Hank sings Thomas

Hank loves to sing the Thomas song. On this particular day he was singing the song for me as we were putting on our shoes to leave the house. I can't watch this video without laughing out loud every single time. He gets louder and louder as the song progresses and his face gets better and better. It is the best!!  This is from about a month ago.
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B-I-Angie-No

Hank thinks my name is part of the Bingo song!!!
This is from about a month ago.
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Courtney and Eric visit

Courtney and Eric came to visit over Memorial Day weekend.  We had such a great time with them!  The kids loved having them here to play with and Brett and I loved having them here to hang out with us!  While they were here we had a double date night, went out to Carmel (all the pics in this post), got mani/pedis (us gals), had a rousing game of mexican train dominoes, and lots of kid play time.  The newlyweds also wisely took a day off from kid bonanza land and went up to Napa and SF by themselves.  I think they had a blast and hope they come again soon.  :)
 

 

 

 

Ruby and Charlotte

 

 

Here's a video of Hank doing "spider walking" with Courtney and Eric.  He absolutely loves to get two people to hold his hands and walk so he can do this.  Courtney and Eric had to do this a lot as we walked in Carmel.

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Cushion craziness

It seems like couch cushion play goes in waves around here. Hank will toss them all off the couch in a pile every day for a few weeks then stop doing it for a couple of weeks. We are smack dab in the middle of a daily cushion obsession. Yesterday, Hank left with Brett for a little while so the girls got to conquer the cushions all by themselves!

Warning: there are a few high pitched squeals in this video and you might get sea sick because I can never hold the camera steady when wrangling kids!

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Just what I want to see when I walk into the kitchen

Ruby on the counter eating my leftover oatmeal. Oh and she even stopped and said "cheese!" when I snapped the picture!!!
(fuzzy picture from my phone!)

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Curious George and Clifford!

 

Today the kiddos got to meet Curious George!!  There is a monthly "Mommy and Me" event at Santana Row (a nearby shopping center) and the event features live music, face painting, balloons and sometimes a "famous" character for the kids to meet.

Today the line for Curious George was long but we stuck it out and waited for our turn.  Hank was a champ and didn't even get annoyed at waiting in line for 45 minutes!  It might seem ridiculous to wait that long with three kids but I knew if we bailed he would ask me about George the rest of the day.  Our determination was worth it.  Hank was so excited to get his turn that he ran up and hugged him.  I parked Ruby and Charlotte right next to him and they both kind of cringed.  I was dying laughing.  They have no clue who he is yet, so I don't blame them!

 

Last month we met Clifford.  It was super awesome too.  Hank still talks about it!

I just noticed Hank is wearing a Curious George shirt in this picture.  Today he saw a boy wearing this same shirt and he asked me why I didn't tell him to wear his.  Oops!

I think next month there isn't a famous character scheduled to be there.  That's kind of nice because then we'll be able to spend time in line for face painting or something else the girls can get into.

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November 2012: The Lawrences visit

Charlotte, Brooks, Wiley, Ruby, Hank and Max
I just loved seeing all of these kids crammed in one room all playing together.

Last November, Brett, Annika and their three kiddos Brooks, Wiley and new baby Noe came up from So Cal to the Bay Area for a weekend. We LOVED getting to see this family!!  We all met up at the Chen's house in the morning for play time and lunch.

Charlotte and Ruby taking over Max's toys

R & C

Wiley wanted to hold Ruby!

Max and Hank.  Later this bed would have all four boys jumping on it at once screaming "hey little pookie" over and over.  To this day, Hank will still sometimes scream this as he jumps on his bed.

At one point I found Brooks and Hank just lounging on Sandy and Leon's bed jamming.

We turned on a little bit of Thomas to give the boys some down time.  Hank would not let go of the robot.

Brooks wanted to drive Charlotte around.  This picture is out of focus but his adorable smile was too sweet in this one not to post it.

R & C

 

After lunch we all went back to our hotels/houses so we could get the kids to take a nap.
Then we met back up at Stanford for a walk around campus.  

Hank, Max, Wiley and Brooks.  All helping to walk Adam's dog.

Hank and Wiley contemplate the art installation at the new business school.

After our walk on campus we went back over the Chen's for dinner and the Utleys came too.
Here is a shot of the younger ones - all girls!
Ruby, Evie, Charlotte and Noe (with Dads Jeremy and Brett)

Wiley and Ruby

Teagan and her dad Chris also came by to hang out

 

Of course Max, strip down to your undies!!!

This day was a blast.  I love seeing all of these kiddos growing up!

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November 2012: Courtney's bridal shower

Courtney and the co-hostesses!  Me, Lisa, Jen, Courtney, Candace, and Shelby
These ladies have been friends with Courtney since middle school!  Lisa and I obviously have been friends with Courtney for much, much longer.  ;)

In November, I flew in to Dallas for a day to co-host a bridal shower for Courtney.  It was a big surprise for Courtney because she didn't know I was going to be there in person!!  She showed up at Candace's house and I opened the door and she lost it.  It was so much fun to surprise her.  

Courtney has so many friends and family that love her!  It was such a joy to celebrate her and so many people were there to share their love for Courtney!

Here are a few pictures I took of the beautiful party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some of the family that was there...

 

 

 

 

 

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October 2012: Random stuff

Here are a bunch of random shots from my cell phone from this month...

Hank learned that his construction goggles do not double as swim goggles.

 

I learned that when on a play date at a location with a large water fountain, always bring a spare set of clothes for my kids. 
Especially if I also have an appointment at the vet immediately following said play date.

Ruby and Charlotte were released from the stroller and played in the sand at the park for the first time.  Prior to this we miraculously were always able to contain them in the stroller and they never cared.

 

 

 

We love our library!

Hank enjoyed his first experience with a fire at our house.

 

 

Hank loves pushing his sisters in the swing at the park.

 

Cute picture of Ruby and me.

 

Charlotte's a cutie too!

This random tweety bird blow up doll came to live with us.  Thanks preschool!

Hank went with me to cast my early voting ballot.  How awesome that the polling location had a huge Uncle Sam?

 

The last time Hank and diaper cream were ever left unattended together.  This happened about 10 minutes before we needed to leave for preschool on Halloween.

 The cute little lion!  He might have had diaper cream smeared all over his body under this costume.

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