Budding Picasso?

What a day!  I'm exhausted thinking back about it but it was all worth it for the happiness of the kids.  After the gym, we met up with Marne and T at Artworks for open play and Carleigh and Tennyson had a ball.  (Parker slept).  They did all sorts of craft projects and the best part, we left the mess there! 

Carleigh showed off her stencil project.  All Tennyson wanted to do was paint, paint, and more paint.

She's even methodical and orderly with other people's things.  Perfectionist in the making?  I think so.

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She painted two masterpieces that she told me were for Gigi and me.  When I asked her why they weren't for Daddy, Mimi, Papaw, Bubba or Shay, she said "I paint more."

So proud of her masterpieces!

After Artworks, we went to McDonald's with T and Marne followed by a playdate at our neighbor, Megan's house after naptime.  You're probably tired reading this ... so can you imagine us?  And yet, after all this activity, just prior to dinner, Carleigh asked if we could go to Sea World right then.  You give her an inch, and she takes a mile.

Three Musketeer Gift Exchange

So even though it was 3 weeks late, we did our annual Three Musketeer Christmas gift exchange this past Saturday.  We had dinner,opened gifts, and played indoors and out. 

We know by now that candid action shots are the only ones we are going to get of these 2 year olds.

So while they were coloring, we got a few smiles and "ta-da's."

Marne, Tara and I actually got to spend quite a bit of time talking and drinking (water for Tara) because the men owned the kids when they were outdoors.  Tara is ove 6 months pregnant!!!

The kids were super excited to get to open presents several weeks after Christmas!  Carleigh absolutely loves the Animal Planet Treehouse she got and her princess books!  T and Carter were also pleased with their toys.

It looks like Carleigh's sharing here, but she's actually getting quite territorial over her present.  She got in a lot of trouble for her agressive behavior towards T.  Later in bed, when I asked her why she hit him (numerous time), she said "my animals are mine!"  The sharing skill is still very much in the early development stage.  She knows she should share, but doesn't want to.

Brad helped Carter open his Tag Reader!

And Tennyson couldn't get passed his hot wheels (even though there was a big plane toy waiting to be opened)!  He was very sweet showing them off to everyone and sharing with Carter and Carleigh.

It was a jam packed night and the kids were never bored!  Carter and Tennyson even stayed up the entire time (almost 11)!  Carleigh needed her beauty sleep and turned in at 9.

All in all, (save for a hit or two) it was a great night of memory making with great friends!!!  Looking forward to next year and Parker and Harper joining in the fun!

Halloween!

Halloween is always an event in our neighborhood!  This year we set up camp in front of our house since Parker is 11 days old and we need the conveniences inside our home for him and wanted to avoid the doorbell/dog situation as much as we could.

The three amigos were showcasing their independence this year!

Not just with their independence in costume choices (throwback golfer, Tinkerbell, skunk) but with their independence in posing for photographs.

We did get a cute first family of four Halloween pic (taken in front of our neighbors front steps since they don't have a tree obstructing their front door like we do).  Parker's face is barely visible in his crocheted football costume my mom made him, but he sure looks cute!

Carleigh was all about the cheesy "cheeses" with grandparents for the lure of candy in her near future!

And the kids (minus Parker) and parents were off ...

Manners went out the window and "trick or treat" was only seldom said.  Luckily 1 and 2 year olds were given smiles and nods by adults and greedy fingers more or less overlooked.

It wouldn't be a proper celebratory evening without a little adult beverage to take the edge off the chaos.

Connor (and family) came from a few streets over to trick or treat by us for a bit!  Carleigh was excited to see him!!!

We melted when we saw them grab hands and snapped away!  It's like they just decided they didn't need us anymore since they had each other.

Posing with Daddy ...

... and Mommy.

Parker was asleep most of the night and Carleigh was on a princess high.  Believe it or not, as excited as she was to get the candy, when we got home, she didn't want any of it.  She wanted to eat raw broccoli instead and didn't want to change out of her costume, no matter what! Finally, at close to 9 pm, we made her take it off so we could bathe her and put her to bed!  It was wonderful to see her enjoy the experience rather than force the experience on her, ah em like I'm guilty of in the past.

Outside Adventures

One thing I've noticed about Carleigh in the past few weeks is her outgoing-ness!  At the gym, at restaurants, any place there are other children, she is going up to them and asking lots of introduction questions!  So it wasn't any surprise when T and Marne came over this week and we walked to the playground and fish pond and Carleigh kept grabbing T's hand!  I kid that she is flirting, but I know she just loves him and is very good at expressing her feelings.  Thanks for the pics, Marne!

Aren't they precious?  They look like they could be twins!

She tried to kiss him but he wasn't in the mood!  Marne will have to use that pic in his wedding slide show!  Something tells me he won't be shying away from girls' kisses in the future.  The rejection didn't bother Carleigh ... look at that laugh!

We spent 2.5 hours outside that morning, walking, playing, feeding the turtles and fish and ... climbing trees!  Hanging out with boys all the time is teaching Carleigh new things, that's for sure!  (She definitely doesn't get tomboyish-ness from me).

Emerald Rainbow Playdate

Wednesday, we went out to Bulverde to Emerald Rainbow to play with Carter and Tennyson!  The place is very cute and has tons of bouncy houses, an arcade, a bowling alley, batting cages and a big train table.  The kids had a blast and it was nice to hang out with the girls, as always!

Big difference noticed in the bowling alley between boys and girls.  Carleigh wanted to put all the balls in their place and well, the boys wanted to put their own balls all over the place!  Haha.

A group photo wasn't happening.  Way to much to do!

Bigz Birthday

Best friends, Tara and Marne met me at Bigz Wednesday to celebrate my birthday mom-style (aka at a place where the kids can run and play and we can talk).

They love my camera antics!

Ok it's the best we could do; Carleigh and Carter are copying Tara but the smiles are all we cared about.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!  (she probably thinks everyday is my birthday based on the amount of recognition I'm getting).

She wanted to open my present.  Now I know, presents make her smile!

Group shot attempt 1.

And that's a wrap!  It's hard to orchestrate 3 kids in front of the camera when all they want to do is get down and run!  We had fun, though!  Gotta love great friends!