A Good Old Fahsioned Hoedown

Last Friday we went to a good old fashioned hoedown at Claire's school!  We had a blast!

 Claire gets so excited when she has events at her school.  She loves to show off her school and introduce us to all of her friends.   And how cute does she look in her cowgirl gear?!

Oliver loved getting dressed up too!

Even Mark got into it!  A friend of mine is from Alabama and she gave us some great stuff to wear!

My ranch hands.

I love a good theme day!!!

Claire and one of her best buddies Mia. Claire and Mia are besties at school and she is sooo sweet! 

Claire and Mia showing off their dance moves.

Oliver on the other, fell in love.  He kept saying "I dance wif her.  I dance wif the big girl."  So Mark told him, "Well go ask her to dance!"  And that he did.  He marched across the dance floor of big kids and walked right up to Ally, tugged on her pant leg and asked her to dance.  Mark and I held our breath thinking "Oh no!  This little girl is going to want to hang out with her friends and blow him off and he is going to be DEVASTATED!"  Well, that was NOT the case.  She scooped him up and danced with him ALL NIGHT LONG!  It was so sweet!

She took him to do the limbo and do a craft in the library (with Mark or myself trailing behind, at a safe distance of course.  We didn't want to ruin his game).  I kept asking Oliver if he needed to go potty and he kept telling me no.  Then he had an accident, because he refused to leave Ally's side!  So Mark ran him home to change him (the ONE time I don't bring extra pants with me, he has an accident) and he told Mark in the car "Now I go find my big girl and if you talk to me I will push you away.  Will you miss me?"  He is really something else.

Claire tried to join him at one point (I think she was a little jealous) but Oliver wanted nothing to do with her.  It was all about Ally.  The next morning he kept talking about her and saying "She not my fwend, she my girlfwend.  She carry me all night."  I swear I am in trouble with him!  I do not know where he gets this from!!!!!!!

Overall, it was another great family night at Claire's school.  I am really happy with how great her school is.  They do so much for the families and it just makes Claire love school even more!

A Night At The Circus

We spent tonight at the circus!  The kids had a blast!!

Here is Claire waiting for the show to start.  We didn't go last year so I was surprised at how much Claire remembered from the circus!

My chickens waiting for their turn on the pony ride.

Mama Hen made sure Oliver was ok while they went on their pony cart ride.

We all had a great time! Oliver LOVED the circus!  He was amazed by every single thing that was going on.

Claire was a pro at the pony rides.

This was the highlight of Oliver's night.  We saw a pony when we first got there and for the rest of the show Oliver just kept asking, "Where da pony go?!"

We had a great time at the circus!  Claire loved all the costumes and the trapeze artists.  While Oliver loved the trapeze artists and the animals.  

And when they rolled out Mater, he about lost his mind!  

And we all loved the elephants!  I have no idea how they train those elephants to stand ON A BALL!  But it was amazing!!!!   

Playing Around And Being Sentimental

My camera is home.  Home and fixed.  I have really missed having my camera but while she was away I had some time to really look into some new ways to use her.  As soon as I got her back I was ready to really practice and do a lot of different things.

I really played around with my lighting.  While I was doing this I got some different pictures of the kids.  I love this picture.  Claire's face is priceless.  She was getting really sick of me asking her to sit in different spots around the house while I took 3,000 pictures of her while I changed my settings and played with my flash.

My lighting was good here but Claire was yawning :)

The weather was gorgeous this weekend so I got to play around with some great natural light.  Claire is a great little model.  She does anything I ask her to.  I love this kid.

Oliver doesn't pose very well but he is always fun and a good sport.

And seriously....look at this face. I have a hard time not kissing and biting him constantly.

I asked him to show me something.  So here he is showing me his boo boo.

My babies.

Later on we went to the playground.  We grabbed some McDonalds and ate at the playground so we could enjoy this weather.  Oliver just kept saying "We eat at the playground....that's exciting!"

He loves the swings :)

Claire loves to help Oliver do everything.  She had a blast pushing on the swing.

Claire loved being sassy for the camera.

The kids loved running around in the warm weather.  Here they are chasing a squirrel.  Oh to be a kid again and have this be the most exciting thing that has happened all day.

My babies checking out the frozen lake.

The day before I went to the cemetery to practice taking some pictures.  I know it sounds morbid but I have always loved cemeteries.  When I was a kid my Poppy would take me for walks in the cemetery and tell me stories of all the people that have passed away.  He made the cemetery seem so peaceful and relaxing.  I used to love to listen all of his stories.  So to this day I find the cemetery so relaxing.  It's creepy I know, but I love it there.  So when I was doing one of my "assignments" from my photography book and the first assignment was to go somewhere tranquil and take pictures of the architecture, the cemetery was the first place that came to mind.  Here are a couple of pictures that I took.

This is one of my family's stones.  

This is a stone that my Poppy used to tell me was father and son.  He had some huge back story to it that I used to make him tell me over and over.  I stood there for what seemed like hours and it saddens me to say that I cannot remember any of the story.  I just remember that I loved it.  While I was there it really made me sad that I can't remember many of the stories he told me.  They were so detailed and beautiful and they never changed.  It kills me that I cannot remember any of them.  I guess I will have to make up my own stories and just remember they way they made me feel.

Big Things

We have had some big things going on here lately!  For one, my camera is broken.  This is awful.  It has been two full weeks without my camera and I have been devastated!  Thankfully my mother let me borrow her point and shoot but still, I miss my baby!!!  

Enough of my whining, now onto the good news!!!!
 

Yep!  That's right!  Claire has been chosen to be a part of a "Challenge reading group"!  I cried when this came home.  I am so proud of my girl!!  We have really enjoyed the books that have come home.  It has been a little extra work but we are all loving it!  Oliver loves when Claire reads her new books to us each night!

Also, Claire recently came home with this little award!  SHE CAN TIE HER SHOES!!!!!!!  The poor thing has been working on this since the summer with her tiny little fingers.  I am so proud of her for not giving up and keeping at it!  Again, I cried when this came home!  Claire is growing up so fast and she makes me so proud EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

Claire isn't the only one growing up.  Oliver is off the binkie (since the fall), in a big boy bed, totally potty trained, and moving to the big 3 year old room at school.  I am so proud of him!!

OK, they can both take a break and stop growing up so fast now!!!  At night I have been getting teary (I seem to cry a lot these days)  and telling Claire all kinds of stories of when she was a baby.  She loves to hear these stories but cannot understand why I am crying.  I asked her to stop growing please and she told me, "I will try Mom but it is going to be hard.  I don't think it is going to work!"  I know everyone says this but MY KIDS REALLY ARE THE BEST!!!!!!

Museums And Big Boy Beds

We have had a great week off!  We have been spending a lot of quality time together as a family.  We have really enjoyed just relaxing and being together.  We have also had some big changes over here.  Oliver is now in a BIG BOY BED!

The other day we were all napping during nap time and Mark and I heard a loud thud.  I ran into Oliver's room and there he was on the floor!  The poor guy looked at me and started to cry and said "I feew out!  I feew out!!!"  Mark and I just looked at each other and we knew.....it was time for a big boy bed.  Now I will admit, I fought this decision a bit.  I fought it because there was NO WAY that my baby was ready for a toddler bed!

Here is Oliver playing in his crib for the last time.  He LOVES his crib!!  Claire and I went to dancing and when we got home, the crib was no more (and I did cry a little).

Here is Oliver's big boy bed.  Of course, I made Mark move EVERYTHING around in his room but we were happy with the end result.  I thought Oliver would have a hard time not having his crib because he loved it so much but he was totally in love with his new bed!  He stays in his bed until someone comes to get him and he wants to stay in his bed!  We have to give some books so he can hang out for a while.  Throughout the day if you aren't sure where Oliver is, there is a pretty good chance he is hanging out in his bed.  Claire also loves his bed.  They play in there all the time, they call it their boat :)

Aside from Oliver growing up way to quickly we have been hanging out at museums.  We went to Buffalo Science Museum the other day.  The kids had a blast!

I love watching their little minds work.  Especially when they work together.  My kids love to go to museums.  They are so busy the whole time we are there.  Mark and I love to watch them play together.  They stick together and help each other out.  Oliver is learning so much from Claire and I love it!

They loved putting together the "People Puzzle".  Claire needs to know how everything works and Oliver just takes it all in.

Today we went to the Strong Museum.  The kids loved the Sesame Street exhibit!  And a special thank you to Nana for letting me use her point and shoot camera while my camera is being repaired.

Oliver was blown away with the section where Elmo does "the news" with you.  And there is Mark otherwise known as "Photobomb".  Mark always finds a way to get into a shot.

Oliver loved all of the cars that he could "drive".

The kids had a blast shopping at Wegmans.

They both felt so grown up.  And Oliver is always thrilled when something is his size.

Claire was a pro at checking out.  She is still carrying around her receipt.

Oliver loved checking out too (with a little help from Daddy).

Just chilling in Big Bird's nest.  Oliver kept asking me "This is Big Bird's nest?!?  I sit in Big Bird's nest?!?!  Where Big Bird?!?!"

The Superhero exhibit was a hit.  Oliver doesn't even really know all the superheroes (besides Superman) but he LOVES them!  The kids had a blast "climbing the wall". Of course Claire is dragging Oliver along.

The Berenstain bear exhibit was also a hit.  My kids love their books and they love to watch the cartoon.

Claire had to get a picture with Papa Bear.

Oliver fell in love in the sandbox.  He found this little girl and played with her for 45 minutes.  He kept bringing her toys, it was ADORABLE!  I sat with the little girl's mom and her and I giggled the whole time,  it was so sweet.

Claire had a blast too but I think she felt a little left out because Oliver was with his new girlfriend.

We have had a great break! I am sad that is it already almost over!  Just being together and spending this time together has been great!  I just kept thinking today that my babies are getting so old and I will really miss these days.  Mark and I were saying today that we can't even believe the kids are this old and they are gonna be teenagers before we know it!  I truly have cherished EVERY second of this break, even the days when we just hang out in our jammies!

The Winter House

Last night we had a great time spending the night with our family at the Winter House!

Everyone loved going skiing and relaxing!

Oliver had a blast reading Aunt Sara some books.

It is always so great to spend this time together.  We all enjoy visiting and relaxing.

The kids LOVE the winter house (click HERE to see our past visit to the winter house.  Oliver and I couldn't go last year because he was sick so there are no pictures of Mark and Claire from last year)!  They had a blast going in the hot tub.  Claire thought it was amazing to be outside in the snow "swimming".  Claire and Oliver got to sleep in the closet and they thought that was the greatest thing ever.  Aunt Irene set up a big air mattress for Claire and Oliver had his pack and play.  They were just thrilled to hang out in the closet and sleep in there.

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday and enjoyed three cakes!  After the kids went to bed (in the closet) the adults stayed up and played games.  We had a BLAST!  It was so nice to just be together and hang out.

Thank you Irene and Bryan for such a great night!  The kids had a blast and the adults did too!

On a sad note my camera is broke and I am a mess about it!  I was so sad that I didn't have a camera to take pictures of our great night but my mother let me borrow her camera so I did get some pictures.  I was going to send my camera out to fix it but it was going to take 4-8 WEEKS!  I cannot stand the thought of not having my camera for that long!!  So Mark ordered a new part for my camera and he is going to fix it soon, so say a prayer all goes well because I am DYING without my baby!!!