A future photographer?

Hunter loves to use our nice camera and take pictures. I have to say he's getting quite good...he had fun taking pictures of Chopper, Jack, and I one afternoon :)I actually really like this picture that Hunter took!

Mommy being silly :)

I think there were about 25 pictures of me (and the carpet, tv, etc).

Photographing his baby brotherTaking pictures of Chopper too

I think he's pretty good for 3 1/2 :)

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Visit(s) from Gammy Dori and Big D

Two weekends ago Gammy Dori came to help us for the night when Nick and I were both really sick. We were so grateful! The following weekend she and Big D came to visit...that had been on the calendar since they got back from Texas. Hunter was very excited to see Big D as usual!

Gammy Dori and Baby Jack

We were so grateful to have her help when Nick and I were so sick...playing in the tent.

Doesn't he look so sweet and innocent?? He's not, but he looks like it here!

Gammy Dori brought back some pirate hats from Texas. Of course Hunter tore them and ruined them within two days. Nick and I were betting they wouldn't last 24 hours and they didn't :(

Making his mean face for the camera at breakfast.

I just love this picture! Jack looks so cute!!

They came around 2:30pm and then we went to dinner at about 5:15pm. Over those 3 hours, Nick and Big D had about 13 beers...they are nuts. I think you can tell by the pictures. Nick would deny that, but I counted the cans in the sink b/c I couldn't believe how they were putting down those beers.

Jack is probably thinking Big D is crazy.

Disney--last day of our trip

On our last full day at Disneyworld we went to Magic Kingdom (again). We wanted to go to the water park, but it looked as though it would not be warm enough. By 11am we realized it would have been nice enough, so we decided to head back for naps and get some time at the pool later in the day. We took Jack in the pool and he had more fun than Hunter. Hunter did well the first day at the pool, but would not get off the steps the last day. Unfortunately, with Nick and I both in the pool with kids, we didn't get any pictures.

I really wanted to take Hunter to this pirate thing they had...I guess you are supposed to make an appointment, but we got lucky and they had an opening. Jack slept while Hunter got his face done, which was great b/c it took quite a while! I think I look very tired in the picture above--it was a long week. Getting his face painted...

Hunter sat so quietly and still while they painted his face and got him in costume. His pirate name was "Girard". I kept waiting for him to say "I'm done!" and not let them finish, but he was great.

When they take you back to paint your face, you get to pick out of about 9 face styles. This was the ONLY one I didn't want him to pick b/c it was just SO MUCH paint. Of course, it was exactly the one he pointed to first. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was going to have tears if he didn't get this one, so I gave in. He also got a hat thing, earring, sash, and sword...so fun and well worth the money.

Jack is looking at him like "Who are you and what did you do with my big brother!?!?" He got lots of stares and pointing the rest of the day!

We had to stop for a few infamous pictures that every family takes in front of the Disney castle. For dinner, we just decided to get pizza on this boardwalk. We stayed at the pool and playground until 6pm, so decided to do an easy dinner our last night. We took the boat you can see in the background back to our hotel after dark which was fun. The kids both got to watch the fireworks from our hotel room on the last night too. We had a great view of them every night at 9am (Epcot Center puts them on, but we could see them perfectly). Well, that's about it! I still have some on my phone, so I'll have to do a random post with those when I get around to it. On a complete side note, Hunter and I went for a LONG walk again last night. We had so much fun once again holding hands and talking. He asked me last night where he had peed in the woods the night before, so I showed him. I said, "Normally you want to go in the toilet. Especially b/c it's pretty cold and windy out.". Hunter said, "Well, I don't think my wee-wee will blow away because it has a lot of skin on it." I just think it's hilarious the way his mind works.

Random catch-up!

I still have some fun pictures of Disney to post, but here are some other random things...

1) Hunter went to soccer on Saturday. I stayed home with Jack so Nick could have some bonding time with Hunter. When they got home Hunter walked in crying, saying, "I don't want to play soccer!" I guess lots of kids had meltdowns, so we'll try again next week. He said he wanted me to take him next week, so maybe we'll all go and see how that works. I asked Nick to take the camera and none of the pictures he took turned out--not cool.

2) Yesterday Hunter and I went for walk. I planned to walk Chopper and pull Hunter in the wagon, but Hunter decided he wanted to walk before we got down the driveway. We had SO MUCH FUN. I haven't had such fun and special time with him in a long time. We walked for 50 minutes through the nature trails in our subdivision...we held hands the whole time and talked. I didn't want to go home! He even peed in the woods b/c we were gone so long :) We talked about tubing this summer at the lake, swimming, animals in the woods, school, being a big brother, etc. It was just a great time talking about stuff and having that special time with him. I want to do that more often. He was a chatterbox and it was adorable. He also rode his bike for a few minutes and is getting good!

3) I spoke at mass yesterday and did a great job, if I do say so myself! I talked slowly and several people told me afterwards that I did good...including Nick. I am glad it's over, but felt like I wasn't even nervous once I got going.

4) The Maddux family came to visit last week for the evening when we got back from Disney. They live in Texas (boo-hoo) and were driving through on the way to see their family on the west side of the state. They are the ones who gave us the flu bug...haha. I wished they lived closer b/c they are such great friends! Suz and I have so much in common and our husbands tease us saying we want to be like each other, but really we are just a lot alike.

Linnea, Jack, Hunter, Beau, and Baby Jillian.

Baby Jillian & Jack :) So cute!!

Linnea, Hunter and Beau. I know if they lived closer we'd hang out all the time and the kids do so good together. Justin & Beau...Justin and Nick were college roommates. I think it could be dangerous if they lived too close b/c Nick and Justin would be rubbing off on each other.

Giving goodbye hugs

5) These are the last two cute pictures before we chopped off Jack's hair. He doesn't look like a baby anymore and I'm pretty sad about it, but it needed to get done. It was funny b/c our nanny said she was sad too so we must have been thinking the same thing. Dayna, who does Hunter's hair (and mine), said she had to bust out the clippers b/c there was SO much hair.

A couple of random funny things in our house lately

Yesterday late afternoon I took both kids for haircuts. Jack no longer looks like a baby and it's so sad! He looks adorable, but just different and it will take me a few days to get used to. Anyway, later on, Hunter went into the bathroom to look at his new haircut. He came out and said, "Mommy, with my new haircut, I look like a Nick". I was laughing hysterically....so cute.
____________
Nick put this ab lounge exercise thing in my closet to use in the mornings (my closet is way bigger than his). Hunter likes to use it on occasion if he's hanging out with me upstairs. He was on there the other day "doing his exercises" and I said, "you can get a strong tummy like daddy using this". He said "I want to grow some boobs like you have too."
____________
The other day Nick called Best Buy...I could only hear half the conversation, but I laugh whenever I think about it.

Nick: Hi, I bought a Sony flat screen there with the 3 year warranty. I have some questions about my warranty. Can you help me?

...(I'm assuming they said yes)

Nick: Will you replace the tv if my kid smashes the tv and breaks the screen? Or scratches it with a toy?

....(I'm assuming they said no)

Nick: So the salesperson was not telling the truth when he said they'd cover any damage to the tv?

....(I have no idea what their response would have been...)

Nick: Ok. BYE.


To me after hanging up--"Those salespeople at Best Buy are the biggest liars!!

Have a great weekend! We have a new sitter coming tonight so we can go out with some of Nick's clients. Tomorrow Hunter starts soccer--can't wait to see how that goes!! Then Gammy Dori and Big D are coming to visit later on. Sunday I have to speak at mass as a member of our Finance Council. My stomach is already in knots about it. I talk way too fast when I get nervous...I have many clients who attend that mass and I am nervous!! Not to mention the other 400 people who will be there. Overall, we are all feeling better. I realized yesterday that Jack is getting more teeth in the back of his mouth which could explain the rough week we've had.

Disney--Day 4--visit to Grandpa Ron and Universal Studios

We rented a car for one day and drove to see my Grandpa Ron in Vero Beach (two hours away). He had a stroke a while ago and has to live in a nursing home. We met his wife, Erika, there and hung out for a few hours. It was so nice to see him b/c hadn't seen him since Hunter's 1st birthday party. I'd really like to see him more and make sure the kids know him, but it's quite difficult! We had to be back to the hotel by 4pm b/c Nick's firm had an outing to Universal Studios planned...it was AWESOME! This was my favorite picture of the day!

Even though Hunter hasn't seen him in a long time, he was excited to see him. We talk about him a lot, so he remembers.Jack was too wiggly to hang out on his great-grandpa's lap
It was nice b/c they had a little courtyard that we could go out to. The kids could hang out and we could sit and visit.

I think my grandpa had a great time seeing all of us even though he can't say much

Erika and Jack

We took a bus to Universal Studios later that day. We had the royal treatment...we got express passes which let you go to the front of the line for all rides. Then they had blocked off this whole section of the park for us. There were tons of restaurants, food stations, entertainment, etc, set up and you could go in anywhere and get whatever you wanted to eat and/or drink. I should have taken more pictures b/c it was really neat. They were also shutting down the Harry Potter stuff early for us, but the kids couldn't last that long, so we headed back to the hotel around 8pm. It was a really fun time!

We hung out with Rob, Shayna, and Preston. The kids have met before, but you would have thought Hunter and Preston were BFF's b/c they had so much fun together! Shayna is pregnant with their second and she looks so good.

Hanging out eating cookies before hitting up more rides
Dancing and acting silly. They sat by each other on the bus on the way back and acted crazy together. Preston apparently likes to lick people so at one point they were licking each other's faces--yuck! They were so cute and I wish they didn't live an hour from us or we'd be able to hang out more often :( Preston will be three in April.