Walk this way...

The weather has definitely taken a turn to Fall (70's instead of 80's) which means we are spending a lot of time in the evenings taking walks around the neighborhood. Exploring. Playing at the park. Walking Katie. Hot air balloon watching. You know, the usual.

 We often times see hot air balloons in a distance but these were just so close and fun to chase!

 And Buggy...ugh, she is just so much fun and I can't get enough of this smile

 She's getting stronger and stronger peddling the trike

 The girls take turns walking Katie...all of a sudden they have an interest in her. Not sure what sparked it...maybe because we used to live on such a busy street that we wouldn't let the girls walk the dog.

 Swingin' at the park

 Punky Brewster's Izzy's turn

 We learned that Buggy is quite the climber. She has mastered all of the ladders, climbers, and poles to get atop the playground.

Saturday morning the girls did a little jumpin' on the bed before we packed up and sent them on a sleepover at IU with their nanny Natalie. More to come on that adventure!

 A few years ago Izzy went to preschool where a teacher made silhouettes of all the kids at the end of the year as a gift. It's been a cherished possession ever since. The girls don't go to this pre-school anymore so I only had the one silhouette of Iz. Well a friend of mine just started as a teacher's aide for this pre-school teacher and she offered to get a coordinating piece made of Laney. I'm over the moon that I have a set of my girls at the same age (3) in silhouette art. Plus, I now know how to create these little gems so watch out! Can you tell which one is Iz and which one is Lane?

 The girls' birthday shirts arrived a few weeks ago and I can't wait to show the girls. This is the year of Disney, after all!

 Our couch finally arrived last week and here's a shot of it in the living room. It's really warmed the space up and we love it.

Stay tuned for a recap of the girls' IU sleepover!

Grandparents, Golf & Girls...

Happy Grandparents Day!!!

We had a house full of grandparents this weekend...our first house guests! Months and months ago Mike bought tickets to the BMW Golf Championship for both of our dads for father's day and the weekend finally came around to watch some golf.

After a little shopping Saturday morning, I dropped Dad, Anna, Bob & Mike off at the course where they stayed for 6 hours. Was fun having the tour in Indy, especially seeing the Goodyear Blimp all week long around town.

Dad snapped a picture of Tiger and quickly got poked by a security guard scolding him. Too funny.

 This picture wasn't from the weekend (obv) but I just thought it was cute of them and had to include it.

 The player board.

 Meanwhile, Laura, Laney and I spent some time on the soccer fields watching this little cutie kick around.

 Izzy runs around the field chasing the ball but doesn't get much contact with the ball. But she is having a lot of fun...chit chatting with friends, waving to her cheering section, and especially the snacks and water breaks.

 I got to hang out with this little nugget...

 And one of Izzy's best buds played against her to boot!

 Izzy's biggest cheerleader, Grandma Laura

 Two peas in a pod chair.

 Buddies!

 This morning was beautiful so we put the pedal to the medal and toured the neighborhood.

 Laney's getting pretty good!

 Few house pics...don't you just love our yard? Mike. Is. Chomping to get a lawn instead of a rock garden.

 Front room became a nautical theme with a sailboat pic, 2 nautical maps, a model ship my Grandfather started to make years ago and all of his books on boats. Love.

 Izzy Lou doing what she does best...serving us cupcakes with a smile.

Happy birthday to my dad and happy Grandparents Day to all the grandparents in our lives!

Good to be home...

This weekend was the first weekend I'd been home since we moved into our new house 3 weeks ago. And being home never felt so good. Three days of jammies and unpacking straggler boxes. The girls watched lots of movies and rediscovered toys they hadn't seen since March. They'd be down in the basement (where all of our toys now live) for hours on end only coming up for snacks. I'm telling you, it was bliss. Well, as much bliss it can be when you're unpacking. All. Weekend. Long.

We did venture out for a few hours on Saturday evening to get some much overdue haircuts for the Littles.

 Izzy & Laney before...

 Izzy & Laney during...

 And Izzy & Laney after...

 We've talked about cutting Izzy's hair for months but she kept fighting it, saying "I don't want to look like a boy!" Guess she went with Mike a few too many times to get his hair cut and thought that's the kind of cut we were talking about. For some reason she agreed on Saturday and we chomped at the bit, wasting no time.

Saturday morning I met my girls bright and early for the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon. I haven't been running but just once a week for the past 6 weeks. No speed training. No intervals. No tempos. No miles. Just long runs on the weekend spanning anywhere from 10-12 miles. That's it. So my lack of training and lack of enthusiasm for hurricane Isaac's aftermath made for one grumpy Kelly. Until. Jaime and I met at 6am to carpool downtown and my mood immediately shifted from grouchy to excited! She has that effect on me and I do not take it for granted.

Here we are at the (steamy) start line: Bri, me, Jaim, Amy, Karen, Lori and Kristi

 Three of the gals ran 5 miles prior to our 13, as they are all training for a marathon. So they were treating this race as a training run (read: walk breaks, casual miles, no one left behind). Talk about the best kind of race imaginable. We walked when we needed to. We pottied when we needed to. We laughed constantly. And we left no one behind. I struggled the last few miles, as I hadn't fueled properly the few days leading up to the race. But yet we crossed as a team. Together. With smiles on. I limped from blisters but made it barefoot to the beer line just A-OK (it was free, and large, and local - no brainer).

 A co-worker of mine and fellow CrossFitter joined us for the race. Was fun to have a new face, new dynamic, new conversation for the miles. And since she's new to town (from the MPLS) and it was the least I could do to introduce her to my favorite girls.

 When I got home from the race the girls grabbed my hands and excitedly led me to their new pet: Pinto the BetaFish. We've had a few scares already, but now I know that fish sleep and not to panic when they're sleeping at the top of the tank. Good times.

 I spent the next solid 48 hours in my house unpacking, organizing and slowly decorating. Never changing out of my pajamas. Just working away. Whittling away at the heap of boxes that stared at me in the loft, in the planning center and in the basement.

When I found all of my frames I immediately had to get this sussy beautified stat. Little house warming gift from Jaime and I'm in love...

 Took several hours but I sorted through all of my framed photos, changed a few out, and lined up all my black-framed pics. I'm wanting to make a wall collage of family...thinking it will be going up our stairway, as we have huge walls and the perfect space for it.

 And did the same for my white framed pics of the girls that used to be in their old rooms but I'm figuring as they get older they aren't going to want their baby pictures in their personal space. I'm planning ahead, you see.

 Lane's birthday gift from her Gigi...I cried when I opened it for two reasons: 1. When Jaime came to the hospital to meet Laney just hours after she was born, she held Buggy in her arms and sang this song over and over. And 2. I danced to this song with my dad at my wedding. Be still my heart.

 I feel confident that I got through every box that was important, every box that I wanted its contents spilled out. The storage side of our basement is (semi) organized and weeded through. And we actually have art on the walls. Decor on the shelves. And closets and cabinets organized. We still have a ways to go, but for right now, all is right in my world. I feel like I can breathe. Relax. Unwind. Staring at familiar things that make this house feel more like home.

Laney Turns 3!

Delaney June turned 3 years old last week and we celebrated quietly at home opening presents that arrived in the mail from all over the country just for her.

Earlier this summer nanny Natalie and the girls wrote letters to the Disney princesses and they wrote the girls back just in time for Laney's 3rd birthday:

The first package we opened was from Roo (my mom) so we web-cammed with her while we unwrapped. My mom also had a brownie with a candle lit...after singing they blew out the candle together.

Mom got Lane a Merida costume (Brave) and the wig was cracking us up!

Next was some birthday singing from Bobo and Grandma Laura

Then a small celebration with some friends...

Laney's personality has blossomed so much in the last year. She continues to be our rough-and-tumble little girl that doesn't bat an eye when she's disciplined, can hold her own (and often wins) against her big sister, can make us laugh with her "bum bum shaking" and still loves to snuggle with us. She's so loving and affectionate, brave and boisterous, sweet and sassy. Mike was just saying this weekend how different our girls are from each other. Night and day. But that he wouldn't want two of the same kid. How wonderful it is to experience two very unique and equally fun little girls. Every day brings a new laugh, a new love, and new experience and we cherish every moment. Happy birthday Buggy!

Soccer Season...

We're taking a short break from gymnastics this Fall to try our hand at soccer. Izzy has been asking for over a year to play and she's finally old enough for team soccer, so we bit the bullet. It helped that Ellana was signed up...gave us motivation to register.

There are about 12 little 5 & 6 year olds on Izzy's team, some have soccer in their blood (seeing a 5 year old break away and shoot a goal while the other kids aren't even past the center line yet is unreal) and others, not so much. We fall into the latter category. But that's more than ok...have to try everything out to see what Izzy's going to like and what sport her skill set leans towards.

I'll admit, Izzy is too stinkin' cute to watch out there. Her personality shines loud and clear; if someone steals the ball from her she immediately puts her hands on her hips and points her finger saying how much she dislikes that. Then picks up her ball (no hands!) and trots off.

 Above Izzy is in the green top and purple socks, below Luke is dribbling down the field

 Izzy and Ellana

 Laney wants in on the action badly

There were pictures last week and watching these kids pose for their first "team" picture was surreal. I still have my first soccer team's picture from when I was in 1st grade. I still remember taking that first picture...and all the years that followed sucking on orange slices at half time. Hope this season is just as fun for Izzy and she remembers this experience for years to come.