weekend recap...

Saturday, i had a wedding cake to finish up, deliver & assemble - i don't know what i'd do without curtis sometimes....he's so good at keeping the kids busy when i'm forced to work on cakes when they're awake....and he's super good at taking them fishing, to the playground, etc. to get them out of the house! ;0) thx babe!!!

after i got home, we went for a family walk through the neighborhood & watched a movie together after dinner (Son of the Mask - The Mask is one of Jaden's very fav movies, so i couldn't wait for Son of the Mask to arrive via Netflix)....silly movie, but cute

i don't have any pics from Saturday....but on Sunday & Monday, i took LOTS! ;0)

Sunday was the day that the kids discovered the fun of K'nex....Jaden has some of the fun new sets where u can create animals & aliens - and he loves them.....but never any of the old school sets that have wheels & motors & stuff.....my mom just came across my brother's old set when they moved & gave them to Jaden.....the kiddos spent a long time Sunday morning, playing with them

even daddy joined in and made a cool race car


here's some of the kids' "inventions" (as they call them)....Gabrielle made the big thing & couldn't figure out why it wouldn't roll one way or the other....i explained to her that it's cause the wheels are going in different directions & showed her what it could do - spin in a circle! she was amazed! ~teehee~


she's so creative - she made the middle part into a little seat for her polly pockets - they even had shade cover


before we headed out on our traditional weekend "playground hopping" trip, we stopped by our future home....we wanted to explore the yard some more & start planning where we're going to put what....we think we've found the campfire spot & we've already talked about clearing out some of the flower beds & what we'll put in instead.....i'm LOVING the clothes line & the grape vine/trellis that are already there - both just need a little work to spruce them up....and there's 2 apple trees on the side (behind where Gabby is standing) - i guess if we have to give up our cherry trees, it'll b nice to have apples in their place ;0)

curtis even found a spot to hang his punching bag.....the landlord is going to fix up this out building more, before we move in.....and if the landlord doesn't, curtis is planning on clearing out the brush here to hang his bag from a sturdy tree hidden in there somewhere

we took the kids by a playground that Curtis & I had spotted at a local church.....it's probably been there for a while, but it's new to us.....it's small & doesn't have any shade, but it's very fun!

every time we take the kids by the school's playground, they have to roll down the hill first....needless to say, it's one great sledding spot in the winter! ;0)

on the way home from playground hopping, gabby taught Jaden to blow a bubble! it's so cool how the kids teach each other stuff! Jaden taught both girls how to whistle a while back (all 3 are amazingly good - he surprises the heck out of adults who hear him whistle).....Gabby learned to blow bubbles from our cousin Ricky (who's 9) a few months ago.....but in that one car ride, she taught Jaden....and i was shocked at how well she was able to describe what to do with the gum & your lips/tongue, in teaching him - she's good!

here's pics of the whole thing....the funniest part is Corinn in these pics!


he got it!

and then Corinn asked me to take her pic - what a ham! a very sweet & beautiful ham tho! ;0)


Monday (Labor Day), we woke up to gorgeous weather! we all sat outside for a while - Curtis chatting with our downstairs neighbor, me reading a magazine & drinking my coffee, & the kiddos just playing

we brought out buckets of water for them to play with their Polly Pockets, Barbies & dragon toys....they love doing this - whether is bath time for the dolls, or they're swimming & exploring the ocean - it's endless fun


Gabby is also big into her jump rope these days!


and both girls have been catching & observing every bug they find! we currently have 3 caterpillars inside, hoping they'll build cocoons & turn into butterflies!


then, daddy found this out front, on the side of the road....it was dead....it didn't appear to have been run over tho? and we didn't know what kind of snake it was....when i showed the pic to my brother & dad, they said that it looked like a corn snake.....looking online, it sounds like these make good pet snakes - non venomous, constrictors.....so i wonder if someone just tossed him.....he was small (& like i said, dead).....poor thing


we headed over to Nana & Grandpa's that evening for a BBQ.....and we had a great time!
my sis & i both commented on how it felt like we were camping, out there under all the trees

of course, Grandpa got out the 4-wheelers & go-kart

here's a fun video of a trip that my brother, CJ, took us on.....he hooked up a cart to his 4-wheeler & led us on a trail through the woods, below his chicken houses.....Katie (his wife), me, Gabby, Corinn & Bryan rode in the cart.....then Jaden followed in the go-kart....Travis & Kelly (my sis & her hubby) pulled up the end, on Grandpa's 4-wheeler.....the kiddos LOVED it and had us do it about 3 times! it was fun! :0)
(the video starts out kind of dark - cause at first, we're in the woods & it was late in the day)

i hope u all had a fabulous labor day weekend too!