wanna come play. . .

Gram and Pa have been giving Kalem the Geotrax setup for Christmas and birthdays and we have been stashing them away until we had the space to set it all up- well now we have the space in our basement so daddy set it up for him over the weekend and it has been NON STOP geotrax fun these past few days for both of my boys- Trev enjoys it as much if not more than Kalem. Thanks Gram and pa for hookin us up- love and miss you!!!

The Fam

I just recently realized we have no pictures of the 4 of us so this weekend at a BBQ I had my friend Rachel (she took Quincys newborn pics) snap some up of my family. Thank you Rachel for capturing these fun moments of my fam! You're so talented and I am envious of your new camera!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMIE. . .

My beautiful sister had a birthday yesterday and I wish I was there to celebrate and give you a big birthday hug. I was just there a week ago but it already feels like ages ago. Hope you had a fabulous day Kam!!! Wish we lived closer so I could come take you out to lunch and for a pedicure. Miss you and love you!!!

Balloon Fun. . .

Who would have ever thought tying a balloon to the ankle of your 3 month old baby could be so much fun? Quincy loved this little activity. Once she discovered that when she would kick the balloon would move too she was happily kicking for an hour!! Anyone with a child this age should give this little exercise a try.

What we've been up to lately. . .

We have been super busy with life this past month so I apologize for not updating my blog more often. Hopefully things will be slowing down and I can keep on top of things like this!!! Here is what we've been up to . . .

A NEW HOUSE
First things first, we are finally into our new home and LOVING life. Everyday we talk about how much we love our new house and how much we enjoy having a yard to play in. Kalem is out there everyday exploring his new surroundings and we are just happy they weather is allowing him to do so.

Trev has already been out in the yard getting his hands dirty and is so happy to have a garage- he says he feels like a man again! To all our friends and family- you are welcome to visit anytime, we would love to have you!!!

VACATION- Utah and Africa

3 days after we moved into our new home we all left on a much needed vacation although it wasn't a family vacation unfortunately. Trev was off on an African Safari with the Thatcher Family and since Quincy is only 3 months old I decided Africa wasn't going to work for me so the kids and I went to Utah to spend some quality time with my mom, dad, sister and her family. I was super nervous for my flight with the two kiddos but we survived the chaos.

The first leg or our trip was spent in Pine Valley with my parents. I don't have any pictures to show of the fun times we had there because Trev took every camera we own to Africa but here are some of our highlights from Pine Valley-
fishing with Grandpa, putting on grandpas 3 hole course, looking for Deer every night, catching bugs, going for walks, I got a bit more sleep than normal (thank you mom and dad) and I didn't have to cook a single meal!!!!!

I love going to Pine Valley- it is so relaxing and the surroundings are beautiful. We had a great time and all 3 of us were spoiled by gram and grandpa.

Then we headed to Mapleton to spend 5 days with my sisters family. We had a blast. It was non-stop fun the entire time. Kalem had a riot with his cousins. He and Samuel are just 9 months apart and had so much fun together. They rode their bikes, took turns doing TRICKS on the tramp, shot hoops and played at the park. Kalem was exhausted by the end of our stay.

(Sam and Kalem- little hoopsters)

(aunt Kamie and Quincy) (Cassady, Hannah, Sam, Kalem and Vance)

Cassady, Hannah and Vance were so cute with both my kids and I appreciated their help so much. It was nice to spend some quality time with my sister Kamie- she is my best friend and we don't get to see each other enough- thank goodness for phone calls, email and blogging- love you sis!!!

We took Quincy to get her ears pierced. She wasn't too impressed with that adventure but we think she looks pretty cute with her new bling!!!

AFRICA

Trev had a BLAST in Africa with his family. He was on a 10 day Safari Hunt and came home a successful hunter. After hearing all the stories I am super sad to have missed out on such a neat experience and so many fun memories. He brought back some fun prizes for all of us, but best prize of all was to be reunited again- after 10 fun filled days in Utah- All three of us were ready to meet up with daddy and come home to our new house. Here are some pictures of his African Adventures-

(The Thatcher Gang)- i so should have been there!!

(Heath, Trev, Linda, Ravi)

(The Thatcher Boys)

looks like fun to me!!!!!!!!!!!

Trev enjoyed this special trip with his family. He says that isn't the last time he will be to Africa - only next time, I will be a long for the journey.

TURNING 3

Kalem turned 3 years old this week. I cant believe he is already 3, they grow up way too fast. He had a fun filled day of swimming, chuck e cheese, presents, cake and ice cream. We love you bud. . . HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

(look at me. . . I'm 3)

(gotta love chuck-e-cheese)

Quincy turned 3 months old this past week. She is getting SOO big and is so much fun. Look at those yummy cheeks- they are so kissable and she gets about 500 a day on each one whether she likes it or not.
So there you have it. . . in a nutshell (or not) our life this past month!!!!!

Convenience kind of gal. . .

or otherwise described as lazy. Today I had one of those I am happy to be back in America moments. I had two sleeping children and I needed to make a transaction at the bank and how happy was I to be able to drive up to a window and take care of this business. I didn't have to park the car, wake up two sleeping children, drag them into the bank, wait in line only to be told they can't help me with this transaction (its a new bank account and I don't have all the kinks worked out yet) - and then be ticked off that i went through all of that pandemonium for nothin. Its pretty nice to have the convenience of Drive-Thru banking. Just to name a few other conveniences I love:

• Pay at the pump
• Drive Thru Pharmacy's
• super TARGET- one stop shopping (seriously who doesn't LOVE target??)

I do miss Tesco groceries home delivery in Scotland (among many other things)- I know they have a service like that here in IL I just haven't gotten around to using it yet. In Scotland you bag your own groceries and I was NEVER great at it. I was slower then normal and always holding up the line. I am sure its one of those things that you get better at the more you do it but even after 3 years of doin' it I never seemed to be that great at it- needless to say It's really nice to have my groceries bagged for me especially when I have the two kiddos there. Its hard enough that I have to drag a car load of groceries up to my second floor apartment. A friend recently posted that 'Moms cant be lazy' so thank you Rachel for helping me feel like my love for conveniences doesn't necessarily mean I am lazy!!!

These little cuties are practicing their parenting skills. I am finding that the wee ones love to hold new babies. Our friends the Rays came over this past weekend and their little girl Holland was so cute with Quincy. Rachel was telling me that Holland even named her baby doll Quincy- how cute is that??

looks like they got it all figured out!!!