Family Gathering

A couple of weeks ago my sister hosted a family gathering for my dad's side of the family, mainly his mother's relatives. My dad's parents passed away quite awhile ago and rarely do we see much of his family. I love my sister because she is bold enough to get everyone together. I've been waiting for this picture from my cousin Allison, so I could document this occasion on my blog. I'm sad to say that I don't think I could even name everyone in this picture. I really am thankful for families and the love and support they lend one another. I'm happy to have this picture that includes my dad's 2 sisters as I love them and don't see them as often as I would like. I miss my grandparents so much every day and know that they would have loved this.

Trip to the "Qwuary-am"

Gavin speaks pretty well (and a lot...) for his age, I think. I did notice, however, that he has a hard time saying aquarium and it sounds more like "Qwuary-Am". It's pretty cute and fairly subtle.

So off we went to the "Qwuary-Am" yesterday, just me and the boys. I like having a pass there. It's fairly cheap, not too far away, and you can go for just a short while because you know you can go back whenever. Plus, the boys love fish and it entertains them more than sometimes anything I can think of doing at home.

Say hello to my little friend...

We spent quite a bit of time out in the garden yesterday. I would like to say it was harvesting things, but it was more pulling all of the weeds than anything! When we first started our garden years ago, I realized that I was terrified of snails. I didn't know you could get snails in your garden. Really. One day I'm picking beans and move a leaf over and there is like a whole den of snails on this plant. ICK. Not long after that, I realized I would have to get over this fear if I was going to continue to garden. Last year I just stopped being grossed out by them. It's more the element of surprise than anything else and now I just expect them at all times so when I do find one, I'm not bugged. Or maybe I just had to tough up once I realized I was going to have 2 boys, who knows! They really are actually kind of cool (the snails...my boys are super cool..)

Gav and I had a great time outside yesterday with this little guy. Gav was very curious about how and what snails eat and whether or not they could bite him. I assured him he would not get bitten and then he was all about holding the snail. I have loved this summer and spending time outside in the garden with my boys. I don't think we have been outside as much any other summer. I feel like it's gone so quickly and I'm not ready for it to end.

Gavinisms

I have a couple for you today.

Me: "Gav, where is your bike?"
Gav: "I don't know mom. I'll just sniff for it." He proceeded to sniff like a dog while looking for his bike.

Gav: "I want to sit where you are and watch a movie mom."
Me: "Ok, I've got to get up anyway."
Gav: "Up you go, mom!"
Me: "You are such a cute, fun, happy boy."
Gav: "You are cute fun mom."

LOVE him.

Harry Potter Extravaganza!

I'm quite behind in posting as this was actually LAST week, but I've been slightly super busy. Again this year, I hosted a preview party before the Harry Potter release. This time I had to get 24 tickets (fyi you can only purchase 20 tickets at one time on the Megaplex website!). I chose not to do all of the crazy food from the books this time because I had done that last year and none of it was really all that great! I did do a couple of things and the pretzel wands like last time, but didn't take a picture of any of it. I was too busy getting our Hogwarts Class Pictures photo booth taken care of! It was so fun and silly to do, and not going to lie...I enjoyed that immensely! I will admit that I am glad this was the last of the movies because I'm getting a little old to stay up past midnight, but it was oh so fun!

Disclaimer...a ridiculous amount of pictures follow. Probably of people most of you don't even know. Thanks for indulging me!


The party's organizer Becca





She may or may not be our YW's pres....



This is just hilarious!

Oh Nance....









This was probably my favorite picture :)

She really did have "Mudblood" written on her arm!

LOL...

Yes, I was super creative and went as a Muggle

I turned all of the picture Black and White because I was having issues using the lighting stuff...but the color on this one turned out ok and I liked it better :)



Me and my sisters :)

Maxabillion Update

I was looking through old blogs and realized I used to write more about how Gavin was growing and progressing...things he was doing. Poor Max hasn't gotten a lot of that. Maybe because I have two instead of one?!?! Whatever the case, I want to look back one day and know how Max was at this very moment.

I LOVE kids between 18months-2 years. It has to be one of the best times aside from those perfect little newborns. They are starting to learn so much and it just amazes me how these little personalities totally come out. Max is NO different and is truly so much fun! He is one of the most easy going, all around good kids. He is very much a momma's boy, but is happy to be with anyone else. He loves to copy and repeat things we do or say. He is starting to really get into what animals "say" and is best at Horse and Monkey.

He wakes up every morning and yells "Mom!" until I come to get him. He has to hand me every blankie he has in his crib and then his "baby" (stuffed giraffe from Aunt Carlie, that I think was actually given to Gav, but Max has claimed!) Then he will let me pick him and up and informs me he wants "pink" (strawberry milk). I set him down and he grabs all of the blankets and says, "A movie". Usually when he wakes up Curious George is on PBS and he LOVES George. Just about every single morning goes EXACTLY this way and I love that he is so routine.

He is great about taking naps and going to bed. Seriously. Easiest kid ever. You lay him down, cover him up and he waves and says "night-night". How on earth did I get that lucky?!

Max LOVES his cousin Paisley. They are just 2 months apart and he thinks she is just tops! They are so funny to watch together.

Every time we walk into any Walmart store, Max yells out "Daddy!" Which is cute that he seems to understand that dad works at Walmart. Or sad that we go there that much...jury is still out.

He also yells "Dad" whenever he sees someone on a motorcycle. Cute unless it's some scruffy biker dude smoking a cig...

He recently decided he loves talking on the phone. It's pretty cute. He also love Buzz Lightyear and his big brother. Not sure in which order.

I'm so proud of this cute, sweet boy I get to be a mother too. He brings so much joy and LIFE into our family. Love you more than words, Billsy.

Nothing says summer....

like splashing in a pool :)
Photo Courtesy Kyle Meyers (because I was too busy dumping water on my kids head!)