Long, Busy Days!

I think another name for this post could be "Our Quarterly Photo Share"! It's better than nothing, but far from frequent. Looking back at the photos proves we have had a busy fall. 

This is a rare occasion of all 3 kids playing quietly together. I felt it needed to be documented.

We love Legos around here, and I think they must satisfy Jared's internal need to create and destroy, but before he destroys them he likes to document them with a photo.

SOUND THE ALARMS!!!  There's been an escape!
Rosie learned to crawl in the summer.

Since my children will never own a furry pet, I think I try to fill the pet-less void in their life by visiting the zoo. On one trip this fall we tried to take a photo with every animal sculpture we came across. (Here's Mary with her camera, she took a lot of pretend photos that day!)

Well this one is actually real (and behind glass)!

This polar bear is not at the zoo, but definitely falls into the category of "My Children Posing With Animals They Will Never Have as Pets".

Rosie is really growing up. Here she is enjoying licking the finer things in life, like corn on the cob,

and straws.

For those of you who may not know, Jared has a knack for falling asleep pretty quickly and sometimes in strange places. Like the time he fell asleep in the hall closet.

And the time he fell asleep under our bed.

Both past instances were the result of a late night game of hide and seek (obviously Mary gave up looking and forgot to announce to Jared the game was over.) But, one night I took this photo of him sleeping while still holding the book he was reading. Maybe he was just resting his eyes. ;)

Speaking of reading, this summer they took up an afternoon habit of retiring to the front porch to read and listen to music. This scene occurred daily for about a week.

Then we went to the parish picnic in the fall. Here are a few candids of the kids. This one is a good picture of Rosie's cheeks.

The big kids rode ponies! Mary was especially excited about this.

We visited the space museum and walked on the moon. Well, okay, we touched the man who did! No? Well, fine, we took a photo with a bronze replica of the man who did,

and walked in his footsteps.

In the fall Jared started his first season of soccer. Rosie really enjoyed going to his games, I think.

Did I mention who the Coach happened to be...

Bike riding became a daily obsession until it turned very cold. Mary actually learned first and I don't even have a picture of her on her bike because she's so fast! (Note: If you are looking for an easy and fast way to teach a child to ride a bike check out Bike New York or watch this video. It took my kids each 10-20 minutes to learn - no kidding!) 

We celebrated Rosie's first year of life!! She is so wonderful and has brought a lot of joy to our home.

Rosie started walking that week. Here she is sporting her favorite shoes!

For Halloween the kids transformed into Spiderman and Belle (from Beauty and the Beast).

We love taking early morning photos!

Here are Mary's animals tucked into her bed with matching (sock) stocking caps. From L to R: Aurora, Bruno, Isabella (Big Doggie), Baby Doggie, and Melissa.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at home this year.

Another birthday for Little Bro. Jim, the kids are holding up his age 

(originally they had the numbers backwards)!

I leave you with a few more photos of Rose just because she is so cute. 

Here's a little bit of Rosie being served up for breakfast in bed 

(with a ground beef patty, tomato slice, and side of donut for good measure),

and her doing extremely dangerous stunts. Turns out it's genetic.

This photo screams, "Busted! Run for it!"

Rosie with her favorite doll.

Clap, Clap, Clap

Just the other night Rose started clapping for the first time, and lucky for you we caught it on video — along with her "shy routine" (where she hides her face) which she has been doing for months. 

Summertime, And The Livin' Is Easy

 All our planned activities for the summer are complete, which means it's time for a photo dump and a few weeks of relaxation. I tried to get photos of the kids in the yard when the flowers were blooming. These photos don't do justice to my garden, but the kids look cute.

I just love this picture.

And this one.

The kids are getting so good at the Ring Bearer/Flower Girl gig I could probably hire them out.

Here is a rare family photo, a one shot deal that turned out pretty well. Ok, except for the sleeping princess the rest of us look like we knew we were taking a photo.

At yet another family wedding the kids had a hard time getting service at the bar, and someone doesn't look too happy about it. I just imagine him pounding his fists and yelling, "Where's my soda"!!

We spent most of June at the ballpark for this reason,

 and this reason.

I love how you can see the dirt fly up from where the ball hits the ground right before Jared gloves it. The team improved quite a bit during the season and the games got pretty exciting the very last week, especially the tournament game — they lost by one run, but it was a great game!

 Summer isn't complete without a trip to the zoo, even in sweltering heat.

Does someone look jealous of that snow-cone? She had literally just opened her eyes and saw him with that deliciously refreshing treat. Her eyes scream, "Hey, where's mine"!

Mary begged me to cut her hair short, so I had to document her waves first.

And here she is now! The morning after I cut it she asked if it was still short. Just yesterday she asked me if it would grow back! A case of buyer's remorse?

Swimming lessons were lots of fun, especially for me since I just lay on a blanket with Rose and read a book for an hour. Jared made lots of improvement. Here he is swimming from the deep-end!

Little one is getting big, must be all the (toy) butter we are feeding her.

In the end, one of the best things about summer is visits from friends! Hint, hint.