Fall Pictures 2012

How fast they grow.....

Random pictures...

Riley and Van both have birthdays this month.  Once all the festivities are over I will load some pictures as soon as I can. 

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

A Very Fairy Day

Riley's fairy session with Neyan Babani Photography  816-343-4636

Riley had a blast with her fairy session.  I am so glad I got theses done.  Neyan is VERY resonably priced and she includes the costumes.  This was so fun for Riley and I and we love the pictures!

2012 Zoo Day With The Walters Family

We had a lovely family day at the zoo with The Walters Family.  Sean, Nia, Mason and Leila joined us this year.  The kids had a great time and Mommy got to take more pictures of lions.  Man, I love lions!  The weather was great, which was a nice change for us.  Mason, Riley, Leila and Van all get along very well.  Plus, it's nice to have friends that are in the middle of "Terrible 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's." along with Dave and I.  It reminds us that we are not alone. 

Lake 2012

This was a kinda annual trip to the my brother's lake house in Oklahoma.  We plan to go every year but it doesn't always work out.  My Mom and Don weren't able to join us this year because of Grandma Gina's knee surgery, but they'll be back next year.  This was Van's first trip and he loved it!  He loved to drive the boat...vroom vroom.  Riley went tubing and had a blast.  It's always nice to get together with my brother and his family.  Riley adores her cousins, Trent and Allyson, but she hardly ever gets to see them.  We had a great time and we'll back next year.....if my brother can stand us all again!

4th of July

Yea, yea, yea, I know.  I take forever to add pictures to this blog.  Forgive me.  I don't know where all my time goes.  Here are some pictures from 4th of July.  We had everyone over to our house for the festivities.  Our neighborhood goes all out and they did not disappoint this year.  We bought very few fireworks and only small ones since the ground was so dry....as you can see by the looks of our dead lawn.  Every year it rains on the 4th of July and it makes me mad.  This year I would have welcomed it.

The kids enjoyed themselves and our neighbors, Vince, Carolyn and Adrianna came over to share in the fun.  Riley and Adrianna love playing together and having Adrianna just across the street makes it easy.  I am holding my breath waiting for sleepovers....at Adrianna's house, of course.  Van wasn't afraid of the fireworks at all.  He loved them!  Riley was jumpy but managed.  Overall, it was a good night!

1st Dance Recital

Riley's first dance recital was June 7th.  She was SO GOOD!  I was so proud of her!  She remembered every single move and sang the whole song along with the dance.  I was sure she would get a little scared when she was in front of the big audience but she did amazing!  She said she loved it and wanted to have a recital every day!  I am so excited!  I was praying she would like dance.  We've already enrolled her for next year and she can't wait to go back.

Summer Fun!

 Adrianna, Riley, Whitney and Charlotte

Riley is very lucky to have three friends that live right across the street.  The four of them play together all the time.  Riley, Adrianna and Charlotte will all start school together which is very exciting for her.  Van loves to play outside with them and occassionally they'll include him.  It's nice for us to be able to just hang out in the driveway while the kdis run all over the place.  They run back and forth between each others houses.  Van loves to push his lawnmower up and down the sidewalk.  I'm hopeful that means he'll love to mow the lawn when the time comes!

Daddy's Dream Come True cont....

Here's Riley on the course practicing her swing. She loves going with Daddy to the golf course. She actually made a putt! It took several swings but who's counting? She wasn't very excited about sharing the golf club with Van but she did like to watch him swing. I think her favorite part was riding in the golf cart. She was very critical of Daddy's driving. She was convinced he was going to drive us into the lake!

Riley is getting to be such a big girl! She loves school and is pretty much smarter than me at this point. She can write tons of words and understands so many new concepts! She still struggles with sharing, but what 4 year old doesn't? It's no fun to share! I still don't like it. She has become a very good artist too! She draws pictures that blow my mind. She's very detailed and creative. She's also really enjoying her dance class. It's almost coming to an end though. Her recital is in June and then she'll have the summer off (to practice her craft) and pick back up in September. She has made so many friends from school, dance and the neighborhood! She loves to play outside with the neighbor kids. She will also get to start school with a few of them which will make that big transition easier for her. She still has a year and half before she starts school....which is no time at all!

Daddy's Dream Come True!

It was such a nice day on Easter that Daddy asked if we could head out to the golf course and play a couple of holes with the kids. Riley and Van loved it! Here are some shots with Van. I couldn't believe how quickly he understood what to do with the club! Of course, he wanted to throw the ball which didn't go over well with Riley when she was trying to putt, but once he had the club in his hands he immediately started swinging at the ball. He's already a pro!

Van is 17 months now and finally starting to act like a toddler. He's decided to grow some teeth. He waited until well after 12 months old to do so. He also decided he could get around quicker if he started to walk. He held off on that until 14 months. Words are starting to flow now too. He's not the fluent speaker like his sister was at this age....but we all know girls are born smarter than boys so that's to be expected. Besides, there's no need to talk when everyone spends most of their time with him in a trance from his mesmerizing blue eyes..... Seriously though, he is really doing great! He's following in his sister's steps and is already playing on the iPad by himself and the computer keeps him busy for ages. His current favorite jam is Old McDonald. He sings " E I E I O" several times a day which means that it needs to be pulled up on You Tube pronto so he can sing along.

My Babies

Can't believe how big these kids are!

Van is now 16 months. He's walking, trying to talk and thinks his big sister is hilarious! He's finally got teeth and no wonder they took so long to come in. They're huge! I'm pretty sure they are his adult teeth that smashed his baby teeth on their way out.

Riley is 4 1/2 going on 13. She is as feisty as they come. She's also too smart for her britches. She's still in dance and really likes it. Justin Beiber still has her heart and Daddy was her favorite Valentine this year.

More Family Picturess.......Finally

Here's two more from our session with Sharayamauck Photography.

Brozenic Family Photos

We had family photos taken by Sharayamauck Photography and she did an amazing job! Here's one of our favorites. More to follow....