Present

I am posting these photos to show off my handiwork on the present that I made Tim for Father's Day. I know that he won't see these photos because he hardly ever checks this blog. So unless someone spills the beans, he won't know about his presents until he receives them on Father's Day.

Tim is always complaining about having to photos edit indoor pictures because we don't have a professional looking backdrop. Well this should change that. I made him 2 backdrops that I think look pretty good. I was thinking that I would buy him one for Father's Day but then I saw the prices. So for less than what I could buy one backdrop for, I made him two. All it took was buying the materials and about 12 hours of my time.

 

 

This one I did with 2 colors. First black and then dark brown.

This one I did with just one color, taupe. I think this one looks better in person.

 

I wasn't quite sure how the backdrops would turn out when I first started. I am extremely happy with both. The only thing I would do differently is to purchase wider material. Now we just need to do an indoor photo session.

Playing Catch Up

I am going to try to do a quick overview of the last few months since I have not updated for a while.

November/December was spent getting ready for our big move from warm weather to cold weather. It was a bit of a shock for the kids but they adjusted fairly well. Logan better than Ashley. Ashley did not like being cold and would refuse to walk on her own while out in the cold. Logan keeps wanting winter to come back so he can play in the snow. Here is a pick of the kids outside in the snow.

January we moved into our new place without much furniture (it wouldn't arrive until the beginning of February). Since we knew that we wouldn't have furniture for a while and we were not going to have Ashley sleep in the crib anymore, we had my Uncle Tom make the kids bunk beds. Ashley loves being able to crawl up in her bed whenever she wants and will even lay herself down for a nap if she is really tired.

Also, in January we went up to DC to take in a few of the museums. We went to the Museum of Natural History so Logan could see dinosaurs. Both kids really liked seeing all the different animals especially when we were able to point out animals from the Diego episodes we had seen. Next we went to the Air and Space Museum where we got to see many different types of planes and spacecraft. The kids really enjoyed being able to sit in the cockpit and pretend to drive a plane.

February we got all of stuff from the movers so most of the month was devoted to unpacking and putting away all of our stuff. We also spent the month trying to get a routine down since Logan started school at the end of January. Along with going to school we started to get more colds circulating around our house.

March we took a trip to Richmond to go to the Children's Museum. The kids had a blast being able to go to all the different stations and play with the toys. Logan really liked the car garage station because it was as if he was fixing a real car. Ashley really like the Little Farm area because she could run and play with all the toys (and not be restricted on where she could go since it was a gated area). She also really like the slide and using the bar above the slide to swing on.

That pretty much catches everyone up. I will post more about our April adventures when I post about Ashley's birthday.

Halloween 2010

I wish I could tell you that I took some great pictures from when we went to the pumpkin patch with Logan's preschool on Friday. Instead you will have to settle for the pictures that were taken after. I decided to take our old Kodak camera instead of Tim's nice big (& heavy) Nikon camera. I had a new memory card and battery for the camera and was all set to take pictures. But for some reason the memory card did not want to work with the camera. Also, it rained most of the day. This was the first day since April or so since the pumpkin patch had had any significant rainfall. So we all walked around in the mud doing the different activities around the pumpkin patch.

All of our shoes with mud on them.

Logan's muddy shoe

Ashley's muddy shoe. She had mud up to her knees.

Saturday morning I decided we should carve our pumpkins. I thought that maybe the kids would help or at least be curious about the pumpkins. So I got the top cut of one and showed the kids what the inside of the pumpkin looked like. Next, I cut the top of the other pumpkin and asked if they wanted to help me scoop out the insides. Ashley decided to take the spoon and hit the screen door. Logan just looked at me like I was crazy, said no and walked away. So I scoop out the insides by myself and keep asking if they want to come and stick their hands in the pumpkin. A few times Logan came over and would stick his hand over the top of the pumpkin or have a toy hover over the pumpkin. Then, it was time to put face on the pumpkin and Logan decided to help with this part. He told me what shapes to do for the eyes, ears and mouth. As I cut the pieces, Logan would take them out for me. Finally we had Jack-O-Lanterns.

Logan & Ashley with the pumpkin tops cut.

Ashley & Logan with the final masterpieces.

With this being possibly the last year I have a say in both of my kids costumes, I decided to have them be a pair. My mom found Logan a Woody costume so I decided to try to find a Jessie costume for Ashley. I started looking at the beginning of October and found one in the right size for Ashley. Now I will be taking Woody and Jessie trick-or-treating this year.

Logan as Woody.

Ashley as Jessie.

Both of them together.

3 year pictures

We finally got around to doing Logan's 3 year pictures. Nothing like putting it off until right before Tim leaves for 10 weeks.

Logan's 3rd Birthday

Logan with his birthday cake

Trying to blow out those 3 candles

Logan doing the Grandpa Kies smile (great!)

1st Day of School

Logan started preschool on August 2nd. Sometimes it is hard to believe that he is in school. For the most part he enjoys school. There have been a few mornings where it is hard to get him motivated. The first week went really well. He was really excited about getting to play with other kids. By the end of the first week he was exhausted and a little tired of playing with other kids. Now he keeps telling me that he doesn't like his teacher but when I ask him why I can't get an answer. So every morning it is a small struggle to get him to go into the classroom but once he is in he forgets what was holding him back and begins to play with whatever project the teacher has for them to start the day.

Ashley has barely noticed that Logan is gone. We walk Logan to school, come home and she plays for 30 -45 minutes before she goes down for a nap. She then sleeps for at least an hour and a half and gets up to play for another 30 -45 minutes before we leave to go get Logan. She has noticed that there is no one taking toys away from her but I think she enjoys having her brother around to play with.

June Adventures

Dan & Lisa's Wedding

Logan & Ashley playing on the vent at the church

Mackenzie, Molly, Michael, Logan & Ashley

Logan in heels. Check out those legs.

Ashley & Logan our little monkeys

Logan getting up close to a jaguar

Logan driving the semi truck at Adventureland

Ashley fell asleep while riding the semi trucks

Ashley and Logan driving the boats

Logan driving a lady bug