Congrats and Best Wishes!

Leo and Leo

Molly, Julie, and Anne

Leo did not like mommy trying to control him during the ceremony!

Lara and Tom...newlyweds!

all the tables looked very festive!

The wedding had a fall/literary theme...we got the Princess Bride table...no coincidence, she just knew I loved it! Cute!

Sophia excitedly showing Aunt Gayle her artwork

Charlie's cousin Mike (the groom's brother)

brothers drinking beer...no surprise there ;)!

Leo trying some wedding cake

playtime!

Sophia and Molly showing off their mini purses, courtesy of Aunt Annie!

Leo had plenty of smiles for Aunt Cathy, but none for me!

Mira was so great with both Leo and Sophia! We loved having her around!

All the crazy cousins!

Henry, Mira, Leo, Julie, Anna, Molly and Sophia

Charlie's cousin, Tom, got married this weekend and we couldn't be happier! We all love Lara, plus she's a teacher and loves to read, so we get along great! They are both adorable and super happy, you can always tell! It was so nice to be able to spend this special day with them. The ceremony and reception were outside, which was very festive, but a bit chilly. It wasn't as bad as I feared though. The kids ran so wild playing with each other they never felt the temp drop! There was a small room attached to the gift shop that was heated so they did have that as a resbit as well. Charlie's other cousin, Tiffany, came in from St. Louis with her husband and 3 kids, Mira, Anna, and Henry. We don't get to see them that often and Sophia made up for lost time with all the playing she wanted to do! Hopefully we'll get to see them more! It was a beautiful day for a beautiful couple! Welcome to the (loud side of the..) family, Lara!

Arboretum Fall Festival

Bama and Sophia going the scenic route
Leo was not interested in snuggling with Sophia for a festive picture

hugs for Forest the Fox

I'm a big kid!

spreading the lard/oat mixture for the bird feeder

gluing her leaves just right

getting a good look at the gardens through her 'noculars

time to head home!

all of Sophia's projects:

in the back: bird feeder and two bookmarks

shakey snake (tree bean bod with google eyes and paint) and a fall place mat

We welcomed this fall weathered weekend with a trip to the Overland Park Arboretum for their super fun fall festival. We had been here last summer, our only other trip, and had a really nice time, so when I heard about this I was intrigued. It was so much fun that we will definitely be keeping it on our calendar for next year.

They had a huge tent filled with probably 10-15 craft stations. Each station used organic materials that are all readily available like leaves, hedge apples, flower petals, seed pods, etc., etc. It certainly inspired me to get creative with some of the things we have in our own neighborhood for some fall craft projects! Sophia would have happily done each and every craft, but we had limited time on our hands. They also had a look out station with binoculars, which was way cool, and the KC Symphony performed Peter and the Wolf. There was so much to see and do, and we really didn't even seem to make a dent in it! I would like to go back and visit the Arboretum again just to stroll through the grounds and look at all the beautiful fall colors! This week is going to be so gorgeous that we may just have to find our way back there!

Donut Day!

Thursday morning Sophia woke up with a, and I quote..."great idea!" She wanted donuts! :) Coincidentally it was her name day, and although we don't really celebrate her name day so much in the traditional sense, I figured it would be a nice treat for her. I guess she really was wise to bring up donuts on a day when she should be getting presents! ;)

Randoms...

Here's some various pics that just didn't get a post of their own and have been lingering...enjoy!

Big Cousin Cody and Baby Leo!

We haven't seen much of Cody now that he's so grown up with a real job and everything! He stopped by for lunch a couple weeks ago and we had a great time catching up!

2 beautiful girls! Sarah's birthday is the day after Sophia's so the princesses dressed up to enjoy cake and ice cream!

Meredith's kiddos, Shelby and my kids
Jacob, Sophia, Sarah, Andrew, Shelby, and Leo


I took Sophia to Nickelodeon's Story Time Live (a stage show of Dora, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets and Kai Lan). Saying she loved it would be an understatement! We had a great time and many theatre-goers complimented her on her wardrobe choice for the evening.

self portrait of the two of us at the show!

Leo playing with his leftover party balloons!

Mom! They keep following me!!

Sophia in a race against Daddy and Walter!

She's going to make her own double stroller. Leo wasn't too thrilled with big sis in his space!

Preschool Wednesday

Sophia: I'm going to sit back and watch this unfold

Leo: lettme' at him, lettme' at him...I love babies!!! MMMM!

Trevor: Seriously? Are you letting this happen, lady? Wait til' I tell my mom!

Friends, friends, where are you?

Luca and Isabelle hard at work

Sophia was quite meticulous about her design

Luca, Sophia and Isabelle and the starting line of the obstacle course

No need for a photo finish, Leo is on the job

baby Francesca just hanging out

enjoying some water and assembling their trail mix

We hosted Preschool Wednesday this week and had a great time! I've been planning this activity for a while now (surprise, right...) and I'm happy that to report that all the kids were really into it! We had an unexpected visitor in our neighbor, Trevor, whose mom, Jenn, had to run out for a bit. Even in just a few short hours, Trevor solidified my desire to not have any more children. Leo was all over him and poor Trevor just didn't know what to do. The poor kid barely napped with all the noise and had to constantly be in fear of the Terminator, AKA Leo.

For our activity, I read two books on exercising and healthy food choices. Then we customized our own water bottles, filled them up and headed outside to run in the obstacle course I had prepared. Isabelle was really the best at it and did it lots of times! Luca and Sophia had fun, but they only chose out a few specific elements to repeat. Luca enjoyed the racing section and Sophia enjoyed the hopscotch section. Afterwards we went inside and assembled a custom 'trail mix' to keep our energy up while playing. Our trail mix selection included Fruit Cheerios (which, for the record are not much better than Fruit Loops, as I was hoping), Rice Chex, golden raisins, dried cherries, Baby Goldfish and chocolate Teddy Grahams. The kids got to select the amounts of each they wanted to snack on and take home in their own tub.

Planning this little activity was so fun for me! It gave me the fun parts of teaching back without all the stress. Also, like I mentioned before, it was easy to do, but I probably wouldn't have been motivated to do it for just Sophia. I was also surprised at how eager all three kids were to listen and discuss the stories. Usually we all just hang out and play, so it was kind of fun to know that they could be engaged in different ways too. I'm looking forward to our new tradition, I just need to remember to keep my ideas in check...they're only 3!! :)