Almost 3!

This little guy is so good at entertaining himself! I love to watch him play...

He hardly ever wants me to take a picture so I have to be sneaky!

"Mommy...I see you take a picture!!!"

He loves telling people "I Carter...I two and a half!!!!" and I love it...even though next month he will be 3!!! Can't believe he is almost 3!!! My baby!

He loves his big boy bed and we are so grateful for a smooth transition so far...fingers crossed it continues! He wakes up and plays or reads in his bed until we go get him at this point...which is so nice! :)

Carter is currently obsessed with "Hanging Tough"...It is on Laura's Bach. Mix and he always requests it when it is his turn for a song in the van....it is hilarious to hear him sing it and watch him rock out! He learned it while I was away last weekend!

He is a silly boy and he is content to just "be"...I admire and try to learn from him...he seems to have a personality more like his Daddy and his sister is more like me (needs to be on the go and doing something w/ others all the time)...

We love our little guy!

Can't believe he is heading to preschool in the fall!

A Little Date

Mal has a summer cold, so Carter and I went on a little date Friday to get his haircut...it was so fun to hang out with just him! He was so proud of the sucker he got for doing a great job! We enjoyed stopping by the pet store too and looking at all the animals before we headed home...gotta love free entertainment! :)

Camp MiMi

Today was the last day of Camp MiMi for the summer...We are so grateful for the time, love, and energy you put into our little ones so we could teach! (Mike is done, but I have one more week!) The kids have had a blast and made so many memories! At the beginning of July MiMi could come in (Thank you so much for coming here MiMi so I didn't have to get the kids up and ready!) have coffee and chill and the kids would gradually wake up...then the excitement took over and M was up earlier and earlier to see her MiMi and would often be waiting on the steps with her clock in hand waiting for it to strike 7:00 so she could come downstairs and begin having fun with her MiMi...I love that the kids have had so much time with her!
And M is going to VBS at her school this week...(and Carter enjoyed some one on one time with his MiMi in the morning...good times!) We missed our church VBS bc we were at the beach so it was nice for her to be able to go to a VBS some where (she went last yr too and enjoyed it)....
M came home with this craft today and I got tears in my eyes...Who is that big girl!?!? She looks so old in this pic!

Thanks for loving our kids so well MiMi....they love Camp MiMi! :)

Matt's "Cover Girl"

We had such a fun night at the concert with Matt's "Cover Girl"...remember the NKOTB song!??!!? So fun! We all met at Matt's for dinner, drinks, games, and gifts before heading to the concert...Everyone got a lei and a mixed CD for the occasion...the bride got a veil, a sash, and a fun cup for her evening out on the town...It was so exciting to finally go see a Boy Band! I'm so glad I grew up during the 80s and 90s!

The Bride with her pup! BFF for 11 yrs! Mocha and Lu are a package deal...Congrats Matt!

The whole crew!

Cue the music! "Won't you stay here with me and be my briiiii ide!" :)

There were many laughs before heading out! (and many more to come throughout the evening!)

And the notorious Party Bus arrives!!!

It was such a fun "blast from the past" to see both boy bands...I might have been a little HYPER having never seen either band before(!) and we were also surprised and excited to see this artist too...he came out before the boy bands...such a cool surprise!
It was so crazy to finally be in the same room as my boy Brian (thanks for enduring the hyperness in college my friends!) from BSB...and they were fun to watch, but we were all even more impressed with NKOTB...They were awesome and may be even better performers than they were as kids! I had fun texting with my friend who is a "groupie" who was there but in a different section....she goes to almost every show...now I can see why! :)

Back on the party bus.....HEY NOW!!!

Can't remember the last time I went clubbin...it was an evening full of fun and laughs! WATCH OUT!!!! My sis is getting hitched! :) Won't be long now!!! :)

And just for fun...here we are 8 yrs ago on my Bachelorette night out! No Boy Bands (wish they had been touring back then!), but plenty of dancing!! :)

Time with the Fam

We had a fun morning together before I head to NC to celebrate with the girls for Lu's Bach Weekend! Mr. and Miss Serious had some fun with computer games...M is all about pbs games when she has computer time...Carter wants to be, but doesn't have a clue how to work the mouse yet...So this lasted but a few mins before it ended in frustration and the computer went up...but hey it was cute for a few mins! We got out the tents they got for Christmas and played some games inside while Mike took his walk (in the EXTREME heat...now that's dedication!) We also made a chain to count down to RI and Maine...We have some obsessed kids around here...now we have a visual... :)

And some reading time...love to see this little guy "read"...he was up late the other night "reading" in his bed...in the dark...we could hear the pages crumpling as he turned them on the monitor...no talking...just studious crumpling...we def had a good laugh about that one!
Loved having a family morning (love Fridays in the summer!) just hanging around the house...full of fun, time outs, and just being together... :)
Now I leave my 3 loves to celebrate the future Mrs. Howell with a little NKOTB and BSB!!!!! Happy Weekend! :)

jUmPy the frog!

Aunt Laura and M found a CUTE little frog on a "scavenger hunt" in the morning...(all the adults just trickled out slowly in the morning with coffee in hands...it was such a nice cool morning to just hang out and chat outside...) And Jumpy the frog was an exciting and adorable find! MiMi ran to get a habitat out of the shop for the little guy so he wouldn't get too much love from the kids...

His world literally "got rocked"...
(and I was still in my PJs in the pic below when Mike and Carter arrived back at their house)...we were just having such a nice time hanging out with Matt and his rents...)

We had mercy on him after a while and released him back into nature...I know he was grateful!

Carter was excited to get back into the tent and the kids enjoyed some books for a bit...it was a "romper room" the night before when they got in...this was much calmer...We had a wonderful weekend with everyone...Can't wait for Sept! :)

Camp Out with Auntie LuLu

Aunt Laura's finance and his rents came up to spend the weekend at MiMi and PaPa's...It was time to get the good ol invitation assembly line working for the wedding...Everyone did a little something...The Howells had quite a system! They were a machine! :)
Sat. night after all the work was done we relaxed hanging around the fire pit...

Made s'mores...

Chased and caught fireflies!! Oh the joys of summer nights!

Took some crazy rides in the hammock...

It was an unseasonably cooler night...just perfect!

Then our boys headed back for some "guy time" ...and Mal, Laura, and I had a "Ladies Night Camp Out" in their back yard...

Ahhhh the sounds of nature as we drifted off to dreamland...then 1130 we were startled awake by fireworks courtesy of the neighbor across the street...surprisingly M slept right on through that...then a text from Aunt SQ at 1230 to see how the camping was going...hehehe...
The "Sleep Ninja" slept right on through that too...and Auntie Lu only got sucker punched once by her niece...I warned her that the girl's got moves! :)

Woke up before the rest of the tent and got to enjoy my view above...

And beside me... :) Thanks for the sweet memories Auntie Lu!

Another Celtics Fan in da House!

Move over, Rondo...The Future is here...

The Sweetness of Summer

Love our summer days! The kids are having a blast at "Camp MiMi" in the morning! And we are having a great time teaching school...
It's fun waking this guy up from his naps...Couldn't believe his position today! It's like he was sliding into "home plate" or something!

I'm telling you these kids move when they sleep! Larry and Moe! Larry and Moe!!!
Mal likes being part of the "wake up committee"!

Crafting a bit while Daddy makes dinner...yikes...Carter has a bit to learn about scissor etiquette...

Yumm..... :)

We sliced the real one up after dinner and ate some for dessert on the deck waiting for the storm to blow in...love to feel the breeze and (slight) change in temp...it has been HOT round here!