R-O-A-R!!

We couldn't get the kids to cooperate on Halloween. Neither Michael nor Miranda wanted anything to do with costumes *on* Halloween so we didn't push it, and so no fun pictures that day. However, earlier last week both of them wanted to be bears, so out we got the hand-me-downs from Leah and I caught some cute pictures!

Miranda as Bedtime Bear


Michael as Cheer Bear ~ R-O-A-R!!


Fun Care Bear facts for the other 30-somethings out there who had the originals!

• Care Bears celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2007
• There were originally 10 Care Bears: Bedtime, Birthday, Cheer, Friend, Funshine, Good Luck, Grumpy, Love-A-Lot, Tenderheart and Wish Bear
• The Care Bear's main job was to monitor the Caring Meter and go on missions to create more caring in the world, so the meter would point at the rainbow on one end, and not the rain clouds on the other.
• Some elements of the Care Bears franchise pay homage to the legend of King Arthur. For example, the name of the main characters' residence, Care-a-lot, is a play on King Arthur's legendary Camelot castle. The Care Bear Family sits around a heart-shaped table, similar to the Round Table used by Arthur and his knights. In addition, Sir Lancelot's name inspired that of Love-A-Lot Bear.

Fall In the Jardin

Fall is finally here ~ not just in name like all of October and most of November! We're starting to break out the long sleeves and put away the shorts. Here are a few last warm weather pics before we get into cold weather (ha ha, cold for Tucson that is) soon.

Snuggling with Daddy


With the changing of the seasons, we got out all the baby clothing in storage and pulled out hand-me-downs that Miranda could wear, put away all the warm weather stuff, and cleaned out closets for the new clothes that will be coming in as the days cool down. Miranda is wearing Michael's overalls while she can, they're too cute to pass up!


Miranda's hair is A-L-M-O-S-T long enough to pull up into pig tails - Mommy can barely stand the waiting!


One of our favorite snacks around here - bananas! One last shot of Michael in a great shirt that he was given when Miranda was born.

Mastering the Tricycle!

Recently Michael has mastered his tricycle! Grandma Gayle and Grandpa Mike gave it to him for his 2nd birthday, but it took a year and Miranda wanting to ride it before he got interested enough to figure it all out himself. I caught him on video today riding in circles on the putting green ~ his favorite is to ride up the small hill at the far end of the green and then come back down it quickly. :O)))

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What Are Brothers Good For?

Apparently they are good for teaching little sisters how to be a whirling dervish! We had a fun ~ and dizzy ~ afternoon of "round and round" today.

A Little More Every Day!

Lots of fun stuff going on with the kids these days! Michael loves putting on capes and pretending to be a super hero, as you can see in this first picture. He was being a super hero in a race car this day, and Miranda was his super sidekick.



Miranda finally has enough hair for some sort of pony tail! Those of you who know me well know I am **DYING** to put pig tails, braids and pony tails in that girl's hair!



Miranda wants to be everywhere Michael is, and she wants to be right next to him ~ something he's learning how to handle better because he's not too fond of his sister when she's hugged up right next to him! He'll tell me he loves to be a big brother, but I suspect he doesn't love it so much when she's all up in his business. :O)



Miranda also loves typing, probably because she also wants to do what she sees Mommy doing so much. It's cute, but we're always a little nervous about what she could accidentally do to the computer!

Robot Baby!

The kid's favorite toys these days always seem to be the ones that were free. Wood blocks from outside, rocks to throw in the fountain, boxes that came in the mail. Here's Miranda with her current favorite!

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Last of the Snaps

Here are the last of my cell phone snaps from the past year or so!

Dan and the two kiddos ~ this is my cell phone wallpaper


Michael at Dr. Dean's, one of our favorite doctors! (the other favorite doctor lives in Maine)


Miranda at the same doctor visit, for her 18 month checkup


In the car on the way to California last month


Miranda found a new way to play with the backpack on the way home

Annies Apples!

We went yesterday to Apple Annie's Farm in Willcox, Arizona to pick apples and see what a farm was all about! Michael was so excited, and we had a ball. They were still serving pancake breakfast with apple syrup and sausage when we got there, so we started with that (yum!). We walked all through the orchard, with the smell of rotten apples and cider all around, and tried to figure out what kind of apples we were looking at - Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Rome, Granny Smith all together in the part we were walking though. We picked about 7 pounds of apples, trying to figure out which trees looked best and what kind we wanted. We ended up with Granny Smith and Rome apples. We paid for our produce, put the stroller in the car and went back to ride the tractor-pulled wagon around the farm. It was a bunch of fun, and Michael and Miranda really enjoyed themselves!

Picking Granny Smith apples


Riding on the wagon around the farm

Snaps Part 3

Auntie Amy's sister-in-law, Jennifer, gave the kids cool sunglasses for Easter this year. Michael wore his until they fell apart!




For a while, Michael had the typical two-year old's "Smile!" face - eyes closed!


Naptime in Mom's taxi while we were waiting for the store to open


While Miranda was napping in the car and we were waiting for the store to open, Michael got to crawl all through the car and play a bit


Michael at the playground near our favorite library


Miranda at the same playground, when she was a new walker

Cell Phone Snaps Part 2

Miranda in the (at the time) new house


Just after Michael's second birthday, when we buzzed his hair for the first time ever


Michael at Applebee's - he was very excited about the balloon animal guy!


Little chub-a-rub before we went into the zoo


Sleeping on the way home from the zoo


Learning how to stick ouot her tongue!


In the parking lot at Costco (always exciting!)


Happy girl (one of her first days of smiling)


Inside a big egg in the bird atrium at the zoo

We go to the zoo a lot, it's about 5 minutes away from our house, and a great way to spend a quick hour or two when we need to get out of the house without committing to some major outing.

Stay tuned, there are more to come!

Cell Phone Snaps

I've accumulated a bunch of pictures on my cell phone that I haven't shared with anyone besides Dan and the occasional grandparent, but are too cute to keep off the blog! This first group is mostly Michael because Miranda was still a little lump.

Michael at the old house, pretending to be laundry


Macaroni and cheese dinner, the second favorite meal! (First is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches of course)


When asked "What hat do you want to wear to the zoo, Michael?" he picked this one!


At Chuck E. Cheese with his best little buddy, Davis


Mommie's sunglasses


After we had moved out of the old house, we went back with Davis and his mommy to clean and let the kids play in the empty house. We came into the kitchen and found the boys in here!


This last picture is really special to me ~ it was one of the first pictures we took of Miranda. I'm not sure why but I smile every time I see it.

60th Anniversary Weekend in Cali

This past weekend my Grandma and Grandpa Gilb celebrated their 60th anniversary!! What an amazing and inspiring milestone. My aunts and dad pulled together a surprise dinner party for them and 50 of their closest friends (and let me tell you, that is actually a pretty intimate group for them). It was a great weekend. We stayed at the beach with my parents and my sister and her family and got a lot of time in the water, outside and with family. It was a really wonderful trip ~ one of the last we're going to be taking for a while ~ and it was pretty lovely every moment (except for when Rulon whacked his head and had to go to the ER to get checked out...but I'll tell you about that a little farther down the page).

Valerie came over the first afternoon we were there, and made fast friends with Michael when she offered to take him out onto the beach in front of the beach house.


Shortly after my parents and Amy, Brian and Rulon arrived, Rulon fell in front of the fire place, whacked his head really hard and gave himself the biggest goose egg I've ever seen. They took him to the ER to make sure he didn't have a concussion, which he didn't, but he was left with a huge bruise on his noggin!


Auntie Amy on the patio


Dan, Valerie and my mom sitting on the sea wall


Michael is trying to tell me he found a starfish!!


At my grandparent's surprise dinner, we had beef and fish. The kids had chicken nuggets and french fries and were so happy! Miranda loves ketchup!


The kids all ate dinner later than they were used to, and were up later than usual, so they were a little fried, but there were lots of up moments in between the meltdowns.


We all were given little boxes of Sees chocolate as parting gifts, and the kids got Sees suckers. Michael thinks it should be licked like an ice cream cone!


The third day we were there we took the kids out to the ocean. Here's Rulon and Brian.


Here we are all heading down to the water's edge


Here are the kids after the first wave, deciding they're a little freaked out!


If you look closely, Miranda has decided she wants nothing to do with that madness - get her outta there!!! She wouldn't go back to the water for the rest of the outing.


Michael, however, was a different story. It took him a little bit to get used to the crashing waves, but then he was entranced. He wanted someone with him the whole time, but he loved it! Here he is with Grandma Gayle, getting ready to get wet.


Wheeeee!


Where's Michael? Under that big wave!


Getting warm with Grandma after a big wave


Rulon, Amy and Brian walking on the beach


We stayed one night longer than everyone else, and had a quiet evening to ourselves once the kids went to sleep. I love Newport Beach and Balboa Island!