Meeting Baby Bram

 My brother and his wife welcomed a baby boy a few weeks ago.  My mom, Liam, and I made a trip up north to welcome the little fella into our family.  Oh my goodness.  He is so cute!  Liam was smitten with his birthday buddy!

 Grammie and her newest grandson.  Four grandsons in 4.5 years -- not to shabby!

 Liam enjoyed tickling Baby Bram's tiny little feet and flopping his legs ;-)

 Sweet baby cheeks and fuzzy baby hair. 

 Liam and Bram had quite a few adventures--the biggest one was their trip to the zoo!

 I brought the Polariod and film for Mr. Liam to take his own photos.  He had so much fun taking pictures -- so cute to see him tote that camera around.

 Liam:  "Momma, can I take a picture of you?  Now, say 'cheese'!"

 I think Liam, Grammie, and I all enjoyed watching these hippos.  Seeing them stand under the water and lift their head up for a yawn, drink, or sip of air, was pretty facinating.

 Wow!  Rhino!

 Baby Bram with his eyes open.

 Baby Bram the Butterfly.

 Mr. Liam, the Butterfly.

 Uncle Ben and the middle muskateer.

 Liam toting his camera down the the river where we were going on a boat ride.  And, his cheeta who we named "Toledo".  Toledo goes everywhere with Liam.  Poor Cooper the Bear must be feeling sad now.

 Liam snapping a picture of the mules that would be pulling our boat down the river.

 Baby Bram checking out his Grammie.

 Baby Bram snuggled in his daddy's arms.

What a sweet little guy!  I would have loved to bring him back home with us and cannot wait to see him again!!!

4th of July Parade

 Our new neighborhood held a 4th of July parade and party in the park this morning.  Neighbors were encouraged to decorate golf carts, lawn mowers, bikes, etc.  At about 4:00 on July 3rd, Erin and I decided that it would be fun to decorate a float.  So, she and Jeff brought over the 4-wheeler and trailer this morning at 9:00 and we whipped out a decorated float using things we had left over from the boy's birthday parties.  I think it turned out fabulous!

Oh my gosh.  This baby girl is just too cute for words!

 The "float" in front of us was my favorite.  Isn't that tractor amazing?? 

 We had candy that we threw out to the few spectators that showed -- most everyone that participated was IN the parade.  LOL

 The best candy throwing moment probably went to Owen and his throw that landed right in the lap of a gentlement sitting in his golf cart.  Candy sailed through the air, past the passenger in the cart, and landed right in between the legs of that guy.  It was hilarious.  Owen was embarrased; but, it was pretty darn funny.

 At the park, there were hot dogs, watermelon, cookies, and ... a fire truck that turned the place into a splash park! 

 Erin talked Liam into running through the water.  None of the other boys would go. 

What a fun way to start off the 4th of July!  I think this needs to be a "families tradition"!

Hope you had a fun and safe 4th, too!

Liam is Three!

The middle man celebrated his third birthday last week.   He has been anticipating his birthday for quite some time now.  They celebrated the summer birthdays on the last day of preschool and he has been pretty ready for the real-deal ever since. 

We took Liam to Chuck E Cheese for lunch on the 29th (his real birthday) and then celebrated with a train party on Saturday.  Sweet boy is smiling from ear to ear -- so excited to have a real live train in his front yard and so excited to finally be three.

 Owen and Liam riding the first go-round.  These boys are happy with a capital H!

 We were missing quite a few friends that ended up having conflicts, getting sick, and some that didn't get the invite in the mail.  Oy.  But, it was still quite a fun morning!  Ms. Tracy's (Owen's preschool teacher) 9 year old daughter and her best friend opened a party business.  I was the first to hire them.  They had games and crafts for the kids that weren't on the train.  These girls rocked.  They were so professional and had great ideas.

 Sweet Gavers.  He wasn't sure about the train at first.  And then he warmed up to it.  A lot.  Oh, and I realized about half way through the party that only one of my kids was wearing shoes.  Hilarious.  That's how we roll now that we live out in the country.  LOL

 The party scene.

 These five kiddos (Brooke, Liam, Owen, Noble, and Austin) rarely left the train.  Others hopped on and off.  They stayed on riding. 

 This is one happy guest of honor!

 Cake time!

 Liam's view during the happy birthday song.  To say that our friends can't carry a tune would be an understatement.  Hilarious.  No wonder Liam couldn't watch.  LOL

 Liam doing the train craft with Ashlyn and Nika.  He was auditing Ashlyn's play-doh rendition of Thomas the Tank Engine. 

 Sweet little birthday boy.

 The present opening destruction.

Happy 3rd birthday, Liam.  You are the funniest of the Quinlan boys.  You always have a laugh, even when we are trying to be serious.  You are still very dramatic...once you get mad or sad, it's hard to get you happy again.  But, when you are happy you are oh so happy.  We love you to the moon and back, baby boy.

a few faves

We have been spending a lot of time in the pool this summer!  It's been fun!  Between the pool, playing outside, running errands, and trying to keep up with where the boys are at all times, I don't have too much time to blog.  But, I have a few favorites from the past weeks I wanted to post.

The boys wanted goggles.  They don't use them to swim often, but they sure look cute when they do!

 Gavin joined in on the swimming lesson fun.  Well...fun to Owen and Liam; but, turns out not Gavin's idea of fun.  This pic was from the first day -- before Gavin realized that he is in the baby class that swims before his big brothers.  If he could just be in their class, and get to go off the diving board, and do all of the other things the nearly 3 and 4 year olds do, he just might like it better.  LOL

 We are loving our new community!  We attended the First Annual Pancake Breakfast at the Faiview Firestation a few Saturdays ago.  The boys had a blast.  We have also spent time at our local farm stand getting fresh veggies and fruit.  It's about a 3 mile drive on country roads from our house.  The farm stand lady wants to give them a tour of the farm on her golf cart next time.  I don't know if they will go for it -- but, if they do, I think they will enjoy it and she will have a few new little friends.

 We adopted a kitty from the Collin County Shelter.  Her name is Mango and she currently resides in the laundry room as she aclimates to the house and the boys.  So far, she only comes out for Liam.  I think it may be due to the fact that he spends so much quiet time in their talking to her and trying to pet her.  She will come out for a pet when he is in there alone.  I think they are bonding. 

 Gavin is getting too big.  He does such funny things.  He uses the flyswatter to turn on the light he can't quite reach the switches for.  He pulls up his little chair to watch cartoons and, the other day, to just sit and look at the view from the back windows.  So cute.  Little man can keep up with his brother outside like he is a year or two older than he is.  He has the scrapes and bruises to prove it.

 Uncle Ben and Aunt Marissa gave the boys a science kit for Christmas.  We used it this week to make snow.  Owen had fun playing in the snow outside in the 100 degree weather....see it falling from his head??

 Gavin took the chalk to the garage door.  When told "no", I got this look.  I see this look a lot.  So cute I want to laugh and just grab him up for hugs and kisses.

 Our landscaping project started today.  Liam is in love with the dirt that was brought in.  I think he will be sad to see his mountain spread all over the front yard tomorrow.

 Gerard and I got out one night for the Kenny Chesney / Tim McGraw concert.  What a fun night!

That's it for now!  The middle man turns three this week -- pictures of the festivities are forthcoming!

And I thought May was Busy

I thought May was busy.  It was; but, boy, today--June 2--was probably the busiest day we have EVER had.

Liam went to Taylor's birthday party at a ranch this morning.  So Much Fun!  He has been asking me if he could learn to ride horses.  But, I wasn't sure if he was really serious and would really, when given the chance, get on one.  This was his first ever opportunity, and boy did I find out that, yes, he meant what he said.  He was the 2nd kid to hop on.  He rode Blaze first.

Then again.

 Then, he rode Bandit before we had to leave the party early to head to Owen's last game of the season.  Liam was either smiling from ear to ear while riding, or watching the pony's hooves as it walked, or watching its head move up and down the whole time.  Hello little cowboy! 

Owen's last game of the season was so fun to watch.  The boys have all come a long way and they did GREAT today!  That's Owen running in to home in the picture below.

 Owen played pitcher today.  He likes pitcher, first base, and short stop best.  He made some good plays at pitcher!  So fun to see him in action doing something that he really seems to enjoy.

 After the game, Owen and I headed over to the post-season pizza party....

 ...and trophy presentation party.

 We left Owen's baseball party early so I could take Liam to his 2nd birthday party of the day.  It was Emily's Dora the Explorer party.  They had a map and adventure planned out and Liam was in heaven.  His favorite part was when they encountered a picture of Swiper who had stolen the cake.  Didn't have my camera....so, no pics.  But, he had a blast.

Then, we came home and swam in the pool.

 Daddy went out and picked up dinner so we could have a pool-side picnic.  We heated up the pool and kept swimming until 9 o'clock tonight.  Even Gavin got in for a couple hours.  It was so fun. 

I wonder if they are all as tired as me and will sleep in a little tomorrow.  One can only hope.