My girl.

I just love her.

Yesterday Mckinlay walked in the room right as I
pulled my boots on. She said:
"Ooooh! Cute shoes!"
I think she knows how cute she is.

(photos by Holly Knudson)

Daddy Daughter Day

Mckinlay and Ty had their very first Daddy Daughter Date today. He took her to Lowe's where they built a fire truck. Twice a month Lowe's offers a free project for kids. You have to register online in advance, but that's it! Thanks for posting about this Kristen!

All the hammering scared her, but she got into it when it came time to put on the stickers. She loved the finished product. She's been playing with it all day...

and playing with Daddy all day. This is her new way of getting around the house.

Daddy pulls her--She pulls the duck.
Who pulls me?

The "Little Stink"

Some stinky things the "stinker" has been up to lately:

-Vaseline.

-"Playing Yahtzee"-- dumping out all the pieces, spreading the papers all over the room and drinking the dice out of the dice cup. And then moving on to Checkers.

-Losing Dad's tooth brush. Repeatedly.

-Playing dress up while in time out. The girl can't be punished.
(I know, Mom, I know. Sounds familiar, right?)

-Ripping books. And then coloring in them.

-Nodding when she is doing something she knows she shouldn't. As if she is saying "this is OK for me to be doing."

-Getting into the cakeover and covering her face/hands in cake. And then wiping it on yours truly.

-Taking off her jammies. And her Diaper. I've been doing a lot of laundry. I thought I solved the problem. Last night I put a onesie on her under the jammies.

She awoke like this. Notice the undone diaper.
Maybe I"ll try duct tape tonight.

BFFs

I had to post this. Can you believe we got a picture where all the kiddos were looking at the camera!? And nobody was crying?

Brianne, you are a miracle worker.

"Baby," "Book-n," "Din-dee" and "Dis-Dis"

Happy shopping!

There is sure to be great shopping at the NieNie Benefit Sale!

Check it out here.

4 hours later & I'm still giggling.

Best. Birthday. Post. Ever.

Thanks Breezy. You're still "preety radicle".

Ground Breaking

Last Saturday we attended the ground breaking ceremony for the Cambridge Stake Center!We have been hearing about this building since we moved here over 3 years ago. There have been a lot of bumps in the road getting this building started and we weren't even sure we'd still be living in Boston when construction began. The building won't be completed until 2010, but at least we'll get to see it in the beginning stages.
This is what the building will look like once it's completed. Our Stake does not have a Stake Center, our ward actually meets in an old Boiler Factory. We drive out to Westin (about 40 mins away) to use their building for Stake Conference.
Ty and I got to "break ground." We're pretty much famous.
I do appreciate that they brought in a sandbox for the ceremony in lieu of using jackhammers on the concrete.
This little stinker was really intrigued by the giant sandbox. During the program, Mckinlay went up to the box and took a handful of dirt. When the Stake President announced that the ground breaking would begin he said something along the lines of, "Well, the first to break ground was the little Loveless child..." That's my daughter for ya. Always trying to one up everyone.
Bless the genius who thought to bring sidewalk chalk to the ceremony. Brilliant I tell ya!

Here is an article from the Boston Globe.

"Din-dee Aree"

When did she get so grown up?
(photo taken by Holly Knudson)

Back me up ladies.

**update**
I just got the pattern. Ty said "Well, I guess you got enough positive reinforcement that you can get it now." Silly boy, didn't he know I was going to get it all along?

Darling, no?Ty needs some convincing.

I can see how he could find these little darlings "grandma-y", but don't you think they would be vintage-y and adorable sitting on our couch or under our tree at Christmas?
I mean, it's not like I'm gonna sit them on the orange and um, orange afghan that Grandma Lou made....but maybe I'll wear a caftan while I make them, just to bug Ty.

If you want to make them too,
get the pattern here.

A boy and 2 girls in a little canoe...

We finally canoed the Charles.

Glad Mckinlay was prepared in her boots.
'Cause you just never know, right?

Next time--
we kayak.

"Hap-hi" Birthday!

We sure love you Happy Jo! Hope you have a fabulous day.
I think we will bake some birthday cookies in your honor.

XXXOOO

Go Sox!

We are now official Bostonians.

We went to our first Red Sox game with the Christophers and the Spragues this weekend. Pathetic I know. We have lived here for 3 years and this is our first game.

The Sox won, but even if they didn't it still would have been fun. All because of two words:
Fenway Franks.
I will spare you the pictures taken with said franks.
(You're welcome.)

Don't you love our Sox gear?

We were talking about how we wished we had Red Sox shirts to wear to the game. Somehow I have developed a reputation for making things out of felt (no idea why) and we joked about making shirts out of felt. Well girls, never joke about felt with me, because you will probably get it.

Sorry boys.
Maybe next game you'll get some felt too!?

"She's a Maniac, Maniac"

Jill has this song on her blog right now. So we spent a good portion of the morning like this:

Mckinlay would have done quite well in the 80's, don't you think? Funny thing is I had her dressed (minus the sweat band) before we came across the song.

(Pardon the giant mess in the video. I'm in the process of cleaning out closets and cupboards. So those of you who know my house is usually messy, at least this mess has a purpose. :))

Ms. Bucket Head

Have I mentioned this is Mckinlay's favorite thing about the beach?

This is why we're on bath #2 for the day

We decided to try our hand at finger painting today.
Each of her works of art were done for very specific people chosen by her. So if you are lucky, you might be the happy recipient of an original "Wuv-esss" (see video in post below).

I'm still trying to figure out who "Boom-boom" is though. So, if you think it might be you, let me know and I'll send your picture off directly.

What's your name?

I was born in the wrong decade.

Don't you think this look works for me?I needed a break from house cleaning. If you need one to, click here. Some of the photos made me laugh out loud.

"Hi Mama!"

As I pranced into the bliss that was our future...

...I had no idea life would be so good!

Happy anniversary babe!
So much!

Thanks Emily!

On our last day in Utah we got to have a photo shoot with Emily! Lucky us! Here are a few of my favs, but check the rest out here. And check out this darling shoot with Rebecca.

Thanks Emily! You are amazing!

We're back.

And we're tired.

But wouldn't you be after playing, zooing, eating, cousining, museuming, family reunioning, partying, quacking, sytycding, chalking, snuggling, raspberrying, talking, "ou-sigh"ing, fire trucking, sewing, swimming, relaxing, visiting, merry-go-rounding...

Thanks for everyone who made Mckinlay and my trip so fabulous! We love you and miss you already!

AND we missed you so much Ty! We can't wait for you to get home tonight!

Cousins Party

Girl Friends

My girlies + Bajio + pedicures = perfect combination

Love you gals! Thanks for a fun day!

Bunny Ears

I love my li'l bro and sis.
Even if Tyler is growing a mustache.

Maddel-san's Birthday Party

Maddel decided that she wanted a themed birthday party this year. Why do you think she chose to have an Asian theme? To revolve the party around "Grandma's Chicken" of course!

Here are a few highlights:

Of course we dressed up. Maddle sewed Mckinlay's costume just for the occasion. Darling, no?

The Geisha Girls.
So glad Erika and Margot were here too!

Too bad we took this photo after Papio shaved his foo-man-choo.

I would like to call special attention to Tyler's footwear. You can't see them too well, but they are wooden blocks.The food was fabulous! And we even had homemade fortune cookies.

Happy 22nd B-day Maddel! So glad Mckinlay and I were here to celebrate with you!
We love you!!