The Gigantigest Pile of Leaves

It's a long story. Really it is. But I'm going to tell it anyway. It begins on Sunday evening(last night) with a certain 10 year old boy was let's say, less than energetic in his responsibilities. There was a certain kitchen floor that needed to be swept, so a warning was given and then it was ignored. Needless to say, Mom swept said floor, which was waay nasty and Mark earned a major maintenance. I decided that he could rake a portion of the backyard to fulfill his consequence. Stop right there, I know what you are thinking and really, how could you? Of course I didn't make him rake the whole thing! However, realizing how much it needed to be raked, I went out with him to work on it while he worked on his appropriated section. I had made one full loop around the outer edge of the yard, separating our leaves from everyone else's, when it hit me. You see in the back of my mind I am almost always trying to think of ways to have fun and to do fun things with my kids. I do want them to be happy and enjoy life, despite what they may have told you. So I thought wouldn't it be so crazy fun to rake all the leaves from the front, bring them to the back and rake all the backyard leaves and put it all together in the most gigantigest pile of leaves in the history of the world? I proposed, they were overjoyed and we raked. It took about 3 1/2 hours total, but we did it. We really did it. I have the pictures to prove it.

Do you see how huge this pile is? It's higher than Mark's head and he is over four feet! Once all the leaves were raked, I let them at it.

They sat, fell, dove, swam, and Mark even tunneled through the pile. That was kinda cool. All the while we were popping in and out of the house to take turns taking care of Beans.

We did bring her out and sit her in the leaves and she screamed, a lot, so I put her back inside. As you can see, part of her still really wants to be out there with the rest of the crew, someday little one, someday.

Oh, yeah, in case you were wondering, my hands feel like they have been pulverized, I am sure full mobility will return in time and the muscle ached hasn't completely hit yet, but I am sure I will be feeling it tomorrow. With all that I gotta say, watching them play in the gigantigest pile of leaves ever, I would do it again. Probably not tomorrow, but it was worth it.

Park Day

Last Saturday we had a family Cub Scout hike planned. So up we all got and out the door ready for a morning of exertion. When we got to the planned location we discovered that the wooded area we had intended to hike was being hunted that day and since we value our lives and those of our children, as well as other people's children, the hike had to be postponed for a time. To make up for it, we took the kids to the park before going home. Usually when we got to the park, it is me and the kids, but with Dad there, we could take pictures and have a little more fun.

Wait your turn doesn't mean much to a three year old.

Mark and Anya made friends with a boy who had a kickball and the three of them had a great time.

Snacking on pistachios.

More kickball.

James has learned to swing! He struggled for a time, but that day at the park really made a difference for him, By George, I think he's got it!

Guess who is learning to walk:)

How can something be so cute and yet so scary at the same time?

Peter is our monkey boy.

He wishes he was frightening instead of adorable.

This girl loves to swing, and she is awfully cute.

When we heard Luke "reading" we had to capture and share it. Enjoy!

Pretty Girls

We have been blessed with two very pretty daughters. And sometimes daughters just need to be highlighted. Why every pre-toddler has a deep desire to unload things I will never know, but they do and then afterwards they are intensely proud of themselves for doing it. Beans is no exception to this mysterious behavior.

Ok, so this is a little bit about a boy as well as a girl, but it was so sweet I wanted to share. Earlier this month I turned the life altering age of 30. Mostly we tried not to talk about because for some reason I have yet to discover I really don't like my birthday. However in an effort to be the sweet and loving child that sometimes hides under video games and snotty attitudes, Mark made me a birthday crown just like the ones at Burger King and I let him take a picture of me wearing it.

Um, me again, but only because my hair really looked good and since it was still styled from the hair stylist who cut it the day before it's a good idea to document because I have no feminine skills whatsoever with hairdryers and it will never look like this again. And David thought it was really picturesque, with the whole settee and book and everything.

Now to the really pretty girls! Our little Anya got her very poor eyesight from her father and as a result needs new glasses every year, so she just got her new ones and they are so prim and cute. They are a light blue with flowers on the stems.

Our quasi-twins. Anya was desperate to be dressed identically to someone smaller than her and since I refuse to spend 100 on a doll . . . we used the next best thing: her sister. We found nearly identical dresses at Old Navy for them to wear to church on Sundays, plus matching shoes, tights and sweaters. So, here is Eliza:

and Anya,

And both together, so cute!

Lastly, Eliza Rosa Bean is a ham beyond words. Anytime the camera comes out she pulls out the gaping teeth and dimples. We tried to trick her, she was not getting her way and as any good drama queen would, she cried. Hard. Dad grabbed the camera cause a crying baby (who isn't hurt) is super cute and he didn't even get one shot in before she pulled this out:

She then proceeded to attack the camera which greatly improved her overall mood, seeing as it distracted her from whatever in the world had previously caused her such angst.

Pictures of Peter

As we blog, I realize how many traditions we have accumulated over the years. One of them is pictures. For whatever reason, Karen and I decided to have professional pictures taken at ages 2, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 18/19. It's been amazing to see the difference in their faces between the ages of 2 and 5.

Peter turned 5 a couple weeks back and we had his professional pictures taken today. So we're posting newborn, 2, and 5 year pictures for your viewing pleasure.Peter was our tiniest baby at 6 pounds 8 ounces. Tiny tiny...and so fragile. And yet, he had a cute old man face at the same time. His blackened eyes were still recovering from a traumatic birthing procedure. It's amazing any of us survived! :)

Here he is at 2 years old:

And then Peter at 5:

They grow up so fast. It's a good reminder to enjoy each moment of this experience called life.