Doing What I Do Best....

...playing blog catch up.

I just can't seem to make myself blog on a regular basis these days, but since I do want to keep up with the kids growing up, I will do another big update with lots of pics.

These 1st pics are one day after church was over.

Hey Mommy....

I want THAT!

Thanks Mom! (Don't worry, it was a little Sonic ice and water.)

Mateo like to 'help' me clean around the house. He will watch me load the dishwasher and then shut it for me. One night he decided to add a few of his things in before shutting the door....can you spot the items that don't belong?

He was pretty proud of himself because he thought I was going to start the dishwasher with his shoe and ball in there.

Tatum has been making LOTS of things at school this summer. Some were pretty hard to identify. Can you tell me what THIS is?

It's a JELLYFISH of course!

Bathtime fun with Tatum and Mateo

BIG CHEESE from Mateo...

Back to the school art projects. Now, tell me what you think THIS is...

Give up?? It's a BLOWFISH!

We have spent MANY weekends at the pool this year. My kids love being out in the sun and playing in the water almost as much as I do. Here are a few pictures of our picnic at the pool. My camera was fogging up because it was hot, but as you can see, Mateo eats on the table so he can reach his food.

Antonio has been hosting car/bike races at the house lately. The kids sure love them and it gives me a few minutes after dinner to clean up the kitchen.

Here is Mateo getting ready for the races. This is how he likes to run around the house....shirtless with shoes.

Tatum was the first to race by.

She managed to run into Mateo

Then Mateo was ready to race. Antonio taught Mateo to put his feet up on his car and then Antonio pushes him down the hall.

As you can see, he LOVES it!

Gran gave Mateo this car for Christmas, and it is one toy that gets used on a daily basis! It plays music...VERY loud music, and Mateo loves that too! Some mornings I have to actually put this car in the car to take the kids to school or else Mateo will pitch a FIT! (Yes, I pick my battles.)

Mateo is ALMOST ready to upgrade to a tricycle.

This next picture cracks me up! Antonio must have pushed Mateo too hard or either Mateo wasn't ready to go yet. He almost flew off, but managed to hold on.

Tatum has been getting stamps on her hands at school for the past week. Those stamps aren't the easiest to get off either. This night, Tatum managed to rub her hand under her nose, so she had green under her nose.

Mateo has been hitting and biting lately when he doesn't get his way. They haven't had a problem with him at school, but he does this at home with Tatum from time to time. If/when this happens, we will tell Mateo to give Tatum a hug, a kiss, and tell her you are sorry.

Here is the hug....

And here he is saying "I'm sorry."

One of my friends came into town this weekend for her 10 yr reunion, so we got to see her for a few hours. We decided to take the kids to the mall and let them play while we caught up.

There was this little train that Tatum was dying to ride, but Mateo did not want to ride. However, Mateo would not take his eye off of the train carrying his big sister.

Tatum LOVED ringing the bell.

I don't go to the mall often, but if I do go, I never go to the Wolfchase mall. However, that's where we were Saturday and I must admit, I loved this littl play area. It was nice having an enclosed area, inside out of the heat, where the kids could run and play freely while Colleen and I got to sit and talk!

I think Mateo was having to tell Tatum sorry again in this next picture, but it is a sweet pic.

Tatum was a little tired, so I guess she was taking a break?

Mateo made a few friends.

I also let Tatum ride the carousel before we left. Mateo did not want to sit on his own horse, so I held him. This is not the best picture of us all, but it's the only one we got.

Here's me, Colleen, and Mateo

Finally, my mom likes to buy clothes for my kids. Most are cute, but some, are just not my style. Here's one of those that are just not my style...

This is an outfit that my mom would have (DID) dress us in growing up. I am sure that it was in style WAY back then, but wow, I would never put it on my dear children now. However, Antonio decided to put it on Mateo this morning before church, so I took a few pics for my mom because it will probably never touch his precious skin again.

Mateo shares my taste in clothing....he didn't like the outfit either....and yes, he does have PJ pants on under this outfit.

TAKE IT OFF MOMMY!!

About 2 weeks ago, we decided it was time to take Mateo's pacifier away. He was only getting it at night for bedtime and wasn't nearly as attached as Tatum was to the pacifier, but I knew it would still be a little difficult. Night 1 without the pacifier, Mateo cried for 43 minutes straight. We went in and checked on him twice, but never gave in. Night 2, I think he cried about 30 minutes. Night 3 was about 20 minutes. Night 4 was 15 minutes. And night 5, he finally 'got it' and didn't fuss more than 5 minutes. I am glad we are done with the pacifier. I love them because I have never wanted my kids to suck their thumbs, but I didn't want my kids to have the pacifier for too long either.

That catches me up on pictures for now. Hopefully I will make myself update more about the kids soon!