Saturday, June 20, 2009

Piano & Cello



Love. this. music. And I've totally got a soft spot for anything that can bring a piano & cello together with a couple of my favorite songs. Yeah, this song just works for me. Enjoy!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Catching up

Last week was a busy one with VBS, a day at the zoo with Gavin & a friend, Gavin's 5th birthday, and the Buddy Walk. I'm not sure where this week went but it has flown by, too.

I'll have to post pictures of the zoo later--they're on another camera. We took a friend of Gavin's with us and the boys had a blast together.

Gavin's party was Saturday. He helped me decorate his birthday cake that morning. He had requested an airport cake. What does that look like, Gavin? He told me that it needed airplanes and a road for them. Whew! No building construction project, just planes. Much easier to accomplish. Adrian had picked up some toy airplanes to decorate the cake and Gavin insisted that all of them go on the cake. Then he went & found one that he already had and put that one on, too. It was more than I had intended on putting on there, but what fun is it to have the birthday boy help if I can't let him put what he wants on there. I wanted to write "Happy Birthday Gavin!" but birthday boy vetoed that, too. Here's the finished product:



Not professional, but not CakeWrecks worthy either, I don't think.





Gavin got so many nice things for his birthday and the big hit were the golf clubs from Mimi Julie & Papa Ken. He had to go try them out in the yard immediately.


Aunt Silly & Uncle Mark hooked him up with some plastic practice balls (our cars & windows will be much better off this way--thank you!) and a glove that looks big and fits surprisingly well. Yes, Gavin's going to be a big guy.














The weather was perfect & we all relaxed outside on the porch. Ainsley played with Mrs. B while Gavin took a few swings with his new clubs. She's much happier when we get her out of her high chair and let her sit in a regular chair. She's doing well with turning over onto her tummy to get down from chairs & sofas, so Adrian & I are a lot more comfortable with letting her sit there like a big girl. It was a bit scary when she didn't understand or respect the power of gravity and the distance between a chair and the floor. Much better now!











Sunday was the Buddy Walk in Forest Park, St. Louis. Ainsley had quite a turnout for her team--thank you to everyone who was able to join us! This is our 2nd year at the Buddy Walk and plan on doing it every year. It's an easy one-mile walk through the park, followed by lunch. There are lots of things for the kids to do: crafts, games, and plenty of bounce-houses. Those are always Gavin's favorites, no matter the venue. A local radio station provides music and a lot of the kiddos end up dancing. It's so much fun!


This year we tailgated after lunch, just to give everyone a chance to hang out together a bit. Gavin relaxed with Chase in the back of the Yukon while everyone visited & ate goodies. He adores his cousin and can't wait 'til Chase is able to run & play in the back yard or park. Soon enough, Gavin!


The countdown to Baker Baby #3 is down to 27 days. Ainsley will be glad to get my lap back, I think. It's getting tougher to hold her in the rocking chair for bedtime stories. Gavin is still enjoying feeling Baby Jabba moving, especially after I read to him at night. She seems to wake up and respond to his voice, much to his delight. He's been a big helper for me when my energy is running low, but has told me that he wants me to be able to ride bikes & scooters or play soccer with him soon. It's on the top of my To-Do list as soon as I can do it, little man, I promise.

I'll post some more pics of our fun week a bit later....

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Summer schedule

Summer always seems to be a time to relax and slow the schedule down a bit. Does that really work for anyone else? Our schedule seems to keep us as busy as ever!
This week is Vacation Bible School at our church. Gavin is having a great time, though it makes for a long day for our little man. The craft on Monday night was a lion mask:






It's missing a few pieces now but he's still enjoying it. Ainsley laughs when Gavin roars at her and runs around acting like a lion.










Tuesday night was busy--haircuts, drive-thru dinner, and VBS. No complaints from Gavin, though. He got to go to Taco Bell as a treat and we had a "picnic" in the car before VBS.

He's sporting his new haircut. He got brave this time and got a mohawk. Walking in to VBS, he told me that he was excited 'cause he wated to show everyone how handsome he is. I tried to give him a hug and got warned not to mess up his hair, that it is easy to do because it feels as dry as grass. I don't know where he gets this stuff, but it made me laugh.




Ainsley got a haircut, too. Hers didn't look as good in the pics this morning because Gavin did her hair. It was cute the way he insisted on doing her hair and got frustrated when she kept turning her head. Welcome to my world, buddy!

Ainsley is trying to give her vitamin to Adrian. She likes to give it to him, then let him feed it to her. She's one persistant little bugger...keeps saying "Da! Da! Da!" until he talks to her. This morning, she showed him the vitamin, then popped it in her mouth & smiled at him as if to say, "See, Dad! This is my favorite and I'm not sharing with you today!" Yep, she makes mornings fun.

Adrian has been working hard remodeling the kiddos' bathrom. I'll post pics & the whole story later. 'Til then....

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Messes are fun!







The kiddos decided that it would be fun to empty the toybox. Fun for them, anyway. No one was too keen on helping me put the mess away. No worries...a few of them didn't find their way back into the box. As you can see from the mess, there's no way that those ones will be noticed. Gavin helped me relocate a few back to the playroom, then pick up a bunch of toys there. Ainsley amused herself by playing with Play-Doh and all the pieces. How is it that a little girl that isn't 2 can open a can of Play-Doh when Mommy struggles with a few of them? Good job, little girl!

Ainsley is starting to toddle around the house using the push-toy (just behind her head in the pics). She reminds me so much of Gavin. That was his first foray into walking. They figured out that they can get around faster than if they crawl. Bad news is that the wheels don't turn left or right; they only go straight. It didn't take either one of them long to figure out to stop, redirect, then start going again. Ainsley tends to talk as she walks. It's like a warning alarm that the Bean is on her way to wherever you are, so shut cabinets and relocate anything that might not be the best toy for her. She's so much fun!!

We should finally have Gavin's first T-ball game this Friday night. This should be the 4th game of the season but central IL has gotten a lot of rain. So we're praying for no more rain this week so the fields can dry & be ready for Friday. I'll post pics if the game actually happens....