Synchronized diving (on the edge of the couch). 
Gymnastics - floor routine. Yes, there was injury.
Carter's couch routine.
Look at that form!
Wow. That's all. Wow! (What is that?)Does anyone have a good idea on how to get crafty with making our own gold medals?
I got brave last Saturday and had Aaron turn Carter's crib into a toddler bed. No more crib for my big boy! I was so scared I would deeply regret this decision, but it's been okay so far. Carter absolutely loves his big boy bed!
Carter got some seriously big ($$) checks this year! Spoiled! I had fun spending them though ;)
He totally understood that whatever was in that envelope was his! 
Hooray! He liked his card so much that he took it to the store with him later that day. Side note: Grammy Lunt gets nervous sending checks because she's afraid her grandchildren will have the same reaction that Aaron had when he was young...Aaron once got a check as a gift from someone and got pretty sad/upset because he thoughy it was a bill! No worries here though.
We've been practicing holding up two fingers for weeks now but it's still a difficult task for Carter to conquer on his own. He's concentrating quite hard to hold the right fingers up.
Carter started off his birthday right. I pretty much let him eat what he wanted. So, for breakfast: chex mix, raisins, fruit snacks, fudge covered chocolate chip granola bar and then filled in the gaps with milk.
So happy to be eating fruit snacks for breakfast! 
For lunch: a few french fries, a little ketchup, some sprite, a dum dum sucker and then once again, topped it off with milk. 
Olivia tried hard to convince Carter that it was okay to sit in Ronald's lap, but he wanted nothing to do with the clown!
He was just happy to keep his distance from the crazy dude.
My new desk top background :)
During Carter's nap time, Olivia and I were busy making his baseball birthday cupcakes.
Please tell me that you can see which two Olivia finished by herself!
Olivia then finished up all the wrapping. 
Olivia is a pro at taping up every place where you might start to rip a present open. Carter somehow figured it out though.
When Carter woke up from his nap, he was ready to unwrap presents. Luckily I was able to hold him off until Aaron got home from work. Once Aaron walked through the door though, instead of running to Daddy for hugs (his normal routine), he ran straight to the presents and started to rip. It was a dash to get the camera ready because there was no holding him back!
Figuring out Olivia's tape jobs. 
I know most of you are thinking, "an umbrella and sunglasses for a two year-old?" Well, he loves anything his older sister has and to pull him away from all things pink, he gets his own...sunglasses and umbrella. 
Nothing pink about these bad boys...boxer brief's! He's supposed to be showing his muscles, but instead all I see is a Buddha belly! 
Where's your bum Carter? 
This is Olivia's card that she made for him... so cute!
Oh and don't forget dinner: only cold icecream and a cupcake! And milk! We all sat down to eat dinner and he would have nothing to do with it...just kept pointing to the cupcakes on the counter. Oh well.
He finished off his birthday by doing cannon balls with Daddy in the neighbors pool.
Happy Birthday Buddy!
Tuesday was a big day. I got my van back! Three and a half weeks after the incident...who knew it would take so long? Not me! I'm new to the whole car accident/working with insurance company thing. And actually now it's going to be even longer because if I'm paying 500 buckaroos (our deductible) for someone else's unwanted goods lying on I75, I want every ding it caused repaired! Yep, I'm being nit-picky! Imagine that ;) So, my van is likely to head to the shop again next week for (fingers crossed) around four days.
I actually had to meet the insurance adjuster today to point out all the "dings" because telling them (at least three times) didn't do the trick. He assured me that I wasn't crazy...
I needed the assurance because two days prior to that, the other insurance guy told me (over the phone) that he didn't see how all those "dings" could be from the accident. How can I make someone understand that I am one of the most honest people around? (except when it comes to telling my 4-year-old about Santa Clause and how babies come out of bellies)
Anyhow, you've never seen the grill and hood of an eight year-old mini van look so shiny! It's a beautiful thing. (The license plate on the other hand...at least it somewhat survived the accident.)
Some things I missed about my van while it was in the repair shop:
*SLIDING DOORS
*keyless entry
*POWER SLIDING DOOR
*gas tank on the drivers side
*programmed radio stations
*cruise control
*my kiddies being able to see out their windows
*having room to pick up friends for playdates
*leather seats (don't want to sound too vain)
There are definitely some things I'll miss about the (base model) Nissan we rented:
*a working CD player
*AWESOME gas mileage
*snazzy orange dash lights with an ODO reading 30,000 miles
*quick braking power (don't ask!)
*that's about it...I'm really a mini van mom
ps Thanks for letting me vent
Check out this kids tan line! Carter's favorite thing to do after coming in and getting his swim trunks off....run around the house as we all laugh at his white boo-tay!
Who needs a horse, when you have a Daddy?
A couple of the children in Olivia's swim class wore goggles and so she has been asking for a pair since then. When I finally got her a pair, they were worn for about 20 seconds and she hasn't cared for them since. Not only do they pull her hair when we adjust them, but they didn't magically plug her nose for her when she went underwater. Too bad, she looks pretty cute (and a little silly) in them!
Our little 10x10 garden has been putting out the veggies! Almost everday last week I was able to bring in an armful like this. 
We are so lucky to have a beautiful pool next door. Our neighbors are so kind to let us swim almost anytime we want.
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I would have laid down on the couch to snooze, but Aaron was busy reading....a book that had nothing to do with engineering!
Olivia got a hold of the camera again and these are some of the great shots she came up with (including that one above of Aaron reading).
Olivia laughed so hard when she was showing me these pictures of her nose and mouth. It was so cute.
She's becoming quite the photographer. haha (And obviously taking lessons from our friend, Ken, on how to cut off the head's.)
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Nope! The van isn't fixed. Nope! This isn't a picture of our new car.
The van is at the shop waiting to be repaired. In the mean time, I am hooked up with a rental car just like the one above...it's fine, but I do miss my van!
Wondering what a camper top has to do with our Independence Day? No, we definitely didn't go camping again. Carter is still banned from going camping! I'll get to this adventure later...
My All-American Girl!
My All-American Boy!
Olivia was so excited that Connor was at the party we attended. I was happy to hear that Connor likes fireworks, because Connor liking fireworks equals Olivia liking fireworks...a first for Olivia!
Carter has no fear! He yelled, "POW" all night with nearly every firework that exploded. 
We visited the Bradley's on the 4th of July. Olivia loves their Guitar Hero...she actually understood how she was supposed to play this time. 
Aaron still had to concentrate really hard even though he had a really big helper. (HA! Actually Aaron was told to give me a "sexy face" and this is what I got.)
Olivia saw her friend do sparklers on the 3rd of July and so she was ready to give it a try on the 4th. (I guess she had to sleep on that decision or something.) She loved it!
And once again, Carter has no fear.
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Back to the camper top now:
Apparently someone decided they no longer needed a camper top and so they let it fly on I-75. We were the first ones to "find" it. "POW!" We feel so lucky though. Aaron kept the car straight (didn't swerve, which could have been really bad!), no injuries, and I forgot to cancel our comprehensive insurance on the van when we paid it off a few months ago. How lucky can we get?! Carter actually slept through it all...the hit, the scream (by me) and the police report. We just hope that all continues to go this smoothly with insurance covering a rental car (can I really handle being stuck at home for the duration of fixing the van?) and all the other related costs of fixing our van!!!
Thanks for all of those that helped us out with rides and such these past few days!
Also, I really wanted to have this song playing, but it wasn't on playlist...so I chose 2nd best.
