Has it really been THREE years?

It seems like just yesterday I was holding Daniel in my arms while lying in a hospital bed wondering what the heck I was supposed to do with this little guy and how I was so blessed that God chose me to be his Mommy. Now he is three. Wow. And he is putting his foot in his sister's face trying to make her smell it and laughing hysterically. Wow.

Daniel had a party at school, with party hats and cupcakes. Sophia was asleep so we didn't wake her up to attend. She does need her beauty rest. Ms. Linda came to help us celebrate too. We love you Ms. Linda. Here are Daddy and Linda living it up at the daycare!

Daddy entertained the masses to keep them from revolting:


Uncle Ken and Grammy and Grumpy came to help us share this special day. Uncle Ken did the decorating for Daniel Bear's birthday party. Wow. Luckily, Uncle Ken has a day job!

Because it was his birthday party, Dan decided to throw caution to the wind and make his own fashion statement with Bear Slippers worn for outside play... I wonder if Carrie Bradshaw would approve?

Dan had a few friends over from school and our neighborhood to celebrate:

And he has a very good time blowing out the candles on his cupcake. As you can tell, the cupcakes were very good. Sam couldn't wait for his!

Uncle Ken, Grumpy and Daniel share a birthday doughnut.

Bear got a lot of cool presents for his birthday. Aunt Lynne sent two of the coolest. Dan got a magnifying glass

and... two pair of suspenders so he can be Just Like Grumpy!

Grammy and Grumpy had a very good time hanging out with Daniel and Fi.
Grammy and Fi were on the swings together.

Grumpy and Fi and Dan played together on the back porch.

What is this thing on your face Grumpy?

I often have to find things for the kids to do while I cook. I hate to turn the tv on every time I have to do something, so I have been creating a home-made band that stars in the kitchen on most weekday evenings. They may not keep much of a beat, but they play a pretty tune.

Sophia loves the rocking moose! It must be the Swede in her...

Thanks for coming to visit the blog! More next time...

Birthdays and the Beach

Hello all. Sorry for the late post. Some of the pictures for this post were located on a computer that has gone to the great beyond in the last few weeks, so we had to try to resuscitate them! It worked. Hence, the late and very long post.

The month of August is birthday time, with mine, Mark's and Aunt Lynne's rounding out the festivities. Dan is so excited about birthdays now that he asks every morning when he wakes up if it is his!

For Mark's birthday, Grammy and Grumpy came into town. We had a very good time and made a birthday cake for Daddy. After I got the cake out of the oven, I put it on a cooling rack to cool and then put it on the cutting board so that I could cut and ice it. I left the kitchen for a minute to feed Sophia and talk to Grammy. All was too quiet. I should have known something was amiss. I knew for sure though when Dan came into the living room with chocolate smeared all over his mouth like a goatee and moustache. I jumped up and ran to the kitchen. I have no idea how he managed in five minutes to eat 1/5 of the cake -- it appears he just laid his face on it and started munching -- or how he managed to get so much of it on the floor. After trying to keep Daddy and Grumpy from laughing and encouraging Dan, I laughed (out of earshot of course) myself. However, the final result for the birthday cake was not a laughing matter! The cake was ripped apart and crumbled when the icing was put on. Oh well, it was good anyway!

Grumpy and Grammy got lots of Little Bear and Fi time.

Daniel is trying underwear, but he doesn't quite get it yet...

Sophia learned to wave bye-bye. Although, she doesn't quite wave at the person saying bye-bye yet, but she'll get there.

For the Labor Day weekend we decided to take the kids to the beach. It was their first time to see the ocean. We thought Virginia Beach would be packed and the traffic atrocious, but it wasn't at all. The drive only took 2 hours and their was close parking and lots of beach to sit on. We ended up taking them to Sandbridge Beach just south of the commercialized VA Beach area. Sophia was a beach bunny, but the water was just a little too cold for her. Dan however loved to be in the waves and play in the sand.

Here is Dan seeing touching the ocean for the first time.

Uncle Mike came to visit this weekend. Here he is with the Fi and Daddy. Sophia had no anxious issues about Uncle Mike -- he has the baby touch!

Eric came to see us this weekend. He just started the fifth grade and says his new teacher is the second best he has ever had and that he really likes Social Studies.

Here are Eric and Sophia playing on the piano together.

And Sophia and Daddy watching the boys play with racecars. Sophia LOVES to watch anything that Dan and Eric are doing.

Dan got a chef's outfit from Nana for Christmas. Because Tropical Storm Hannah kept us inside all day, he got to put on all of this dress up outfits and keep us entertained all day! Finally, because we got no good pictures of Sophia in her baptism dress on the day of her baptism she tried it on one more time before it goes to hang in the closet and wait for a grandchild (oy vey!) Here she is...

She isn't really into the hat.

And as a final note, Congratulations to Cousin Ben and his wife Gwen (and Grandma Lynne of course!) who are waiting for their own little one to arrive this winter.

Till next time...