Dig it

Popcorn has been working on a skid loader or (as Ollie calls it - a digger). Here he is with Popcorn on a test drive.

Christmas that second

Ollie and Penny woke up Christmas morn in Harper, KS. We left Santa cookies and a dream light.... Both were gone! Here are our cuties Christmas morning with their stockings. Penny's first Christmas was a hit. She liked the box her presents came in most of all. Ollie is going through post-Santa withdrawal. He was very disappointed that the Christmas shows on TV were over. Wes and I are so lucky to have such happy appreciative kids and generous, loving families.

Christmas (the first)

We had Christmas at Grammy and Poppop's house with Aunt b, Lolo, and Uncle Jeff. Ollie and Penny were more than appreciative for all the goodies and presents. We had such fun eating Christmas sushi and trying different hats on Penny. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful presents and the great Christmas.

First Snow!

Penny's first snow ever, and Ollie's first snow in 2 years. I got to stay home for a snow day. We played, baked, and snuggled. So far, a perfect day!

Merry Christmas (early)

Rock'n around our tiny, plastic Christmas tree.

Penny bird

Aunt B likes to watch Penny's hair as she flies. 

Mount Pen-ne-lo-pay

She's gonna erupt!

Oh to be Ollie

On the couch naked, listening to Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult (on repeat), reading his Casper comic.  What a life!

10 months old

Penny is our big 10 month old!  I will add more about her to this post tomorrow.  Right now she is WALKING away and I have to chase her. 

***Okay, so Penny is such a sweet baby.  She has 4 teeth and just started walking a few days ago.  Her record is ten steps.  She still loves her brother most of all.  She says mama, dada, done, yah, na (which I think means milk), and signs all done and milk.  She loves to point and get toys off the shelf.  Her favorite books are Swimsuit, Sweater (both by Kit Allen) and Mercer Mayer's Just a Snowy Day.  She eats everything, but really likes to eat with her fingers most of all.  Penny puts everything in her mouth, and we have recovered a button and a piece of foil from her diaper.  Oh Penny!

Happy Thanksgiving with Moustaches

We are so thankful for all our family.  We are also thankful that Aunt B bought us moustaches.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Busytown

For Ollie's birthday, we bought him tickets to Busytown Live at JCCC.  We took his best pal Lolo and had a blast.  We are still singing "how busy is he..... Busytown busy!"  

Fire truck Cry

So after taking Penny's monthly photo shoot, we decided to do a video of Penny's biggest fear.  Grammy has a book about fire trucks with a button that you push to hear the fire engine's bell.  She hates it and breaks down crying everytime.  Poor Penny!

9 months old

It is unreal, but Penny is 9 months old.  She is a very active crawler that pulls up on everything.  She has even just stood straight up in the middle of the floor before.  She shakes her head no and signs "all finished".  She sings "She loves you ... Ya, Ya, Ya" by the Beatles.  Her favorite foods are Cheerios, puffs, cornbread crackers, and chicken with herbed veggies.  Her favorite toys are Ollie, stacking cups, stacking rings, a Sesame Street pillow, and Baby Bruce (a baby doll).  Penny has 2 bottom teeth.  We go to the doc next week to find out her percentiles.  I swear she has said "baby bruce" "Vita D" (vitamin D that I give her every night) and "ma ma" "da da".  We love our Penny!

Remote

Do all children like remotes?  Penny will see someone using the remote from across the room  - crawl over and pull up on the couch just so she can steal it. I even have a remote that was left over from an old DVD player, but she was not fooled.  Here she is with her prize.  Ollie used to call it the camote. 

Happy Halloween!

 2 brown bats!

Let's Scare Lolo

Ollie and Uncle Wes's favorite game is hide/dress up/make scare noises and wait for Lolo to come over to scare the daylights out of her.  Works everytime.

Freak'n Awesome Birthday

 Ollie's b-day was very Halloween themed.  He and Lolo were the only 2 preschoolers there, but we had a ton of fun. 

 Daddy made a treasure map with Casper themed treasure hidden in Grammy PopPop's yard. 

 Unreal birthday cake Wes made with a Scooby Doo theme thanks to JJ's cake decorating set and my husband's mad skills.  I did the grass. 

Ollie loved all his presents.  His favorite was a retro style record player (he can work it himself) and a ghost hunting game.  All in all a great 4th birthday for our buddy!

So much love

They really do still love each other.  SQUEEEEEEZE and SMOOOOOCH!

Fall Photo Shoot

 JJ was in town, and she takes wonderful pictures of the kids.  We decided to try Loose Park again for a pretty fall leave shoot.  The subjects were less than cooperative, and it was very windy.  In almost every picture of Ollie, he has his bottom lip out.  Penny had a runny nose, but we still managed to get a few good ones.  Yes, Penny is eating celery in the picture below.