Firecracker Finn

We finally saw baby Finn, and he is absolutely beautiful. He is growing fast and doing really well. Sylvia taught him how to say cheese when having his picture taken and they both practiced the touch down signal (although routing for different teams... Go Eagles!!

Sylvia loved all of Finn's toys (he probably didn't even know he had so many bracelets!!) and spent a long time lounging in his bouncy seat after stealing one of his pacifiers - which she never even used as a baby, so I think the picture below is hysterical.

We're looking forward to the next play-date. If you have Picasa, you can download the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/2008AugVisitToSeeFinn

for the Belmont Lobels, formerly of Lincoln Woods

I think I shall call this "view from porch on rainy day"

...on my way to where the air is clear

And I would eat crabs in a boat. And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat crabs in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good, you see!
We didn't have to eat those crabs in the rain. Oh, no, nothing but sunshine for us, a beautiful farm, and lots of family that we don't get to see very often.
I think John was in heaven. Besides the wonderful crabs, there were horses, and a goat, and lots of big dogs, and a tractor.....need I say more?
Here is a link to the rest of the photos! http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/2008AugCrabs

silly Sylvia

We had a yummy dinner at Aunt Chrissy's last Saturday.

I can't remember what was funny.....but I spent a lot of time trying different camera settings and caught a few moments of laughter in the process.

peaceful pb&j

everyone should have a picnic in the back yard now and then..
and we should all find so much joy in a sandwich and a bag of raisins.

fun photo: (see all of them here): http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/2008AugustPicnic

happy birthday Brock and Grammy

You've gotta love the shots of Brock showing Sylvia how to use a whoopie cushion. He is such a boy....and she is his little shadow.
Everyone had lots of fun at the party. I can't believe Brock is 3 already, as of Aug 19th (and Grammy will turn ?3 on that same day :)
Unfortunately, I missed the shots of the kids on the slip and slide. Sylvia loved crawling and slipping up and down in her little bloomers (luckily Aunt Sarah had a new outfut for her to wear after hers got soaked), and the guys took turns tossing Brock down the mat.
You can just barely see Brock's present from Grammy and Pop-pop in the background - a new swing set! In addition, he got lots of trucks, moon sand, and a new bike, among other things.

...and here is a link to many other photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/BrockAndGrammyBirthdays

one day later

...and one day after the harmonica performance in the entry below this one, she is still practicing.

I believe we have a little musician on our hands.

It is worth noting this was the first day Sylvie told me she needed to use the potty and she went - twice. She later hid while filling her diaper, followed by peeing on the bedroom carpet. Ah, the beginning of a long process :)

a couple kids short of the Partridge Family

this is too funny:

perfect day

Every now and then you have a day that you wish you could repeat over and over. Of course, if every day was that much fun, then the fun wouldn't seem so special, but I would settle for once a month.....

We started with breakfast at the Butter Valley golf course / airport, which included a ride in the golf cart and a view of three plane landings as we ate. Afterwards, we went outside and watched another plane land and a helicopter fly through. Now where else can you get that kind of excitement at breakfast!

We then did some shopping which included Target for mommy and Sylvie (always fun) and the guitar shop for daddy, where he got a new harmonica (I have a video of Sylvia with that harmonica to post....too cute!) Next stop Plymouth Meeting mall, which may not sound that exciting, until you realize they have a carousel in the mall and have recently added a California Pizza Kitchen (yes!!) We had fun with both, and ended the day playing with Sylvia's new soccer ball, which turned into some dancing and stretching in the backyard.

Here are the rest of all of the photos from that day:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/PerfectDay

happy birthday Aunt Meg

One of the children had control of my camera, so I cannot take the blame or the credit for most of these photos.

I think the photos Miss Jackie took came out awesome, including several creative shots of feet, doors, and cinderella pillows :)

See them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/TexFamily/MegSBirthday

One of the funniest moments of the night was when Sylvia was sitting in Rory's chair, with no intentions of getting up, even when Rory was demanding her chair back....so Rory simply sat on top of her.
A little bit later, Rory and Sylvia were both eating bits of pizza off of a tray with Meg. When Meg asked them if they wanted ice cream, Sylvia through the half-chewed pizza on the floor to chant "ice cream, ice cream". Between the ice cream, new toys, and all of those fun little girls, Sylvia could not have been happier. (plus she convinced her daddy to buy her a brand new enormous butterfly balloon on the way there, because we all know how Sylvia's room is severely lacking in both butterflies and balloons :) I think she is officially out of wall space!

girls' day out

Today Daddy was on a business trip, so the girls decided to play. We met up with Grammy and Brock at the pool and Sylvia had an awesome day. I think her favorite part was grabbing Brock's hand to take a walk. I heard people remark "oh look, he is taking his little sister for a walk". With those blue eyes and matching T-shirts (brand new souvenirs from Grammy and Pop-pop) they did look like siblings.

I spent a lot of time explaining to Brock that the dark area on the ground was his shadow, which was next to Sylvie's shadow and Aunt Keri's shadow. Later I saw him pointing to puddles, and telling Sylvia "Look, there is your shadow." :)

For dinner we stopped at McDonalds (for the first time ever?!) and Sylvia played on the playground forever. She mastered the baby slide and was really wanting to go on the big-kid slide...maybe next time.

When we got home, Sylvia pulled this hat out of the drawer and decided to make one final fashion statement of the day. We definitely miss Daddy when he is away, but the girls know how to have fun!!

Chamberlain Family Reunion

Lots of fun and lots and lots of pictures! A few favorites here and a slideshow with ALL of them at the bottom. (and somehow I still missed the photo op on the mini carousel at the candy shop :)