june 23

sometimes a little indulgence is just necessary :)

june 22

any chance of rain, and gavin's asking for "brookie's umbella."  he loves it.  no rain tonight, just a toddler getting into everything as mom and dad cleaned out the garage :)

june 21

the first day of summer, and it was a good one!  a couple more weeks, and the sunshine should start hanging around for good.  i can't wait.

june 20

as soon as gavin is in the swing he demands, "push me higher!"  today brooke wanted to help out :)

june 19

we've had fun celebrating daddy today.  the kids read the paper with him this morning (for about 2 minutes :), we watched golf, took kevin out for doughnuts, opened presents and made pizza for kevin's new pizza grill pan: a good family kind of day for the best daddy around.

june 18

one of my favorite days of the entire year.  brooke's dance recital.  i had so much fun getting brooke ready - we showered together and then i did her hair and make-up.  she looked like such a little dancer with her hair all pulled back in a bun.  and what a dancer she was!  she did such a great job.  she was so focused and did every single move of her routine and even helped some of the other girls remember when it was time to move up in a single line.  we were so proud!  gavin also made us proud by sitting quietly through the entire recital.  he loved it!  he asked, "more dancers?" after every group left the stage. gavin was so excited to see brooke on stage and wanted to hold onto her flowers during the show.  after the show we let gavin present brooke with her flowers, and he was beaming with pride.  it was such a special day for our family.

june 17

dress rehearsal day!  kevin gave me the greatest gift by coming home early from work.  he stayed with gavin while gavin napped, and i took brooke to her dress rehearsal.  brooke's class was the 2nd to dance, so the rehearsal was over super fast for us, and then the girls had their pictures taken.  they all looked so adorable in their little asian-inspired costumes.  brooke did a great job dancing during the rehearsal, and i'm so excited to see her tomorrow on the big stage!

june 16

today we celebrated hanna's birthday.  she turned 5 yesterday!  we were anxiously waiting for her to return from her week at suncadia so we could celebrate.  i went to the old snoqualmie candy store and bought a bunch of little candy that the kids used to decorate the cake with.  they loved it!  i'll definitely use this idea again.

june 15

brooke does things like this now like it's no big deal, and i wonder... when did this happen?

june 14

today was gavin's last day of gym class at the little gym.  we have had so much fun in class!  like everything else, gavin was always going 100 mph in class.  he dove head first into everything and wasn't afraid to try new things.  he explored on his own and only needed my help on the balance beam and reaching the high bar.  he loved to have the attention of his teachers and was always sure to ham it up for them.  gavin's favorite parts of gym class were the rings, the climbing wall, the air trak, the balls and bubbles.  gavin never took part in the warm-up portion of class as he was always too busy exploring on his own, but he always made sure to come to the circle when it was his turn to introduce himself and tap the tamborine.  i loved the way gavin learned to take turns, wait in line and follow the teachers directions.  i think we'll both miss going to gym every week.

june 13

tonight was "show" night at gymnastics - the last day of the winter/spring session.  i was blown away by brooke.  she was such a different girl in there.  there were no shy glances, no "i don't want to do X."  she was so excited to show off her skills.  she even rushed to get in the front of the line at the uneven bars.  it was just months ago when brooke refused to even try the high bar.  now look at her!  we are so proud.

june 12

today was our last day at suncadia, and kevin and i traded off between time with the kids and time at the spa.  the spa was absolutely amazing and gave us both some much needed relaxation.  what a great weekend!

june 11

i guess when you spend a short weekend in a beautiful location with tons of outdoor activities, you've gotta pack it in like we did today.  a morning family bike ride, play time at the park, swimming and golf all in one day!  we were fortunate enough to be able to take the kids onto the golf course with us, which meant that both me and kevin were able to play.  the kids rode in the golf carts with us, and practiced their golf swings at the tee box and on the green.  kevin and i were both shocked at how quickly we were able to play with two little ones trailing behind us.  brooke and gavin were so well behaved and had such a great time.  it was the greatest gift... something that i know we've both dreamed about for quite some time.

june 10

today we took off for a weekend getaway at suncadia - a beautiful mountain resort about an hour east of our house.  we arrived just in time for some pre-dinner smores at the campfire outside the lodge.  i knew right then this was going to be a good weekend :)

june 9

on a busy day like today, i can find myself at the end of the day realizing that i have not taken a picture.  and then i look outside and see something like this and bingo!  brooke and gavin crack me up more and more with each passing day.  gavin got new spider-man binoculars today, so the two of them were outside seeing what they could see :)

june 8

i love these kids.  i love how our families blend to become one big family.  we spend a lot of time together.  like tonight - moms, kids, dinner, play.  it was fun, relaxed and easy.  our life here would not be the same without them.

june 7

gavin had his 2 year check-up today.  he took this self-portrait while in the doctor's office.  gavin can work just about any tool/app on my iphone, and he loves to take pictures with the camera.  when i hear him saying, "cheese" i know what he is up to :)  gavin had a hemoglobin test (toe prick) and one shot and didn't shed a single tear.  what a brave little guy!

june 6

the kids and i are on our own this week, so my mission is to keep them entertained and happy so they don't miss their daddy too much.  today i succeeded :)

june 5

we took a family bike ride today to mt. si golf course for breakfast (the best in town) and then to centennial park for a "baseball game" as gavin likes to say (where he and kevin are the only players on a real baseball field :)  i love our family bike rides.  kevin and i bought our bikes on a whim 3 years ago this very weekend, and it's one of the best purchases we've ever made.

june 4

the patio is officially open, and we are ready for summer!  today we got a great taste of summer with the kind of perfect day that makes up for all the rainy ones we have to live with here in the pacific northwest.  we celebrated with friends, home-made margaritas, mexican and molly moon's ice cream!

june 3

we capped off a beautiful day with our first family night out to a ball game.  after spending the day out in the sun, we picked kevin up after work and headed downtown for our first mariners game.  it was exciting to take the kids to their first baseball game.  they loved the experience!  we started things off right when we walked in and were handed 4 mariners train box cars.  free toys = 2 happy children!  we bought brooke and gavin mariners hats and squishy baseballs and then headed to our seats.  kevin scored us great seats on field level down the first baseline.  we ate dinner in our seats, saw 3 homeruns, treated the kids to cotton candy for dessert and made it through 5 innings before calling it a night!

june 2

gavin spends much of his days with a face that looks something like this.  he's two.  i keep reminding myself of this little fact every time he decides to throw a fit over nothing.  in this picture he's crying because i won't move the basketball net back upstairs to the toy room.  but i know he's really crying because he just awakened from a nap.  and, of course, because he's two :)

oh, and i'm now an aunt 6 times over.  carl and mercedes had a healthy baby girl!  we're so excited to welcome another girl into the stealey family!

june 1

we had a nice, lazy, rainy day at home today.  brooke refused to get out of her nightgown - that's the kind of day it was.  it suited us fine because i think the kids are coming down with colds, and i misjudged a step this morning and fell down a few steps with gavin in my arms.  ouch!  we're fine, but i'm sore.  so, we watched pbs and played with puzzles and blocks and books.  this afternoon brooke asked to look at my cookbooks and then sweetly asked if we could bake something.  i jumped at the chance knowing that she'd want to move onto the next thing in a matter of minutes.  today was a little different though.  she was really into baking.  she wanted us to put on our aprons (we did), she wanted to sit on the counter (she did), she wanted to dump and stir all the ingredients (she did), and she stuck in until the very end when the rhubarb streusel muffins went into the oven.  she also asked that i say they were from brooke's bakery (i did).  and then she proudly served them to us after dinner tonight, and gave me a big high five after she tasted her creation.  she did good :)

may 31

we had such a great weekend, and now i'm feeling the let down of heading into the week.  leave it to my children though to give me a better perspective.  the weather has been all over the map today, and when gavin asked to go outside i told him that we couldn't because it was raining.  gavin simply said, "jacket" and that's all it took for me to realize he was right.  the rain doesn't have to keep us inside.  so i grabbed his raincoat and rain boots and out into the rain he went to blow bubbles.  and it put a smile on both of our faces :)