Beautiful

I've been wanting to get some photos in front of the beautiful flowering hydrangeas in our yard and I'm glad we tried it out last week. I may try again with all three kids. The results so far are beautiful!

Ready to Ride

So far, he likes the hat better than the bicycle!

Two!

It's hard to believe it, but Will turned two on Friday the 19th. We opted for low key this year on the birthday front so we had a little family celebration after work and school.

When we arrived home from work, this is how we found the birthday boy. Hello, Fireman Will!

Pants are optional in our house these days....

After dinner, we had a yummy ice cream cake. Here are Will and Amanda anxiously awaiting a look at that cake (which we forgot to take a picture of!).

Despite the lack of a picture, Will can vouch for the fact that is was quite delicious!

After cake, Will opened up his presents -- under the watchful (and sorrowful) eyes of his sisters. He was quite excited about these new Cars pajamas.

He had to try them on right away!

He also loves his new trucks!

A new bicycle was in order, but, unfortunately, it's still a little too big for him. (The girls are, of course, making sure it works well in the meantime.)

Here, Will takes a test drive with Daddy's help.

The best present of all was probably the new sandbox. Will LOVES to play in the sand and dirt. He could not be a happier boy! Here he is getting the trucks ready.

Looks like they work well.

Happy Birthday, little guy! We love you!

Will's First Day of School

Will started pre-school on Monday the 15th. He's been watching his sisters trot off to school every weekday morning for nearly his entire life and so he was excited to join them, albeit with a little trepidation. Here he is showing off his new backpack as we got ready to load into the car.

Amanda was all smiles, too, about her new backpack.

I asked Natalie to turn sideways so I could get a picture of her new backpack and she gave me her backside instead! It did give me a good view of the backpack!

This was our second attempt.

Will cried a bit when we dropped him off the first few days but we were very happy to receive the school newsletter mid-week with this photo of our smiling boy riding a bike at school. All is good!

Painting

Natalie likes to paint. Whenever we ask about what she did in school, she gives us a report on whether her day's activities did or did not including painting. (Sometimes, it's not "available".) She often asks to paint at home and we often try to deflect those requests given the mess that it creates. Last weekend, however, we indulged and everyone had great fun! Although we started painting with brushes, they were quickly discarded and replaced with hands!

And then the hands had to go on the faces!

Natalie even decided to leave her lip prints on her paper.

Very messy, but very fun!

Dress Up!

The girls love to dress up these days and often walk out of the play room in some interesting and funny outfits. Here is Amanda, our social rock star bee, chatting away on her cell phone. She does a pretty good job of carrying on a one-sided conversation....



And there there is Natalie, the bunny, tiger, ballerina girl with the fancy white gloves and high heels. What you can't see in this picture are the butterfly wings attached in the back and the hat that was carefully placed on her tiger tail!

Fairytale Fun

Last weekend, we took a trip to the now familiar Fairytale Town where everyone had a good time, as usual. Here, Natalie walks the crooked mile.



And Will contemplates life in the little yellow house at the end of the road.

Afterwards, all the kids rode on the horses that pulled Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.

And then they sat inside the carriage where Amanda gave Will a BIG hug.

Amanda then posed nicely in front of Jack's beanstalk.

Will LOVED driving the choo choo train and had to literally be pried off of it when it was time to move on. He is all boy these days and so, as you can see from his expressions, his driving is accompanied by appropriate sound effects.

Natalie and Amanda took a quick break to smile nicely for the camera.

Amanda waters some plants.

And everyone took one last ride down the big shoe slide before heading home.

Fro Yo!