Bubbles, bubbles everywhere

Tonight Monte and I took Carter outside to play with bubbles. Carter LOVED it! He tried to grab the bubbles, and sometimes he just watched in amazement as they floated to the ground. I love how children find joy in the smallest things.

Here, he was doing his high pitched squeal. The bubbles were so exciting he couldn't contain himself.

A visit from Rodger, Laura, Aidan, and Anna

Monte's brother and his family came in for the weekend. We really enjoyed having them, but the visit was way too short. I can't wait to hang out with them again: we had so much fun!!


Obviously you can't come to our house and not play Guitar Hero. Our cat came in the room to see what was going on, and Aidan told her, "Kitty's don't rock!" He kept us laughing the whole weekend. He is a very clever child.


"Mmm, these puzzle pieces are sooo good!"


"Excuse me!"


"Anna Moore, DDS at your service. Let's see, do you have any cavities?"


Carter- "Let me see if I can help."
Anna- "Excuse me, can you please stop taking pictures and get my arm out of this thing. Carter's trying, but he's only a baby!"


Monte's parents,Carter, and Anna


I know it's hard to see. This is Laura, Aidan, Monte, and Lexie riding the Ferris Wheel at Frisco Fest.


"Yay, Anna!"
She is starting to walk. I think this was after she took several steps.


"This guy is funny. I think I like him."


A Day at the Park

Carter was not sure about the geese and ducks. He stared at them forever. After staring them down for a few minutes, he decided they were funny. He loved watching them. He also liked having his big sis carry him around the park. (She's more fun than mom.)

WooHoo Lexie!!

Lexie is doing AWESOME in school so far!! She brought home all of the papers she did last week in school: they all said 10/10!! She is working so hard this year. She has made a couple of really good friends. I am really proud of her.

Happy Birthday Wyatt!!

My nephew turned 14 yesterday! (I apologize for the picture quality. I took the camera, but left the battery charging at home. My phone doesn't take great pictures when there is not a lot of light.)

Look at all of those candles!

Carter had too much milk. He passed out on Ofelia's shoulder.

First Day of School Update

Lexie had a FABULOUS day. I was very worried. I even told her to text me at lunch and let me know how it was going. (How bad am I?) She made a friend, talked to several girls, and a boy asked for her number (not sure how I feel about that one). When she got in the car, she was so excited and started talking 90 mph. Yay!!!!

We celebrated her first day by having her favorite dinner (spaghetti), sparkling cider, and going for a swim. Right now she is picking out her outfit for tomorrow. I hope tomorrow goes just as well. (Except maybe for the whole boy thing :-) Maybe it's time for Monte to find his gun.)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We celebrated my mom's birthday on Sunday. It was so much fun getting the family together. These are the kinds of things I missed when I moved. I am glad I finally got to celebrate with my family again!!

Blow mom, blow!! (She's gonna kill me for this.)

My family--Matt, Dan, Dad, Mom, me, Angie

The First Day of Junior High

Today is Lexie's first day of junior high!! (I feel really old.) I hope she has a good day and makes good friends.



Getting ready




Modeling her first day outfit. I am so proud of her; she didn't get mad at me for wanting to take pictures. We are off to a good start!




I took this with my phone as she walked in. (She didn't know about it.) I was not about to make her stand there while I took a bunch of pictures. I remember the first day of kindergarten. Lexie had an entourage of people. We all had cameras and a video camera. My dad even took a picture of the lunch lady. I took pictures of her sitting at her desk through the window in the door. My gosh I was embarrassing!!

Speaking of kindergarten... This is what she looked like the summer before kindergarten. My how she's changed!

Life in the Fast Lane

We went to Fast Lane in Lowell this week. It was so much fun!! If you haven't been, you need to go.

My beautiful babies!

Keepin' both hands on the wheel.

Monte let Carter choose the suitcases on "Deal or No Deal."

Serious shooters.

Jackpot!! First try, and Lexie won 250 tickets.

Lexie won. She beat me by 1 point. It was a good game.

We got there early, so we could play in the fun bowling room. They had music videos playing above the lanes and couches for us to sit on. At around 6 o'clock they close the doors and only adults can go in this part of the bowling alley.

Having Worlds of Fun (and Oceans of it, too)

Because of the move and the short amount of time we had Lexie, we had to take a short vacation this year. We went up to Kansas City and went to Worlds and Oceans of Fun, and we also got to see some of our family. It was really fun, but way too short.

"Okay dad, here's what we are going to do."

Carter kept "helping" Monte look at the Worlds of Fun guide.

Lexie doing what she does best...texting. "OMG MMISL"--- Oh my gosh. My mom is so lame!!!!!

"Do you think I look cool?"

The weather was really nice when we were there. (Which means it's too cold for me to go on a water ride.) Monte and Lexie enjoyed the log ride.

For some reason the boat ride has always been one of my favorite rides. Lexie was nice enough to ride it with me. I embarrassed her to death on this thing. I laughed uncontrollably when we were at the top. She would slap me and tell me to stop every time. But she was laughing too, so I think deep down she actually liked it.

Monte and Lexie love to play the fair type games. We like to call it "winning worthless crap."

Monte won a bear for Carter.

Lexie won him a monkey. We also got a sea turtle, a picture of Vanessa Hudgens (with clothes on), another monkey, and something else that I can't remember.

"Mom, quit taking pictures and let's go swimming!"

Carter LOVED the water!! He was at a perfect stage for this. He could sit up by himself, so he could splash and have fun. But, he's not crawling yet, so I didn't have to try to keep up with him or worry about him scratching his knees in the kiddie pool.

Lexie loved taking Carter down the kiddie slides. She is great with him. She was taking him on everything, and he adored her for it.

Carter also enjoyed splashing in the big pool with Monte. He splashed and laughed all day long. He got a ton of water in his face, and he didn't mind at all.

"Hey dad, that lifeguard is kinda cute. Do you think she's too old for me?"

They had an amazing obstacle course. Lexie made it all the way across. (It was difficult. I tried it, but you won't see those pictures on the blog.) I think Lexie is ready for Survivor or The Amazing Race.

This is June. Isn't she adorable! She is one of the family members we got to see.