A Royal Painting

You're official invited to take a sneak peak as to how our Royal Princesses conduct their leisure time. Painting!

As I Swept the Garage....

This morning was a very productive one indeed. Casey was busy squaring away his closet, packing and last minute things before his deployment and I had the kids with me in the garage. They kept busy with the sidewalk chalk (since we don't have sidewalks in this end of Florida....we use the garage). The garage was swept, cars vacuumed out and beautiful drawings ended up on the ground.

Suzanna has a keen eye. Her drawings are very expressive and detail oriented. I especially love to see how much she thinks of Ella during her preschool day, enough to bring her back some of her own drawings with Ella's name on the top.

Down the Driveway

Another image of the happy boy barreling down the driveway.

Barreling Down the Driveway

William's first steps were around his birthday, but it hasn't been till recently (I'd say the last month) that he's really taken off. I mean at a running pace. He's mastered the driveway and is really on a roll. I'm pretty impressed at how fast he's learned our afternoon routine picking up Suz from preschool. William sits in the little chair and waits for me to put his shoes on, next he'll walk out to the van and wait for me to put him in his car seat.

the Loft Bed

We've been thinking long and hard about Suzanna's bed situation. She can't sleep in her toddler bed forever, sadly enough (they are so small, light and easy to change the sheets). One of the things on our "To Do" list before Casey's deployment was to make a decision on the bed, build it and have something "new" in the house for the girls' while he's away. Here is the beginning of Suzanna's Loft that Casey was employed to build. Can you see her excitement?
Suzanna's job was to hand over the little wood pieces and also be the water girl.

One of the hardest things to do was keep everyone out of the way while Casey was assembling the loft. That is a task in its self. Casey's kind of like the honey and the kids are like bees (if you can get the picture). William had himself all snuggled up in Casey's lap, he thought if he turned the electric screw driver on it would scare Will away, but it became much amusement for him. Sorry Daddy, you've got a little helper wither you like it or not!

**Whala!**

We love the space, it's exciting and the girls just love playing underneath like its Fort Shockley. However, my one nemesis will be the changing of the sheets.

Catching Up with the Blog

We've had a lot of things going on and it seems as though I'm behind with keeping the family Blog. With Suzanna in preschool, Casey gearing up for his deployment, Boy Scouts, Primary music, Ballet, we seem to be busier than ever. Life doesn't seem to slow down, does it? When we were walking into the store as a family this evening the thought entered my head 'We're not going to be this young of a family for long'. I really adore this age, the stage we are in right now. The sweetness, the love, the kisses, sun dresses, sandals and pony tails. We'll never be able to come back to this time. William won't always have such satisfaction when he comes walking through the room feeling proud of himself. Ella won't always need her blanket to accompany her as she snuggles on the couch. Suzanna will also grow out of her cute little sayings that make us all laugh. If I could just capture this time right now....I guess the best I can do is share pictures to remind myself later on just how we were right at this moment.
The pink sofa in the girls' room has been one of everyone's favorites as of lately. If Ella's sitting in it, William will assume the right to sit next to her. I frequently have to sit nearby to avoid some quarrel. But once they are situated, the princess sofa transforms and the kids have endless fun playing peak-a-boo, laying on it, making it a fort and just enjoying it's size and flexibility.

Ella has always been the sweetie. She's been very content and really just goes with the flow. But recently I think she's been observing other's behavior at Nursery or the Y and is testing the waters. Luckily when the 2 year old fit is thrown, it lasts a very short time and her temperament is back to her sweet self. I must say I'm very pleased if she does have a mini melt down she is very easy to persuade back into a more happy mood. I hope this new feeling of being the middle child won't sour her sweet disposition, but make her even more of a peacemaker sandwiched between an older sister and younger brother.

Sweet Moment

There's nothing like the silence of a house full of everyone napping. William is really the only one who has kept his regular daily nap. Today was just one of those days, I could tell Ella was exhausted and needed a nap. I just love these moments. I also love to be the one who gets the snuggles right after the naps too. It's times like this when it just feels nice being their mom.

No School Today

The kids were out of school today so we had a play date at home this morning with our neighbor friend, Lily. We went for a walk in the wagon, dressed up and played all sorts of games, it kind of felt like I was running a preschool or something.
Lily and Suzanna.

Trying to be creative with the games, we had a ball rolling contest.

Tis A Gift To Be Simple....

This morning Ella was in and out of the island, arranging and rearranging underneath so she, the baby car seat and Mikey could all fit.
Ella would peak out periodically to see if I was still there. I was waiting, with camera in hand.

It is a gift to be simple. To simply live as a 2 year old. Ella is so mature for her age, at times I forget she is only 2. I guess we all expect her to behave as old as Suz, and most of the time we forget she's still a toddler.

Boy we love this girl, I don't think 2 year old's come any sweeter than this.

Morning At the Park

Casey's Mom spent a few days with us. We saw her off this morning but before that we played at the park, our favorite one (the one that doesn't have sand) in Gulf Breeze. It couldn't have been a nicer day, blue skies and all.

We had the park to ourselves for the majority of the time, we like it that way. William has been very bold with walking, coming down and slide and climbing all by himself. He still naps once a day (afternoon) and sleeps 12 hours at night. He's got the highest pitch scream of the family, and loves to echo it if the girls are screaming.

The last two chilly weeks we told were non typical weather of Florida. We're not complaining, we can deal with a 30 here or there....especially after braving St. Louis for 3 years. This weather now feels just right. We've been seeing mid 60 degrees and we're loving it!

After Dinner at the Beach Park

We've been enjoying Mimi's visit these last few days. Casey's off on TDY for 2 days and so we had a quick bite to eat and went to the park to play before bedtime.

Little Piano Man

William's constantly drawn to the piano. Once I begin to play it doesn't take long before he's in my lap, and as I attempt to play with him in my lap, I end up giving up and let him play.
Hopefully one day he'll be as good as cousin Daniel....and they can play that cool Christmas Sleigh duet together.

Out and About

We've been graced again with the mild Florida winters. Saturday ended the wet spell, as it rained a day and a night. When it does start is seems to never stop. The yard seems to fit our young three perfectly. We've got a lot of use from our swing set, especially the weather.

As far as William is concerned, he's got no fear when it comes to coming down the slide. Wither or not I'm at the bottom to catch him, he's coming down.

Good Saturday

Things on the top of my Grateful List this week:

* Mild Florida winter's when we open all the windows in the house & play in the backyard all morning.
* William playing by himself for long periods of time.

* Surprise boxes in the mail with matching dresses.

* Sisters

* Sipping mint hot chocolate

* Watching Suzanna lend William a finger as they run around the house together

* Husband's like Casey

* The smell of clean laundry

* Bitsy, my best friend

Wee Bite of Love

While Aunt Annie was visiting us she was initiated. It doesn't happen often to "others" but she was the first to get the wee love bite. Aunt Annie was not only fun company but was so helpful, even when it got down to the dirty business. She might even want to submit the work down into "Dirty Jobs" (Discovery Show). Thank you for your companionship and good laughs...we all miss you. Did someone forget to play "Cookie Eights"....I do seem to remember you hooking Suz on that to the point of obsession.

Little Helper

Suzanna's first attempt at the big vacuum.

Getting Colder

Something you don't really think can happen in Florida....get cold. Once the new year hit we no longer were in the 50's but it dipped down into the 40's and no and then the mid 30's. You'll hear no complaints here, all I have to do is look at my friends' blogs in O'Fallon and then I'll go back to saying "Boy it's warm here in Florida".
So this is the first time we've had to pull out the jackets, hats and mittens while playing outside. I'm sure your attention is drawn to the little boy in the back. Yes, that is pink, yes it is because we weren't really ready to be wearing hats at least for the next 3 years.

Last of 2009

The last few days of 2009 was spent with Annie. It was so nice to have her here. Talk about an extra set of hands, it was great. Casey went camping with the Boy Scouts and we held down the fort. It felt like we just started where we left off 2 years ago. Ella was the size of William the last time she came to visit. It's weird to think of time like that, how it just flies by. We got out, saw a movie and laughed a lot. I give her kudos for the energy she had with the kids. Sometimes it's a lot, especially if your not use to it. The kids just adored her and so do I. Could we some how move Florida closer to the Pacific Northwest?
Sweet Boy on the Pier.William again.

Trying to feed the seagulls and avoid the over aggressive ducks. I love this shot, William has become a slide junkie.