walks.

my three favorite people on a walk this fall.

so nice.

dylan has been so sweet lately.
we are so proud of our little guy.
and grateful that we aren't reliving last year's holiday season...

happy girl.

little miss jane has become a little sassy as of late.
she spends large chunks of her days yelling "no dylan", "don't do that" and "my toy".
maybe we'll put this picture on our fridge to see her smiling more.
and take it down when she's 30.

nature center.

the weather was perfect for the nature center yesterday.

dylan enjoyed throwing rocks into the pond.

and i enjoyed seeing his belly.
remind me to buy him a longer jacket.

the zoo.

we went to the national zoo and enjoyed the last of the fall colors.
the kids had a lovely time.
and we even got them to sit next to each other for a picture.
miracle.

little man.

i love my little man's smiles.

puppy time.

last week i got to take photos of our friends and their new puppy waylon.
we had a lovely time.
and now i want a puppy.

trunk or treat.

our church puts on a little halloween party every year.
i was so proud of my little guy for patiently walking up to each car this year and saying, "trick or treat!"
he even out-did himself with lots of "thank you's" too.
pretty amazing (don't even get me started on what last year looked like...).
here were are together before the candy attack:

happy early halloween!

frankenstorm.

apparently a big storm is coming to the east coast.
so we ran out today and got some fall pictures before all the leaves blow away.

     

horses.

our lovely friend takes care of a lovely horse named Chinook.
we took the kids to enjoy a fall evening with her and they were in heaven.
dylan climbed right up and went for a ride bareback.
and then snuggled right up to her and wanted to stay there for the rest of his life.

         

the park.

we are all very sick with very ugly colds.
but we couldn't take one more day trapped indoors.
so we took our runny noses to the park and spread our germs.
i know jane... not our family's finest moment.

all smiles.

this little girl had the best time at her cousin's birthday party.
cupcakes and all.

fall is here!

on saturday we went to larriland farm.

we rode on a hay ride, picked tomatoes and dylan chose his pumpkin.

it was a lovely little saturday. 

here dylan holding his pumpkin:

and then he rolled it down the hill and broke off the stem.

spider hunting.

dylan loves hunting for spiders.
but after squishing too many with his over-zealous fingers he has switched his approach to using sticks.
clever boy.

missing grandma.

every day since we've been back dylan has carried around a toy airplane and asked to go back to grandmas.
i couldn't agree more.

hair.

can you see it!?!
she finally has tiny little tufts of hair sticking out of her sweet bald head.
i'm so proud.

bug catcher.

while in seattle dylan discovered the wonderful world of bugs.
for someone who asked her dad to come and squish a spider in her room one night, this new fascination is not going so well.
i'll keep working on that.
in the meantime i do get a laugh watching him squish them on accident (too much toddler excitement) and then start yelling over and over at the poor dead critter, "WAKE UP!!!!"

apple and the tree.

i took this picture of janie this summer and thought it looked familiar.
then i found the "original" taken back in 1983.
i guess the little apple does looks like the tree...

janie 2012

momma 1983

checked out.

we took up a short residence in seattle this summer and it was lovely.
the blog was unfortunately left abandoned.
this was jane's reaction when we told her:

we'll be better about updates.

promise.

noses.

she's found hers.
and started picking at it.

her throne.

this little girl has a new obsession: her wicker chair.
she sits in it and twirls her legs like a showgirl, stands in it, yells at dylan from it, and pushes it around.
she's pretty much obsessed.

destruction.

doesn't he look sweet and innocent?

well, "dylan the villain" has been busy lately.

he successfully:
1. bent his metal curtain rod to look like this: V
2. derailed his closet door and knocked it to the floor
3. smeared #2 all over his room like playdough. three times in one week.

sweet?

not this week.

birthday girl.

janie turned one yesterday!
we are so proud of her and her eventful year.
she has a lovely way of brightening any room she enters.
thank you for a wonderful year, sweetie.
we can't wait for many more.

birthday balloons:

and some delicious birthday cake and frosting...

perfect picture.

i've been waiting for the perfect picture of the two of them to enlarge and put on my wall.
this isn't it.

big kisses.

she's still learning how to give kisses.
mostly she still just tries to eat your face.

pool time.

little janie loves to play in the pool.
she is all smiles when it's time to put on her swimsuit and splash in the water.

high heels.

he wears them better than i do.

best birthday.

my sweet husband has been working on a birthday surprise for a few months.
and it was wonderful!
we left our children with the amazing sara m (THANK YOU!!!!).
then went to annapolis and walked the boardwalk and had dinner and ice cream.
the next morning we headed to the chesapeake bay where dan had set up a rowing shell for me to take out for the morning.
it has been 8 years and it was wonderful to be back!
loved it.
thank you, sweetie! it was the best birthday.

fourth of july.

we passed the day enjoying a parade, BBQ, naps and very hot and humid weather.

so grateful for our country.

one mold.

neither of our kids look like we did as children.
but they are carbon copies of each other.
i imagine this is what jane would look if her cute cheeks went on a diet and she grew some hair.

where do you sleep?

dylan sleeps in a laundry hamper.

you might ask why?

so do we.

maybe the new toddler bed with the pillow top mattress isn't uncomfortable enough.

so sad.

my camera jumped out of the stroller and my favorite lens spilled its guts on the cement.
i'm in mourning.

moving furniture.

since jane is a burgeoning walker she uses anything that isn't nailed down to help herself walk.
and then dylan comes along to help it move faster.

hats.

this little girl tries to put everything on her head and then yells, "HAT!"
this time she actually found a hat.

nature center.

my cousin had the lovely idea to explore the new nature center in howard county this week.
it was very beautiful.
the kids had a great time and enjoyed running around.
and i loved the wildflowers.