Give Thanks Day

It's not quite midnight here yet, so I still have time for my thanks list for this year, so in no particular order, here is what I'm most thankful for...

the 2 greatest kids in the world
fall air
fleece jackets
swimming pools
that we're warm and cozy in our home
Blake's big yawn in the morning
Charlotte's belly laugh
olives
walking through the woods
Sydney sneaking in my bed in the morning for snuggles
pizza and movie Fridays with my 2 best girls
my new cell phone cover
Lysol cleaner with Gain scent
pink slippers
pancake Saturdays
that quiet time at night when the kids and dogs are all asleep
that I successfully took 2 finals today
FAMILY

Sydney is Seven!

Our little Sydney Claire turned 7!

Toothless wonder!

We had a pinkerific party, complete with flamingo cupcakes

And capped it all off with a trip to Build-a-Bear

Happy Birthday Sydney, we love you!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Highlights!Mummy meatloaf! YUM.

Shaking things up at school!

Today was the first day of school!

3rd grade for Charlotte and 1st grade for Sydney


Charlotte styling in her new shoes

Aww, such cuties.
To make this day even more exciting, we had an EARTHQUAKE here in MD.
Yep, that's right, a 5.8.

I'm afraid it shook the sweetness right out of Charlotte. Too bad.

Summin' up our summer.

To wrap up our summer on the eve of the first day of school, here are a few things that kept us busy...

swimming at the pool


a lot


and falling asleep on the way home


iPad games

GI Joes

Barbies


and more Barbies

Legos

slip-n-slide in the backyard


and then we finally made it to the beach
(we're not sure who Charlotte is showing off her muscles for in the water)


All in all, a good summer that went by too fast.

Stay tuned for the first day of school!

An American Girls' Day Out

Charlotte, Sydney, and I, accompanied by their dolls Abby and Kit, had a "Girls' Day Out" yesterday and took a trip down to the new American Girl store. All three of us had been excited about this trip since they announced the opening of a DC store back in February!

Beltway traffic = 1 huge headache and $20 in gas
Pizza and smoothies at the overpriced food court = $38
New doll outfits and accessories = $120 (good thing I'd been saving up)
Great day with my two best shopping buddies = PRICELESS

Hello, Blake!!

We welcomed a new member to our family this week - meet our new beautiful boy, Blake.

He's a nine year old Lab that we got from a local rescue, and he's quite the gentleman.
The girls are just in love with him!

Summer time...

Summer time and the livin' is easy.

Wacky Wednesday!

This last week of school is Spirit week, and today was WACKY WEDNESDAY!

The kids got to dress in their wackiest outfits and hats.Can you say, "CHEESE"? Love those socks, though!Even Sienna joined in the fun, she's just really good at hiding her excitement.

Puppy love

I try not to blog about my dog too much, but we've gotten some really cute pics lately. She's such a sweetie!

Charlotte's post

While home sick with a cold last week, Charlotte was trying her hand at some photography... I think her pictures speak for themselves.

Lightening and Thunder and Rain, Oh My!

We've been having crazy thunderstorms here in MD lately, and our dog, Sienna is terrified of them. She practically crawls up your leg to get into your lap. I hate that kind of behavior, so I usually play mean mom and put her in her crate during a storm, but tonight the girls took it upon themselves to instead bring her into bed with them and read her a story. Now, dogs on the furniture is strictly forbidden, which both my kids and my dog know very well. So how did this get by me? I accidentally fell asleep during our first bedtime story, and woke up to wet doggie breath in my face. Needless to say, I wasn't very pleased with all three of those naughty kids, but, I did let them finish their story.

Just out cruisin'.

Da Plane, Da Plane!

S'more Fun!

Our first camping trip!


After all the hot dogs and s'mores, Sydney and Sienna were ready to
hit the sack, or sleeping bag.

We got stuck in a thunderstorm, but luckily

Charlotte was ready with some spooky stories for us.

Fun for us all, and even after a cold night of rain,
everyone still wants to go again!