KU Basketball

Each year, we try to take Buddy to a KU basketball game or two.

We usually visit the big trophy we won about 6 weeks after he was born!  We explain how we hope THIS year that we will win it again.  So far, it hasn't happened again, but we hope it will be THIS year!!

We also try to visit Big Jay!  We made it to the game right before Christmas, so it was neat to see everyone in the holiday spirit (including the Jayhawk with his Santa hat)!  The guy in yellow kept photo bombing our pictures.

Holiday Party 2013

Daddy's work has a holiday party at the movie theater every year. We decided to try the twins out on the movie this year!

Getting ready at home...

Not sure about what his shirt says...  We'll see in a few days!

They have a balloon lady and tattoo people.  The kids each got a little tattoo and santa balloon hat!

All lined up to see Frozen.  The twins made it through about half of the movie so not bad!

Elf Antics

Our elf has been up to some goofy things lately. Buddy named him Spike this year.

A little fishing...  He made a pole out of a q-tip and some dental floss.

Teepeeing our tree...

A little bubble bath... The bubbles are actually marshmallow bits.

He has also been found eating M&M's out of the bag...

Black Friday

I didn't take any pics at Thanksgiving this year!  We had a low key turkey day.  We visited Daddy's side at Aunt Jodi's and went to Mommy's parents in the evening.  Thanksgiving was Grandpa Blackie's birthday, and Black Friday was Grandma Bailey's birthday.  So, we did some celebrating both days for those 2 special people!

Our big day over Thanksgiving break is always Black Friday.  We do some shopping, but our favorite part is going to Crown Center.

We got all 3 kids to pose for a picture with the penguin!  This is the first picture I have of my kids with a character and not any other trusting adults (grandparents, Mommy, Daddy, etc) in it!  Yay!  I'm hoping this is a sign for good group pictures at Disney World next summer!

Buddy loves to watch Santa come in on his sleigh.

We got super close this year!  He shook Buddy's hand!  I think he is one of the best looking Santa's around.

We also visited Bass Pro for their Winter Wonderland.  Buddy got to officially sit on Santa's lap and tell him he wanted a BB gun.  If you have a Bass Pro near you, I recommend visiting this time of year.  You get free pictures with Santa, and they have tons of little activities for kids.  Sissy loved the carousel!  She kept saying "Ride da deer! Ride da deer!"

Happy 2nd Birthday!

We had the twins' birthday party yesterday!  We still can't believe they are 2!  Of course, it was hectic, so I didn't get many pictures!

Please ignore the fact that Wal-mart can't spell "birthday!"  We had tons of Elmo decorations since the twins really like him!

They weren't sure what to think of the cake/candles!  Little bro tried to take a bite of the cake every time we tried to get him to blow out the candles!  Favorite gifts include Big Hugs Elmo and a princess outfit!  Thanks to all who came and for the gifts!

Family Pics

A few of my favorites from our family pictures...

KU's campus is a wonderful place for fall pictures. I just love how they turned out!  I love the perspective on this last one with the sun behind the campanile and the grass in front of us.

Happy Halloween!

This is the design Buddy wanted to carve because his friend Trey was dressed as the grim reaper for the Halloween parade.

Also, Happy Birthday to Uncle Matt!  One more year until the BIG one!

Halloween Parade 2013

The annual Oskie Halloween parade was this past weekend. We had a great theme this year, thanks to Grandma Jo.  She also helped by making sissy's outfit and wig.

The tin man

Dorothy

The cowardly lion (appropriate because this kid seem to always be crying lately)

Uncle Matt joined us as the scarecrow.  It was fun, and the kids got 2nd place!

Cider Mill 2013

We took the kids to the Cider Mill again this year!  I was looking back at last year's post, and I didn't realize Buddy didn't make the trip with us last year.

Sissy has so much more hair this year!!

Little bro loved playing with that pumpkin.

Buddy the scare crow, but he will be one of scare crow's friends for Halloween.  Stay tuned to find out who he will be!  We went on a hay ride, picked out a pumpkin, and had yummy cider and cider donuts!

Jayhawk Football

We went to the KU football game last weekend.  The first quarter was great....  In other news, Late Night was on Friday night, so it is officially BASKETBALL season.  From what I hear, KU will be tough to beat so it should be a fun winter!!

Bike Riders

We finally have a bike rider.  I need to take some pictures of Buddy on his bike.  He was getting frustrated at first, but now he rides like a pro.  With this nice weather, we have been taking him to town to ride a few times a week.  He struggles going up hills, but his legs are getting stronger each day.

We got the twins' tricycles out the other day, and Little Bro can actually pedal his a little.  I think he has watched his big brother closely, so he is learning very quickly.  Sissy still struggles, since her legs are way shorter.

Bear Pride

Buddy's school has been doing Bear Pride on the Home Front this year.  Each week, they talk about one of the Bear Pride expectations (respect, responsibility, empathy, engaged) and how they can demonstrate them at school.  As parents, we are supposed to talk with them about how those expectations look at home.  If we go over them, we submit a little slip of paper telling the school what we talked about.  Those slips are put in a drawing each week, and Buddy won last week!  I think he earned some bear bucks to spend at the bear store!

Visit with Granny

We went to visit Granny last week.  We were definitely due for a visit.  She seems to be doing great and was in great spirits.

Potty Success

I'll admit that I am not in a rush to potty train the twins.  I know that may sound weird.  Potty training is stressful and very time consuming!  But, I decided last weekend to go ahead and get the potty chairs out of the closet.  I knew that I didn't want to start hard core until next summer, when I am home with them 24/7.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to introduce them to the potty chair and let them sit on it occasionally.  I am pleased to announce that sissy has used the potty 4 times and peed (even if only a tinkle) all 4 times.  Maybe training one of them will be easy!!  Little bro doesn't seem to enjoy sitting on the potty.  He just doesn't slow down enough to sit anywhere!

First Day of Kindergarten

Buddy is so excited to be in Kindergarten this year!

Abbie photo bombed this one...

Picnic Lunch

This is how we do lunch!  The twins tend to make a big mess on the floor, so we just eat on the deck.  And, cleanup = dog!

On a side note, usually July and August are soooo hot/humid that we would not be able to do this.  We have been lucky around here with temps only in the 80's the past few weeks.

St. Louis Trip

We decided to go to St. Louis this year for vacation!

We rented a cute little house in historic downtown St. Charles.  Each night, we walked 2 doors down for ice cream!  Buddy loved the Superman flavor!

We visited the zoo, and the penguin exhibit was really neat!

This picture is from Frontier Park on the Missouri River.  It was right outside the backdoor of our rental house. 

Girls picture at Frontier Park.

Boys picture.

Also, we visited Grant's Farm.

We enjoyed the Magic House, as well.  There were lots of neat exhibits for the babies to play in.  They loved the sand and water ones the best.

Buddy is still telling everyone how we went up in the Arch.  He enjoyed seeing the baseball field where the Cardinals play from up high.

We got to visit with Phil's family, (one of Daddy's work friends) and swim in their pool.  I got some video of that, but I didn't take any pictures.  We had a wonderful trip.  We are already gearing up for our trip next year to... DISNEY WORLD!

Jimmy & Rachel

A few weeks ago, we headed to Iowa for my cousin Jimmy's wedding. With my side of the family, it is always crazy with TONS of cousins!  We had a blast.

The wedding was at a beautiful winery.  Here is my brother and his family.

Two of the cutest kids I know, my cousin Jessica's 2 youngest kiddos.  I would just die for her curly hair!

Buddy's favorite part, the kiss.  He thinks anyone who kisses is automatically married.

Here is the story of our lives... little bro crying, as usual.  He's only the middle child by one minute and should not exhibit these traits!

Old Settler's 2013

We just finished up Old Settler's for this year. As you can see, it was fun!

Buddy took first for his age group in the Kiddie Tractor Pull.

He always wants to PAY to ride the ponies!  He has several relatives with horses he COULD ride for FREE!  Ha!

We had fun riding some rides with cousin Harper!

...and with Trey!  The babies spent lots of time with Grandma this year, but they will be in on the action next year for sure!