No, that's not his Halloween Costume!

Ella has discovered that little brothers can be dressed up. Ella and James were playing quitely up in Ella's room for a little while. After only a short while, Ella was very excited to have James come downstairs and show off his new outfit. He did make a really cute cheerleader!!! James was all smiles and Ella was very proud that she was able to dress him up all by herself. Ella loves to dress up, so I think James will be modeling more outfits in the future!!
Aren't they cute!!!!

I am so behind on posting! We have been super busy and I have lots of cute pictures to share....so hopefully I'll get caught up soon. I am almost half way through my grad class and it is taking up more of my time than I thought it would. I also started back at my part-time teaching gig a couple of weeks ago so things have gotten a whole lot busier around here. Hopefully more pictures to come....soon!!

Vegas!!!

Mark and I decided it was time for us to visit Las Vegas. We went last weekend and enjoyed three nights at the Flamingo-- smack dab in the middle of The Strip. We had an excellent time hanging out with our friends Mike and Erin who flew out to Vegas for the weekend too! Ella and James were very excited to spend three whole nights at Grandma and Grandpas....well, maybe Ella was more excited than James. We arrived Thursday evening, met our friends and got settled into the hotel. We enjoyed a great meal at PF Changs before heading off to see the Jubilee show at Bally's. The show was really amazing and we had excellent seats thanks to my friend, RaeAnne. Her sister-in-law is in the show and she hooked us up!!! Thanks again, RaeAnne and Gina!!! By the time the show was over it was after 2:30 a.m. our time so we decided to call it a night and rest up for Friday!

We started Friday out right with breakfast at the Bellagio. Their brunch was awesome!! We then spent some time exploring the Bellagio and other hotels on that end of the strip. After tolerating too much window shopping, the guys decided it was time for them to head back and try their luck at poker. Erin and I continued shopping a bit more before heading to back to the hotel to rest by the pool. Friday evening we enjoyed dinner at Margaritaville, went to the Second City comedy show at the Flamingo and spent some time at Toby Keith's bar at Harrah's. We stayed up way too late....but we really had a great time!!

We all started Saturday a bit slower due to all of Friday's fun. We enjoyed lunch at the Venetian and spent some time in the Wynn and the shops at The Forum. We even saw a few celebrities there....I think it was my first celebrity sighting! That night we had a great dinner at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill restaurant in Caesar's. We walked down the strip to watch the pirate show at Treasure Island....that show was okay....but not great. Then, we spent the rest of our night at the casino in our hotel. I was fond of but didn't do so well on the spin the wheel game... at least it was fun to lose my money! I did hit the jackpot on the $.02 slots though!! I won over $75...so all in all...I think I broke even! Mark didn't win big at the poker tables like he had hoped...he didn't lose big either so that is even better! Mark did have success at the video poker slots at the airport on Sunday morning...so at least we left feeling like winners!!!

We had an uneventful flight back and by the time the plane landed at the airport, we were both really anxious to see the kids. Ella ran and hugged us and James just giggled and giggled as soon as we were in sight. It was a great trip and we hope go back again....sooner than later!

Below is a link to a slide show of some of our Vegas pictures. I think if you double click on it you can view the pictures in a larger format. Enjoy!!

Apple Orchard

The kids and I had a wonderful trip to a local apple orchard with our Moms and Kids group from our church. Here are some pictures from our adventure... James eating an apple that Ella picked for him from a nearby tree.

Ella takes a big apple bite!!

Here are the animals that enjoyed our apple cores.

The kids and me!

James picks his first apple!!! He loves apples....I mean he loves to bite into an apple, mash the fruit around in his mouth and than spit it out somewhere.... The kid still does not like to really eat very much!!! Apples are fun, tastey and messy!

Hiking up the orchard lane.

Believe it or not, these beautiful apples are from our little tiny apple tree in our yard. We ended up with four apples this year, our first harvest! They were juicy and sweet and anyone who saw them or tasted one was impressed that they were home grown! Maybe next year we'll get enough for a pie!!

Marigold Days Parade

On September 9th we enjoyed our last parade of the season. We attended the Marigold Days Parade with family in Mantorville. Here is James with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Judy before the start of the parade.
Here's the big dragon that is always a hit with the kids.

This clown is giving Ella some candy while James hides in my lap.

After the parade Ella enjoyed a wagon ride with her cousins Bryce and Brennen.

A one kid house? So much for sisterly love...

Mark was getting James in his pjs the other night as I was keeping Ella company in the kitchen while she had her bedtime snack. We were just chit-chatting when in her most serious of voices Ella asked, "Mommy are you happy with two kids?" Ella posed the question as if she were a mini Dr. Phil and I wondered where she was going with this question. With much sincerity and trying to cover all my bases, I told her that I loved being a mommy to her and James and that they were both very special to me. Her response: "Oh, because I was thinking that we should just have one kid in our house. James is too noisy and he messes up my toys too much...." Guess James was bothering her a bit that day. She took it pretty well when I told her that James was here to stay.

First Day of School

Isabella had her first day of preschool on September 5th. She is attending the same school she attended last year, but with new teachers and for three days each week instead of two. She was a little nervous on the first day of school but has now settled back into her routine is anxiously awaiting her turn to be "star helper"!

Every 31-year-old's Birthday Dream--Sesame Street Live

We were lucky enough to attend Sesame Street Live on Mark's birthday. The kids were a little more excited for the show than Mark was....but he enjoyed the show as well! We had "Meet and Greet" passes and were able to go backstage to meet Cookie Monster before the show. Here is Cookie Monster waving the kids over.

Ella hugs Cookie Monster.

Ella really loved seeing Cookie Monster up close.

Family Photo Time--James was not too fond of the big blue guy...

Getting ready for the show to start!

Scenes from the show:

We had an excellent time at Sesame Street Live. The kids loved all the music, lights and dancing. Now James points out Elmo whenever he sees him!