Can you tell what James painted? A dinosaur! Once he told me, I could totally see it - its so amazing to watch  the process of preschoolers.



 

This was at James' preschool's playground with his friend CiCi. He has the coolest playground - after school he will play for almost an hour with other kids. Madeleine even gets in on the action there.

 

 

Last Friday, I had two other moms and their two kids over for a "cupcake decorating party". It was messy and crazy, but oh so much fun.



 

Madeleine and her many necklaces. She would wear them all at once if she could - but I put a limit of 4 on at any one time. I think they would drag her down if she wore any more!



 

Getting ready for Halloween!



 

We met Lori and Sydney at the library for story time this week, but it was cancelled because of local voting. We made our own story time!



 

She has a sweet Mohawk going on most mornings now... she still doesn't have enough hair to get a haircut, but she really needs to get some sort of hair shaping done!



Crazy few days....

This past weekend has been a whirlwind, and the only reason I had a minute to sit was because my mom was here wrangling my kids. John's birthday was Saturday but we had to celebrate it on Thursday night because John left for Hawaii bright and early Saturday morning. James helped me bake a cake and we have a really nice night together.

 

 

Friday we hit the park with my friend Lori and her two kids, we wanted to run the boys hard so they would take a big nap!



 

And yes, James is wearing a Superman cape. It made him run faster he said while playing with the "Stomp Rocket"



 

We had a birthday party to go to at the Childrens museum.... we only made it there for 45 minutes, but at least we made it. Did I mention it was a busy weekend?



 

And the main reason it was a busy weekend was because of the carnival that we, the parents of James' school, put on. It was awful weather but we were out there in the rain and cold with the kids having fun. Well, we were pretending to have fun - but the kids really did have a blast. Its amazing how the weather doesn't bother them in the least. Since I had to work it, Lori brought James for a few hours so he could have some fun. I am glad the weekend is over, but it was a lot of fun. A huge thank you to my mom for coming and helping - with John out of town, there was no way I would have been able to do it all on my own!



This Saturday, James' preschool has their big carnival and it is the main fundraiser for the year. It attracts anywhere from 3,000-,5000 people annually and has been my main focus for the past month. We haven't even gone pumpkin picking this year because I have had no free time recently.... but it will be all over soon and then we can get back to being a family. With only John working, I can usually bend our schedules to match his so we always get the maximum family time that we can manage - and I have been taking that for granted. I cant wait until this is over and we can have "our time" back to ourselves. I am counting the hours...

But even though its been nonstop, the kids have still managed to have some wonderful times. They are really starting to play together and become close. Madeleine follows James everywhere and just lights up when he plays with her. When we go pick James up from school, he runs over and gives her a huge hug and tells her that he missed her. They melt my heart.

 

James only goes to school three days a week and on his off days we try to go see John and have lunch with him. James loves sitting in his Dad's office and pretending he is working.



 

Madeleine and Sydney are only 2 months apart and love being together. They are double trouble. And now that they get together when their brothers are in preschool, they really try to see what mischief they can get into.



 

The last weekend in September we went back to Columbus for a VERY quick trip. John's two aunts were coming in from out of town (one from Seattle and one from St. Louis) for the OSU game so we couldn't miss out. It was a whirlwind but fun.



 

On the way home, James made his own tent and he sat in his tent for the last half of the trip. I think he was just exhausted from the weekend and didn't want anyone to know that he just really wanted to sleep.



 

This is the same look John has when he has his coffee and the newspaper...



 

James's school had an awesome playground. Every day when I pick him up we end up staying and playing for like 45 minutes. And then they both need a bath when we get home. There is a tree house, a zip line, swings, bikes, scooters, everything and anything a playground could want. And lots and lots of sand.



 

When we were in Columbus, my mom gave Madeleine several necklaces that she just loves to wear. Most mornings she grabs one or two before even leaving her room. She had her 15 month doctor appointment last week and when it was time to undress she would not take off her shoes or her necklace. She is such a girl! She was 23 lbs - finally she was over the 50%!



 

Speaking of shoes... she loves them!



 

James always sleeps in his room for naptime, but at bedtime he is still sneaking into the hallway to fall asleep. The other night he fell asleep with his head on the wall... no way was that comfortable.



 

We had smores for dessert one night... needless to say, it was a huge hit.



 

Just one more with her necklaces, this time she found John's stash of buckeye necklaces and put them all on - she was very proud of herself.



Just some pictures from the last two weeks or so... Ive been so behind on posting, its been a busy few weeks with James starting school and all the end of the summer activities!