Callahan's 2nd birthday!


We celebrated Callie's 2nd birthday at a bouncy house place in Gig Harbor. It was fantastic. I barely lifted a finger. The people even loaded and unloaded our van for us. Um yes, I think so!

Etsy sells similar cupcake toppers for $1 a piece! With a little web searching and creativity, I was able to make all of them for just a couple bucks.



Over priced cookies purchased off of Etsy....but oh so fabulous and cute!

This was my first attempt at cake pops...and I must say, not a fan! They were much more difficult than I expected and a LOT OF WORK.

Auntie Ton Ton's special birthday hat made especially for our Callie girl.

Happy Birthday Callahan!

Miss Cutie Pants

One giant forced smile...but the cutest 4-year-old I know!

An attempt at a group picture of all the kids...yeah right huh?!

2 years old and all growed up!

We are borrowing our little buddy Coleman's strider bike until he is big enough to use it. Anneliese learned how to ride a two-wheeler this past May at 4-years-old...Callie is not far behind her! This little girl LOVES to do what sister does.

We plan on getting the girls bunkbeds shortly...in the meantime, we just transitioned Callahan to Leesy's old toddler bed. Sob, Sob. The crib is unassembled and put away :(

First Day of Preschool 2011

Here's the difference between last year's first day pic and this year's. So old already :(

September 10. 2011

A sweet picture of our Callahan. Sob Sob. I don't want her to be two this month.

My most recent killer find at Value Village. These sparkly Converse cost me a whopping $1.50! Brand spanking new. I love me some good bargain shopping :)

Uh Oh...I've gone done and become a soccer mom!

Well we knew it would happen....we got the gold swagger wagon (mini van) and then signed Leesy up to play soccer! I've become a soccer mom. One that drives a mini van. A gold one.

Today was Anneliese's first soccer game and over all, I think it went the best it could have gone. Again, the game of soccer is not her challenge. It's the ref (per Anneliese, the whistle blowing was "scary" and over the top), the other team's coach, the cheering fans, etc. On the way to the game she asked me not to "shout" (aka cheer) too loudly for her....only quietly. She absolutely, positively hates drawing attention to herself. She kept gesturing for Casey and I to whisper when cheering for her!  To say we were cracking up is an understatement!

Shooting Stars (the 4-year-olds decided on their team name!)

Getting ready to start the game

"We're going that way coach!"

Callie behaved like a VERY naughty, tired, almost two-year-old the entire game. This was her face the whole time.

The desperate mama (hey! no judgement!) gave the naughty baby the rest of her coffee to pacify her long enough to finish the game :)

All smiles by the end of the game.

Swimming Lessons

As if starting soccer isn't enough, we also dove into swimming lessons for the first time. On the way to her first lesson Anneliese said, "Mommy, I'm just so nervous. What if my swim teacher talks to me?!" I'm not kidding. This kid is hysterical. God forbid someone talk to her!

Happy smiles as she sits next to me waiting for her lesson to start. We're the only family IN AMERICA that has to bring their 4-year-old to the pool a 1/2 hr early so she can watch the kids before her and muster up her courage :)

I'm laughing very hard during this picture. She was originally sitting on the other side of the stairs, but when it was her turn and the teacher reached out to encourage her to come foward, Leesy panicked and pushed kids in front of her as she scooched to the other side.

I am happy to report that with 8 sessions under our belt and only 2 more left, Anneliese can now float on her back and front by herself and jump in and swim under water unassisted to the wall. She actually loves her teacher now. We'll likely take a break from swimming until soccer is over....this mama is tired of caravaning already! Only 14 more years to go!

Kitsap Fair 2011

We took our girlies to the Kitsap Fair last week and had a really great time. Anneliese was just beside herself to actually ride rides this year. We rode ponies, did face painting, ate a deep fried snicker bar and over all had a blast.  It's so fun to see the girls have fun :)

Despite my previous posts,our shy cowgirl really is starting to come out of her shell. Simple face painting doesn't seem that brave and extravagant to most, but for Anneliese, this was HUGE. We've made leaps and bounds since this time last year!



Callie was less than thrilled to see all of the large fair animals. Similar to the Olympic Game Farm, she basically cried if anything larger than a guinea pig got near her. This is one of the only pictures of her not panicking in the barns.

Leesy bug and her good buddy Alexey

One cute cowgirl

Taking a break in the shade...it was a rare toasty day in the Pacific Northwest.

Anneliese kept lifting her hands off the saddle horn because it is SOOOO cool to ride a pony with no hands! She was cracking me up.

Last year she cried the entire way down this slide. She got a little freaked out mid-way through the bumps this year, but over all, loved it.

Callie's first ride. She looks disgruntled in the picture, but I assure you, this daredevil ATE IT UP! She was giggling harder and harder the faster it went. This kid is a nut I tell ya!