Too{tie} cute for words!

Sugar and spice

Most of the time Tootie is full of sugar...

but there is always a little hint of spice to go with it!

And this little one...he's just like his daddy. I remember seeing pictures of Duke when he was younger and he never had his shirt on. Even in pictures with his Birthday cake when he was in his later teens! Let me tell you, that is some funny stuff! Especially because he had the wildest blond curly mullet! Oh how fun would it be to share those pictures?!?!

he he he...The thought crossed my mind to post them but I am pretty sure I'd end up dead if I did!!!

And I want to see these two little goof balls grow up to be happy and successful, well rounded, loving and giving adults so I'm thinkin' I better be nice and shy away from that awfully tempting thought!

I guess now you know where Tootie gets her sugar and spice and everything nice!

Not My Child! Monday

Welcome to Not My Child! Monday! This is my first stab at the blog carnival that was created by MckMama and is used to confess all of the things that your child did not do! You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

As for what my child has not been doing...

My 4 1/2 year old absolutely did not wear this get-up outside, none-the-less run up to the top of the driveway and enthusiastically wave at passers by while eating an ice cream cone!

Nope, my child would never wear just a pull-up, boots and a red yarn necklace with a candy corn charm on it. Not my child!

And I certainly do not want to know what our neighbors think of us!

My son also does not have any strange bathroom behavior. You would never catch him making a sling out of toilet paper to hold his pee-pee up while going to the bathroom and then using another piece of toilet paper (clean, of course!) to flush the toilet so that he would not have to was his hands! Nope, not my child!

Oh, and you would never hear him yell, "Fire in the hole!" while urinating either! Not my child!

And finally, not to gross you out, but my son also would not ever go up to his dad (who ironically hates any talk about bm's) and say, "Dad, did you know that I pooped real corn!" Nope, not my child!

I ♥ Faces Week 33 - "Nostalgia"

Nostalgia...now that is a theme that is wide open!
Again, I went back into the archives and found this beauty!

That is my hubby and son in the side car and our friend Kevin (who owns the bike) is driving. This was back in Sept 2007 at Pioneer Days in Albany. We just love to go spend the day there and see all of the old tractors, cars and bikes. Since this was taken in 2007 it goes without saying, the picture was taken with my point and shoot. Regardless, I just love the old bike and side car amongst all of the old tractors. Can't wait to bring the kids again this year.
There's nothing like a good 'ole family tradition!
Make sure to head on over to www. iheartfaces.blogspot.com to check out all of the other nostalgic pictures!

Playing {nicely} together!

I can't say how much fun it is for me to see and hear my kids playing {nicely} together. As I type, they are {nicely} playing 'camper'...you know, it's just like playing 'house' but in a pretend camper instead!
Not exactly sure where that came from, but it is making me chuckle!

Grant is busy barking orders at Tootie.
It goes a little somethin' like this:
"That is your bed, this is my bed"
"I'll do the job, Audrey"
"Here is your milk, Honey"
"Now it's bed time. No, it's not snack time. I said it's bedtime!"
"Wait, come back in the camper!"
"Don't step in the hot laba!" {aka: lava}

The pictures on this post are from playing at the grade school park in town a couple of weeks ago.

The kids really love going to different parks to explore and play...

You, know...{nicely} together!

Grant really got a kick out of this climbing wall. And I loved that it was clear plexi-glass so I could get some cool pictures of him on it!

There was lots to see and explore. Like this rocking rocket.

There was also a little monkey bar climbing to be done.

And this metal bouncing thingy!

Geez, there sure are a lot of different things at parks now-a-days. When I was little, I think all we had was monkey bars, a slide and a swing set at our playground.

Speaking of swings. Look who was just a swingin'!

{Pay no attention to the strange shadow figure you see in the next two pictures. I have no idea who would be strange enough to stand like that just to get picture!}

One really cool thing they have at this playground is a huge sandbox. They even had these cool digger thingys.

Grant even learned a magic trick while we were there.

Now you see him...

Now you don't!

There was also a little climber thingy {seriously, how many times can I say thingy in one post!} in the sand box that the kid loved too.

Peek-a=boo! I see you!

After much sand play, there was some sand-in-the-shoe dumpin' that ensued!

Well, at least for one of the kiddos. Audrey was playin' au-natural and going barefoot! Gotta love the sand between your toes. Actually, what I really love are those dimply hands. I am really going to miss those some day!

I am just plain going to miss play time with these kids when they get bigger.

{snif, snif!}

I love that they are best friends. I am really going to miss that some day.

I also just love their cheesy, silly, innocent, lovin' life little personalities.

And finally, I simply love to see them playing {nicely} together!

It's much easier on the ears, you know!

I ♥ Faces Week 21 - "Bubbles"

This week's I ♥ Faces photo challenge is "Bubbles." I didn't have time to pose a shot for this one so I was looking through my archives and found this picture I captured of a beautiful little girl (whom we didn't know) that was at the park. She was so enamored by the bubbles that our kids were blowing that she just could not resist chasing after a few. Doesn't the smile on her face just scream pure joy!

Make sure to head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to check out all of the other bubbly faces!

happy and healthy

A few weeks back, I took the kids to an End of Treatment party for a friend of mine's little boy, Carter. He was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) on February 3rd 2006 and he just completely finished his treatment this summer. After over 3 years of treatment, he is ALL DONE! As a matter of fact he is doing so well, that he was playing baseball the entire time we were there so I didn't end up getting a picture of him!
It is such a blessing to have healthy kids. And it is so sad that often time it takes knowing someone with a childhood illness to open your eyes to how lucky you really are to have healthy children. It breaks my heart that there are so many children and families out there battling cancer.
I hate cancer.
But I love these kiddos!

And I love spending days like this with them so that I can truly cherish every healthy moment.

As usual, Audrey could be found in her favorite place...the swing set. But she did get a little grumpy when her brother tried to push her instead of me pushing her!

Grant just loves to torment her. Can you tell???

Nooooooo, not this sweet, innocent face!

Audrey actually found many different types of swings at this park so she was in heaven!

Plus, the little dress she had on made her even more delectable!

Grant, on the other hand, had more fun playing in the sand. It was a bit cold for swimming so he just had fun digging for buried treasure in the sand.

Meanwhile, Tootie found yet another swing she had to try on for size.

Oh, yeah...did I mention that she is going through a bit of a "stick out your tongue" stage now? It is kinda funny cause she mostly does it too her Dad because he always laughs at her.

But it's hard not to when she is just so darn cute!

Grant was also having fun climbing up the slide. What is it with kids always wanting to climb up slides as opposed to climbing the ladder? Must be the challenge!

So far we have been having a nice relaxing weekend. Yesterday we drove up to Duke's parents home that they are building on the lake. It sure is coming along nicely and can't wait to see it all finished! We went on a pontoon ride around noon but ended up getting caught in a downpour. Luckily there was a canopy and an umbrella on the pontoon but we still ended up getting soaked. After drying off a bit, Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids at the house with them and we went over to our friends, Dan and Lisa to visit for a bit. There little boy, Gage is now 1 month old so I had to squeeze in a little photo shoot of the adorable little dumplin'. Once I get them all edited I'll have to share a few.

Today is a rainy day so I am using it to catch up on the mountains of dirty laundry we have and we are all just lounging around. Gotta love rain days every once in a while!