Here and There

It's been a fun and busy time around the Irvine house lately! We've been enjoying the last few days of summer weather with time in the pool and at the park. We've also been clowning around at home, per usual! Thought I'd post some of the fun pic's I've managed to take, capturing these fun times with my family!

Both the boys did a Walk-a-thon at school to raise money for the PTC. It was Ryan's first time participating and he thought it was great! (Free Otter Pops probably aided in that decision!)

Hailey and Ryan decided it was so nice outside by the pool that they would just make themselves a little bed and take a nap! Can you tell the sun is in Hailey's eyes!

Jackson thought he'd be funny for the camera!

Okay, so they're in the tub!? They don't normally take baths at all anymore, let alone together, but we came home from the BMX track after Jackson's practice night and they were COVERED in dirt! Nobody wanted to take a shower, but the idea of taking a bubble bath in MY tub was something they couldn't refuse! I think they enjoyed it, despite the whole getting clean part!

A Daddy and Daughter moment! James will probably kill me for posting it! :-)

Hailey was playing at a friends house and she got all dressed up!

Busy Bee's!

Okay, so it's been almost a month since my last post. We've been busy, I know - lame excuse - but it's all I've got! I have lots of things to post to catch you up and I promise I'll get to them! Just a quick overview - Hailey is officially potty trained! Yeah Hailey! Ry-guy is now the big 5 years old! Yeah Ryan! The boys are both doing well in school! Yeah boys! Summer is over, boo-hoo, but fall is here! Yeah for sweaters! That's the short version for now! I have lots of pic's to post on all subjects, well maybe not Hailey on the potty, but you know what I mean! I promise to get them on here soon. Just not when it's 12:13 am and I'm keeping my eye lids open with toothpicks! :-) Have a good week and I'll see you back here soon!

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!