My girly-girl!

Hailey decided to take her "doll dolls" for a walk to the park the other day. Notice her shoes and the lack of clothes on her doll! That's my girly-girl! These would be her "princy", meaning princess, shoes that she likes to wear where ever we go!

The waning days of summer....

Okay, so maybe not around here they're not! I do know that fall isn't too far away so we're soaking it up as much as possible! The kids and I were swimming the other day and I caught myself thinking that this could be the last time we swim until next year! Yikes! Well, at least we have been enjoying ourselves this summer and will continue to do so until it's just too cold! Hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer where ever you are, too!

Two Wheelin'!!!!

Ryan learned how to ride a two wheeler this last week! That's right, no more training wheels for this big guy! He's been trying for about a month now and has had a hard time believing that he can really do it (little did he know that he was doing it, he just thought Dad was still holding onto the bike!) Well, we finally had a breakthrough this last week and after a few days of needing some help starting out, Ryan has officially mastered the two wheeler! We rode to the park today with ease and it has really given Ry-guy's confidence a major boost! Whooo hooo! Way to go Ry guy, maybe we'll ride our bikes to school this week!!!A proud moment for Ryan!

1st Day of School!

My boys are officially in school! Jackson started second grade and my Ry-guy is a big Kindergartner! Where does the time go? Both boys had a great first day and really like their teachers! I am a little sad that neither one seemed to care that I was leaving them, but at the same time I'm happy that they are so confident, and enjoy going to school! Hailey and I are enjoying our mornings together, usually with a play date at the park! We did go big the first day of school and went to the mall and she got to ride on the carousel! I did take some pictures of the boys on their first day, but they aren't the best and boys are not always happy to pose in front of their friends! Enjoy them anyway and happy school year to you!

This is the only picture where Ryan's eyes are open - the sun was in his eyes! Hailey picked out a "Mommy Horse" to ride on - okie dokie!

Seven Heaven!

Jackson Eugene Irvine - 7 years old!That's right, my baby boy is seven years old! We had a big pool party for him last week while his two cousins were visiting us from out of state! There were plenty of friends, pizza, cake and presents to help make this an unforgettable birthday for my Jackson-bug! His "big" present from James and I was a new BMX racing bike, which we surprised him with just before the festivities began. If you have seen some of my last few posts you know that Jackson has been getting into the BMX bike scene and we decided he really needed the right kind of bike in order to keep going. He was extremely excited to get his bike and he raced his first "main" race with it last weekend! We were so proud of him and know that he's just going to get better and better at it! It's hard to believe that my first born, my baby boy, the one that feels like I just brought home from the hospital, a big seven-year-old second-grader! I love you so much, my Jackson-bug! Picture collage of Jackson's big pool party! Click on the collage to enlarge the pic's.
Jackson seeing his new BMX bike for the first time!
I think he likes it!!!

Pretty as a Princess!!

Although these pictures are from a couple of weeks ago, I still had to share them! Mostly because this is something I've NEVER been able to do before now - paint my child's toenails!!!! Okay, so technically I could paint Jackson's and Ryan's toes, but, come on - really not the same! Hailey was hanging out with me in the bathroom while I was getting ready one day and I decided to touch up my toes. She seemed really interested in what I was doing and when I asked her if she wanted me to paint her toes, she sat down on the counter and put her feet up in the air and said "es!" I of course was giddy with excitement, but showed great emotional control as I painted her tiny little toes a brilliant shade of hot pink!!! Hailey was so good, she sat there the whole time, didn't touch one toe and even let me use the hair dryer on them to make sure they were really dry! We then had an impromptu photo shoot of our matching princess toes! I just love having a little girl!!! 10 perfect little princess piggy's! I'm a little princess! Getting tired of posing!! Like Mommy like Daughter!

Cousins!

This past week we were fortunate enough to bring our niece and nephew from out of state to stay with us! The boys were beyond thrilled to have their two "older"cousins, Sebastian age 12 and Leilani age almost 11, come stay with them. Hailey was just excited to have more playmates! We stayed very busy the whole time they were here with trips to San Francisco, the Fire station, and of course SWIMMING! Oh, and we also went swimming, and after that we would swim! (just a little inside joke!) It was so fun to hang out with these two great kids and get to know them a little better. We also got together with James' brother, his girlfriend Katie, and her son, Landon, and made it a full fledged family affair! Thanks you guys for spending a part of your summer with us and making it a very memorable time! We love you Sebastian and Leilani!
The whole gang at James' fire station. We got to climb the ladder, squirt the hose and Jackson and Landon even got to drive the tiller cab! (That's the back end of the really big fire truck!)

All the kiddos posing on the fire truck.
Leilani and Ryan riding the cable car in San Francisco!

Jackson and Leilani on the same cable car
The kids learning at the Exploratorium in SF.
Checking out one of the many hands on exhibits at the Exploratorium!

Sibling love..?

That's right! I caught it on camera, that rare occasion where your kids actually like each other and get along! I know, I wouldn't believe it myself except there's the proof right there! Ahhhh, such a glorious moment, literally a MOMENT! That's how long it lasted, then they were back to fighting! I'm still going to bask in this moment, for now!

Kelly Clarkson!!!!!

For my birthday, my super-duper, wonderful, awesome hubby took me to see Kelly Clarkson in concert! We got to get away for the night and have a nice dinner, see an awesome concert and just enjoy a little break from the kiddos! It was so fun and I'm so blessed to have such a creative and thoughtful husband. James also took some awesome pictures at the concert and got some great videos of Kelly singing on stage. What a great birthday present! I love you Mr, you know my life would suck without you! Enjoy some of the great pic's that James took!

First Race!

Jackson had his first BMX bike race a few weeks ago and did pretty good! There were three heats or "moto's" as they say at the track, and if he placed 1st or 2nd he would go on to the "mains" and have a chance at a trophy! He did really well, getting 3rd in the first and third "moto" and 4th in the second one. He was soooo close to placing in the last race, I was able to video the whole race and you can see at the end that he's only a half a bike length from the kid in front of him! I was so proud of him and he had so much fun! After it was over he ended up getting a trophy since it was his first time racing and he was THRILLED! He didn't let go of the trophy when we went to lunch and had to put it on the dresser right by his head, so it would be with him when he slept! It was a very fun day!

Jackson getting ready for his first race! He's the one in the middle, blue helmet and long sleeve blue shirt. Jackson proudly showing off his trophy!

Family time...

Jackson found lots of fun things on our nature walk. He made a little guy out of it and was pretty proud of his creation! Can you see his little guys face? Hailey found a leaf! WOOOOHOOOO!So I haven't blogged much lately, sorry! We've had a busy summer so far with lots of swimming, playing, company - lots of company, and just having fun! These pic's are about a month or so old, but I really liked them and really love the memories they created. We found another park not too far from our house that had a playground as well as a trail you can walk or bike ride on. The kids loved it and had fun collecting leaves and sticks and stones. It was good, family, time! Enjoy.