Fun with Cousins Part 2

Looking back at all of these pictures of all the fun things that we did while we were together, I now understand why we were all so tired at the end of our visit.  :)  But we all really had a fantastic time, and I can hardly wait until our next visit...hopefully with my cousin Megan as well. :)

 Reading time!!!!  And looking at the boys, nap time probably followed :)

 Blocks!!! Toys good for all ages

 Jake really wanted on a puppet show for all of us with his hand made super hero cutouts.  (He loves to makes these and has made quite a selection so far)

 Dinner!!!  We wanted to introduce them to Rudy's BBQ...a fantastic place

 OK so this might not be a terrific picture, but its the only one I have with the 4 adults.  lol  Steph and I were both concentrating on getting pictures of the kids that we forgot (sorry Aunt Amy)

I think they are all happy :)

 "Cousin Jake, I want what you have"

 Jake absolutely adored his cousin Claire

 The boys and their garages

 Jake made sure that Claire was entertained as well :)

 Reading time!  12 days of Christmas in Oklahoma, a new classic :)

 Coloring time, a normal activity in our house.  :)

 Aunt Steph playing a letter game with the boys

 Love how all the kids are lined up to watch their cartoon

 We were missing the boys one afternoon...this is where I found them

 On one cold day we decided to bring the boys to Unpluggits

 They had a lot of fun in the pirate ship

 AJ running around and being a crazy man

 Claire found this tree house and loved it!!!

 Happy Caleb

 Getting these two boys to stay still long enough at the top of the slide was impossible, but this was the best I got :)

Boys will be boys

Painting was another fun activity they enjoyed there

AJ was in his "blue period"

A sandbox with cars is always a hit

Jake having fun with Claire

AJ, Caleb and Uncle Jason having fun building race cars at the Lego Store

AJ had received a Build a Bear gift card from a friend from his Birthday and so we decided to go so he could make his new buddy.  He picked out a really cute Superman Bear.

Handing him off to get filled

AJ was super excited to step on the pedal and see him fluff up.

Both AJ and Caleb put hearts into this bear, a very blessed little buddy.

Ahhhh, he is done!

And AJ is in love

Getting him all cleaned up

Both boys are good bath givers

Caleb did a fantastic job making his bear that he donated to Toys for Tots!!!

AJ decided to dress his bear in a Super Hero shirt with a cape...made sense :)

AJ making his bear a birth certificate

Then we hit the mall!  The guys went to see a movie and so Steph and I started training the boys for shopping.  :)  So many times Stephanie and I went shopping as kids with our moms, it was a lot of fun to take our kids out now.  Hopefully someday soon we can go out with our moms and our kids...look out world, it would be crazy :)

This is where I found AJ in a shoe store, he saw me and smiled and I thought it turned out as a fun picture

Jake entertaining his cousin while she was waiting for dinner

Jake and Aunt Stephanie looking at an old printed out blog book.  Having fun looking at pictures from the last time we were together.

My cousin Stephanie and I.  So blessed to have her in my life!

Thank you Stephanie, Jason, Caleb and Claire for coming to visit us!!!  We had a great time and we can hardly wait to see you guys next time!



Fun with Cousins Part 1

We were super blessed this year to have my cousin Stephanie and her family come visit us.  Steph and I have been close since we were little little and so to have them come was very exciting.  Also fun because we hope that our kids will become good friends over the years and we could hardly wait to get them together.  The last time we were together was 2 years before and I had not met baby Claire yet and while the kids had skyped they did not remember each other too well.  So this was going to be a fun trip!

The first thing we did after we got them from the airport was take them to Earl's bbq at Bricktown.  The boys seemed to be bonding well already.  :)

Then we came home and the boys hit the yard for some fun

Fun seeing them all scramble over toys together

And of course with Jake being the oldest, he had to ham it up and show off

Trips to Walmart are much more fun with friends :)

All the kids playing together for the first time...love it!!!!

How many cousins can you put in one bathtub?  :)

Tickle fight!!!!!

Caleb was brave, but I think Jake is winning

 Something that all the boys could bond over is their love of Paw Patrol

...they are all hooked!

Isn't baby Claire the cutest!

Claire and her momma Stephanie

Then it was a trip to the zoo!!!  Sadly Jake had school but the rest of us had some fun getting out on the one day that week that was not cold.

I love this picture, its just boys being boys and having a great time

Giraffe!!!

Checking out a cougar

Bamboo jungle

AJ found a friend

My best photo yet of the baby rhino

Having fun...but we need food!!!!

Enjoying a yummy lunch at the zoo!

The aquarium at the zoo was a hit

Checking out the touching sea animals part...don't worry, they were fake :)

Caleb was not too sure about the crab

But he liked this one :)

I think AJ had more fun here because he was with his cousin

AJ wanted to show his buddy his favorite part...the sea lions

Caleb and his daddy

...checking out the porcupine.

It is just so much darn fun being together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ordinary Fun

While this title might seem funny to everyone it was a good representation of life during this part of our year.  While we were having a great time and playing, making memories, going to t-ball games and all of that excitement in our family we were also blessed to have a lot of special times.  Before this was Halloween and you already saw everything we did there.  Then after this post my cousin Steph came to visit us with her family which was really exciting!!!!  Then we had the Thanksgiving program at Jake's school and Ryan's family for Thanksgiving.  Then we had the boys Christmas program with AWANA and my family coming for Christmas.  It was pretty much non stop special time.  :)  And now to continue showing all of that...and you will now also understand why once again I am behind on blogging.  :D  But first here are some great pics of our life before the crazy.

Jake had a dress up week at school and the last day they all had to wear red and they got these mustache stickers.  I thought Jake looked quite dapper.  :)

Silly brothers

I had to catch this at some point.  This is AJ's cartoon spot.  He loves this seat on the couch and will either sit like he is pictured or will sit on the arm of the couch.  It is kinda known as his spot.  But he is pretty cute.  :)

Very intent on his cartoon

My crazy boys, they are always having fun together...when they are not wrestling or fighting like brothers that is.  :)

AJ wearing his Oklahoma colors

I get a lot of extra cuddles with my youngest when Jake is at school.

A pic of a pic.  :)  Jake's Kindergarten picture.  He is getting big too darn fast!!!

And here we are at Jake's last t-ball game of the Fall season.  He did not know that his team would get a trophy, his first of course...and he was REALLY excited.  :)

So was his team, love his buddy Grant's cheesy expression here.

Bringing it in for a last team cheer with Ryan as the assistant coach

Jake posing with his new trophy  :)