happy new year!

what do you resolve to do differently this year?

me? i am not such a new year's resolutionist...

but. i do intend to-

be more purposeful in 2010. purposeful in terms of my body, my family, and my free time.

that is a window wide open really. lucky for me.

xx.

children's museum...

we ventured to the children's museum last week. we met the massie kids there with ro.
i didn't get many pictures of the big kids..

but thought these were reasonably post worthy.








xx.

preschool program

well, ava's class did a little preformance today.
i will post pictures later, but it was the cutest thing. of course, they all got shy... so you could really only hear one or two kids.

i had tears in my eyes the whole time. because i was.. proud of my big girl... in shock because i can't believe she is old enough to be in school... and because she is the cutest three year old i know.

guess i got my mom's crying gene.

xx.

want to win a computer?

a blog i fell in love with while on bedrest..
and now have met the family in real life...

is able to giveaway a free HP touchscreen computer!

here is the link...

http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-giveaway.html

good luck. actually not. i hope we win. no offense

( i am working on making it a real link)

italian for life

as you may know, scott has been out of work for awhile.

here is one of his projects that got completed while i was at work.

he told me it was either this or our mailbox. i opted for this.

he is an italian.. that is for sure.

xx.

so long.. so far away

my apologies.

it has been well over a month now. i do have a reasonably good excuse, as our wireless internet went out for awhile. it is much easier to update while lounging on the couch, rather than making an effort to get to the desktop that is a not so convenient location.

what is new around here?

we had a great Thanksgiving. lots of family time. we ventured down to prior lake to scott's cousins house the weekend before. it was a nice time, as i am not sure the last time there was a gathering like that for a holiday. i presume scott's mom and sister were thrilled. more events entailed, with gathering the rest of the week. we are so fortunate to have family close that we get along with so well.

ava- is finally taking to school. she talks about it often, and is excited to go. the teachers even commented what a change she has made. we know she would need some time to get comfortable; we also knew that once she did, she would love school. we were correct on both predictions. we are still working on pooping on the toilet.. and you can be sure, i will post on that once it happens. arg. the advice we were given was, "she will do it when she is ready." so.. we wait.

vinnie- they are only to one nap a day now, which leaves the mornings for fun. vin loves to play with the cozy coupe, little people, and is babbling more and more. he is toughing up, and isn't quite the momma's boy he once was. it is all good though, as it is nice to see him trusting others more. his smile still brightens the room and warms my heart. he loves our dogs.

florie- interestingly enough, she has become more of a snuggler. maybe because there is finally a chance for her to be held? :) she is still a pistol, a joker, and a presistent little peanut. she is starting to look more like ava. she is a caretaker. she looks out and helps both ava and vin. like i have said before, what she lacks in size, she makes up for in personality. i can always count on her for a good laugh.

there you have it. my intentions are to update more often again.
i hope your hearts and homes are warm this holiday season.

xx.

first haircuts

ava and vinnie both got thier first haricuts EVER yesterday. vinnie had the sweetest curls in back, but the problem was.. they were only in back. he had quite the mullet. we cut ava's mostly to just get a trim, since i figured once every 3.5 years is a good idea, and to get it more even. she wasn't too happy about the whole thing. vinners didn't know any different, so he just sat and chilled in the chair.

fall harvest orchard

yesterday we ventured past delano for our annual orchard visit. we love this one, as it has many animals, pumpkins, apples, tractor rides, a snack shack, and a "corn bin" to play in.

grammy, jennie, olivia, miles and ruby joined us. we had a fabulous time.
we also stopped at the PIZZA RANCH for dinner in Delano. it was hilarious. the wait staff there is incredible. if you are ever in the area, stop by- the pizza isn't exactly delicious, but the show is spectacular.











xx.

fall harvest orchard part 2

fall harvest orchard part 3

xx.

ooh mexico...

sounds so simple, i just have to go.

and so we did. scott and i, along with our dear friends cara and jer were off to cancun for six days. admittedly, i was very anixous about leaving my children for the first time... i have been away overnight, but nothing longer than that.

also admittedly, i was quick to relax, and soak up the sun and tequila.
90 degrees, and only one cloudy day....it was a great trip, with great friends. a great restoration for our marriage.. i know, you are probably surprised that we don't get much alone time in this life. :)

after six years, this was in honor of five years of marriage. what a lucky lady i am to have scott for my husband. he is charming, thoughtful, and a dynamite daddy. for more pictures, tune into facebook..

view from our hotel room-



the men in mexico-



the ladies lounging in the pool-



one of many tequila shots-



my favorite picture the whole trip-




xx.

fave foto florie

the smallest bottolene makes up for in personality what she lacks in size. she is determined, and loves to joke around. she is the strongest child we have physically, as she knows how to use her muscles much earlier than other kids her age. although she is the baby, she rivals her brother and knows how to gain control when she needs to.
she loves her blankie, and to greet you every time you walk in the room with a big smile and a "hiiiii".

she is the bottolene queen-











xx.

fave foto vincent

big dude has now been walking for nearly two months.. although 3 months later than his sister, you wouldn't know it now.
he loves animals, especially giving love to kobe and baxter. still a momma's boy, he is enjoying daddy time as well now. seemingly such a boy, he likes to wrestle, and is much rougher than the other two. his smile is bright and big, and he his greatest joy is playing with ava's toys (until she finds him of course).

our vincent king-











yes, in the third picture he is wearing one of ava's dresses. another perk of having two sisters i guess. they played dress up one day with dad, and ava picked the outfits.

xx.

fave foto ava

our sweet princess is doing fabulously in school. while leaving mom and dad is still a challenge every drop off, she pushes through and ends up having a great day. i think last week was the first time she actually declared herself it was "great". i am impressed with the teachers and variety of activities as well.

her new love is playing with princesses... we knew that wouldn't take long, but we are now in the full swing of ariel, jasmine, cinderella, sleeping beauty and snow white.

here is our princess-











xx.

contagious laughter...

watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHIT43bg6ic

vinnie and florie think they are hysterical.
sure to brighten your day...

sorry. i am not sure how to do a direct link... audra, can you help me?

xx.

fave foto friday... except it is monday

these are taken out at the lake two weekends ago. at that point, it was still 80s during the day. this turn for the cold had me officially pack away the sundresses and shorts for the year. onto the fall wardrobe.

tonight, ava and scott went to watch our nephew jalen, play in one of his first highschool football games. so weird that he is so old... and one handsome dude to boot.

xx.