Fall Evenings

We are all making the most of these beautiful fall evenings by spending lots of time together outside after dinner. Sometimes these evenings also involve ice cream sandwiches as seen hereShe ate the whole thing and wouldn't let anyone near her for fear they would snatch it from her hands.
I can't tell you the hours these dollar tree jump ropes have been used outside but of course never for jumping.

Look at this little poser. (Not sure why the picture is a little blurry.)
Never thought these two looked particularly alike, but in this picture there is a strong resemblance for sure.

A little Mya...

We stopped by the library today to pick up a few movies for our trip to VA where my sister, Chrisa, is getting married this weekend. Mya finds a Disney "Princess Story" dvd (I'm sure it's going to be a winner - thank goodness for headphones), and of course all the way home has to hold on to that video while giving a running commentary about all the princesses pictured on the front.

Once home I'm helping her out of her carseat and still clutching the dvd she says, "Daddy calls me a princess, but that's just because he loves me."

She certainly plays the part very well.

Soccer Day

Gabe's second soccer game for the fall season was Saturday. (I totally forgot to take any pictures at the first game - don't know what could have been distracting me) . He's enjoyed playing this time around and there have been no tears at practice like the first time; in fact, quite the opposite, he was up at a very early hour Saturday morning in anticipation of the game. Giving Coach Jennifer a "hand five" after scoring a goal. Not sure why he gets "hand five" and "high five" confused.

These three played almost the entire game and it was hot - already in the 90's at 9 am.

He played for the same coach last season which has helped greatly with his being comfortable - he knows exactly what to expect, and Jennifer does a great job getting the boys to play while still having a lot of fun.

Go Lion #7 - we are so proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy!!!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday, Grandaddy! We love you!

Sisters

The girls were sharing a snack on the couch today and I snapped a few pictures. It's been fun to watch them interact more and more now that Alena is getting older; I love to hear them singing and giggling together at night before they go to sleep.

May they always be the very best of friends.

All Worn Out...

Alena is in the process of giving up her morning nap. Its been rough on her and me, but I think we're about to work out a new "schedule. " One morning last week she had just had enough and after I finished cleaning up lunch stuff I found this:

I carried her to her bed and she never woke up.

Then, Alena walked around like this all afternoon:

that's, I believe, 4 necklaces. Between all her accessories and all of Mya's plastic dress-up shoes, they are quite something. In this last picture she was running up to grab the camera

A trip to the duck pond

We enjoyed the great weather this evening by going downtown to Centennial Park. This park has a large pond with a walkway as well as lots of play equipment and open green space. The kids favorite part of this park, however are the ducks and geese that eagerly swim up to get any handouts. I don't believe we've been to this park all summer so this was a really fun outing for all of us.

Taking a break on the swing and eating a little snack - this was the best group shot I could get. This little guy was very brave and would run right up under the swing to grab any crumbs.

Feeding the ducks.

Alena had to stay in the stroller for most of the duck feeding because neither Nae or I were really interested in jumping in that nasty water to fetch her. We did give her some bread to throw but she just ate it instead. (It wasn't stale or anything, Grandmama.)

Ouch!!

Alena had her first real injury yesterday and under my watch too (Nae wants to make sure that's known). We were doing some work at our church and she pulled a heavy wooden rocking toy over. Thankfully, it didn't hit her, but somehow during the fall she managed to bite a huge gash out of her tongue and leave teeth marks on her chin as well. She's been a real trooper, though and it could have been much worse. Her poor little mouth - not only does she have a sore tongue, but she's also gotten three molars in this week (and has the runny nose and cough to go along with it. ) You can see in the pictures that all of this mouth trauma has brought with it lots of drool - I changed her clothes 3 times today just because they were soaking wet! but at least she still has her cute little smile. I hope that never goes away!