So I'm a little behind.....

Well, this have been a crazy month. Carter turned 6, and my baby turned 2!!! I can't believe how the time has flown by. I put some of the pictures together of the last month.... okay, there is actually 27 pictures.... Anyway, if you can last through the whole slideshow, you'll see from the boys getting their soccer trophies, to decorating the Christmas tree. Phew! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Here we come to save the day!

On Monday I loaded up costumes and took the kids to the Mall to attempt a Halloween costume photo. Photos with the kids have never gone very well for me, in fact I have left in tears several times. Yet, I continue to try. I'm not sure what that says about me..... anyway, so off we went. Costumes were on and the boys were in place, and then Lauren realized what was going on. She started screaming/crying and clinging to me like a baby monkey. She had noticed the carousel on our way in so I said, "Lauren if you are a good girl and smile nice, I'll take you on the carousel when we're done." She said, "Okay" and then I got the following photos of her. It is amazing how a promised elephant carousel ride can turn that girl's attitude right around. Hmmmm, Note to self. :)
Happy Halloween!

My little Pumpkins.

Today we went to Lombardi ranch for our annual pumpkin patch visit. We took lots of pictures. Oh yeah, we got some pumpkins, too. :) The kids always love climbing all over the stuff there. Now I have 3 going in three different directions... and wow are they fast! We actually got to wear sweatshirts there today, which was fun - it sort of felt like fall. Amazing! Happy Fall!

Bath Time!!

There is just something about pictures from the bathtub... I love them! Anyway, here are a few of mine. Lauren is loving being in the tub with the boys. She can finally "hold her own" in there with them and just giggles at them the whole time.

Busy weekend.

Well, I am beginning to realize that my life is just always going to be crazy busy from now on. With Carter starting Kindergarten this year and all our other activities - we are keeping busy. And I know that this is only the beginning. It's all fun stuff, though, and the kids are enjoying it all. This past weekend, we had Nana with us for soccer games and then we headed to Palm Springs for a quick trip. Below are some pictures from our weekend. Kathie, thanks for all your help with the kiddos!! :)

Soccer!

Palm Springs

Jason's first day of Preschool.

Well, this morning was a big milestone for our family. Our #2, Jason, headed off to his first day of Preschool. He was very worried that Mommy would be leaving him there. After we were there, after his first ride on the tire swing, and after finding some friends, he didn't even really acknowledge me leaving. :( Selfishly, I may have liked one of my boys to shed some tears as I left them for the first day of school, as if they may not be able to go on without me. No such luck. :) He was all smiles when I picked him up, and can't wait to go back on Thursday!! He even told me ALL about his day, which if you know Jason, is a big deal. Anyway, here are some pictures of my little cutie before we left for school and at his school. Oh, and Carter's big bonus of afternoon kindergarten is that from 8:30 - 9:00 he can play with Jason on his playground (Carter's school form last year) before they are called into class. So it was very cute - this morning Carter was showing Jason "the ropes" - and if you know Carter - that was way more info than Jason needed. :)

A few warm fuzzies from our day.

First one came after lunch and these boys were pooped out! They slept this way for about an hour. I was a little jealous because good snuggle time is hard to come by when boys get bigger - they're just too busy! :)



Second ones came from my boys as they prayed for our lunch and dinner.

First was Carter at lunch:
"Dear God, Thank you for this day.
Thank you for my mom, my dad, my brother and my sister.
Thank you for all the things we have and for our home.
Thank you for this food you have provided for us.
Thank you for the trees, flowers and bushes so that we can see you, God.
In your Son's name, Amen."

Then it was Jason's turn to pray for dinner:
"Dear God, Thank you for no monsters in this house. Amen."

Oh, my little boys. So fun to hear their thoughts when they pray. :)

Awww!

So, even though my boys will someday be totally embarassed by this picture, I couldn't help but share it. They share a room, and Jason's bed is a trundle that sits right next to Carter's. When Kenny checked on them tonight, this is how he found them. I'm sure Carter moved afer they were asleep, but still so sweet. What more can I say?

First Day of Kindergarten

Well, my big guy has officially started Kindergarten. So strange to think how fast the time has past. Carter has been counting down for about the last 8 months for school to start, and he was so excited that the big day finally came. Hard for me to let him go, though :( Now Jason is counting down for preschool to start.

We finally did it!

Well, we have had two very big events here in the Anderson household in the last two weeks! First, Kenny's parents came to our house and took care of our kids for 6 days while we went to Cabo. Second - our reason for going to Cabo in the first place.- we celebrated our 10th anniversary!! The pictures below are from our trip. It was so weird, and so nice, to do whatever we want whenever we wanted. We got to do fun things like parasail, ride a waverunner, swim in the ocean, swim alone in our pools, go to the workout room together, go on long walks without carrying anyone and hold hands, eat meals at nice restaurants... I guess I could make a really long list, but you get the idea. We had a great time together and each got to relax - something I didn't know I could truly do anymore. We were ready to come home when it was time - it was great to see the kids and Starbucks never tasted SO GOOD! I wish I had pictures of all the things the kids did with Papa and Nana - the list is huge - they did way more things that I could ever accomplish with the kids in one week. I don't think they even missed us - they had so much fun!! Thanks to Kenny and Ken and Kathie for making it all possible. Now that we know that it is okay to leave the kids, I think we should do it every year! ...okay, really I'll shoot for the 15th anniversary. :) Kenny, you're awesome and I can't imagine life without you. I love you, our life and the family we have together. Looking forward to the next 10!!!

Goin' down to the Farm.

Today we went down to the Underwood Family Farm to do some fruit and veggie picking. It was a little crazy, but we had a lot of fun and ended up with some yummy produce. The kids loved picking their own food and learned that they really liked some things they hadn't liked before. Lauren needed no instructions before going to work in the strawberry patch eating everything she could get her hands on. She also loves raspberries and green tomatoes. Yum. It was a beautiful day, and I am missing the garden I used to have. :(

Pictoral Review.

Grab a snack and a beverage... this is a long slide show! We have been busy the last few weeks with B-days, VBS and visitors.
My b-day was first. We had a great day at the beach. The only down side was that Kenny didn't tell me where we were going when we left the house that morning. He also didn't tell me to change my shirt before we left, so I ended up at the beach with my "Beach or Bust" t-shirt on. Nice. Anyway, the kids loved playing in the water, and we had a lot of fun. Thanks for a great day Kenny. :)
Jason turned 4 on July 2nd - still hard to believe that he can be 4 already. Over the week he celebrated at Chuck E Cheese, at the Wall E movie and a special dinner with Papa and Nana, and at Knott's Berry Farm with Grandpa and Grammy. We had a fun and very full week.
The only picture that really needs explanation is the shot of my kids holding up fingers for their ages. Disclaimer - From the beginning, Lauren has chosen to use her middle finger to point with instead of her pointer finger. She is not making a rude gesture in the picture, she was just "pointing" at the camera. We are working on this with her. :)

Let the Summer begin!!

Well, it's official - Carter has graduated from preschool.... Yes, they actually have graduation ceremonies for preschool. I had no idea that they would wear the cap, have their name called and walk across the stage to receive their diploma. It was pretty cute, I must say - just like the little song his class sang for us. So that was last night, and today was the final, final end of year party - the water play party. It was fun and we were very happy to play in the water since it was 108 degrees today! So, our summer has officially started!! Can't believe how fast this year flew by.

Celebrating......

We have had a lot to celebrate this week.
First of all, we got to celebrate Daddy. The kids loved getting things ready for him this year. It is fun to see each year as these special days become more meaningful for them. They actually come up with ideas of their own now - So Fun!
This is also Carters last week of preschool. They must really like to celebrate at his school because we have 3 separate end of year activities this week. The pictures are from Scooter's Jungle - an indoor play place here in town. Jason got to go along, so this was very fun for both of them. I even got to ride the big slide. Yes, it looked funny, but it was fun.
Carter has his big Pre-K graduation tonight! :) We'll update with those pics soon.

Dad's Day

Last T-Ball game and Pigtails!!

This T-Ball season flew by. Carter had so much fun and really got into it this year. It was fun to see him begin to figure out how to play and improve. Of course, the highlight was the trophy. He is so proud to now have three sitting on top of his dresser. The picture of Lauren has nothing to do with t-ball. I was just excited that I got all of her hair up into two pigtails. So fun!!

End of T-Ball Season

Cool Down.

Carter had a 2:00 t-ball game today which, at 103 degrees, left us all a little overheated. When we got home we each had several otterpops, and then I had a great idea. I thought Lauren would love to splash around in her baby pool thing. As soon as I had started blowing it up, the boys appeared on the patio in their swimsuits. Little did I know that not only would Lauren like it, but she and her brothers would spend the next hour in it. It cracked me up. I don't think that the three of them have ever happily played in that small of space for that long. It was very cute, and Lauren thought she was one of the big kids. The pictures below are of the little pool thing and after we came inside and dried off.

Mom's Day.

This was my first year of celebrating Mom's day with kids old enough to really understand and want to celebrate. :) It started with Carter's Preschool class having a Mother's day party for us. He was so excited when I got there, and so proud of getting up on the stage and performing for me. About two weeks before they did this, he was at home and started singing their surprise song that they had been practicing. He quickly covered his mouth as if the surprise was ruined!! Very cute - they did great. On Mother's Day they were very sweet and sang to me, and sent me to get a pedicure. :) Here is a picture of Carter just before they sang at preschool.



And here we are at bath time. Made me laugh. :)

Palm Springs

Not sure why I went with the Disco ball, but it made us laugh. Anyway, Nana here are the pictures from our fairy dress photo shoot. I'm not sure, but I think Lauren likes the camera. :)

Palm Springs

Disneyland - our second home. :)

What can I say - we love Disneyland! And our best pictures come from there. Anyway, here's a few more.

Disney - Wahoo!

Last Night of Cubbies.

Carter and Jason were in Cubbies together this year. Very fun for them - Jason felt like a Big Boy. Here's some pics from the last night.

Cubbies Awards Night

Proud Mothering Moment

Okay, so not really. Yesterday at my MOPS meeting I received a small hand fan as a gift. It has been the hot item for my boys for the last 24 hours. So, when you have a toy that warns against "hair entanglement" PLEASE be warned. During one of Jason's turns with the fan, he was cooling off his sister. I didn't actually know this was happening until I heard the sounds of her dis-satisfaction. It didn't last long, and we moved on................ Well, after Kenny got home, he was trying to help Jason figure out why the fan wasn't working quite right. The result was Lauren's hair would around the spinning part of the fan. My poor girl..... take a look.


I haven't found a bald spot on her head, but can you say "Ouch."
Needless to say, the fan is no longer a toy.

Carter, Carter, He's a Lego maniac!

For Carter's birthday Kenny built him a big lego table. The boys have three large bins of legos under the lego table in their room. - A combination of Kenny's legos from when he was little, and the ones they have received. For the last two days Carter has spent about 2 hours each day "constructing" is his room. I could hear the sound of him digging through the legos, but otherwise.... not a peep. So, each day he emerged with his completed project. I couldn't believe what he made out of thousands of misc legos.
You wouldn't believe the amount of gadgets built into the helicopter (which rescues people stranded at sea). My little boy is growing up before my eyes.....

CHEEEEEESE!

Somewhere along the line Jason learned to say "cheese" when taking pictures. Okay, I do know where he learned it....... from me. So, you would think that I would have learned my lesson after that. Well, by looking at this picture you will see that this lesson was not learned. Here are my two little ones doing what they thought was a "nice" smile for the camera.

A day at the Zoo with friends.

New to Photobucket!

Thanks to all of you who found Photobucket before me. I can share all my pictures now.... so beware, I have added 4 new slideshows. The first is of us spending time with lots of family in Palm Springs. Kenny's sister Karleen and her family, Papa & Nana, Great-Pa, and Uncle Dave, Aunt Karen and their son Austin from Minnesota. So fun to see everyone!! Next, Carter's first t-ball game of the season. This year he is a Diamondback and pretty excited about being a rattlesnake. :) Last year he didn't really care what was going on, but this year things have changed. I think he got about 90% of the balls that were hit when they were in the outfield. He's really growing up....... After that, Carter's pics of testing for his yellow belt in Taekwondo. I was very proud of my little guy - he did so good. And last is our trip to the beach with my great friend Kristine. Together she and I had 6 kids and we all piled into her minivan and headed for the beach. We laughed a lot and had a lot of fun... and all of our kids got sun burnt. Wooops! I hope I'm not overwhelming ya'll.

Anderson Family Brunch in Palm Springs