VT Roommates

Okay - I have tons of pictures and I'm going to try and limit myself...some.  Joyful took us to this Bazaar on Friday and we all did some shopping.  Check out the picture below, can you find something in common?

 After our shopping spree, one of my roommates from graduate school, Tara stopped by!  Now, there will be another whole post dedicated to this girl in the future.  I miss her dearly.  We've got stories and I'm sure they are really good (I don't remember them), and I could have spent ten days talking non-stop to her.  Maybe we would have played a game or twenty of skip-bo ;)  We did that a lot during graduate school.  Thank you Tara for traveling to Richmond to meet my kiddos and catch up.  I miss you. A lot.

And of course I could go through and pick out a ton of photos from our college years. But I'll spare you all and just post one.

 Here we all are NOW

And this was THEN (Oct 26, 2002 - the time stamp on the photo says 1am)

additional roommate in photo is Kristin...she's got a super hero, and two other adorable kids.

haha - those were the good ol' days!

Trip to Richmond...TAKE TWO!

So remember a month ago when I was *crying* about missing out on VT Reunion 2012 because we were all sick!?!?  Well, take two begins today! We left this morning (the kids did great on the flight) to travel to Richmond.

This sign greeted us on Joy's kitchen counter

 And this pillow was on her couch :)

Needless to say, we felt immediately welcomed.  

We got the grand tour of her beautiful and spacious home.  LOVE IT ALL.  The kids played everywhere and within 25 minutes managed to pull out every toy in the house.   Somehow we didn't take many pictures the first day, but we made up for it the next three days ;)

Super excited to be with my favorites.  

O Christmas Tree

We set up the tree last Saturday (forgot to blog about it)

 Olivia loved every minute of it.  Notice where she is pointing.  This is where she put every.single.ornament :) 

Notice her collection? Tim eventually discussed the reasons why we would want to share the "ornament love".

Mason, on the other hand, was only interested in the train.  

The ornament we were able to convince him to hang?  A train.

 Finally it was time to set up the train.

 They were mesmerized.

 And  took turns driving the train.

They had so much fun driving the train.

Until it wasn't their turn anymore :( 

Making Mommy Coffee

At first this picture might not stand out to you...

But then you'll notice, the "coffee pot" is never under the coffee maker.  Instead the kiddos always use a mug.  The coffee pot is used only to pour tea.  

Can you tell what kind of coffee maker we have?

Climbing UP the Slide

When I was a teach, I never had kids...and I'm interested going back one day to see how my teaching changes, now that I'm a Mom.  

Anyways, I would spent almost the whole recess, everyday, telling kids not to climb the slides.  "The slides are meant for 'sliding' down on your pockets.  Please use the equipment correctly."  Yup, I was the not fun teacher.

These days, I'm encouraging my kids to see who can climb up the slide the fastest. 

Oh how things have changed.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

These were taken on Thanksgiving..  Love how they want to do whatever the other is doing.  It's not just Mason copying Olivia, she notices things he does...and tries it too.  

Love these moments.

Then & Now

THEN - April 2011
Mason (8 months) Olivia (28 months)

 NOW - November 2012
Mason (2 years)  Olivia (3.5 years)

Fun Friday

There are busy days at Grana and Grampa's house...which is great, since there is only so much the kids can do in the house.  This morning we ventured out to a park.

Olivia is doing a great job using her legs on the swings by herself.  She likes a push to get started and can't quite get as high as....

Daddy, but I personally think that's okay :)

After naps we headed to Gruene, TX for a lovely evening out and dinner at the Gristmill.  Love this place.

We leave tomorrow morning to go home.  Thank you for hosting us all week Grana and Grampa!!

give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

We started our day with some parade watching, but we the boys weren't really into it and instead played "robots".

 Next we decided to get our bodies ready for turkey and took a little walk.

And then played Thanksgiving Bingo

After naps, it was time to watch deer in the back woods

Follow by our pre-dinner appetizers 

A quick photo of the grandkids excited to eat some turkey

Finally, dinner time!!!

Our Thanksgiving Crew 

Then for my favorite moment of the day.  It's post dinner, Tim, Katie & I are all cleaning while Grana and Grampa are dancing with kids.  The music is playing.  Random people are singing and suddenly at the best moment of the song "Without You" (oooold version) everyone burst into song :)  

Love. Moments. Like. This!

Thankful for so many wonderful people in our lives.

Melt My Heart

So we've had some sleep "games" at Grana and Grampa's.  Olivia, in particular, was waking up at 4:30am, not napping, and staying awake until 9:30pm??!?!  

Then, Mason started his own games.  The kids were sleeping on either side of our bed...and Mason would get up and play with Olivia on her side.  

Last night we had multiple discussions about not playing and going to sleep.  It was difficult to be mad at them, they were giggling and being so cute, engaging in silly sibling play.

Finally, sleep overtook them.  And this is how I found them.

Sound asleep, together.  

Melt a Mommy's heart.

Hugs, Zoo, Families, and Ice Cream

First these are my cuties hugging.  love.

We went to the zoo today.

 

 This was our navigator.

This little guy was sleepy and spent the first hour passed out!

The Zoo - (with picnic lunch)

And a couple of my favorite pictures of kids, parents, & grandparents

That evening, Grampa and the kiddos make some chocolate ice cream.

I think this face says it all...

San Antonio

Back in TX - we will be here for the next week.  Aunt Katie and Cousin Graham are also here (we miss you Grady!).  

today there was some yard work

loaded the three kiddos in the back of the truck

 and had some play time at the park

Folks, we weren't done yet!  After naps, we ventured to the Riverwalk and took a boat ride.  Followed by dinner at a Mexican Restaurant - yum!

What will tomorrow bring?!?