1 down, 19 more to go

At least I think she had 20 teeth? For the past few months we have be working on two loose teeth. Annika's bottom center teeth were wiggly, and finally today one of them just couldn't hold on any longer. This momma channeled her favorite 1st grade teacher (you CCS grads know who I am talking about) and twisted the little culprit out. Annika was quite surprised when I pulled my hand back and instead of a loose tooth there was just an empty space!

Here's a before shot...

...and here's the big girl, one tooth less.

Now, here's confession time. I got a bit choked up. My baby lost her first baby tooth! Please, mommies out there, please tell me I'm not the only one who cried when their oldest lost their first tooth!

Little man

Our little guy turned 2 over the weekend. Where has my baby gone? I know all moms go through this with every child's birthday. We celebrate a new year with our little ones, but with each passing year we are reminded how fast time flies by us.

Despite the influences of his older sisters, Landon is all boy. He loves trucks, cars and airplanes. When he hears an airplane in the sky, he will stop whatever he is doing and search the skies until he can spot the airplane. He can be sweet and stubborn, amazingly even at the same time. He's a charmer who's quick to smile. His bright blue eyes and long lashes are hard to resist. We'll have to keep an eye on him with the ladies. :) Fear isn't in his vocabulary (thank you, Lord, for no ER visits, yet!). His favorite things to say are "Don't want to." and "Watch this mama." Both sayings have probably given me a few gray hairs.

We celebrated his birthday as a family. Annika and Taryn loved wishing him a "Happy Birthday" all weekend long. He got excited just because they were excited.

Getting measured with the measuring stick:

Such a big boy!!

Annika helped me decorate his cake. We are big Mickey fans around here.

Much more civilized cake eating compared to last year.

Opening presents.

Telling mama about Mr. Potato Head.

Everyone enjoying the loot.

Happy Birthday buddy!! You are such a joy to your mama, daddy and sisters. They would be bored without you, after all who else would they dress up?

Purple People Eaters

We have been attacked! Really, I place all the blame on my mother. Not because she wished any sort of vengeance on me because of my childhood antics, but because I was on the phone with her while this happened:

While I was taking pictures of her, Taryn asks me (while twirling around), "Are you taking pictures of me because I am so Beautiful?"

No, my sweet Taryn, I am taking pictures of you for proof, and perhaps a little vengeance...just in case.

Our living room needs a hitching post

Happy Father's Day to the best "horsey" in town!

Joking around

It kinda sounds like the start of a joke...A cheerleader, hobo and a puppy walked up the stairs...

Now if I could only come up with a punch line.

Just a bit of rain

We've been getting a lot of rain lately...our rain gauge which holds 5 inches of rain is overflowing. Great for the trees we planted! Today we had a good Kansas Thunderstorm. Taryn thought it was time for bed at 11:30 a.m. because it was so dark outside. But, then again, she is always looking for an excuse to put her p.j.'s on.

Dan standing in the river of rain in our backyard (His feet are totally submerged past his ankles).

Here is a bit of video...for some reason some of the shot didn't get recorded. It could be because I forgot to press record, just maybe.

This weather makes for a great day to stay inside and watch a bit of World Cup. Go USA!!

Whoops! That's not exactly what I was thinking...

Remember how I said I wasn't going to cut my hair until December 15, 2010? Don't worry, I didn't cut it! I have gone in for a trim, just to give it some "shape." Got to cut to keep it long! Dan doesn't get it. Anyway, this all being said, I was intending on growing Landon's hair out as well. Make him what my husband likes to call "A West Coast Hippie Surfer." I call it "cute." However, it was getting a bit scraggly, so I thought the same thing that I thought about my hair--trim it a little to give it a bit of shape. So I prepped Dan and told him that I just wanted to give him a trim. We got Landon and the clippers ready...



After the first swipe with the clippers, I knew it wasn't going to turn out quite the way I was expecting. Oh well, I suppose a crew cut is better for summer.



Just have to make sure I don't get carried away the next time I go in for a trim!

The money we could have saved...

...if we knew that Taryn didn't need her own bed. Remember how I mentioned that Taryn has been turning up in places other than her own bed? Since we have limited the access to Landon's room (child lock on the door), Taryn has been becoming creative with her sleeping arrangements. As my Mother-in-law said, "she's a wanderer."

The night after we put the child lock on Landon's door, this is where we found her:

The other day she didn't take a nap. We had spent the afternoon at the pool, so I am sure she was tired. Annika and I heard some snoring and we thought she fell asleep on the living room couch. Nope, this is where we found her:

Then the other night as Dan and I were heading up from the basement to go upstairs to bed, this is who we found on the steps:

If we had only known that she could sleep almost anywhere, we wouldn't have bought her a bed!

First "Camping" Trip of the season!

We had such great intentions this past Memorial Day weekend. We decided that we would try camping with the kiddos on Sunday night. We would stay close so if all went downhill at 2 in the morning we could pack up and head home. We borrowed some gear from Dan's boss because we didn't want to drop some bucks on a tent only to find out we won't ever do it again. The kids were excited and so was I. I grew up camping and I would love to have my kids have the same experiences as I did.

Then Sunday came. We had been checking the forecast and saw the chance of thunderstorms. We waited until the very last minute, and decided to call it off. Thunderstorms with rain and lightening doesn't make for a very good time in a tent. So, what to do?

Camping in the basement! Otherwise known as "Dan and girls sleep in the tent while mom sleeps upstairs in her bed." As excited as the girls were for camping, this was a good compromise. As long as there are still going to be cinnamon rolls in the morning. :)