Daily rituals...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile...things have been busy. I know that seems like my standard opening line, but I promise, it's always true! I haven't been doing a lot besides trying to stay cool with the kids, but I did take a few pics of random times at home. Madeline and I head to California to see Bray tomorrow, so we are busy getting ready for that! Hobbes will be staying with my parents for the week, and I am sure he will have a blast. Aunt Kathryn and friend Laura have been taking him on errands, to the pool....he has a lot of friends! I hope that you all are enjoying your summer- it's gone by fast! I shall update when I get back, so for now, miss you all!

Hobbes on the potty...reading his big boy bookHobbes always wants to hold 'Lulu' so I let him for awhile the other day...but this is the best pic I could get

Madeline in the Bumbo-such a happy smile!

Hobbes' birthday party!

Today was Hobbes' 2nd birthday party! His actual birthday is on Saturday, but we have a wedding to go to, so we celebrated today! Since his favorite movie is "Finding Nemo," I decided to do a fish-themed party. I found a really cute idea for a cake, as seen below, and we had goldfish crackers and fish-shaped cookies, too. ( I realized halfway into it that it would be a lot more work than I thought:) Aunt Kathryn let us have it at her house and back yard, so we set up a little pool and water station.
We had several of Hobbes' friends come, including: Archer and Jaiken Wilkins, Gus Grauke, Jackson Crapuchetts, and George Owen. The boys played with water balloons(made by Aunt Bethany) squirt guns, and whatever else they could find in the yard. Everything went well, considering it was nearly 100 degrees outside! Hobbes had a 2 year old moment when everyone sang Happy Birthday, but soon got over it at the prospect of eating cake. Our present to Hobbes was a betta fish...which we named Rolando, after Daddy's favorite opera singer, Rolando Villazon. So, Happy birthday Hobbes, and we wish you could've been there, Daddy!
The table before the boys hit itHobbes' birthday cake Rolando the fish
Madeline slep through the party,but we got a good pic later...she was happy for Hobbes
Opening presents-all the boys helped open them and of course, helped play with them, too!:)

Hobbes and Jaiken running to the water
Ahh...the 2 year old moment..we had to show Daddy
Enjoying his birthday cake

Playing with the boys

The water station

Boom!

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had as much fun as we did yesterday...although it was exTremely hot, we had a wonderful time. Our family was invited to the Grauke's house (a family friend) for a barbecue and fireworks. There were several families with little kids there, so Donna Grauke had bought a blow-up pool/play place. There was also a little slide and a pond to keep the kiddos entertained, and, needless to say, Hobbes had a blast!
His favorite part of the night was probably throwing rocks in the pond, but he enjoyed watching the fireworks display, too. He didn't actually hold a sparkler, but he threw his share of snap and pops! (after he was done, Mom and Aunt Kathryn had a snap and pop battle):) Here is the evidence of the fun evening. Enjoy!The first sparkler...Hobbes kept his distance for this one Throwing the snap and pops with Mom
Aunt Kathryn and Hobbes!

Watching some fountains and tanks get blown up with Grandpa (in other words, pyro in training) Even Madeline didn't mind the loud bangs and bright lights!

Grandma and Grandpa

Trying to get Hobbes to hold the sparkler


Our friend Gus...so cute!

Throwing the rocks in the pond...and trying to make as big a splash as possible!
So happy!


Kajsa and Kathryn

A pretty picture with Aunt Carolyn:)



The pool playland!

Keepin' cool...

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile since I last posted- things just never seem to stop. This week will be no exception; we have July 4th festivities, Hobbes' 2nd birthday party, and a wedding of an old family friend. However, we have been doing some fun things with the kiddos. Last week I decided to pack a little picnic for dinner (PBJs), and walk the kids up to the Admin lawn.(or the UI campus for those of you who don't know). It is a gorgeous part of the campus, with lots of my favorite trees, which I should know the name of, and plenty of space for Hobbes to explore. He had a great time, playing football with himself, finding every size of stick imaginable, and just running out his energy. This week is supposed to be extremely hot, so today I took the kids to my mom's house, and we set up the kiddie pool for Hobbes. I then brought Madeline out in her chair,and we all had a nice afternoon outside.

We are going to a picnic on July 4th, between several churches, and then we had to a friend's house for fireworks. I am excited to see what Hobbes will think of the fireworks...but I'm betting Madeline won't like them too much-she is all girl, and gets startled easily. I shall make sure to put up pics of Hobbes' party on Thursday- it's all little boys, so we should have fun!

Miss you all!a contemplative pose

These are some of Hobbes' birthday invitations that I made...can you guess the theme?

Madeline began swatting at her toys yesterday...if I ever figure out You Tube, I'll put a video up


Playing football with himself on the Admin lawn

Sticks and balls...what more could you want?Walking under Bray and my favorite tree...it arches completely over the sidewalkStanding directly under the tree-this one's for you, Bray-I love you!Hobbes loves to sit in Madeline's chair, and 'pretend' to be a baby as well...but then he gets distracted and starts playing peek-a-boo with the canopy.

Eating a popsicle by the pool this afternoonlook at that belly! (he stands with his back curved, so his belly looks twice as big as it actually is)Sharing mom's sorbet, while warming up in the towel.

Girls, girls,girls...

So I haven't really had much occasion to take pics (as in things going on) so I just have a few random ones that I thought I'd put up for Bray. I got Madeline a few new headbands, and she just looked so cute that we had to put it up. Also I finally got one of Hobbes with his buddy, Gus while on the way to the park, so that's about it! I shall update as soon as I have info/fun pics to show. Enjoy!
Hobbes and GusThe girls.:)

Funny faces...

Hi, everyone! This week my entire family is on different trips, so I am here alone in Moscow. Thus, so as not to go crazy, I have tried to stay busy with lots of outings/activities for the kids. So far this week we have gone to the park daily, ran errands, shopped a little, and we even went to the water park! Although it's been hectic, it keeps our days full- so that they go by faster.

This weekend I am playing for a wedding, so I have also been practicing for that during nap times.

A quick update on Bray: he is an RA for the summer, and so was extremely busy the first few days with registration,etc, but is now into the busy routine of lessons, masterclasses, rehearsals and performances. Their opening concert was Tuesday afternoon, and it went very well. So far he has received very encouraging comments from teachers, which is wonderful news! We are on the right track. Please continue to pray for us, though- it is still extremely taxing and difficult to be separated for so long, but this is all for the best and we only have about 7 weeks to go. Love and miss you all!

Here are some fun pics of the kids this week- I've just been taking them at random times.

Madeline's reaction to the aquatic center...of course, she stayed in the shade in her chair the whole time,but she still seemed to enjoy it!Hobbes, being the 'shy' boy that he is, was not content to stay in the kiddie wading pool. He strode right in to the bigger kid playing area, and wanted to go on the froggie slide, shoot the water guns and stand under the big dumping cones (above). Laura Shaw, a family friend was at the pool, too, so she took him in for awhile. He even put his head under the water twice and didn't seem ready to pull it out- so I did it for him. ( he hasn't learned to breathe under water)Watching the dumping cones with Laura.Enjoying the beautiful summer weather.Hobbes' new summer outfit from 'Ama- she even picked the Alabama colors, and it says baseball on the front- Daddy's favorite sport.:)Madeline got a new yellow dress from a friend in Mississippi, and since it was yellow, I had to take a picture of her in it-for Daddy, of course.:)