Friend Day

 

A day full of friends and a tour of Hampton Roads.

1. Visit with Shawn and Peg and their boys Evan and TJ in Yorktown.

2. Short visit with Tim, Abby and Nate...love little Nate!

3. Gotta love ending our day with a Monster Truck party :)

Happy 4th Birthday, AJ!

 

And, love finding spare batteries in the car :) at the end of our friend visits.

Bowling with Friends

After a fun birthday party for one of our school friends we got to hang out with the Parkers!

And, we went bowling!

All four kids looooved it!

We had two lanes, one for the kids and one for the adults. And, we all played two games. We made the kids carry their own bowling balls to ensure a nice night's sleep.

The kids did great, they really enjoyed waiting to see how many pins they knocked down. Some of them would kneel down, sometimes we bent over and we always had to jump up and down and clap. So much fun.

Dinner with the Boyfriends :)

We were able to catch up with the Parkers for our bi-monthly family dinners!

Matt made delicious fish tacos from the Mahi-Mahi he caught in the gulf on his latest trip and they used fresh ingredients from their very impressive garden to make fresh salsa too!!

YUMMY!!

The kids loved playing together, of course, and let us all talk the evening away!

Next time, we should have Baby Girl Chloe joining us!!

Happy Birthday Logan!

Having fun at a bounce house with friends to celebrate

Mr. Logan's 2nd Birthday!

Don't worry, by the time the food came Miss Emma

wiggled herself in to sit by her man Logan.

And, for days after, Emma would sing...

"Logan's Par-tay, Logan's Par-tay".

Pumpa Day and Baby Shower

Lily and spent the day together going sandal shopping and going to Miss Amy's baby shower!

Lily was so excited to go to a baby shower. I definitely had to explain it a few times until she realized it was a party before Baby Chloe is born and that she would not be there. She loved watching Miss Amy open all the gifts and I would hear "Mom, that's so tiny and cute...aww..." a lot.

When she got comfortable enough she joined AJ, Logan and Mr. Baker outside for some fun. They rode on a golf cart, played in the huge sandbox, found some baby blue birds, ate lunch and then played in the sprinklers. Lily loved it!

Love my Pumpa days :)

Foto Friday: Dance Par-Tay

After spending some time at school this morning finishing up some

top secret teacher gifts we had some fun at home.

We were able to spend some time with Logan while Amy went to a drs appt.

So, we had some snacks and a dance party :)

These two are sooo cute together!

Love them.

Lesner Bridge

Today we spent most of the day on the bay right near the Lesner Bridge.

We had lunch, took a walk, and made sure the kids were safe and not climbing the wall of sand

that was left from hi tide.

Hi's: The warm sun and the cool breeze that didn't let us get too hot.

Low's: The warm sun and the cool breeze that didn't let us realize we were getting burnt to a crisp!

The Summer Sun could officially be HERE!

Friends

We had friends over today.

Amy wanted to go to a family wedding so we watched Logan and AJ since their dad is away for work this month. They arrived around 130 and Amy got back at 9. We had 2 two year olds and 2 four year olds and it was wonderful, tiring and we loved watching them.

Friday Mike took Logan and Emma on a walk around the neighborhood in the wagon so when he went out back to find them banging on the shed doors to get to the wagon he took them on another walk. After one loop, AJ, Lily and I joined them for one more loop.

We played,

and played,

and played.

And in between, Mike and I cleaned up like crazy people just so that they could play some more.

It's so much more fun to play when you think it's something new and you get to dump

something out of a bin.

We had pizza while watching a movie and the few hours they were over went really quickly.

Such great boys, we look forward to having them as sons-in-laws :).

Bit by the Summertime Bug

Our first official day of Spring Break we met our friends at the beach

for playtime in the sand and some lunch.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day!

I mean absolutely perfect.

And, now, I have the summertime itch.

It was so warm that the kids wanted to play in the water

 despite the very chilly temperature.

They mostly just ran in and then ran away from the waves but

still they got soaked and needed a change of clothes.

Emma took this running away from the waves very seriously.

She lost her pants early in the process since she lost her balance.

A picture I am in love with (minus sweet Leah).

I really can NOT believe how grown up they look and had to put a picture

of what our kids looked like right when Emma and Leah joined the gang.

Ft. Story

Today we hung out with the Bonfiglios on Fort Story near the Cape Henry Lighthouse for our annual Christmas card picture shoot.

We had so much fun until the the very end when Lily took a tumble down at least eight wooden steps. First we saw her, then we didn't and then heard her scream. Yikes. Found her lying face down at the bottom of the steps with a nice rosy, scraped up cheek and a skinned knuckle. Luckily we had the best two daddies there to help with distraction and we were done with taking pictures too :)

Very blessed that we didn't have to make another trip to CHKD with Miss Lily today.

Party and No Nap

Today we spent the afternoon helping Lily's friend, Natalie, celebrate her third birthday.

They had a huge bounce house there, which Lily wasn't too fond of, but really loved their trampoline.

Since this was an afternoon party, Daddy and Emma didn't join us and Lily got to skip her nap...

Yeah, not the best decision on our part since it led to an ugly night of sleeping.

A Special Message

to a very special little lady that lives in Texas!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lorelei!

We miss you so much and wish we could be at your party!!

Look for something special in the mail soon!

We love you,

Mr Mike, Miss Sara, Lily and Emma

p.s. I've had to show Lily many, many times how far it would be for us to drive to Texas tomorrow. Just know that if it were up to her, we would be on the road right now to be at your party!

Summertime Week 8

We played with noodles this week! Lily and Emma played with these macaroni noodles for an hour! Simple activity to keep them busy, busy!

We went to the Gardens this week, and picked the coolest day of the week to go (mid 90s). The girls had fun in the water, we had a picnic lunch in the shade, went through some of their summer mazes that have been set up around the gardens and went into the butterfly house. Very fun day.

Thursday we met Miss Abby and Nathaniel for lunch. It was short and sweet since it was almost the girl's nap times but it was so nice to be able to catch up with them...and Nathaniel is quiet the cutie! Emma seemed to be very smitten with him :).

Friday we had a friend playdate with the Bonfiglio clan. Leah and Emma started to recognize each other and had the bye-bye wave fest at the end. Love that we were able to get the kids for a pic! Remember this one from last summer?

Welcome Nathaniel Brooks Rugani!

Born May 29, 2011 at 5:50am

7 pounds 3 ounces

19.5 inches long

We ventured to the Rugani house this evening to bring gifts and dinner! I was able to catch up with Abby while holding the most precious, tiny little baby boy ever! Lily and Emma were very interested in Baby Nathaniel but no jealous bouts from either of my girls while I held and cooed over him. We're looking forward to many family get togethers this summer and watching this little boy grow-up!

Congratulations Tim and Abby!!



Happy Birthday, Leah!

Happy 1st Birthday Miss Leah!!

I can't believe it has been a year for our baby girls already. Seems like yesterday that we were pregnant awaiting their arrival. Now they sit in the shade needing things to occupy them so we can get a half descent picture. We had a wonderful time playing, eating, good conversation and delicious vegan cupcakes :).

And now, to begin another year.

One More Month

until we meet Baby Rugani!

Congrats Tim and Abby!

Happy Birthday Kira!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Kira!!

It was a gorgeous day and we were able to take full advantage of it! Once Kira's new swing was properly hung from the tree (a long story and a lot of laughs later) all the kids had a blast taking turns. The food and cake were delicious and we can't believe Kira is 3!

Missing You Already

We had the pleasure of watching Miss Lorelei while Elizabeth dropped off their things to the cable company this afternoon. It was wonderful to see them one last time before the headed of on their roadtrip to TX this afternoon. We definitely miss you already.

Forever Friends

Have you ever said to yourself, 'it was meant to be'?

Well, we were meant to be friends with the Stahl and Bonfiglio families. We were put into each other's lives back in February of 2009 at our very first Mom's Club meeting and then the Summer of 09 and the rest is history. They will always be forever friends.

Today, the three families got together again at the Bonfiglio house to say farewell to the Stahl family who are finally able to move back to the mid-west, Plano, TX to be exact.

As I look at our children in these pictures I can't help but be eternally grateful for all of the memories. We will always be the three families that began our family friendships. The friendships that got us through all the parenting questions, pregnancy ups and downs and the thrills of watching our kids grow up together.

If it's not obvious enough from all of these pictures, the Check girls are completely infatuated with Makin! There is not one picture that he has his own space :).

I'm excited for the Stahls to embark on their new adventure in Texas and I look forward to friend reunions at the beach. Until our next family get together....

Princess Party

This morning we hosted a Princess Party. Lily, Emma and I gathered our "Princess Gear" and put it all in the den. This included dress-up clothes, dolls, tea cart and tea sets. We made mini blueberry muffins (in hopes they would have a tea party) and Princess cupcakes to have afterwards.

Lily, as Pinkalicious, Lorelei, as Cinderella and Kira, as Sleeping Beauty, played for a few minutes and then they were off playing with toys in the playroom. Although the idea of the party was a good one and the girls had fun dressing up for a bit we all had a lot of fun just being together.

Our Babies

Our Kids

Lily and Emma LOVE Makin. They can not get enough of him. Here while Elizabeth was getting Lorelei ready to go they had fun pushing him in the walker. At four months old, he's already tall enough to touch the floor while sitting in it! He's going to be one tall boy!