Shutterfly Family Picnic

I should either be working or in bed (not blogging), so this will be short. I'll post more detail and more pictures later...

Last Saturday was the Shutterfly family picnic. It was a blast! It was held at a Charlotte Knights (minor league) baseball game. We had a pre-game tailgating party where the kids received plastic baseballs and bats. Carson had fun wandering free and Averie enjoyed playing baseball. She picked it up very well and had many good hits.

These pictures are from my friend Nancy. When I upload the pictures from my camera I'll post with more detail.

School Supplies

Averie starts Kindergarten in less than two weeks. I haven't seen her so excited about something in a long time. This past weekend was "tax free" weekend. Most supplies, clothes and back to school products were tax free. We took this opportunity to buy school supplies. I went online to get the supply list... holy crap! It's a long list! Don't get me wrong, I am happy to support the school system, but it was kind of a rude awakening. Oh well, in the over all scheme of things it wasn't too bad. I'm just glad we don't have 10 kids! The most exciting purchase? A Selena Gomez (i.e. Wizards of Waverly Place star) backpack. It's a little chintzy, I was hoping to buy a cute, nicely-made backpack, but she was so set on it that I gave in (on the plus side, it was cheap!).

Each night she and Justin have a bed-time routine, Justin reads or tells her a story. On occasion, I will tell her a story and she is not remotely shy about expressing her dissapointment that it's not Daddy. Anyway, the past few nights Justin has been focusing on her reading skills. She is doing so well! Her most recent two words are fox and box.

The countdown is on... I'm so proud of my little girl.

Another week... another post! I'm on a roll!

I've finally uploaded pictures from our camera so this post goes back a couple of months. (Most recent pictures are first.)

The kids enjoyed playing in the driveway tonight. Note Carson's 2nd haircut, we wanted to keep the mohawk, but with a squirming 1 1/2 year old, it's easy to take too much off... oh well, another buzz cut!



We told Averie we would buy her a bigger, Hannah Montana bike, when she mastered riding. She's doing very well!



Carson's been getting into trouble. Today he got a hold of one of Averie's markers and decided to decorate the back hallway including the door to the garage and the downstairs bathroom. He wasn't happy that I posed him in front of the evidence.




Carson has not been taking a binky for over a month now. He's done very well, but occasionally we can tell he misses it. When he gets really upset he puts his hands in his mouth and sucks them. Well, today he found this novelty binky. He never liked this one because of it's shape, but I guess it's better than nothing! He was quite pleased with himself and sucked this binky for a while. We finally had to take it away from him. (P.S. In case you can't read it, the wording on the binky says "Mute Button".)



Earlier today Averie freaked out when she saw him with this binky because "He's too big for it". Justin and I assured her that Carson never liked this binky and she has nothing to worry about. Can you see the "I told you so" in her eyes? I think I can!



A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to get a number of things done around the house. I thought it would be fun (and keep the kids occupied) if I let them paint with pudding. I whipped up a batch of instant pudding, added some green food coloring and layed down huge sheets of paper on the table. I figured it would keep them busy for a good 30 minutes or more. WRONG! 10 minutes later the kids were bored. At least it was a good photo op.



After the pudding painting, I let the kids play with the hose in the yard. This kept them better occupied, but it was a constant fight about whose turn it was to hold the hose.

This is my little diva. She did her hair by herself and was so proud.

OK... not the most flattering picture of me, but oh so cute! We were a sleepy pair.

In June, Averie graduated from pre-school. Tutor Time had a nice little ceremony. Justin and I took off work early to attend. As dorky as it was, I teared up... how is my "baby" so old?

New sunglasses for Averie and Carson.

Before the haircut.

After the haircut.

That's my boy!

We thought this was a good photo op. This was taken at Bubba's BBQ. These pigs are staged in front of the restaurant and we thought it was a bit funny to see the cop car in the background.