R-O-C-K-S-T-A-R

props to daddy for snagging this fabulous find for "miss almost the birthday girl"......i think these will work out well with the rest of her birthday outfit. she wears them well, yeah?

who, me? couldn't have been.......
and bummer of a side note- she's discovered the ability to pull out her prettys. she's such a stinker, and a bit of a diva. that's right. next up- her new found love of the temper tantrum. this sweet, always happy, full of smiles little girl has found her voice. and it's loud. i may just share it on video for you cause it's that good. i even caught noah laughing at her the other day during one of her "moments".........none the less. we love her more and more every single day.

why daddy is the best

well, just so you know, noah thinks his daddy is the best. and i tend to agree......especially when i watch them playing together. here is just an idea of the fun they have.

daddy takes big wheel all the way up the circle.....and places said big wheel "here" which is a small pin prick of a place that noah would like this large big wheel to be placed. no other place will do, and somehow, daddy makes that work.

then daddy runs to get ahead of noah so that he can catch him should he lose his way. here you may note if you click on the pic that noah is pointing. and in fact, he is, pointing at me. telling me to "get out of my way before i crash you......i going really really fast like gordon!" well, goodness sakes, i jumped out of the way just in time. i'm tellin' you- i will risk a lot for a good photo. {side note: this was not worth risking my life for. the photo is blurry and i clearly did not focus in that well. lesson learned. 'fast like gordon' really does mean fast :) }
and then he was past me......i barely saw him. just a blur of color. {feet still up as daddy instructed him as this allows for the fastest trip down the sidewalk}
and here's where daddy rocks again. there to pick you up when you fall. or SLOWLY your left back wheel gets caught on the sidewalk and you SLOWLY tip over to your side. and SLOWLY you turn to see who is watching.....but before you can say anything or think about crying, daddy is there. and he may laugh at the situation......but there none the less. {and, again, blurry....}

and here is where that face works for you. you can talk daddy into almost anything. he's way more of a softy than mommy. and now you get one more time down the circle. just cause you made that face. you've got your daddy, that's for sure.
exhibit 1 million as to how well you have your daddy. and another one of the million reasons daddy is the best. he did this for one HOUR tonight for you. he thinks you're the best too.

bulked up

noah got himself some sweet new swim gear from nana this weekend. something to help keep his head above water, and on the off chance he may run crazily around the pool and fall in, this should help him out. i repeat, should. we tested it out this last weekend and he seemed to enjoy it none the less. i'm bummed that i didn't get a pic of the actual get-up------but here's a visual for you. one-piece, lime green, padded , tank top style top with something similar to bike shorts below and really, really tight...... got it? a classic summer choice. enjoy!

wagon ride

this particular hug started out ok.....

.....but then something went wrong. perhaps there was too much squeeze? maybe a little too much weight put into it? i can't say for sure where noah went wrong but i'm thinking she's not liking this particular hug.
doin' the big brother thing

who better to help you touch a sign than daddy. we're really going to be bummed when school starts and he's back to being gone all evening! i'm lacking a little in the height dept. to be able to help out with this one.....

noah took her 'pretty' out and i asked him to put it back.....here's where he put it.

it's ok- she can pull off the 'bow in the middle' look quite well i think.

fashionable, not so fashionable

fashion is in the eye of the beholder, right? is that even how that saying goes? well, anyway, in his further quest for entire independence at a mere 2 and a 1/2 we {as mentioned before} pick our battles and choose not to fight the clothing one. so here i have selected a few of his most recent selections, and some aren't new, but i want them all in one place to look back at and perhaps share with future 'friends' of his! he'll really appreciate all the independence he's had then, won't he! {i stand corrected; beauty is in the eye of the beholder, oops!}

this selection here was not actually his choice {read: we fought HARD to get him to wear it}. it was the choice of his parents, auntie and grandparents for him to sport at this year's tulip festival in ia. i think his uncle even wore this exact outfit a while back. however, very fashionable when in orange city for tulip festival. if anyone wants to join us next year we can make that happen! {and of course find you something equally as fashionable}

and this here is a fashionable choice if one is swimming at nana's. however, i draw the line at wearing this to the park as he requested since it does not hold certain contents in that it should.....
an obvious choice for an afternoon business meeting with friends. also fashionable, right?

to further show our love for thomas, there is most certainly nothing wrong with this look. when we are home. even i have to draw the line somewhere.

this is something fashionable to consider wearing when you are waiting on monday morning for the garbage man to come and pick up the trash. again, an obvious choice.

and because everyone can look good in an elastic hair band, this is obviously well suited for any activity either home or away.

and truly my favorite, finally something i can really find fashionable, my sweet boy in a baseball hat. pouty lip or not, still one of my favs from the summer.

i know it's hard to be fashionable, and not everyone can do it, but i think this little man has got it down.

park fun and friends

here is a little girl who is crazy in love with her big brother. she follows him everywhere, as fast as she can crawl behind his run anyway. no matter what, he can get a smile out of her like nobody else.

attempting the slide 'together'

there is a great climbing tree that these crazy kiddos all managed to get up on. once one headed up, they all had to go. i think reagan may be the master climber here, however, the darby girls aren't far behind {some concerns from their mom regarding a current vacation at the beach may have held them back a bit....through no choice of their own!}
and noah and zach.........i think their faces leave no need for explanation!

gettin' our girl thing on

finally.....we can wear "hair prettys" as noah calls them! i've been waiting a long time for her to sport these "hair prettys" so we're pretty excited around here......well i am anyway. but it doesn't seem this sweet girl minds either.

{when exactly did she get so BiG??}

20 perfect toes

so, i'm kinda random. and i love funny things about my kiddos. mostly the small and little details that i hope to remember later. like the pic below. i hope to remember that noah loves to be barefoot. loves to have the grass in his toes {momentarily} and dirt all around. there's no doubt. and miss ainsley? she'd like some socks, please. a much bigger fan of the covered look, she fights the alternative, but loves it {that's what i tell myself}. covered toes are nowhere as cute........

at the fishin' hole

noah's fishy face to match the fishy face he "caught" {and i use the word 'caught' loosely}

we spent the afternoon yesterday at deana rose. here we are fishing with the henry family.

and noah "caught" his first fish. actually, he held the pole and was digging it into the sand on the bottom and by happenstance krysta was near him and saw the bobber go up and down. she tugged on it and pulled it out. and that brings us to how we got to noah's said "catch of the day." SO, in a round-about-way, he did in fact catch this fish. sort-of.

not such a fan of touching this catch though, and neither was his mom. however, brian was kind enough to rub said catch on my hand and arm. i was sure to thank him a lot, and i am sure said catch also enjoyed it. enjoyed it so much that he flopped his way back to the water before we could snap his picture.

join me for jazzercize?

this is how she keeps that figure- she jazzercizes.......

good luck though, she's getting tough to keep up with!!

milk.....it does a body good

a special thanks goes out to daddy for this one. and i'll have you know there was only 2 times that milk was poured too fast by him, thus resulting in a "milk in the nose" situation. really- isn't 2 and a half a bit early to learn this??? thank goodness no one else in our family drinks whole milk........

beach bag....or baby carrier?

it's all relative at our house. some things are used in ways they were clearly not intended to be used. for instance, often the same beach bag that i use to carry towels, sunscreen and snacks-a-plenty, is used for child carrying by daddy. and ironically, they seem to enjoy it. nobody can play like daddy can play......