hat and the teddy bear are on her first birthday - poor baby - she was sick!  I knitted her the hat and the bear.  The other picture is of her on her dedication day (with Mom and Dad - Uncle Markie and Aunt Annie).  We wish we could see them more....we miss them!

Happy Birthday Cayden!!

I wish I had more pictures of Cayden's birthday - he had a party and then Matt took him and 4 other boys to Laser Quest.  They had a good time and he had his hands full!!  They boys then spent the night so it was giggling, yelling, wrestling and flatulating in the basement......there really is a big difference between boys and girls.....I love them all!

We love Alyson!

Meet Alyson......she is our babysitter and we LOVE her.  It is a funny story and such a blessing!  I was desperately looking for a babysitter for Carlee when I had to go back to work.  Vanna's babysitter didn't have room for her and I didn't want to split the girls up so, I was frantically looking for someone to take both of them.  Strangely, a friend of a friend called me about a job as she was going to work from home and was looking for a replacement for herself.  Turns out, I didn't take the job - but, I asked her who had watched her children and if she would have any openings since she was going to work from home.  This is the best part - she said she did have two openings and she gave me her name....I couldn't believe it.  It was a friend from high school that I had lost touch with!! I was so excited!!! She has been watching both of the girls and they just absolutely love her. She and her family are absolutely the best that they come!  We have caught up on our friendship and are now I have a work out buddy and a walking buddy and a shopping buddy....God Bless you Alyson!! He knows you have blessed me and my family!!!