coincidence

One day, Matix discovered a REAL version of his Hot Wheels car parked in the parking lot. It happened to be the car that he picked to bring to the pool that day and it was AMAZINGLY similar. We had to take a picture. 

Lulli and Grandpa Lee

When Grandpa Lee was here, we discovered a few new things. Thanks Grandpa for enlightening us. :)

1. Lullaby prefers to be upside down, at all times.
2. Lullaby is a Daddy's AND Grandpa's girl.
3. Lullaby's absolutely favorite dress is this dress from Grandpa.

These pictures were taken on 2 different days… FYI.  And she is till whining to us some nights about Grandpa "coming home" to our house. So sweet.

history in the making...

Meet Lee Berg. I'm fairly sure this is the first and ONLY photo that he has taken for me without whining about it first. The man does not like to be photographed, but then all of a sudden, I grab my phone and take this picture, and look what happened! He smiled! And looked at the camera! Finally! :) 

We had fun with Grandpa Lee visiting us! Paul doesn't get a lot of free time at all, but who better to spend it with than his dad? Thanks for coming to visit us!

Sully's party!

We had Solace's birthday at our neighborhood splash pad and playground this year. Since Sully's favorite things are water and balls, that's what we did. We invited a couple of his little friends over for a nice easy party. The balls that we had used to fill up his crib with were then used as entertainment at the party and were taken home as thank you gifties for the friends. We also brought chalk, and a few ride on toys to keep everyone happy. And everyone had a good time and that's what matters.

We brought folding chairs and a friend brought her beach umbrella for some shade, and the parents sat together and chatted as the kiddies ran wild. It was a very easy and fun party for a 2 year old!

Here's a before picture of the spread. This was a morning party (before it got too hot to handle), so I didn't have to serve a full meal. Just Sully's favorites. Baby carrots, watermelon bites, Cheez-Its, Ritz crackers, Skittles, cupcakes, and lemonade. Yum! Auntie Laurel gave us lots of animal water bottles to use at the party too, which also went home with the friends as a prize at the end.

Matix and Lullaby decorated the cupcakes with sprinkles for their baby brother.

This is the only picture I got of Hawken, and I didn't get any specifically of Matix… They were VERY busy riding their bikes around the loop near the outdoor exercise equipment and then through the water, and they would only occasionally stop for a snack.

Solace was a little sad during the birthday song, but got happy again when it was done and he got to eat a cupcake. So funny. Baby Matix hated the birthday song too, until the actual day of his birthday party.

Lullaby was extra happy that her friend Yvette could come! They spent most of their time decorating the sidewalks with chalk.

Here are Sully's 3 friends who came. Getting them to take a picture though made some of them cry, and some try to run away. Go figure.  These pictures make me laugh!

Vanessa and her kids came to the party at the end and the cousins got some time to play too. They love having cousin time. And of course, Linnaea was happy to have her Grandpa time.

Paul made it to the party right on time from a night-shift, and it was perfect. Here we are with our favorite 2 year old. We love you, you wild thing! Happy birthday baby!

And of course, a few video clips from the fun day. Sully, you are such a good reason to celebrate. We'll eat you up we love you so!

Matix

This boy is obsessed.  He is constantly asking to play games on the iPad. He is such a good boy and works so hard getting everything else done, I don't feel bad about letting him have extra time on the iPad. :)

friends

Laurel made the long drive down to Houston to see me for my birthday. She is such an amazing friend. She came bearing gifts, as usual, and of course hit the nail on the head with everything. She is the BEST present giver. Thank you Laurel for being my friend. You are so wonderful.

snow cones

Our favorite snow cone place in Houston, just happens to be right down the street. It's SO nice and close, but we hardly ever go. When Grandpa Lee was here, he reminded us how much we all like it. Thanks Grandpa!

Great Grandma Evie

When Grandma Evie broke her arm, the kids made her these cute pictures and notes. There were more, but these were my favorites. Somehow, all that's left are these photos. The papers, which I mailed, never arrived. :( So sad. So here, Grandma, these are for you. 

Meant to be read like this;
Door: "Ding dong."
Grandma Evie: "Hey!"
Matix: "Surprise Grandma!"
Doctor: "I don't see anything, but she needs a cast."

Grandma Evie: "Matix, what are you doing?"
Matix: "I am planting a seed."
Grandma Evie: "That is cool."
Matix: "Yeah."

my birthday cupcakes

I somehow didn't get a picture of my cupcakes for my birthday. Paul couldn't decide on which flavors, so he got one of each. So sweet. The kids sang to me, and I even got to blow out candles this year… So fun! I didn't get pictures of all of the amazing (looking and tasting) cupcakes because they got eaten up before I thought about it...

Grandpa Lee visits!

Grandpa Lee came for a quick visit! The kids LOVED all the extra attention. We went to the pool one of the days he was here so the big boys could show off their swimming skills.  Life is WAY more fun with Dad and Grandpa there!

IKEA

IKEA had a free kids' art class at the end of the summer and I thought the kids would really like it. Turns out, only Matix and Solace liked it, and Lullaby and Hawken were only interested in eating… Oh well.