5 years old!!!

Yesterday Mac turned 5! Wow, where has the time gone?! Instead of doing a friends party we let Mac choose what he wanted to do for his birthday. He had a hard time choosing between the Cincinnati Zoo and the Aquarium but chose the Zoo after he found out they had a Komodo Dragon.

Every time the komodo dragon did anything Mac would say "fast take a picture!"

October is a great time to go to the Zoo! It was beautiful, nice and cool and empty! Plus the animals actually moved!

Train ride around the zoo "YEAH!"

Drew dropped us off at the Zoo then headed into the Cinci office to finish up some work. He was planning on spending the 2nd half of the day in the Zoo with us but we saw and did everything in 3.5 hours! As we were leaving the Zoo Mac said "This is the best day of my life!"
Now for the presents...

Doing "Face Time" with my parents! This was the first year they haven't been here for Mac's birthday- we've been spoiled. But with face time they were able to sing to him and see him open his presents. So great!

Happy Birthday Mac! We love you!!!

Mac at 5 years old weighs 52 lbs -95% and is 46 inches tall- 95%

At 9 months

Annie at 9 months is 21 lbs -85% and 30.5 inches 95%. She talks and talks- she sounds like little bird chirping all day long! She's mastered the army crawl and is moving onto the, on all 4's crawl. She's pulling herself up on everything. Loves to wrestle with whoever is laying on the floor. She loves the stairs and giggles while she's climbing- so proud of herself. She's started throwing some great tantrums and gives big, wet, eat your face, kisses on demand. We love you, sweet Annie Girl!

Trees, Trails and Creatures

Saturday we randomly went to the Trees, Trails and Creatures festival and we were pleasantly surprised! We painted pumpkins, got our faces painted, went through a hay maze, examined animal furs and insects. But the main event was the creature trail. In the garden they had 12 different people dressed up as species that are found in the arboretum. There was everything from spiders to sunflowers to skunks. We went around met the species and they told us about themselves and their habitats. Mac and G loved this and we learned a lot!

What have we been up to?

Annie is on the move! Which means I am too! We have been busy cleaning and picking up everything before Annie can get to it and gobble it up. The girl puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. Her favorite things to chew on these days- shoes!
Walks and more walks. The weather is amazing, Annie loves her stroller and the rest of us get restless, so we walk to the duck pond, the park, friends houses or just around. We have loved our afternoon walks and will really miss them when the weather turns cold.


Chalk! in the past I would go out and draw for the boys. I would take their requests and do my best. The more knowledge Mac gained the harder the requests got:) Mac still has me doing some of the "work" but he's figuring out the whole drawing thing. Gray loves to trace my drawings but really has a knack for chalk art.

G's self portrait!

Mac's cavemen
Fall, you are too good to us!

28

Yesterday I turned the big 2.8! Is it just me or does everyone mentally have an age that means "you've made it?" Mine was 28- I know it's not really old but when I moved to KY I was 21 and there was a group of moms that were 28, they had 3 kids, working husbands and I thought wow, that looks pretty great but it's forever away. Well, over 6 years later, I'm here and yes, 28 is pretty great!

To celebrate the big day we went up to Cinci for a day of shopping and a Reds game!

A partner Drew works with in Cincinnati was there at the game as well. He came down and chatted for a bit, brought the kids cookies and some posters. Mid conversation he said, "I'll be right back." He came back with Reds hats for all the kids! The boys were ecstatic!
G loved the game. He watched the whole time and asked about the batters and the players in left field. He yelled and cheered and tried to get the attention of Dave Sappelt (the Reds Left Fielder). It looks like Drew has a baseball buddy for life!

Mac enjoyed the popcorn and the Iphone...

Back to School!

Yesterday was Mac and Gray's first day of school and it could not have gone better! Monday we went to the open house so the boys could meet their new teachers and Gray could get acquainted with the new school. G was nervous at first but it didn't last long. Mac on the other hand made himself at home- found his old teachers and his friends and didn't want to leave.

G with Ms. Anne and Ms. Lacey

Mac with his teachers Ms. Joan and Ms. Frances

First day of school!

This year Drew is taking the boys to school- some good male bonding time and I am picking them up- which I love cause I get to hear all about their day.

After we got home we did some "homework." One of the questions was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Mac said "a paleontologist!"(duh!) and Gray said " A giant and be strong with big boobs?" What?! I asked him what boobs were and he showed me his fists! "Gray those are fists or hands." I sure hope I was the first to hear about his desire to have big "boobs"!:)

Family!

A couple weeks ago Katie called to say she was coming for a visit. Later we found out that her husband decided to surprise Katie with an awesome birthday present- a visit from Rita! Katie decided to share her present with me and brought mom along so we could get some grandma time too! The kids played, the adults talked, it was a great weekend!

Ellie is 8 months older than Annie but Annie is a little bigger:) Sweet Ellie would try to hold Annie but it didn't quite work out, Annie just tried to kiss/eat her.

It's always hard to see grandma leave- especially for Gray!