My beautiful belle

love this girl.
she is sweet, strong willed, fiercly independent and so smart. She is also creative, clever, sassy and
outrageously funny all rolled into one. Her imagination
amazes me. on this day she told me she was tired of being ariel and swimming everywhere,
so she was going to be tinkerbell and fly around. I love
this age of 3. most days.

The Paci Bandit*

Lucas loves his Paci. When he was born, he wanted nothing to do with them. he would spit them out every time we tried. He now loves his Paci's and can usually be spotted with one in his mouth. and one in his hand. and in his other hand.

*see the bandaid? Luca got his flu shot. Mia was sad she didn't get a bandaid too. she got the flu-mist. she really did want a bandaid for her nose.

A day at the park

We managed to make it to the park to play last week. The kids loved
it, especially Mia!

Eckert's, trip 2

I love tradition. Every year since Darrin and I started dating,
we go get our pumpkins at Eckert's. We started taking Mia, and were able to take Luca
last year. The kids love it, running through the patch, picking up each and every pumpkin,
helping us decide which one is the pumpkin we should take home. This year we went during
the week, so they were not crowded and we got right on the tractor. And we had
our choice of pumpkins!

Fall 2009

I love fall. i love the colors on the trees, the leaves falling, the rustling sound
the leaves make when kids run through them. I love the cool crisp air too. here are some
pictures of some beautiful trees i ran across!

Princess Mia Mermaid

Here is Mia, modeling her newest Ariel costume that her
Nana bought her. The white cape was her "veil"
because she was getting married later that day. She is
quite a charter!

love!

the feeling is mutual little luca!

surbaban cowboy

eckert's, trip #1

the kids and I took an impromptu trip to eckert's last week. we had a lot of fun seeing the pumpkins, visiting the country store and eating a yummy lunch. they let the kids color while we were waiting for lunch. if you look closely you will see Mia coloring right handed and Luca coloring with his left. I think we have a south paw in our midst!

one super cute girl!

the face of nutella

Is it evident that Luca loves Nutella? that would be what is all over his face
and hands. He ate 2 mini bagels for breakfast with nutella on it. 2!
there is nothing wrong with his appetite!

love, love love

him, him, him! Luca is more of a serious boy. He is going to be the strong
silent type i think. Not that you can tell from this picture. He was giggling and
laughing all day, which is why i got the camera out. I think he was happy
that his molars finally broke through so he can get some relief from teething.
I want to reach out and squeeze him, especially his cheeks!

hysterical!

I love this picture. when the kids are standing there, they are told to raise their
right hand, and then put their hand over their heart and say the pledge. while Mia has
her right hand raised, she puts her left hand on her heart. every time. i find it quite funny!
While i was there to watch, she got to hold the flag and the sun poster. I was so proud
of her. She knew all the words to her songs and she knew the motions too. And
she looked adorable up there singing!

dresses, dresses and more dresses!

Amelia loves her dresses. loves them. every morning she gets up and changes out of her pajamas
and into a dress. She loves them all. her casual knit ones, her fancy holiday ones, it doesn't matter
to her. she especially loves the ones that spin with her. For christmas she has already asked
for a cinderella dress, a snow white dress and a sleeping beauty dress. Such a girley-girl, my amelia rose.

flashback

this was amelia performing the giggle-wiggle. seems like forever ago! She was a darling baby
that has grown into a darling little girl! On occasion, I miss the giggle-wiggle days! But thankfully,
they have been replaced with full on giggle days!

He is WALKING!

My little Petrologist

Anywhere and everywhere we go, Mia loves to collect rocks. She has rocks from Andrea's house in Ohio, our old church in Dupo, walks we have taken, our friend Lori's house, her nana's house, stores and shops, parks and even grant's farm! Here is a pic i snapped of her last collection. I wish i could say we had them all, but the ones that we "collected" in the SUV were accidently tossed out!

Halloween revisted

Last Halloween, my friend Nicole took our kids to the pumpkin patch together. We also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the eckert's restraunt, they have the best bread there. and the apple butter is so good, as well as fresh! Here are some pics from the trip, it was impossible to juggle, mia, 2 month old luca and the camera. these are off my cell phone, which is why the halloween had to be revisted!

Look how little Luca was! awwww

This is what you get when you ask two 2 year olds to sit

down for a quick pic!

Entertaining Miss Amelia

One night when i left for work, amelia decided that she wanted to go out front and color with her daddy-pop. I didn't know that my husband was such a good artist! this is what i found when i came home the next day! Amelia loved it and i think her pop moved up a few notches in her book! These were taken in april, but if i was to blog these in order, no one would see them!

squirt, nemo and a rose

a truck for Lucas
little mermaid, flounder and sebastain

squirt, or is this crush?

another hiatus has ended!

summer - i can hardly believe that you are over! and that you have kept me so busy that my poor blog has dustbunnies on it! never fear - i am still here, the kids are here. we are all doing well! Not that you come to check on me :) We have had a wonderful summer! how about all of you? Here are some things that i will be updating soon!

mia's party

dr. nancy

the edwardsville children's museum

playdate's

the zoo

the morning ritual

dresses!

a haircut for luca!

drunk drivers

the children's zoo

luca's party

dr. nancy again!

the city garden

another birthday party and

a wedding!

Wow - no wonder the blog is lacking - we have been super busy! Here are a few pics to tide you over!