3 and 4

Xavier blowing out his candles on his birthday.
His birthday party cake.
Bella blowing out her candles on her birthday.
Bella's birthday party cake!
Singing Happy birthday at their party!

My babies are growing up way too fast! This week we celebrated both of their birthdays. Xavier is now 4 and Bella 3. On their real birthdays they had pancakes for breakfast with candles in them that they of course blew out and then we had a big family party for the two of them where they were showered with gifts from my family who they rarely get to celebrate with! It was so much fun for them and for me! Since I am not at home I don't have any baby pictures to put up of them but I have to say what a joy it has been for me to be their mother and how blessed I am to have two incredibly great kids! It makes me sad to see time fly by so quickly and that each year they are another year older until one day they will leave my home and make a life for themselves beyond me! Boo Hoo! So I will love them to pieces until then! Happy Birthday X&B!!

Fourth Fun

Xavier Buying his first fireworks!
Bella trying to find the one she wants!
Their first sparklers!!
Roasting marshmallows for S'mores.

Shucking corn on the cob for our dinner.

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you all had a great party! We sure did! We celebrated all day long. We swam in the pool and ate great food! Eugene made some gourmet burgers for lunch and dinner we had steak and bbq chicken with tons of great side dishes of course! Xavier and Bella got to do fireworks this year so that was pretty exciting! They have never bought their own before and have never seen them up close. (fireworks are illegal in New Jersey) Xavier loved the smoke bombs and loved each and every firework and would yell again, again when they were through! It was so fun to see him be so excited. Bella couldn't have cared less. She was watching them a bit but also playing with the dog climbing on the golf cart and running around like a crazy lady! Hard to imagine! All in all it was a fabulous day and I am so glad my kids got to spend it the way I did every year growing up!!

French Braid

Bella and Grandma.
Bella's french braid.
Bella just being so darn cute in Grandpa's recliner!

Isabella got her hair french braided for the first time ever by Grandma. She was really good and my Mom said it was easy to do even with all those curls! She looks so adorable and I will be learning how to do this while I am here so she can have her hair french braided in Jersey too! I'm also thinking about getting her hair trimmed while I'm here but I've NEVER cut it so I really don't know what to do?!!? Help!!

Boise or Bust!!

Bella and Xavier follow along with the safety demonstration. Pedro would be so proud!

The discovery of head phones, music and changing the stations.
An in flight movie!

We're here!! Getting here was a little harder than I anticipated but we are here none the less! We ended up flying in a day later due to some "issues" at the airport but we did fly out the next day from Newark instead of LaGuardia. Remind me I will never fly out of that place again! Anyway....the kids were AMAZING on the plane and great in the airports! I didn't even bring a stroller and it was smooth sailing! There was no crying or screaming or wanting to run down the aisle so I have to say I am a truly blessed woman! We are already having too much fun in Idaho so we will have lots of post of our summer here! We miss our friends in New Jersey but we'll be back soon!

Last Day of School.

Xavier and Ms. Karen
Xavier and Ms. Angie
Xavier and Ms. Powers

Xavier's gift to his teachers.

Today was Xavier's last day of school. He gave his teachers these gifts and took pictures with them! I don't think he understands what summer means, and that he won't be going back to school again until September. We'll see. Xavier loved pre school and will be going back next year in the afternoon. His teachers were so great and we are lucky to be getting them for next year too!

Birthday Bash!

So we had a big beach party for the kids birthday! It was a month early as we will be leaving for Boise soon. The kids had a great time, our friends were there and we had yummy food and right up til the end we had great weather! I didn't get many pictures of the kids as I hardly saw them the whole time! Then during the cake was the storm! We got it all on video and I will have to take more pictures on their real birthday! The Hogges won't be there to distract me! (see post below) We had a great time! We'll have to do it all again next year!!

A tribute to the Hogges

The Hogges are my good friends and they were cracking me up the entire party. I had to put in all the pictures of them!! We love you!

Our Party People

Happy Campers

Bella's fish
Xavier's first of many

Sleeping in the tent
Catching caterpillars
The beach
Eating his frist open flame hot dog
Bella roasting a hot dog

So this past weekend we went camping! We had such a great time. The weather was pretty good, the heat wave started Saturday but it was much cooler where we were! The kids loved sleeping in the tent, the campfire, the caterpillars, the beach and fishing. My friend Suzanne taught them how to fish and Bella caught 1 fish Xavier caught 6 fish! I was so impressed! He was casting and reeling them in all by himself! I'm thinking about getting him those fishing tournaments! What do you think? We will definitely be camping again soon!

My Blankie

If you have been to my house you have more than likely seen the Shandis blanket. I call it the Shandis blanket because well, it has my name on it! My dear friend Ashlee made it for me in 1997. Can you believe that? I have loved it ever since! It has gone to the hospital and seen two C-sections and it has been on more outings and road trips then I can remember. It has lived with me in four different states and I would have taken it to Cancun with me if I thought I might have needed it! The sad part is in it's old age it's really starting to fall apart! All the edges are frayed, the top and the bottom are almost separated except on the edges and the batting is all but shot. Even the Shandis letters are pulling away from the fabric! I don't know what to do!?!!? It will be going camping with me this weekend and then put away for the summer but I know when it starts getting cold again I'll want just one thing, my blankie!