Kisses and Giggles

Jimmy has now learned to give "kisses" on command. You simply ask, "Jimmy, can I have a kiss?" and he charges at you with a WIDE open mouth and proceeds to suck on your face. While I know this would be gross if he were not only one (or my own child) but to me, it is so sweet!!

Both of my children are extremely ticklish. So with a good belly, thigh, or neck squeeze they both squeal in delight. I absolutely love the sound of these giggles. They are the quintessential precious moments when I am reminded how young and full of life they are. My favorite is when I am in the kitchen cooking and then from the other room I just hear the eruption of laughter as Jim plays with them. What a sweet sound. Life is good!

Labor Day

Ready, Set, Juuuuummmmp I managed to get my picture taken too!

We had tons of fun over Tom and Nancy's for Labor Day. There was LOTS of yummy food and plenty of pool time! All summer long Jimmy has preferred to stay outside the pool and run around while we swam. That all changed yesterday though. He just walked right over the to the diving rock and jumped in... luckily he was wearing floaties and Jim was there in time to get him. He LOVED it though and proceeded to jump or get thrown off the rock at least 50 times!! I have to admit. I was a little unsure of Jim's technique as it appeared one of our children would lose a limb at any moment. Despite my reservations they kept on laughing and running to do it all over again. I can't imagine what they'll be up for by next summer!

First Day of School

Sorry about the panties showing... :(

She has to wear tennis shoes to her new school and

she insisted on wearing her new dress... such a fashion faux pas

Skylar started her new school on Monday and Jimmy started in a new classroom. They are both growing SO fast. Boo! It was hard to drop Skylar off at the new school.. I was worried she would be sad. Turns out she loves it there!! She came home singing 3 new songs and told us stories at dinner about her day. Jimmy didn't say much about his new classroom (hehehe) but I think he likes it too! He sleeps on a nap mat now and eats at a table...it is so cute!

We now have to pray before every meal (thank you SWDS) and our prayer begins, "tick tock says the clock, now it's time to pray!" which is followed by the sign of the cross. Most nights Skylar skips at least one part of the Trinity but sometimes she manages to get it all. She mumbles through the "bless us oh Lord......" and catches up with a loud, "AMEN!" Then she reminds us Jimmy is too little to pray because he can't talk. I love this family time (until the screaming to get away from the table begins!)

Dancing King

So tonight I was catching up on So You Think You Can Dance and Jimmy just couldn't help himself, he had to dance to the music. So sweet! He just stood right in front of the TV and bounced up and down. When Skylar started spinning in circles and dancing all around Jimmy, he just laughed and laughed. I love this age... everything they say and do is just so stinkin' cute (IMHO)!

Big Girl Room

It's official, Skylar is a big girl! She now has a Big Girl room to prove it! She wanted a princess theme and pink, pink, pink!! When we finished painting and put all her stuff back into the room Skylar gasped and declared, "my room is precious!!" I think Skylar is precious!

Oh the places we went!

We had a busy few weeks traveling. First we hit St. Augustine and enjoyed the oil-free beaches of the Atlantic. Then we moved onto Ohio. First we visited my parents in Cleveland, then Jim's dad in Youngstown and wrapped up the vacation with at his mom' house in Columbus! Never a dull moment! We got to visit the Fountain of Youth were we saw a peacock. Skylar insisted on calling it Price Azul because there is a peacock in Barbie: Island Princess with that name! She chased him around calling his name expecting him to respond!! Jimmy also found a friend in the form of a white peacock we quickly named Prince Blanco.

We got to spend time at different parks with different grandparents and even got to experience the summer in all it glory (with windows open and air conditioning off!!) It was a cool 55 degrees some nights during our stay up North!!! All in all it was an awesome vacation and I wouldn't trade that time with our extended family for anything in the world. It is so amazing to watch my children interact with their aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. I feel so blessed to have a schedule that allows us the freedom to make this trip each year. Coming home is always bitter sweet. We miss our family greatly and really miss the help they provide but we are always eager to get back into a routine and stop living out of a suitcase!! If only all the grandparents would pack up and move here, then life would be perfect!!

Popsicles and Lizards!!

Wednesday night was a perfect night to be outside. It was cooler than it has been in awhile and we were waiting for the storms to roll in. It was a perfect night for popsicles and it was Jimmy's first one to eat by himself! I think Jimmy's did more melting than anything else but it was cute to watch him try. Half way though our popsicle eating Skylar spoted a lizard on the basketball hoop. We have seen a brown one out there everyday this week but the one we spottedd last night was bright green. Skylar of course wanted to catch it and Jimmy thought this was hillarious. I have told her all week to not get too close to the lizard, that we scare them because they think we are going to hurt them. Well, when Jim starting to shoot baskets (while the lizard was in the net) Skylar got protective. So awesome to see her sympathize and want to protect the little lizard...