"Come on Caroline!"

... is the absolute cutest thing heard around the house in the last few days. Jack says it all the time! When he wants his sister to play with him he says "Come on Caroline"! (which sounds like key-uh-line) and then shows her how to crawl to the playroom. Of course she's in hot pursuit... sometimes he plays with her, most times he doesn't but still. I love that she's at the age where he's entertaining to her and he's finally enjoying his baby sister! They are precious together!

Worth the read...

An article in today's Star Telegram about cloth diapering.

He's growing up!

Jack had his first day of preschool yesterday! He's going two days a week which is nice because I can have some one-on-one time with little Caroline. I was a little worried since this is the first time I've left him with anyone that's not family (or family-like). Well, he did great! He did cry and hang on to me with a death grip when Jason and I dropped him off. When I picked him up his teacher, Miss Erica, said he'd had a wonderful day. He colored and played with cars, went to PE and music class, played on the playground and ate a good lunch and was one of the first to fall asleep at rest time... and he slept the WHOLE TIME! When I picked him up he was in a great mood so Selah(who had her first day too) and Erin came over to have a treat and play. All in all he had a super day and we'll do it all again tomorrow!

Mmmm... waffles, yogurt, and fruit! A great first-day-of-school breakfast!Jack pushing Caroline into school... with a little help from Mama.After school treat - ice cream!Selah , hamming it up for the camera!

Sweet Baby Girl

After church on SundayLook at those teeth!

Standing up looking out the back door

Climbing up the slide

Where'd that flash come from?

Oh! It's you Mommy!I'll get you!

Big smiles!

Playtime!

Caroline's loving this giraffe toy!She's dancing to the music!

Some big shoes to fill...

I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny...

But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!
Things to do with two kids on a rainy day...

1. Play with our toys

2. Play peek-a-boo 3. Get in Mama and Daddy's bed and watch a movie4. Cruise the fireplace hearth

5. Build Lego towers and play with trains

6. Take pictures of screaming kids. You know, to remember the moment.

Pulling up!

Caroline's been crawling for quite some time. Now she's mastered the art of crawling somewhere and pulling up on things to get a better view.

Here she is at the kitchen table earlier this week.

Peek-a-boo!

Happy Birthday Selah!

Little Miss Selah turned 2 on August 8th! We had such a great time at her birthday party, held at the Family Life Center at our church. Jack had so much fun jumping in the bounce house and playing basketball with daddy. He loved his pizza lunch and Selah did such a good job blowing out her candles! Happy birthday sweet Selah!

Selah and her mommy, Erin, lighting the candles.

One... two... three... BLOW!Caroline, enjoying the party!Jack, eating pizza... or something.

Colorado - Day 9

Back to Texas! We headed out mid-morning and planned to eat breakfast at a little pastry shop in La Veta. Well on the way, Miss Selah, who hadn't had anything to eat but apple juice, got carsick in the car and threw up all the apple juice she'd had that morning. Poor thing! We got to La Veta, and got Selah cleaned up, had breakfast, and then got back on the road. Thankfully, the load on top of the car had been loaded more efficiently and we didn't have to stop once to readjust anything. We did make frequent stops so the kids could play and so we could eat or just stretch our legs. We made it home around 1am and were completely exhausted! We had such a great time on our trip but were SO ready to be home and to sleep in our own beds.

The view of the Spanish Twin Peaks on our way home.A lovely establishment we saw on our way home. I don't remember what town we were in... somewhere in West Texas.

Colorado - Day 8

Erin and I decided we needed a girls day, away from the craziness of the 3 kids. We headed out to do some souvenir shopping, stopping first in little Cuchara. There were some cute things and even more not so cute things. We discovered the world's most jam-packed-with-junk gift shop and possibly the world's only mini-golf/gift shop/health food store... interesting. On to Walsenburg we went. We stopped in a couple of shops there, quickly deciding we weren't going to find what we were looking for. We headed down the highway to a little barbecue joint that was pretty good, although the service could have been a bit quicker. It was a blessing, I guess, for us to be still, in one place for a while. No one to chase... no one to get a fork for, or cut food, or pick up a dropped cup, or keep entertained while trying to get them to please, PLEASE just eat ONE BITE of your lunch. Needless to say, we enjoyed our lunch. We then headed back to La Veta and hit up the shops there. We didn't find much but were often too caught up in conversation to be bothered with the things we were hunting in the first place. Erin was nearly attacked (OK, not really) by a parrot in a little Guatemalan gift shop. It kept whistling and saying "hello" and was just staring her down... kinda creepy! Finally, we went BACK to Cuchara where we found what we needed after all. Whew! As far as the kids and dads go, we have no idea what went on back at the cabin. We know everyone survived and we got a break... very nice! note: very few pictures were taken this day. Most were already posted in my Colorado Preview post a while back.

Colorado - Day 7

Today was Walsenburg Wild Waters day! We were so excited. We just KNEW the kids would have such a good time! We got to the waterpark and had a picnic before getting the kids into the water. And the water temperature, according to the sign at the front, was a comfortable 85 degrees - OR NOT! It was FREEZING! We stayed for just a little while and decided that Colorado and waterparks do not mix, at least if the water isn't heated!

Selah was ready to swim! I don't think she had one thing on that wasn't pink!

Jack and Selah on a walk before we left for the park.

Telling secrets...Sweet girls!

Colorado - Day 6

We made the trek north to Colorado Springs. We had big plans to head to the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, Focus on the Family, and anything else we could squeeze into one day. Well, toddlers frequently rewrite plans! We got a bit of a late start, which is typical. We got to our first destination, The Garden of the Gods, around lunchtime. We were starving so we picnicked at the visitor center and shopped in the gift shop before making our drive through the park. We had totally planned to drive to a trailhead and walk a bit but Jack threw a fit when we were getting back in the car and then completely conked out for a nap so, in the car we stayed! We drove around, took pictures and then decided to head over to Focus on the Family. They have an entire floor of their headquarters/visitor center dedicated to kids and the kids needed some time to play. Well we stayed there quite a while and never did make it to the Air Force Academy. The kids (and big kids) had a blast though and we were all ready to have dinner and call it a day. We made our pitstop at Red Robin and then Erin and I needed to run into Walmart (of course). As we were leaving town, Caroline began screaming; she had been too distracted throughout the day to nurse very well and was starving! We had to stop for her to nurse and then were headed out of town. Jack and Selah enjoyed a new Veggie Tales video we picked up at the FOTF bookstore (until they kept kicking the DVD player and we had to take it away) and we sang songs until they decided they were ready to sleep. Lesson learned... don't plan too much when you're carting 3 kids along!

Jack and Selah, coloring in the morning.

Pretty pictures!

Rock formations at The Garden of the Gods

Playing at Focus on the Family

Colorado - Day 5

La Veta, CO - a lovely, picturesque town at the foot of the Spanish Twin Peaks. We had a low-stress day walking around Main Street. We enjoyed a delicious pizza lunch and played at the park, went to the market and ate ice cream cones. It was a nice, low key morning followed by nice long naps for the kiddos and a relaxing evening back at the house. We also discovered that the prep sink in the kitchen was the perfect "Caroline-sized" bathtub!

Wee! Through the tunnel!Yee haw! You can take the boys out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas (or Oklahoma, for Terry) out of the boys! Silly guys!Bath time! A view from above...I wish we had one of these at home Daddy!Precious girl!Very interesting...

Colorado - Day 4

We decided, since we had been in the car for much of Day 3, that we'd "stay close" and head up to the West Peak to hike. Jason and Terry decided they wanted to hike to the top of the peak which Erin and I, clearly, couldn't do with the kiddos. Erin's dad, Bobby, took his car up so we could leave the guys at the mountain and head back to the house after a short hike with the kids. Well, Jack and Selah were NOT AT ALL interested in hiking. They were mad about being in the car again - the "not far" turned into a 45 minute drive to the trailhead - and they just didn't care much about hiking through the woods. Selah and Jack wanted to be carried and were both pretty much big ol' toddler messes. Caroline, of course, slept and wasn't interested in much anything else.

We hiked up to a clearing and had a snack and decided we'd take the kids back to the car (with the guys' help) and head back home. Jason and Terry would stay to continue with their hike. Erin and I went back to the house and hung out around the cabin with the kids for the rest of the day. We expected the guys back late afternoon-ish, by dinner at the latest. Well, dinner time rolled around and we hadn't heard from them. It was 5:00, and then 6:00, and then 6:30 and still no word. Erin and I decided then that if they weren't back by 7:00 then we were heading up to the trailhead. After that, we had no plan, but we were going, nonetheless. Well, at 6:38, we decided we'd waited long enough and we were on our way. We left 3 screaming kids with Bobby and hopped in the Expedition and trucked it up the mountain. We met up with they guys driving down the mountain about 5 minutes away from the trailhead. I rolled down the window and Terry said "We made a mistake". They were beyond exhausted. Jason hopped into our car and Erin hopped in to drive the other car back home so Terry could rest. Long story short, they took a wrong turn, didn't bring enough food and water, and were on the mountain for 8 hours. They were dehydrated, hungry, and all-around not doing well. Erin and I were worried, for good reason, and just thankful to have our husbands back safely. Crazy day.

Before the meltdowns... holding hands!Views from the meadow... the West Peakoverlooking the valley and mountains beyondThe Coursey Girls

The Maurice Girls... Caroline's sleeping, of courseSnacktime!He's reflecting on the beauty of nature, I'm sure.

The Maurice BoysPhotos the guys took on the hike...There's the top... although they didn't quite get there!