our focus these days

We are in the process of refinishing our basement and if you were to ask us how we are, or what we've been up to these days I can promise you we'd say something about our basement. We (Joe) is working feverishly to get the space finished before baby #3 arrives (on October 29th). Toby is a great assistant and is learning some valuable lessons by watching his dad's dedication to this project.

Piper does not help us move closer to our deadline, but she does add priceless fashion sense.
This is the "fire in the hole" stance which T assumes every time Joe shoots the nail gun.

Our new exterior door! It's simple, but I LOVE it!

Drywall is UP!!!!! this is the stairwell...

The main living space (which actually we will be drywalling the ceiling). This is where we will be all of November!

bedroom

still more bedroom...
new stand up shower in the bathroom...

Rainbow Recreation Play Time

Last week we went to the Rainbow Recreation Showroom to play on all their stuff! It was lots of fun and there was SO much to do! Piper enjoyed the variety...basketball, slides, trampolines and more! Toby enjoyed the basketball court!

Block Party!

From the first day we moved here (3 years ago), we've felt that there was something special about our neighborhood. We feel very blessed to have such amazing neighbors and to live in such a welcoming, and friendly community. we have all made life long friends and have learned what it is to live in community. three years ago we said, "this would be a great street to have a block party on." So this weekend we had our first block party since living here! It was really hot, but we all had so much fun we didn't even notice the high temps!

We had pools, water tables and balloons, kids ran in the street without the fear of cars, we ate great food, played washers and connected with our neighbors over a cold drink...or many cold drinks of choice!
oh, and our community fire department came by with a truck for all the kids to see! They are amazing by the way!

the highlight was when the firefighters got out the hose and let the kids run through the water! It took a while to work up the nerve, but once one brave kid started running, they all joined in!

All in all, it was a blast and I can't wait until next year!

I'm close to giving up...you may have thought I already did!

So here it is...the reason why I don't blog...it's not that I'm too busy, or have too much going on, it's not that I've lost interest, it's not that I don't have much to say...I can always find something to say, or a picture to post. The ONE and ONLY reason I don't blog regularly is my computer! It is SO SLOW (and it's not our Internet connection, we have AT&T U-Verse). Not too long ago my computer had a virus that attacked the processor and although I've gotten it "fixed" it still has taken me 2.5 hours to post this entry!

Anyway, enough complaining! Here is what we've been up to since April. First, Joe's parents came out for a visit which was awesome. We all love seeing them and having them here with us. And the visits always go way too fast. "Baci" has a Polish lullaby that my kids LOVE and made her sing it over and over and over! But what a sweet memory!

Grampy read lots of stories but when we talk about Grampy Piper always says, "i go fwimming wit Grampy." Regardless of what activity they were doing, the kids LOVED their time with Baci and Grampy!

Then I packed the kids up and we headed off to Harrison, AR to spend some time with my sister and nieces while Joe was at his sales meeting. And more amazing memories were made! They played gun fight, "puppies," circus, played on the swing set, and taught T how to do a slip-n-slide. He was slow to warm up to it but when they broke out the brides he was all over it!

and then they rested! It is such a joy to watch T with Meg and Cam. He adores them and they are so good with him!

Uncle Mark found a kitten in the barn and brought it home. everyone fell in love, but Piper was obsessed! That poor kitten had to be so relieved with Lisa took it to the vet clinic!

We are Toy Story crazy around this house! And I have to say it started well before Toy Story 3 came on the scene. This particular day T wanted to wear his "boot like Woody" but when I said I wanted to take a picture he ran out of the house and down the street crying because he hates pictures right now. This was on his return...

Oh my little Piper...she is her own person! this day she kept finding things around the house that she wanted to wear and when she was finished this was the result...

We made a trip to Atlanta for my cousins wedding. The kids traveled well...for the most part and we all had fun seeing family that we haven't seen in years. And not Toby tries to get Piper to play, "Courtney and Matthew" which means playing like they are the bride and groom.

the lake, the lake, the lake...we have spent more time at my parents lake house this summer than any ever before and it has been really fun for me to watch my kids fall in love with lake living. There is so much to do inside and out! And this pic describes my kids perfectly right now...Piper loves to say, "cheeeeessssseee" and Toby wants nothing to do with the camera unless he's behind it.

mid week memories

We have been outside A LOT this week. Both kids LOVE the Kozy Koop and fight over it most of the time however, this day they decided to "share"...as in ride it together! the only problem is that Piper's bum didn't quite fit...

and we have introduced the kids to some great summer (food) traditions. This is a picture of Piper's Heaven... an icee from QT and a swing!

We also took the kids to Lion's Choice for $0.25 mini cones! They loved them...as you can tell. and we aren't broke after buying ice cream for the family!

both my kids enjoy swinging, but the purpose of this picture is to let you know that Toby is FINALLY dressing himself, and with that comes his favorite clothing. You may have noticed that he is wearing this jersey in all of the above pictures however they were not taken on the same day...in fact they were all taken on different days. And it's not even football season, Lord help me in the fall. But he is so cute!
We went with some friend to the Missouri Botanical Gardens and then to Tower Grove Park for a picnic with some of our favorite little girls!

while at the park, Becky and I went to split up an argument with the "big kids" and Piper made her way to Becky's picnic bag, dug out the bag of Twizzlers, sat down and enjoyed a sweet treat! She is a girl after my own heart.

This morning the kids were playing really well together so I enjoyed a hot shower, this is what I found when I walked into my room...

Piper used her potty seat as a stool to help her climb in the clothes hamper. (I guess it's good for something!) They also had their "blankies, and bunny and froggy" in the hamper with them.
Tonight we celebrated a friend's birthday with a "wash your bike" party. They blocked off a portion of a do-it-yourself car wash and let the kids ride and wash their bikes and scooters.
Piper isn't so great on a bike, but she did enjoy the cupcakes...

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter this year and I realized the holidays get more fun the older the kids get. We went to two community egg hunts on Saturday and I didn't get any pictures because if I'd taken the time to focus and shoot the hunt would have been over! They are the shortest lived events ever planned! But so much fun for the kids.

Sunday we stopped by the Dillard's and Heather took a few quick pics of the fam.