Life is not [the] FAIR

Thank goodness life is not the fair! I can only handle one day of that much fun once a year. Annah and Liam, on the other hand, could do it every single day! They drove the cars (and the firetruck), rode some more rides, and had a great time. Will and I enjoyed the food (perhaps a little too much).

Annah had ridden these cars before, but last year Liam was too little to ride anything. Will was worried about putting him on a ride without an adult...but not to worry. He had buttons and a steering wheel...good times!
Annah had a pretty good time too!

Annah got to go on her very first roller coaster ride. Will is making a funny face (I think because he was being squished into a kid-sized roller coaster), but Annah was excited...

WWWWWHHHHHHEEEEEE!!!!!!

We took everyone on the (big) ferris wheel. It made me very nervous to have both of my babies up in that thing. The doors just don't seem very secure and it was pretty high, so I held my babies close and Will snapped this sweet picture.



These last three pictures crack me up! They had already ridden the cars once so Liam knew what to expect and he was so excited...

he almost couldn't stand it!

It's starting!

Oh my! Here we go!!

October Fest

Sunday was October-Shuping-Family-Fun-Day! It was very cool, but perfect for picking pumpkins. There is a pumpkin patch near our house, so we loaded up the kiddos and headed on over. Annah bounced from pumpkin to pumpkin asking me to take her picture on every one (see below). Liam was mesmerized by a field full of pumpumps (or balls...he went back and forth). He wanted to pick up every one! We did find a few good ones and got some great pictures too.

"Mama, this one is heavy!"

I love this face! He makes it whenever he is excited..."Oooooohhhhh!"

My goal (aside from getting pumpkins) was to get a picture of Annah and Liam together and one of me with them. The patch had a couple photo booths set up and I am pretty pleased with the results!

Pushing our pumpumps to the car

Later we decorated the pumpkins...Last year Annah freaked out about carving the pumpkins. She didn't want to cut out their eyes, because then they couldn't see! So, we bought the Mrs Potato Head Kit. I had to get another one for Liam this year. I couldn't find a boy one, so we had to settle for a witch. We did leave off the earrings to man it up a little.

After all that, we went to Boo at the Zoo. I had only gone once before. Gardner and Perry came along too and the kids had a blast (and had lots of candy). We got there right when it started so it wasn't dark yet, but we had to get home for dinner and bed. I must say, I think my kids were the cutest ones there!

Dancing!

Paging Dr Patootie...Dr QT Patootie

(it actually says Dr QT Patootie on his lab coat)

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines...

The smallest one was Madeline"

"And that's all there is, there isn't any more."

So Sweet!

Annah has gotten a lot of press around here lately with the birthday and all, but Liam has not been forgotten! Last week (while Annah was in school) Liam and I went to go meet little miss Jillian. Our good friends, Suzanne and Drew, had a baby girl about a month ago and I had not met her yet, so Liam and I (gifts in tow) went off to meet the sweet thing! I forget so quickly how tiny newborns are! When you see your own children every day, you never realize how fast they grow (I remember reading somewhere that if we all continued to grow at the same rate that we do the first year of life, we would all be over 12ft tall!). All of that to say, she was really tiny, and really sweet, and really beautiful! See?!

Wasn't really sure how Liam would react. Truthfully, I thought he would ignore the baby altogether (kind of like, "if I can't see it, it must not be there"), but he was so interested! He loved to bounce her bouncy seat ("Not TOO bouncy, Liam!") and touch her tiny fingers. It was really very sweet. Anyone who has spent any time around Liam knows he is VERY expressive with his face, and every time she moved he would get so excited. These first two pictures you can't see his face very well, but you can tell his eyebrows are waaayyy up!

They look so sweet!

Liam kept looking at me like, "are you sure this is a good idea...I don't think this is a babydoll, mom"

Does it get much sweeter?

Happy Birthday, Annah (Part Deux)

Annah's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday. Since we had already had her big party over the weekend, I asked her where she would like to eat dinner for her birthday. The answer...CiCi's! I am not a fan, but it was not my birthday, so off to CiCi's we went!

She was actually in a really good mood. Liam had just touched one of her presents (gasp!) and I took this picture. I thought it was funny!

Mommy, Daddy, and the Birthday Girl!

Birthday cake, round 3!

She didn't even crawl under the table this time!

and now a note to my Bean...

Dear Annah,

You are the sunshine of my life. You are funny, smart, and have a smile that literally lights up a room. You have always been very opinionated and I hope that serves you well as you grow up. You are reserved, but not a follower. You are so considerate (even wanting some chocolate cupcakes for your class when you don't even like chocolate, just in case some of your friends wanted them) and you generally put others before yourself. Remember that you are important too, and while I love that you want to make everyone happy, you need to be happy too!

Know that I could not love you any more if I had to. Sometimes I come in your room while you are sleeping just to give you one more kiss. I hope you feel that love in your dreams. I am proud of you every single day and I know that with every new milestone, I will be more and more proud! I remember wondering (before you were born) how I had room in my heart for more love...what a silly thought...my heart grows bigger and bigger every day to hold all the love I have for you, Liam, and Daddy!

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl! I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Happy Birthday, Annah!

Annah's birthday (birth-week according to Annah...I have no idea where that came from :) ) falls on a Wednesday this year, so we had her party this past Sunday. We went to a birthday party in July where Sarah Dippity was and Annah was hooked. Ever since then, she has been asking if Sarah Dippity could come to her birthday party. Actually, she wanted to have her party at Leapin Lizards and have Sarah Dippity come there too. In the interest of not spending a million dollars on a birthday party, we decided to just have Sarah Dippity come to our house. For the record, it was worth every penny! The kids LOVED her! Honestly, she has the patience of a saint! Plus, I actually got to watch the party, which was a nice treat for me. It happens too often that I am so caught up in the details that I end up missing some of the best moments of birthday parties, so I really appreciated getting to watch Annah and her friends enjoy themselves.

Sarah Dippity started by asking for someone "very special" to come up and help her with her first magic trick. It was so funny b/c half of the kids raised their hands and said "I'm special!" I wish I had a picture of Annah's face when she realized that she was the one who was "special." It was priceless! Anyone who knows my child, knows that she is a bit shy! I was afraid she would get nervous in front of everyone, but not at all! Maybe it was b/c she knew everyone there or maybe it was Sarah Dippity, but she got right up there and had a blast. That, in and of itself, was reason enough to have Sarah Dippity over and over again.

Here are the kids right before Annah went "on stage"

Annah in her cameo performance


They say a picture is worth a thousand words...I think this speaks volumes about what a good time the kids had

When they weren't cracking up, they all had this expression on their faces. Totally captivated!

Happy birthday to you...

This was Annah's only shy moment. She told me the day before her party that when everyone sings happy birthday to her, it makes her want to "crawl under the table." She did just that, but she did manage to come out to blow out her candle!

Mommy and Daddy gave Annah the Barbie Jeep for her big present. Unfortunately, Granddaddy left the battery to the jeep at the shop (I had to assemble it at mom and dad's so Annah wouldn't see it), so there was some frustration until we got it up and running!

This is a little irrelevant, but I loved the girls' party favors I had made. The boys didn't get left out, but these were just so darn cute!