~Park Pictures~

September 1, 2009 I decided it was time to pull out my camera again. I was burnt out from our vacation, and overwhelmed by our kitchen remodel. Where better to start up again than taking pictures of my cute kids and their friends at the park.

Disclaimer: You may notice that Alec isn't in a single photo. No I was not ignoring my child. His lack of pictures is completely of his own choosing. I think he must have been photographed out on vacation. Luckily he's over it now... as you can see by the many faces of Alec post below.

The End.

~Sammy Comes to Town~

Way way way back in June, my dearest BFF from High School, Sammy, came for a weekend visit. She's a busy lady in the throws of medical school, but found herself with a free weekend and a hankering to visit little ole' me. Lucky me and my sweet babies!

Even though we go months with out talking we never seem to have trouble picking back up right were we left off. Alec and Lyssa love Sammy to pieces. They only see once or twice a year but always seem to instantly warm up to her, and she's a huge help around the house. Not only does she help do dishes after meals and keep me company until the wee hours of the morning, but she also changed stinky diapers, and snuck my babies away to the basement so we could get an extra hour of sleep in the morning! Now if that isn't a true BFF I don't know what is.

We tried our best to show Sammy a good time, baby friendly style... aka we went to the Zoo! Everyone had a blast.

Thanks for spending your vacation time with us, Sammy! We felt honored that you chose our neck of the woods for your free days. Come back our way any time!

~Adventures in Utah 2009: Last Days~

Our last days of our Utah vacation were spent camping with my family. We don't call is and adventure for nothing! There was craziness from the very beginning with people dropping out, people being uncooperative, people forgetting to get gas, and people forgetting to pack diapers in the camera backpack for those mid-hike super poopers... but in the end the babies had a good time and proved themselves to be pro campers! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are some from our hike.After a day of recooperating and packing up our stuff, we headed out of lovely Orem with tears in my eyes. In fact, I was so sad Nick stopped to let me get one last Jamba Juice before he really hit the road. We did a marathon drive all through the night with the help of no-doze and vanilla coke. Good times. We were so sad to go and can't wait until we get to go back for more adventures in Utah next year.

~Off to School! Off to School!~

Friday was Alec's first day of pre-preschool. (joy school)

He was so excited! We picked out his clothes the night before and he even got his little backpack ready with his Lightening McQueen car for show and tell, sippy cup, and spare undies (yes, we're still having the occasional accident).

Alec is lucky enough to have four little guy friends that are all only a few months apart in age. They play together all the time at play dates, playgroups, and mommy gatherings, but we decided that they're getting old enough that they could use some structured play time too. So we decided to do our own little pre-preschool. Each week a different mom is the teacher, and boy, Alec was sure excited that Miss Robyn got to be his teacher last Friday!

We've worked it out so when we are teaching someone else takes your younger little one, but at least once in the rotation you have a day when you only have your own little lady or gent. This time it happened to be my turn to have Lyssa all to myself. She was concerned when we left Alec at Miss Robyn's house, but had fun being my little helper and happy shadow for an hour.

When we arrived to pick Alec up Lyssa was soooo excited to see him and he was happy to see us. He had a great first day of pre-preschool and can't wait until he gets to go again next week!

~A Morning at the Park~

All summer we have Wednesday morning playgroup at a different park around town. I've started bringing my camera along for the ride so if the moment strikes I can practice my photography skills on my favorite subjects, children! I love how expressive, unposed, and completely uninhibited little children can be. Here are a couple gems I caught last week.

Lyssa

Super Alec

Isaac

(or as Alec calls him "the other Isaac" or "Becca's Isaac". It's hard when your friends have the same names.)

Alec, Maddie, Lyssa, Isaac

This last picture makes me happy on sooooooo many levels. I love Alec's expression... priceless. I love that Lyssa looks like she's about to snort laugh. I love that I didn't even set this up or ask them to do this. They all sat there together on their own. I love that they all waited for me to run grab my camera to snap this shot. I love it.

More park pictures to come...

~Caught Red Handed~

And no, she was not going for the whole grain pasta...

To think I can get so frustrated at someone so little, so sweet, so innocent with such big beautiful eyes...

~Letters for the Seasons~

Dear Summer,

We can not thank you enough for how well you treated us this year! We traveled far and returned home again without a weather worry. We spent our days in your sun soaking up as much vitamin D as possible, and enjoying the vibrant colors you bring to the world. We ate of your fresh abundance, and even had a go at growing some of our own. We dined on our deck in your breezes, and smiled at your happy flowers. We giggled as we cooled off in your waters, and I never once complained about your humidity. In fact, we loved everything about you.

We so enjoyed our time with you. Please do promise you'll come again. Goodbye for now. We will miss you dearly...

Sincerely,

Chrissy and her sun lovin' babies

Dear Fall,

A very warm welcome to you from the Parkinson Home! We look forward to getting to know you and your beautiful colors, crisp apples, and colorful celebrations. We have not always had the best relationship in the past, but I have two simple requests that could help your reputation in this house:

1. Please be gentle with our tender hearts. We're morning the loss of a dear sunny friend.
2. Please stay a while! We would be devastated if you left us early. Your replacement always seems to overstay his welcome, and doesn't treat the little ones well.

In return I promise not grumble while raking your leaves and plan lots of activities to celebrate your time here with us. With thankful hearts we appreciate your careful consideration in these matters...

Sincerely,

Chrissy and her little ones

~The Many Expressions of Alec~

All taken within 30 seconds time.

Surprised. :-0

Happy. :-)

Sad. :-(

Mad. >:-\

Glad! ;-)

(I like this one lots and lots)

I tried to do the same thing with Lyssa, and she leaned against the chair and cheesed like this for every single expression... Apparently one face fits them all!

Funny babies sure make me happy.

~Bed Head~

Why 'hello' to you too, little miss sunshine!

Did you have a good nap or are the 80's making a baby debute?

~Potty Training Mr. Alec~

Some may have noticed my absence from the blogging world the last few weeks. Now I'm going to overload on you. I blame my time away entirely on potty training. See, this little guy is a big kid now, and he's proud of it! (I'm pretty proud of him too.)Alec was the one to decide that we were going to jump into this potty training business now. He found his big boy underwear in the drawer and decided he no longer wanted to wear diapers (In fact, he doesn't even want to wear pull-ups but for bedtime and nap time I usually make him). All this completely through me off guard, and being the overly dramatic person that I naturally am, I was spinning for three days straight. I wasn't prepared to do this yet. I hadn't read the books, talked to other mom's to get ideas, or prepared myself emotionally for the ups and downs of potty training. For two days I spent my entire day within 12 feet of Alec, watching for the signs and constantly asking him if he needed to go potty. I sat next to him on the floor, read him stories, sang songs, brought snacks and the like all in an effort to let him figure out how to use the restroom. Poor little Lyssa caused more trouble in those first three days than ever before, which I partly blame on her age, but mostly blame on the fact that she was desperate for attention. Around day 3 I got an idea from a friend to just fill your kids up with liquids (anything they'll drink) and take them to the potty regularly until they figure it out.
I also found Alec's currency... Oreos! Every time he went potty he got and mini oreo, and every time he went number two there was a 'Cars' vehicle waiting for him. I think that $40 bucks may have been some of the best money I've spent all month. It worked wonders, and though Alec doesn't get a car anymore he hasn't had a nasty accident yet. We do have the occasional little accident here or there when he's just too distracted, but he's gone on two camping trips with only big boy underwear and done great! I still ask him if he needs to go every so often, and will even take him myself if he hasn't used the restroom in the last hour (or before outings), but he has also started to tell us when he needs to go. So I guess you could say we're getting there... and I'm finally starting to chill out.

We're so proud of our Big Boy.

Way to go, Alec!

We love you more than all the Chick Hicks and Lightening McQueen Cars in the whole wide world!

~Our State Fair is a Great State Fair~

Don't miss it. Don't even be late.

(Did you know the musical State Fair is all about the Iowa State Fair?)

About a month ago we ventured out to the Iowa State Fair to get our fill of fried food, carnival rides, majestic horses, farm animals and tractors. We seriously spent almost two hours climbing on and examining tractors. (Heaven for Nick and Alec.) Sadly my camera battery died about 30 minutes after we got there (which is funny because the first year we lived here we went to the the State Fair and our camera battery died 20 minutes after we got there). I still have a few fun shots to share.

So much fun! We'll surely be back next year... hopefully with a fully charged battery.