Happy 6th Birthday Grant!!

Hard to believe that my little boy is 6 years old today...SIX YEARS OLD!!!! Holy moly! Where has the time gone?!? To celebrate the big event, we took the kids to a water park in Brainerd and were joined by family and friends for an afternoon of swimming, pizza and cake and lots of smiles and laughs!
Bear with me, there are a lot of pics but I guess I am just making up for lost time. And there aren't many from inside the water park because I was simply too busy soaking in the hot tub with Tootie and zinging down the tube slide with both kiddos!
The Krumrei's were kind enough to make the drive up to play in the water with us. Grant was super pumped that his little buddy, Peyton was there to chum around with :)
Kyle and Meghan...sorry, Kyle, but I just had to post this pic. I love your expression! ;) Hehe!Cousin Bailey was in the house as well!
And one more of Julie and Peyton...so cute!
Then it was time for gift opening...
And cake! Our fav...Cash Wise marble with whipped frosting. Yummers!
Little Mister huffed and puffed...
And it appears he has SIX girlfriends! HA!
Nothing like licking the frosting off of the bottom of a new snowmobile toy!
Oh wait! Lookie here...I actually WAS there!
Of course we had to spend some time in the arcade so the kids could waste a ton of money on video games, stale candy and the big hit prize...a trick pack of gum that would snap your finger when you grabbed a piece! So cheesy but super funny watching the kid's reaction!
There's cousin Emily playing the crane game, her favorite!
The boys had fun playing the race car game.
Tootie was the big winner...she won handfuls and handfuls of candy from one of the crane machines.
And she tried almost every kind she won. Can you tell she's all hopped up on sugar?!?
She stopped just long enough for a little head sugar from Daddy...
And then off to sort through her treasures! The best part was when she emptied her handfuls of candy onto the floor, picked out all of the pieces she had already tried, and knew she didn't like, and marched them right over to the trash can. Good girl...learnin' early to only consume the calories that are worthwhile!!
After everyone else left, the kids wanted to go for another dip in the water so we all suited back up and did about 20 more trips down the tube slide. It was old news to Grant because he's been to a handful of water parks but it was Tootie's first time and she loved the water slides. She loves a good rush, just like her Mommy! Next was bath time to wash off and then Grant was so tuckered out he fell fast asleep right after!
We couldn't let him fall asleep without getting a few pictures to razz him with!
Audrey was a good sport and thought it was so funny to make faces behind him while he was sleeping! Oh, and don't mind her pizza sauced face from her (almost) midnight snack!
Silly little monkey!
And finally, we had to commemorate the first hotel sleep over for both kids with a family picture.
Happy 6th Birthday, my sweet boy! We love you so much!!!

Belly Business

Recently I had the honor of doing a maternity shoot for my absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L friend Stacie and, with her permission, I am sharing a few of my favorite shots with you.
I do not have a studio, nor do I have any lighting {someday...I just have to have a little patience} but I am very pleased with how these photos turned out. I guess it goes to show you can't take a bad picture when you have such a flawless subject ;)
The photos were actually taken in the nursery that the babe in her belly will be calling home in a few short weeks.
Hopefully it is hard to tell, but we fashioned a make-shift back drop with a piece of black fabric and a furry white piece of fabric I picked up at JoAnn Fabric (I've used the fuzzy white one before here with baby Garrett.)
And we also used a piece of stretchy white fabric to get the profile shot above.
I think these two are my favorites (above and below).
But it is so hard to choose because she is so gorgeous and her belly is so very perfect!
What I wouldn't give to have looked this cute when I was pregnant!
And, looking back I wish I had some better belly shots of myself, rather than the ones I took using the timer on my point-n-shoot. Shoulda, woulda, coulda...right?!
Regardless, I am so happy that Stacie let me capture the beauty of her baby belly and that she is so kindly allowing me to share her beauty with all of you.
Can't wait to meet that little babe inside and finally know if it will be a little Mike or a little Stacie!!!

Prepare for Photo Overload: Halloween Style!

Time to prepare for photo overload cause this one has LOTS and lots of pictures form Halloween. I couldn't help myself, they all turned out so cute!
In case you can't tell, Grant was a Storm Trooper (with a gun because "Storm Troopers have guns, not light sabers, Mom!") and Audrey was a Rock Star!
Grant changed what he wanted to be like 5 times but once Audrey set her mind to being a Rock Star, there was no turning back!
80's headband, leg warmers, tattoos, leopard print mic, hot pink tiger striped guitar, PINK hair and all!
And, YES, that is her REAL hair! Sprayed PINK, of course!
After two bath's it is STILL kinda pink! She likes it, but I am thinking I am going to have to try to strip it out before Monday because I want to bring the kids in for pics at J.C. Pennys. It's been 2 years since anyone but me has taken their pics so I think it is time.
Here are their beautifully painted pumpkins!
The kids sure had fun dressing up this year, and I had a blast watching their excitement and anticipation.
They surely got their use of their costumes - Grant had 3 occasions to dress up for and Audrey had 4! Let's just say that between Audrey's b-day, school/daycare/friend parties and Trick-or-Treating, it was a BUSY weekend!Halloween Day was such beautiful weather. We even got outside for some pics before heading out to Trick-or-Treat AND the kids were hamming it up for once!
Not a whole lot else for updates around here so I'll just let you enjoy the rest of the pictures without interruption.
{Hey, there's Trixie the kitty!}
{Photo taken by Grant}{Photo taken by Audrey}
Our first stop Trick-or-Treating was to our good friends the Krumrei's. Aren't their costume's awesome!!!
Julie was even nice enough to take a few of me and the kiddos. Since I rarely make an appearance in pictures with my children, you are going to have to suffer through all 3 of them!
And last but not least...this one is my fav! I think she looks like a little fairy or a pink pixie!
Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!