Sometimes We Eat In A Grocery Cart

Today, we had some fun. We had a little park time then we went to Publix for some donuts. I didn’t want the girls to make a mess in the van so they ate in the grocery cart:)

I’m pretty sure this was their 1st big donut ever. They thoroughly enjoyed it but were all sugared out after just a few bites.

Aidan surprised me today. He is coloring so well now!

Notice how he is more aware of the lines and actually makes more of an effort to stay in them. I’m loving his new interest in things that require focus.

The kids ask me every single day if we can go to Missouri. They are getting so excited and so am I! I’m so over this rotation that Rich is in right now. Long, late hours make me not a big fan. I can’t wait to spend Christmas with all of our family and watch the kids play and bond with their cousins. Christmas vacation couldn’t come soon enough!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!/Late Night Shopping

 

YUMMY!

Our last Florida Thanksgiving was the best one of all. We had a fun night hanging out, chatting, eating and laughing with really great friends. We seriously love every single family that was there…The Tippet’s, Simms, Odenwalder’s, Rudd’s and a lonely McLeod:D

After dinner we played a “gratitude game” where we each anonymously wrote down what we were thankful for and as a group we tried to guess who was thankful for what. The kids played it too. I asked Aidan what he was thankful for and he said “Woody” of course. Rich asked Maya and she said, “Mommy!”. She got an extra cookie;) Love that girl! I wrote Zumba, healthy kids and a hot husband. Rich wrote his Iphone. Such a romantic:P

Afterwards, all of us mommas decided we would all go be young and wild and do some late night Toys-R-Us shopping!

The line just to get in was so crazy long…but not as long as the line to check out! Holy cow it was long! We stood in line for an hour and a half! I will say, I was getting so tired of standing in line but the company and conversation was worth it. Love those girls!

We left with lots of goods and memories. Only the strong continued on to Wal-Mart and Target (Holly & Amy). The rest of us went home to our inviting beds. It was my 1st time doing early Black Friday shopping and it was crazy! Only way I would do it again is if the company was as good as it was then. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Aidan Lately

Seems like kids grow and change so much in such little time. I’m really enjoying SOME of Aidan’s changes lately. I won’t mention the changes that I don’t like so much. Let’s just say he has a very strong personality. Anyway, recently he has discovered a passion for puzzles!

This is him after completing his 1st big kid puzzle, not like the little wooden ones. He was so proud and so was I!

We found 3 big puzzles at a yard sale a couple weeks ago and he got right to it.

With a little bit of help he has completed all 3 big puzzles and yesterday he completed this big dinosaur puzzle all by himself!

Here he is admiring his accomplishment.

I love how diligently he works on his puzzles. His teacher, Miss. Michelle, showed me a Toy Story puzzle that the school recently bought. It’s only a couple of weeks old but the pieces are already worn and peeling, she said because it is all Aidan wants to do all day at school.

My most absolute favorite part about Aidan’s puzzle making is the fact that he hums while piecing it together! It is the cutest thing ever! I’ve just been enjoying all of the cute and fun stages each kid goes through…and enduring all of the not so fun stuff that comes along with their changes:)

I love my handsome little man!

Typical 2 Minutes In Our Home

I initially pulled the camera out because I wanted to capture Aidan humming. He is ALWAYS humming! Anyway, I’ll save all that info for a later post specifically about him. So the camera started rolling and life in my home didn’t pause for a single minute. You’ll see that I got much more than just Aidan humming.

She’s A Talker!

I realized recently that I don’t have any videos of Arabella chatting up a storm. In the past couple of months her speech has just exploded along with her independence and self- confidence. She had just gotten up from her nap and was chillin’ on the couch so I decided to play with my camera’s video option a bit. I obviously have some things to learn about focus:D Regardless, it’s a cute video:

Can’t believe that she will be 2 in a couple of weeks!!!

Sometimes There’s Love

As my kids have gotten older they seem to fight…a lot. There is nobody they would rather play with than each other and yet at the same time they just can’t seem to get along! In spite of the constant screaming, hitting, crying, pestering and out right fighting, I know they love each other. And sometimes there is that rare occasion when I capture something like this:

(Arabella helping Aidan buckle the helmet)

It is very possible that just seconds before this picture was taken they were both fighting over Maya’s helmet. Yet, I was able to capture this rare moment, the true essence of their sibling love.

Seriously sweet.

13.1 Go Rich!!!

Rich is so awesome! Today he ran in his 2nd Half Marathon.

That makes:

2 Half Marathons

2 Sprint Triathlons the 1st of which can be found HERE.

1 Olympic Triathlon

1 Half Ironman

He inspires me to strive to be fit…I said inspires, doesn’t mean I actually am fit;) He headed out the door at 4:30am to be ready to run at 6am! I got up at 6:00 and got the kids ready to go so that we could cheer him on at the finish line. The kids, especially Aidan, had such a fun time sitting by the finish line clapping and cheering for all of the incoming runners.

Maybe someday my kids will actually look at the camera when I take a picture.

So awesome!

First guy and girl to cross the finish line!

Here’s a video of Rich coming in for the last stretch. Sorry it’s all shaky. I was trying to wave to get his attention because I had seen him looking around for us. It obviously didn’t work:( But here’s a video of Rich finishing up his 13.1 mile non-stop run!

Rich made a friend during his run. Chris is here on vacation from Australia. He saw that there was a run and decided to go ahead and do it! They ran together off and on throughout the race.

We let the kids play for a bit before heading home to crash on the couch.

Rich ran at a 7.23 per mile pace. Way to go honey! We are so proud of you!

Happenings…

I have been exhausted! Don’t know why all of a sudden I just can’t keep up with the kids, house, LAUNDRY and blogging! Oh well. I’ve been having fun with my family and that’s all that really matters, right? Who cares that Aidan has learned to look in the dryer when he can’t find clean clothes in his drawer. Yeah, it’s gotten THAT bad. Here’s what I have to show for it:

No school Friday=Toy Story 2 & popcorn for lunch day!

Good behavior reward=Ice cream night!

A yard sale Saturday=Baker girls hat day!

“Yay! Daddy is home today!”=Walk to Kristof’s Café for breakfast!

See the cowboy leading the pack?

Aidan was off running like a mad man in his Sheriff Woody hat so I didn’t get any pics of him. It was such a beautiful and fun walk to and from the café. If you didn’t notice, all of these pics were taken with my point & shoot. Why? Because I sold my Nikon D90:( The good news? I GOT A NIKON D7000!!!! Rich found a really great deal and we were able to upgrade to the best of the best for a little over $100 (Merry Christmas to me)! I’m so excited to learn how to use my new camera to it’s maximum capability and take thousands of pics of my adventures with my babies! Yay!

I Am A Child Of God

Aidan loves to sing. I’m pretty sure he is going to be our little musician when he gets older because he is always humming or singing. Tonight, I heard him trying to teach Maya how to sing “I Am A Child Of God”. He was being very particular with how she sang it. He wanted her to belt it out like him. Listen closely and you will hear him instructing her how not to sing it and then the right way to sing it.

I Am A Child Of God