"Get to know me day"

Tripp was so excited when he woke up this morning... it was his day to bring in the "Get to know me bag!"

A few of his favorite things that he wanted in the bag.... his blue blankie (He even put his fingers in each of the holes to show his friends how he sleeps), "Sprinkles" his dragon, 2 lollipops, a chocolate bar, a picture of his siblings (I added that in there as he did not mention them... HA!) and the oldie but good "Singing Every day book" from the 1950's. This was Tessa's book as a child and both of mine so far have loved it. He even started to sing "Grumbling Joe" to his class.

What an exciting day for this little guy!

"Fall"-ing into all the new season has to offer

Ahhh... it is the hint of Fall coming with temperatures beginning to cool a bit!

Tripp and I have loved the Babboe bike and often ride to pick Juliette up from the bus. There is a park there and with the cooler weather comes the daily requests to play in the park!

This Mama loves to just watch them play...

"Look Mommy! I holded on for t-ree seconds..."

Funny enough he was just about right!

Tripp and Juliette love to play with their friend Ava. She comes right off the bus and races to the park too!

This silly girl thinks life upside down would be great!

She lives without a care in the world.

And then there are the requests for Tessa's famous apple pie! Nothing could signal Fall more than that. The kids were so excited to do just that...

Someone is excited to take a picture and the other one is too busy "helping" AND eating the streusel !

Oh our little "Helper" ..... hmmm anything look out of place??

The apples are all peeled and soaking and a little person believes that is just where the flour belongs!

and with all of the "Great Help"...

The pies turned out amazing! The kiddies were thrilled and took full credit for the deliciousness!

And while the pies are baking, another little person decided he did not want to miss the party! He decided to try to crawl up the first stair into the kitchen!

Thomas, are you kidding me?

Nope, he wanted to check out all of the fun!

Gracie could not help but give little Tyler some love! Tyler loves to pet her ears and poke at her eyes... one she doesn't mind... and the other... she walks away.

Such a sweet pup!

With the Fall comes play time in the playroom. Tripp was teaching Thomas about the farm. Tripp is so patient even though he is 3 which is great. However, as Thomas continued to take animal after animal, Tripp got disgusted and let me know that he no longer appreciated Thomas and he did not want him to play wiht him anymore...

"Mommy, he no like to share..."?

As the babies keep growing and wanting to do little boy things, the little boy wants to do what the babies do..

Lay in the play pen where the babies sometimes play in...

Soon enough though he is back to enjoying being the big brother!

Speaking of Fall, how about the Fall fishing?

Don and I snuck out this past week and got on a few of these beauties!

Perfect weather, perfect fishing...

not sure what more you could want!

Any excitement for a sleep party??

Oh yes for this guy!

He was having his very first pack the suitcase-planned party!

He was quite excited. His choices to pack were Clifford, The Little Blue Truck puzzle, Sprinkles the dragon, and a special chocolate bar from Mr. Gustavo, He even got to wear his new bulldozer shirt and pants. We know this one and clothes - yes that was a HUGE deal!

Some sort of relaxation in the mountains

We headed up to the mountains for the weekend and got our first real taste of fall. The weather was amazing. We took the twins and Ms. Labinia as well so that was a huge help! The kids had a ball playing outside, warming up by the fire, making s'mores and just enjoying each others company!

The guys did some fishing and the ladies had an amazing afternoon at the spa with a massage fit for a queen. Andralee and I brought a bottle of Prosecco that the spa had set out for us outside in the amazing weather looking out toward the mountains. It was an afternoon that I will not soon forget hanging out with a dear friend!

She is always such a helpful big sister ready to help her little brother anytime. 

Fall was in the air and so were the pumpkins! The kids were so excited to see their real sign of Halloween and the Fall - a pumpkin. Check out the size of that actual pumpkin - truly a home grown mountain pumpkin.

Ms. Labinia's little girl Jaylin came for the weekend as well. She and Tripp are just the best little buddies! They played together all weekend. Here they were enjoying the yummy and gooy s'more. Their night could not get much more exciting sitting outside after dark by the fire and earing these yummy treats. 

Juliette loved coloring with Jaylin

The guys took the kids hiking on some trails on morning. There had been a decent amount of rain recently so the  falls were rapid. 

Just hangin out and playin on the porch!

Evening fell and soon did the eyes of these little ones. It only took about 45 seconds for them to knock out at night. They slept well but two little people did not. Thomas and Tyler did not sleep through the night most nights there. It was the first time out of their comfort zone and so they work up quite easily. I was not used to that as they have been sleeping solidly through the night for the past 5 months!

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time! It is always so refreshing to just get out of town even for a mim-vacation. 

As I turned around toward the end of the trip home, this is what I found.... Mind you Tripp NEVER sleeps in a car!

Two little people were flat worn out!

Play hard... work some... play harder and then DROP....

Her favorite things and too tired to even keep her eyes open... 


Mermaid tail, some horrible kiddie blush, fairy wings, and her dear pony Caroline with the dog leash as her reins and my scarf for beauty. 


This child is always keepin' it real!

Love her SO SO much!

Fishin....

Juliette has always loved to fish. We began taking her out in the boat at 2 years old and she was throwing a rod and casting. Since the twins, she has not been fishing that much but she went out and caught some bait down on the dock with Don. She LOVED being out there and was all over the bait fish and shrimp. 

"Oh no Daddy! The shrimp jumped away!"

Then she got her groove right back and was all over those shrimp!

Look at this brave boy! For the boy who 6 months ago... "I no like to touch dat fish..." and now he handles them and LOVES to hold them!

Oops! "He jumped out of my hand... Come back little fish!"

And the next time he went out... he was ready to let dem swim...

AND... give them a good by kiss!

My first piano lesson

Juliette was excited today as it was her first piano lesson! Mr. Paul Laudas arrived at 6:30 to the house and Juliette eagerly went to the door to meet him. He began with an interview to learn all about Juliette. She was excited to let him know all kinds of things about her herself and her brothers. I LOVED watching her at the piano and I have to say it is bittersweet. It brings me right back to the piano in my house growing up. I loved to play and I loved my teacher Ms. Harlan. When Mr. Paul left, I sat down and played the piano for well over an hour. I so ENJOYED it and Juliette just watched and listened. I am making it a priority to sit down for enjoyment and play and possibly get back to where I was when I stopped lessons at 17.

Her little song that she was playing was "Mary had a Little Lamb."

She was thrilled and very proud of herself. 

We'll look forward to another visit from Mr. Paul next week.

Life as an 8 month old twin

Happy 8 months old to two special little guys!

Thomas and Tyler have now started to laugh at each other and try to hold on to each other. They are very curious now and enjoy looking and wondering about the other. 

They enjoy being together in the crib chatting but they have to be watched. Tyler is a biter and enjoys trying to grab Thomas and bite him.

Their new wooden walker came this weekend. They have enjoyed trying to figure out what it is. Juliette and I Stood them up on it so they could figure out what to do with it. They were so excited to realize they were standing up! 

They were laughing and then they would become serious as they tried to analyze it. 

Your sister is the best! Tripp took a good nap this afternoon and she and I hung out with the twins. As they continue to grow, she loves to hold them and play with them! I was able to catch a few shots of her in action with them. You can see Thomas is ripping through her hair as she is playing with Tyler. She is such a great sport!

I tell her all the time I am so thankful that God gave me a little girl! She will be my one and only Little girl!

She will help me navigate this new world of life with twin boys!

The maiden voyage of the Babboe

The kids were so excited when they had their first ride in the new bike! The bike arrived from Amsterdam this week. We are having so much fun with it! The twins, Tripp and me picked Juliette up from school at the bus with it.

I was shocked at what a beautiful ride it is. It is so smooth. The twins loved riding in it as well. It put Tyler right to sleep.

Looking so forward to making many memories around the neighborhood on the bike.

"I am in da 3 grade"

Yes, his comment on the morning of his first day of 3K! He was so excited and so proud. I went in his room and woke him up and while he was still pretty much asleep I asked him what his favorite part of school was. He told me "clean up time." It was then I realized he really was still asleep as that would never be his answer.

An hour later when asked he responded, "snack time!" He guessed that snack on the first day would be cupcakes. 

He was so excited and felt like such a big boy! The day had really come for him... His first day of school!

His sweet Sister gave him an extra big hug before being dropped off in the carpool line. She reminded him how lucky he was that he would get to play all morning at school while Sissy had to work with no play she insisted!

It was like a mini reunion! If it were two of them they'd be called "the gruesome twosome!" Carson, Tripp and Zoey are the best of little friends. They picked up without skipping a beat! 

Tripp was so happy to see Ms. Elizabeth! He ran right to her!

The first thing he wanted to play with besides "mousy" was the dump truck! He asked me to stay and play all morning, but I assured him he could not play with his friends then if mommy stayed all morning. It was just the answer he wanted.

... And a sign of a very successful fun filled first day of school was a super red cheeked sweaty smiley boy!