toys, toys, toys.....

my kiddies are very blessed. they have more toys then any child would ever need.



that is why every two months or so, i go through their toys and put a couple big plastic tubs full away in the closet. they never notice. in fact it makes it easier for them to find things to play with because they aren't overwhelmed with the sheer volume of toys. then when we seem to need a little change i switch the toys out. it is my favorite trick for winter when we spend most of our time in the basement/playroom.

do you ever rotate your kiddies toys like this?

instagram's from today

sometimes it is just to hard to lug around my big honkin' camera when i am already schlepping two kiddos around. that is why i love my iphone. the pics may not be technically perfect, crisp or clear but it gets the job done, it captures the moment.



noah showing some skin. slushies and buddies at the mall.


goof balls. pretty girls.

xo
joanna

too hot

it has been positively scorching this past week. now i am the first to admit that i am in love with summer heat but this week has been a bit much, think temps in the 100's! we have been spending most of our time either at the pool or playing in our cool basement. noah doesn't seem to mind the heat. in fact, i think he prefers it! it gives him an excuse to be nakey :).

xo
joanna

ava day

we had gracie's little friend ava over one day this week.



gracie was so excited, the night before she kept telling me that tomorrow was "ava day."


they played so nicely together all day and many times during the day gracie would come up to me and say, "mommy, i love ava day." holy moly talk about cute!


i love that they are such sweet friends because ava's momma is one of my besties. getting them together is a good excuse for us to get together :).
xo
joanna

photo challange : black and white

black and white

4

so i am a few days late but better late then never.....

my baby girl is 4. i can hardly believe it. where did the time go?




happy happy birthday sweet sass. i love you so very much. you are more then i could have ever wished for. love you to the sun.
-mommy

birthday party!

hi loves! we had the kiddies birthday party on saturday and it was a total blast!


i am so lucky my babies are born so close together, so that we can celebrate their birthday's with one huge party.

i kept telling myself that i was going to enjoy the party and not stress to much about making everything perfect.


i think i did a good job but i still probably looked like a chicken with her head cut off most of the time with the way i was running around.


all in all i would chalk the party up as a success. we had good food, good friends and family, adorable kids and good weather.


thanks to everyone who came and made my littles special day perfect!
xo
joanna

gracie says!

so if you follow my on facebook/twitter* you know that sassy started swim lessons. if you don't, sass started swim lessons on monday. right now, we are keeping our fingers crossed that she learns to at least put her face in the water and/or do one thing the teacher asks her.

today after her swim lesson she was floating around the pool with my uncle and he asked her to put her face in the water what did the little stinker do, she dunked her sweet little face right in like she has been doing it all her life.



this is what she said to me when i asked her about why she wouldn't do that in her class....

me: gracie, why didn't you do that during your class for your teacher?
gracie: i don't know. whats my teachers name?
me: miss diane
gracie: oh, i would like her and swim lessons alot more if her name was thumbelina.

*joannapaff

2

my baby is two today. it seems like just yesterday we were here.


then here.


now look at him.


happy birthday baby boy. please, don't grow up to fast.
love, momma

where is charlie?

i haven't addressed this yet on my blog because honestly it makes me very sad but i feel like i should tell you 5, maybe 6 people that read my blog.....

do we still have charlie?


very, very sadly we do not :(. unfortunately, when we brought charlie home he was a very sick puppy. after seeing two different vets we were told that he had a very rare parasite called balantidium coli. this particular parasite can be spread to humans and under the advice of my kids pediatrician, we had to give charlie back. even though it was a small chance that the parasite could be transferred to my babies, i could not in good conscious take that chance.

believe me when i say it was the hardest thing to take our sweet, little puppy who in such a short time had become a part of our family, back. it makes me teary thinking of it, even now.