My mother in law requested a photo of both kids to include in her Christmas card. After about 20 not so great photos of two silly kids, my husband & I got desperate! We ran & got some cookies out of the pantry, held them above the camera & said "if you smile, we'll give you a cookie". It worked! Let's see if you can figure out which picture we sent to Grandma.

My son turned two today! We had a small family celebration at our house. Our daughter pouted a bit at first because she couldn't understand why it wasn't her birthday (again). Other than that, we enjoyed having everyone over. I have continued my mom's tradition of making & decorating a cake each year for my kids. It always meant so much to me when my mom spent time making a cake for me each year. I plan to do the same for my kids! Well, I'm pooped from a weekend full of celebrations & am now heading to bed!

Look what I found at the consignment shop! It retails for $200 & I got it for $100. I took in a bunch of baby items to sell, earned $100 & walked out with this jeep for free! The kids LOVE it. They will spend hours driving it around & around the backyard. My son loves the ride, while my daughter demands that she's the driver. The only thing they argue about is what to play on the 'lil radio that included... I think they've watched their mommy & daddy fight over radio tunes one too many times. What a great buy!

For my husband's birthday, I took him to a VERY nice restaurant, The Grotto! It was such a great date! We enjoyed a candlelight dinner while our kids had fun with the babysitter! We ate an appetizer trio, yummy steaks, & a chocolate dessert. We had our babysitter take a picture of us because it's been a long time since we both were dressed up. I can't wait 'til our next date!

Summers are a blessing! I love being able to have three months to be a stay at home mom. This summer we went to the waterpark, played in the sprinkler, made homemade glitter, created a waterslide in our backyard, ate at ChickFilA ALOT, & had park play dates. It was a blast for me & my kids!

My daughter had her birthday party at the pumpkin patch & it was a blast! She loved riding on the train with her daddy, jumping in the bounce house with her brother, riding on the hayride tractor with her friends and family, and (she of course) loved opening gifts and eating cupcakes.