roar...

If you're hungry and you know it raid the fridge... and just to let you know, this isn't permitted normally, I just couldn't resist the little lion and had to grab the camera before hauling him outta the fridge :)

Atti'TWO'ed...

For all those that found such humour in our Liam escapades, you will be thrilled to know that Cole is following in his footsteps! Only where Liam was silent & hardly talked until he was 4 yrs old, Cole talks non-stop, so he's definitely a ball of energy! When my mom was out here watching the boys a couple weeks ago, she caught Liam on a chair, just outside the pantry and Cole was on top of the garbage can, in the pantry, scouting out the shelves! Mom labeled Cole 'The Apprentice' and I think it's very fitting :)

Climbing stairs...

Getting ready to follow his brothers out the door to school - at least his hat should keep him warm in the snow :)

Having fun with hair gel & blue sculpting goo shampoo - thank goodness it DID come out of the carpet! Notice the toothbrush? It was used to scrub the goop even further into the carpet!

Nice!!!!

Pretty impressed with himself...

Playing 'Buckaroo' - you hang items on the horse until it bucks!

I played this the day before with the little guy I'm babysitting but didn't even think to use the ears! Clever little monkey :)

a little bit crazy...

Once again... this post is going out to those who wonder what I do all day! I went upstairs to put some clothes in the washing machine and when I came back down, I found seven 'Source' yougurts on the table, opened and partially eaten. From there, he (Cole) had moved on to finger painting with egg yolks. While I proceeded to clean up the table and floor and finish off the remaining yogurt cuz heaven forbid it gets wasted... the little tornado had moved a chair over to the pantry and was scouting out what else he could get into. Let me assure you that no more than ten minutes had passed this entire time...

FYI: When in a hurry and not sure how to open the carton, ripping off the corner also works

Caught mucking...

Hmmm... what else can I find???

pARRRRty time...

Here's some pictures from Jackson's 6th birthday party - a pirate theme... we just invited two other families, who both have all boys, making the total to 11 boys (ages 8 yrs and under). We were going to BBQ something but then E&J both ended up having hockey in the afternoon, so ordering pizza worked for me :) Being that it is October and close to Halloween, I thought it might be fun to have a costume party too - everyone did bring costumes but it was so hot with them all running around that it didn't last!

The cake - I used a Wilton cake pan and sort of followed the pattern - sort of did my own thing!

Blow!!!... not really fair that the candles are split up :)

Birthday boy

Ethan

Each family had a gingerbread haunted house to decorate (thankfully they came pre-assembled)

Home Haunted Home...

Our creation

Cupcakes - there were some cute wrappers with flags that I couldn't pass up, so made some cupcakes too! The faces are made from sugar cookies that I iced

Yay! Cole cheering for himself - like Ethan said last week, "who needs TV when you can watch this crazy clown!?" He's got a real little sense of humour already :)

Cole gets some official birthday candles too! Arrrr! (looking pleased that daddy blew them out for him - he didn't even try!)

Mmmmm - Black icing is always best!

Balloons

My bargain!!! I went into Michael's because I knew they had some pirate stuff, only to find it all at the front door on clearance! 25 cents for each package - plates, napkins, banner, decorations, goodie bags... you know how I heart sales!!!!

out for a date...

It's kind of a blah wintery day & not much planned for Cole's birthday (Miles is working tonight), so I had an impromptu trip to the local coffee shop with a friend and her birthday boy! Mona and I had wanted to get together with the kids at a park or where ever, towards the end of summer/beginning of school but it just didn't happen, so today was a nice excuse for a visit!

The birthday boys: Cole (2) & Joey (3)

Mommy & Cole

Mona & Joey

Coffee Shop decor...

Cole admiring coffee shop decor - he also managed to stand on a table when I wasn't looking!

holey moley, coley's TWO!!!!

Where did TWO years go? It is so hard to believe that my 'baby' is already two years old! Maybe it's weirding me out because I don't have another baby!? Who knows!? Anyways, it's kind of a bittersweet thing - nice to know that our 8+ years of diapers & bottles are coming to an end and we are embracing new things we can do as a family, minus all the baby 'stuff' BUT at the same time, I'm really going to miss all the baby stuff... I LOVE the baby phase! Anyways, in denial or not, my little monkey is two and life at the zoo is getting crazier! This week I have found him teetering on the edge of the crib rail (so much for keeping him in the crib until he's 7 *wink*), he won't stay off of the kitchen table, he won't stay out of the fridge and the list goes on! He has turned into a very busy little boy and is the source of a lot of laughter in our household :) He is starting to put small phrases together and is learning to hold his own with being the youngest - to the point that he's quite bossy! Very entertaining! Just the other day, Ethan & Cole were on our bed and Ethan said, "who needs TV when you have this crazy clown for entertainment!?" ...zoo... circus... same thing! Happy Birthday Cole! We love you! XO

Our first 'complete' family photo - Oct 14th, 2007

Crazy Baby

Mmmmm.... anything messy....

Baby chub :)

The grand finale - summer 2007

handsome baby

I know he's not a baby anymore and is a little boy through and through BUT... when he snuggles on my lap with an excited, "MAMA' or I tuck him into his crib, with a bottle, he's still my baby! He is incredibly hilarious and just goes, goes, goes, trying to keep up with his big brothers! Anyways, on Monday, we headed out of town to see our friends (who also have 4 boys) and get the boys' hair cut before school starts! Their oldest, Jake, had also had a birthday party the day before, but we opted to go out the next day - longer visit, hair cuts and I also helped Lauren put some decor elements, from Stampin' Up!, on the walls in one of the bedrooms... just made more sense to go out on a different day! Cole has had quite a few hair cuts already, so this wasn't the 'first' or anything - just felt like taking a few pictures! (maybe cuz it was the first time he wasn't sitting on my lap & I could take pictures!)

Buzzzzzz....

Ah-ha... now he's got the water bottle to keep him entertained!

Gettin' wet...

Too much fun! His face is just soaked!

the cryin' carwash

Between birthday supper & cake/coffee, I took a drive through the carwash... right now it is so much fun to do with the kids (insert sarcasm) because Cole screams the entire time... yep, a very pleasant way to pass time indeed...

"I'm getting all worked up & we aren't even IN the carwash yet! I just know I'm gonna despise it!"

"We're getting closer & I just KNOW this is going to be terrible!"

"WHY are you taking pictures in my time of distress?"

"Hmmm - now we're inside - maybe I need to re-think my misery?!"

"Not so bad - must be maturing..."

"Good for me - I sucked it up!"

18 months...

So my last baby is a year and a half old already! Thought I better post some pictures & I still need to sort through my spring break/Easter pictures from Vancouver Island before posting... so here's a quick update to hold you over till then!

These pics are from the end of March, before Cole got his most recent haircut. He loves it whenever I have the fridge door open & tries to steal things out of it! One day, I caught him with some Smuckers Ice Cream Topping and I noticed that in it's place (fridge door) he had put his bottle!

Howdy Partner...

On Saturday, I had a combined birthday party for Jackson (5) and Cole (1) - I was all prepared to do two separate parties, on different days but then with having a funeral to go to last weekend, that used up the whole weekend and then this weekend, I didn't think my friends needed to come two days in a row, being that most of them had kids in both age brackets!!! Also, for Cole, I really just want a couple pictures that I can scrapbook someday! Ever since his birthday last year, Jackson has been talking about a cowboy party... so that's what we did and most of the kids dressed up too, so we had a houseful of little buckaroo's :) At our party round-up we had cactus juice, hot dogs, natcho chips, wheat salad and a horse shoe cake! There was a round of 'pin the tail on the donkey' and we made some snazzy 'lone ranger' masks!

Birthday Cole after enjoying his cupcake

"Rubber Ducky, you're the one..."

Cole's Sesame Street cupcakes - complete with Ernie's rubber ducky for the candle!

Jackson blowing out his big #5

The horseshoe cake - the sprinkles are stars & cows... nothing amazing but he LOVED it, so that's all that matters! (there's a sheriff badge in front of the #5)

Some of the deputy's waiting for cake...

Opening prezzies

Pin The Tail On The Donkey - Jackson got it first try!

Liam... after emptying a tube of glitter glue onto his mask :)

"Cactus Juice"