park

after school we made a quick stop at the local park! We had a week of wonderful weather we could not pass up! the kids had a ball running and jumping - and I enjoyed the peace and quite of nap time afterwards!

Eckert's 2010

Eckert's 2010

Lucas found his pumpkin!

the official pumpkin inspection

Mia gives the pumpkin the 3 tap test for quality!

Stay tuned for carving pictures!

The Pumpkin Patch Round-up

I love tradition, a lot. maybe too much - to varify that you would have to ask my family who have to suffer through my insistance of doing the same thing year after year. At Halloween time, we go to Eckert's. We love Eckert's! We have taken the kids there since Mia was a baby. For her 2nd year, we went to a patch in Chesterfield, MO with some friends for pictures, but we went to Eckert's for the pumpkins! Here are some through the years pictures of Amelia and Lucas!

I am aware the Mia is not only not looking at me in the first photo below,

but she is blocking some of Lucas' head. She was not so fond of sitting by

him back then. This year she was all smiles. Notice how the clothing varies from

photo to photo. We had one cold year in there!

Bear cub

A quick peak at my little bear cub, Lucas! He was only cooperative for about 20 shots and these were the better ones!!

Cheeky boy

Lucas' new favorite body part to show us! his cheeks!

helping

the kids wanted to "help" their abeula (grandma) do the dishes! I am sure she appreciated it!

Disney on Ice

As a total surprise to miss amelia, we took her to see disney on ice. She was so excited and loved every minute of it! Our friends tina, lexi and bre went with us, and we met more friends there too! it was a magical night! Here are the highlights! I think the whole thing made Mia want to go to Disney World!

labor day

On labor day we have a tradition of going to The Missouri Botanical Gardens. They have an annual Japanese Festival that we love going to! We have taken the kids for the last few years. Just this year, we discovered the Children's garden and it is wonderful!!! here are some pictures of them enjoying the water features! i wanted to join them, it was hot out!

torturing the kids, aka a photoshoot!

beautiful

peaceful

summer beauty!

one serious boy!

he smiled quite a bit, he just would not look at me!

Forest PARK

There is a park within Forest Park. It is pretty new and lots of fun! We went to meet our friends Madison and Tyler, and their mom Anglea there to play today.

mia and maddie

the boys

to keep it fair we had to seperate the families,

one neuber, one harris per side! the neuber's would

have over taken this ride!

a birthday celebration!

Lucas showing me that he is 2!

Look at that yummy cake!

For lucas' 2nd birthday we had a boat themed party. We had boat themed decorations along with a blue cake complete with a #2 wooden sail boat on it! It was Darling and oh so yummy! My friend told me about a bakery in Collinsville called Kruda's. I am really picky when it comes to cakes and this one passed with flying colors! It was a great day with lots of friends and family!

Pre-K, 2010

School time is here again and Mia was so excited to start her new school. We moved her to a school closer to home, and one that wouldn't make us drive over the dreaded 162 overpass between troy and maryville. It is a disaster down there. We drove by her new school many times, made a few visits and she was ready to go! She picked out her own shoes, her own clothes and her backpack. When I fixed her hair she insisted the barette was going to make her look silly. I assured her that the other kids are also 4 and their mom's

would be dressing them!

I know the goal is to get her ready for kindergarten. She is going to learn her ABC's, 1,2,3's and hopefully how to listen to the person in charge. If you know my Mia, she thinks she is the person

in charge of everything!

The day before she started pre-k, Frank Cusumano was on the early show, which i never watch by-the-way, telling his story about his son going to college. It was so amazingly sweet, special and heartfelt. It moved me to tears from start to finish. Don't believe me, watch for yourself here. Make sure you have a tissue on hand. Again I cry as I sit here listening to him. I

can't imagine taking Amelia to college. It is heart-wrenching just going to pre-k!. As I drove Amelia to her first day of pre-k, i realized that although it is preparing her for school, it is preparing me to let her go. It is a good thing that I have 13 more years to prepare myself. When the time comes I hope she is ready, that I have done my job as a parent.

funny stuff!

Meeting Buzz, take one

Lucas hasn't really liked any charcter's - until he saw Buzz Lightyear. One of the first people he could identify was Buzz. So when I heard about this toy story event, I knew we had to go! Not to mention that Amelia loves Jessie! the kids put on their Toy Story shirts and we were off! My favorite picture is when Lucas jumped up after the charactes came out, cried and ran away! priceless. he did warm up to them once he got to see them up close!

Lucas is 2!

We always have a mini party on the kids birthday! here are some pictures of Lucas' mini-bash. He is in love with buzz lightyear so it was a buzz themed party! I made him some fun-fetti cupcakes in true neuber fashion. I always let the kids pick and so far the have not let me down, they keep picking fun-fetti!

Lucas got a few presents too - a teeter-totter, t-ball set and a car! It was a great evening celebrating my boy turning 2! And he rocked his birthday hat! I had second thoughts about it last year because it was SO BIG on him - but I guess he is only going to get bigger! And Amelia's hat that fit perfect at 1 and 2 is looking kinda small on her at 4!

happy 2nd birthday sweet boy

A time to celebrate

For our 15 year anniversary, we were able to go to The Four Seasons for a short stay. We also went back to our original date location, Union station. We ate at Landry's. Was it good! Darrin had stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon (yum!) and I had Sea Bass with white wine sauce, scallops and general yumminess! It was a great time! And if anyone needs some time away and a place to refresh, we definitely recommend the Four Seasons! It was fantastic!! here are some room pics! enjoy!

moments like these...

The love I have for my kids is something I will never be able to successfully put into words. It is impossible for me. I can type it out and then I delete it because it just doesn't seem to convey what i feel in my heart. I had one of these moments with Amelia recently. She had asked to try popcorn a few times. We bought some and it came with a toy story holder. Mia wanted to stay up and watch toy story with me and eat popcorn. how can you say no to that? so we did. and i loved every moment of it. something so simple. and it meant the world to her. and i loved that because she means the world to me.

Our staycation 2010

Originally we planned to take the kids to the fabulous windy city for a week away. We love Chicago and wanted to share it with the kids! We really want them to see how great it is and love it just as much as we do.However, we also had some things around the house that we needed and wanted to do. Paint the bedroom, make and paint the playroom, put up a fence, have a weekend get-a-way for my and the hubby, and perhaps acquire matching furniture for the living room! whew! well, we decided that we would stay here in the STL, get some projects done here and

take the kids to some local attractions. We accomplished everything on out list.

We painted our bedroom a beautiful shade of green:

The playroom is now a playroom and a nice sunny yellow. Yes, this is the only picture I have to show what color it is! look behind the adorable children and see the sunny yellow!

The swing set is out of the box and up for the kids, their playhouse was delivered pre-assembled too!

the assembly team!

taking it for a test drive!

The fence is up!! We love the fence!! Ok - this is the fence truck - but trust me, the fence is up!!

We shopped and bought a new computer (YEAH!) - no pictures of it but this post was typed on it! And we bought a new computer desk, tv stand and medium bookshelf that match. no pictures of that either!

It was not all about the house though. We took the kids out for lots of fun days as well. We went to Gus' for lunch with Tia, Aly, Jade and Bella. Sorry, no pictures of that! Luckily Tia had the

mini van so Mia, Luca and myself could all squeeze in! i think it was Lucas' first time have a Gus' hot dog and he loved it!

We went to the children's garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The kids loved it. They could run and explore, and there was a splash area at the end.

We took a day out to join the Harris family for some swimming fun at Aquaport, which was so much fun! We did discover that the kids need more exposure to the water as they were not completely a fan of the water!!

lucas taking his time getting in the water

they only picture I have of Mia there! yikes!

Overall, it was the best decision and we had the best time! We were able to enjoy each other and accomplish SO MUCH!