Then in September...

Walter spent most of September on orders, in a hotel, by the airport. So, we would go on a mini vacation every weekend to go visit him. One of those weekends we decided to go to a free museum all about Communications (like satellite, telephone, and so forth).

It was pretty cool. But, this was my favorite thing there. Shout out to UTAH!!

This month, this little beautiful blue eyed babinski continued growing up....DANGIT! But, we still like her.


Winni has continued her fashion trend setting. Sometimes I even let her wear it to school!



I fell more in love with this...



Especially since he looks a lot like this...



Remember that hotel we went to? Here is another weekends adventure...



No, we aren't pretending to be The Beatles, we are using their parking lot for it's intended purpose...



Diet Coke and Mentos explosions. It's the right thing to do!

And this thing...



I've got a problem with this thing. It keeps taking my kids away!

Oh, and I got a little older. It was painful, but I looked good doing it! :)

1st days of School!

I cannot tell you how many times I have pulled up my blog and almost got to the 'new post' page. So many fun things have happened around our house, but I just couldn't get myself to take the time to blog. So, I'm going to try to recap for you. Hold on to your hats, we're about to knock out the season we call FALL!

Winni's 1st Day of School

Yep, they're ready!!

Trae's packin heat, since he is officially bigger than Winni, he's got to protect her at school! :)

Mom of the year! aka Mom with the most clothes on for the 1st day of school!

Big school...little girl

Meeting her teacher, Ms Durham


Saying bye to Dad and a very happy Maeli

Trae's 1st day of school

A couple days before the first day, we met his teachers. Ms Crook and Mrs. Hackett. Doesn't he look so excited!?!


Actual 1st day of school



He really was excited!



Big school...my little boy!

Winni the toothless Wonder!

My little girl last week...aka pre awkward stage

Tonight...aka beginning of awkward stage

She left a note for the tooth fairy. She drew the picture herself. It's a portrait of the tooth fairy. Isn't she....BUSTY!?!



I'm not sure why she would want to keep her old tooth, but someone told her to ask. So she did!

I always thought losing teeth was a 1st grade thing. Kids are growing up so much earlier these days!!

Holy Randoms!

Tonight's post is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. First off, last week Maeli sported 2 piggies!! woo hoo!



Maybe I'm biased, but isn't she just the cutest little troll you've ever seen??

This morning Walter got Grady dressed. He felt like he was doing me a favor. Grady came to me to get mom approval, probably because he's so cool he was pretty sure this was not OK!



I instantly grabbed the camera! Walter wasn't sure why? I said, "Really? This is ok? Let's see what everyone at church has to say!" Most people thought maybe Grady had dressed himself!

And lastly, but so very importantly, it was today 4 years ago that I was pretty sure I'd be pregnant forever! Then, contractions started and I made pizza! All while breathing!! :) I will always remember July 18th as the day I enjoyed my most favorite labor experience EVER!!

Anyway, while I was getting Trae's presents out to wrap, I noticed a common thread...



Apparently I like this kid in red! GO UTES!!

I recently gave Grady a haircut!



I think he looks pretty cute! We also enjoyed some popsicles with our friend Madison and her parents.



Yes, Winni still dresses herself! I think I'm going to have to start an ongoing part of my blog. It will be titled "What Winni Wore Wednesday!" I'm pretty sure she is going to be setting trends like crazy!!

And, how could I resist...



"I pity the fool!"

I love my Grady and his 'don't take my picture' attitude!

Bird's Eye View

In case you were wondering, this is the front of my house from a bird's perspective.


Can you see Walter's car in the driveway?

And here is the back...


It's the white one, kind of smack dab in the middle. Can you see it? The one with green grass!

Oh, and this is the bird!


Our neighborhood and surrounding farmland


The Chester River Bridge! Which, btw, was a huge reason why I wanted to move here. I think it's so cute! And, we get to cross it at least every Sunday on the way to church.


Here is the bird before he fell asleep while flying.


Just ask him, he'll tell you, he was the co-pilot.

Every co-pilot has a pretty girl on his shoulder! :)
The bird when he was awake...



The Bird's bird...



OK, now for the story. I 'accidentally' found myself at the Smyrna Ward one Stake Conference Sunday and met some great people! One of them is my friend Amy Biang. Amy is helping me become the Julie Peterson Smith of MD. And, as you can see, so far so good! I only blog once in a while now! :) Anyway, her husband is a pilot. He was taking the cub scouts flying and invited Walter and Trae to come with him. They had so much fun! We have now moved our 'need' for our own plane up a few slots on the list.

Here are my sweet children!



Now, is it just me? Or does this seem like a game of "One of these kids is not like the others!" I'm just glad at least 1 of my children looks like me!

Sweet Midgets!!

Do you ever wonder what lurks around in your basement when the lights are out?



As a child (and still today! shhhh!!) when I would turn the lights out downstairs and head upstairs...I'D RUN! Because what if something gets me? Something that leaves this kind of a mess!?!?



Ah, thankfully, in this case, it was just the result of the monsters I created and the messes they can make!



They actually did me a favor. Sweet Midgets not only look disgusting all over the floor, I think they taste awful too!

Father's Day

The Plan:

Surprise Walter at our family BBQ with an apron, BBQ tongs/spatula/poker, and a grill!! He will be so happy he will scream like a girl.

The Reality:

Meet Walter after buying the grill. Tell him he can't look in the back of the van. He asks 'charcoal or proprane?' I play dumb and say 'Neither! You seriously thought I would get you a grill? You're not that cool!' The next day he leaves in his car with Trae and Grady to go on the Father's and Son's camping trip. He returns 5 minutes later complaining that his car is a piece of crap and when he pushes on the gas it doesn't always go. So, I tell the kids to tell him Happy Father's Day and he gets the grill out of the back of the van. He decides we should grill out the next night. So, as we are getting ready to get cooking he says 'I thought we had tongs and stuff.' To which I reply 'Happy Father's Day!' and hand him the tong/spatula/poker set. He comes in the house and sees the apron on the ironing board. I was ironing 'HOT!' decal on it. He says...smiling 'what's this?' I reply, 'Must you ruin every surprise?!? Happy Father's Day, it's a dang apron!' So, to show him, I didn't finish the apron until today.

The only surprise he got on Father's Day was a little magnetic foam man that Winni made. It was her interpretation of her dad. It was wearing only pants and had no hair! I think that's fair. I definitely need to post a picture of it....it looks just like him!

Oh, and there was no screaming like a girl. He has tried to curb that enthusiasm since Winni called him on it one day. He screamed and she said 'Dad, you scream like a girl!' She knows him a little too well!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY BABE!

Wow!!

I should really blog...er something! Do I have some fun things to blog about. And I will! I fully intend on contributing to the blog society again. I can't wait...FOR TOMORROW! :)

calling all my ladies!!

So, OBVIOUSLY I'm in need of assistance. I don't know how you all do what you do and get everything done. Every night I find myself wishing I would have done more or gotten more accomplished. I think what I need is a schedule. Either comment or blog your schedule, PLEASE! Tell me how you start your day, your morning routine, when do you schedule you time, and how. If your schedule says 'clean toilets' what are you kids doing? Are they helping you or are they busy with their own task/imagination? Do you schedule creative time with your kids. This might seem a little OCD, but I'd like to plan out my whole day. I won't follow it completely because my kids don't poop at 7 AM and 2 PM, so I will have to be laid back and go with the flow. But I feel that if I have a set schedule, then when I remember I have that schedule I can refer to it and be like, 'OK kids, the schedule says it's time for you to rub my feet, so let's get going!!' Also, as I am planning for the fall and I plan to, gasp, homeschool Winni, I need to know how you homeschooling moms schedule your day. Seriously, I need help! So, email, comment, or blog your schedule please!! :) I'll love you forever, and I'll make you cinnamon rolls, and then I'll eat them. Because my mom taught me you can't take care of anybody else, if you aren't taking care of yourself. I think she meant that about my children and sleep and so forth, but it applies to all areas of my life!

Who is your Daddy?

And what does he do??

This is what our daddy does...on occasion! And you know what? This was the first time we were early enough to watch him land. It was soooo cool! I kind of had mixed emotions about it all, though. It was like, 'Oh he's home! I can't wait to see him. Look how cool, they're landing!' Mixed with a little, 'If something goes wrong right now I don't want to watch! Do I dare let my kids watch? Brakes work, please!!' It was a very happy scared moment in my life. But, after they landed and taxid in and we saw daddy waving at us out the cockpit window it was AWESOME!! The only thing that would have made it any cooler would be if we could have run to him! But, we stayed on the grass like good little kids and waited. I get goose bumps just thinking about it!

Betterton Beach

I'm just going to pretend it hasn't been 1 1/2 months since I blogged last! I'm a slacker. There!! Moving right along! :)

A couple days before Walter got home we had some friends come to visit. Renee brought her mom, brother, and 3 boys with her. We went to DC one day and then to the beach! Not THE beach, but OUR beach. Our beach is a beach on the bay, as opposed to the ocean. So, technically, it doesn't count. But we just don't tell the kids that, and I remain the coolest mom EVER!!



Anyway, we apparently picked a windy, overcast day to go to the beach. They hadn't done the beach clean up for the year yet, so there were a lot of logs from the winter storms.

We also got a chance to practice our on land surfing skills!

The bandanas are a new fashion for Gunter Summer 2010, since Gunter Winter 09-10 brought many opportunities to visit the ER with head injuries! So, to keep the scars out of the sun Winni and Grady have to be covered. Might as well cover everyone, and start talking like pirates!

ARRrrrr!