i ♥ faces: Back to School

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is Back to School!  

This year is Ben's first year of school (more on that later) and this photo was taken before his first day!  I love the expression on his face- nervousness and excitement rolled into one.  And the sunflare.  Love the sunflare.  ;) 

To see more inspiring Back to School photos, or to enter your own, go to http://www.iheartfaces.com!

Bella turns TWO!

Dear Bella,

You had a truly wonderful 2nd birthday!  The night before Daddy and I stayed up late and wrapped all your presents, assembled your new slide, and got everything ready for you to enjoy the second you woke up in the morning!  Daddy even made a midnight trip to Walmart to get princess wrapping paper, a singing Dora card, and a Winnie the Pooh ballon!  :)  This is what you saw when you woke up:

Gifts for the birthday girl!

Of course, when you FIRST woke up we video-taped us singing the Happy Birthday song when Daddy got you out of bed.  It's gloriously off-key and completely terrible, you may want to turn the volume down (or off completely) when you watch it.  ;)

The first order on the birthday agenda was present-opening!!!  You had a blast (and so did Ben) tearing into all the presents!  You loved ALL of your gifts, you were so blessed by your grandparents and aunts and uncles!  So many fun new things!!

After presents you had some delicious pancakes and strawberries- your favorite!  You even donned your new crown (that Ben picked out and gave you for your birthday) and ate in style.  ;)

Your gift from us was your new slide (and some new pajama's), and let me tell you- it was a HIT!  You and Ben both had a blast sliding over and over and over again!  It made your Dad and I so happy because we were SO stumped as to what we should get you!  You already have lots of fun 2 year old toys (from when Ben was 2) and we really pondered it up until the very last minute.  I'm so glad we decided on that, and you have been enjoying it ever since you laid eyes on it!  :)  You had fun sliding on it yourself, as well as sliding your side-kick Winnie the Pooh!

Just like last year you were rockin' a seriously cute birthday ensemble, so naturally we did a little birthday photoshoot!  You were such a good sport and smiled like a pro!  Before we took you out to lunch (Pluckers of course!!) we got some family shots as well.  :)

After lunch we came home and you had a nice, refreshing nap!  After your nap you were up and ready for some more birthday fun!  You played hard and got lots of phone calls, and even a Skype call, from family members who love you SO much!  Then at dinner time you enjoyed your favorite meal- spaghetti, and then it was time for cake!!  I made another delicious egg-less creation for you again this year and it was enjoyed by all!  :)

You had such a great day, Bella.  You went to bed loving your new Winnie the Pooh from Bessa and Papa and your new Bitty Baby from Grandma and Granddad and wearing your new pi's from Dad and I.  You look pretty happy I'd say...  ;)

We love you so very much.  You are such a little spunky ball of joy and it is contagious to everyone who lays eyes on you.  We are so thankful that God gave us you. :)

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Love Forever,
Mommy

R&R 2011, Part 1

We had such an amazing 2 weeks with Albert while he was home on R&R!!  We picked him up at the airport on August 4th and had fun, fun, fun until we had to take him back to the airport on August 20th.  Ben and Bella were OVER THE MOON excited to have Daddy home!  They wanted to do everything with him, and be by his side at all times!  They had so much fun wrestling, playing and being silly.  It brought so much joy to my heart to see my children so carefree and happy!

First big event of R&R- WE BOUGHT A VAN!  Yep, we are the proud owners of a Swagger Wagon.  ;)  It was definitely a "God thing" and He certainly orchestrated it for all the pieces to come together perfectly so we were able to upgrade to a wonderful new vehicle.  I love it!!!  At first I was unsure about how it would feel to be 29, and in a "Mom van" (which is just one step away from the "Mom jeans"), but let me tell you- it feels GREAT!!!  I love my van!  The bells and whistles play a big part, but I can honestly say I love driving it, I am so comfortable and the kids are so comfortable, it's just a joy all around!  :)

Our new ride

While Albert was home, we (naturally) had to go to a baseball game!  Since we couldn't go see the Cardinals we headed to Round Rock and saw the Round Rock Express!  We all wore our Yankees gear since the Yankees had a big game against the Red Sox that night.  ;)  Despite the extreme heat, we had a blast!  We sat in the lawn and the kids ran and played, and rolled down the hill until their heart's content!  Ben had the time of his life, and would have been happy to stay until they kicked him out, but Bella was getting a little grouchy with the heat and it being past her bedtime, so we headed home before the game was over... but not before we got a quick family picture.  :)

Round Rock Express Game

While we were in Round Rock, before we went to the game, we got to eat at Mighty Fine and then go to the Disney Store where Ben found the Chick Hicks car (from the first Cars movie) that he had been asking for.  So a successful trip all around.  :)

Speaking of Cars, Ben got to go on a special "date" with Dad to see the Cars 2 movie!  He had seen it previously, but had been asking to see it again since we left the movie theatre.  ;)  Thankfully they had it playing on post, and Albert was able to see it with him!  They packed some fruit snacks, and Mater juice boxes and had a wonderful father/son date!  :)

On their way to see Cars 2

Another thing the kids LOVE to do is go to Texas Tumblers and play on the gymnastics equipment on the Toddlers Free Play days!  Since it's hard to chase after the two of them, going in separate directions, I haven't taken them recently, so we took the opportunity while Albert was home to go!  :)  The kids loved it!!

Playing in the foam pit, at Texas Tumblers

We were blessed to have Albert home to celebrate our sweet Bella's 2nd birthday!!  It meant so much that we were able to have R&R during that time, and we had such a wonderful day!  Such a wonderful day, in fact, it's deserving of it's own blog post!  ;)  Check back soon for Bella's 2nd birthday and more from R&R!

Aaaaand we're back!

I am very sad to say, our beloved MobileMe blog site will be shut down in the next year.  :(  I guess that Apple found that the iWeb feature was not one that was used by many, and long story short- they're getting rid of it.  So guess what that means?  I get to move all of those blog posts over here!  Woo hoooooo!  That's going to be fun.  So I figured I might as well get started with some new posts so I can re-familiarize myself with Blogger!  :)  Now that my sweet Ben is in school I have a few moments to myself when I can get you guys caught up with the going-ons of our family!  Hope you enjoy!