A BUG BIRT-DAY PARTY!!!

During the bug hunt... the kids had a lot of fun collecting the bugs in their bug catchers!

The party crew!

BC helping Little Miss collect a ladybug!

Deep in thought while he played on the steps

The gorgeous Little Miss (who is going to be a big sis in December!)

The bug line-up...

Present time!

Getting a smooch from Mimi Bear, who came to help us out the last couple of days!

Yay for some games!

The boys IMMEDIATELY had to open up the construction vehicle set.  Boys will always be boys!

Hello!  Well, I hoped you enjoyed the pics from Bear Cub's "thrown together at the last minute" birthday party!  We had such fun yesterday up at our community pool, swimming, going on a bug hunt, and eating some snacks.  I really wanted BC to celebrate with his friends here before we moved, and it all worked out great.  We have such wonderful friends here - the kids AND their parents!  We will miss them all,  for sure.  

Bear Cub wanted a "BUG BIRT-DAY" so I was lucky to find all the bug goodies at the local Dollar Store.  He had a lot of fun getting all the bugs out of the packages the night before the party, too!  I'm so glad we had the party - so now BC is really ready to celebrate the BIG 3 in July!  ;)

Well, tomorrow is our closing on the new house!  There is still some packing left to do, but we're getting there.  I'm excited about the new house and will post some pics once it's ours.  We are moving out on Saturday!  It's going to be a very busy weekend!

Our Internet is getting turned off tomorrow, and I haven't yet signed us up with the new company, so it may be a bit before I post again.  We'll be up and running soon, so be sure to check back in a week or little more.  

A change ahead for BC in the new house...he's going to be sleeping in his BIG BOY bed starting on Saturday!  Oh my.  I've been hyping it up and he's all ready for his "big boy" room.  Keep your fingers crossed that it all goes well!  :)  I think as long as we have Zoe and ALL of his cars there, he'll be good to go.

If you normally email me through a Comcast account and find that you can't shortly, please email me through the blog and it will come through to the Google account.  

Have a wonderful weekend ahead and stay posted for more news of our move and hopefully a closing date on this home we're in now.  :)  

Love,

Bear Cub Mama

Today is...

MY BIRTHDAY!!!  :)  

Just a quick post to fill you in on this week's events.  I'm having a really nice birthday...just hanging out with my Bear Cub!  I've talked to my family on the phone, had lots of well wishes, and ate lunch with my teacher friends.  BC had a blast playing with the other kids there too, so we both enjoyed ourselves!

The packing continues...the closing on the new house in this Friday, and we will load up and move on Saturday.  I can't believe it's all happening!!  SO FAST!!!  I'm excited about it all and anxious to get our stuff into the new house.  The un-packing will keep me busy for the next two weeks!

A little random tidbit here...did you 2 years ago on my birthday, I received THE CALL about our court date in Russia?  Now how was that for a birthday present?!?!  Only THE BEST!  :)  Another thing I can't believe...how can it be two years gone by?  But on the other hand...haven't we had him forever?  I forget at times that we adopted Bear Cub...he is just so US.  That is the only way to describe it.  Anyway, just a happy memory from a birthday passed!

I'll try to post again mid-week.  We may be without internet service for a week or so, starting on Friday, so don't fret if you haven't heard from us.  We'll get back up and running shortly once we're in the new house.  

Have a wonderful week!!  :)  

Bear Cub's very best friend...

BC with his special artwork that he made just for Daddy.

Yum!  Our iced brownie cake for Daddy...BC did the sprinkles!  ;)

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy Bear out there!  We love you sooooooooooooooooo much!  

We have had a great weekend together as a family! Although we did get a lot accomplished, with packing, organizing, and getting ready for the move, it was just SO nice to be together again, just the three of us.  Bear Cub misses his Daddy when he is away, so it was adorable when he got home on Thursday evening.  BC wanted to do ALL the fun Daddy stuff, like airplane rides, being tossed up in the air, horsey rides....you name it, Daddy did it, all within the first 15 minutes home!  Like he said, "It sure feels nice to know that you're loved!"  YES, HE IS LOVED and VERY MUCH SO!!    

He is an awesome father.  Bear Cub lights up when he sees him and wants to be with him constantly.  BC loves to help Daddy and is so proud when he does.  Daddy Bear loves this little boy of ours so much!  He reads with him, goes on bug hunts with him, teaches him new things, and is helping him grow into a loving, responsible and respectful person.  He is truly Bear Cub's best friend.  (mine too!!!)

With all of that said, we were sad to see Daddy leave home again this afternoon for more work out of state.  BUT, he'll be home in just a few nights, and then we'll be getting ready for the BIG move next Saturday!  

I hope you all have had as nice of a weekend as we have.  And hopefully you all have a special "father" in your life that you can honor today.  Happy Father's Day to all the great dads and dads-to-be out there!  Enjoy your day!

A beautiful day at the beach...

Can't take credit for this sand castle!  Our beach neighbors built this one and as they were leaving, the dad said that BC could go at it with his cars and trucks (as he'd been eyeing it the whole time!).  Surprisingly, he didn't destroy it right away...

Gotta LOVE our beautiful beaches here in Florida!!  What a day it was!  SO FUN!!  

Celebration!

My gorgeous cousin and me getting ready for the baby shower!

Had to get a pic of the blue punch with the duckies in it!  ;)

The proud and excited Mama & Papa-to-be...isn't she adorable?!?!

Hello!  Well, it was another busy weekend for Bear Cub and me!  We headed over to Mimi Bear's house to have a baby shower for one of my best friends (and she happens to be my cousin, too!) and her hubbie.  Amy and Mike's baby boy is due in early September and I am so excited to meet this little guy!  They don't have the name picked out yet, but Bear Cub has said SEVERAL times that he thinks they should name him "Baby Jesus."  Wow, quite a name to live up to! 

The shower went so well - it was like a family reunion for us all!  Good conversation, lots of laughs, gifts and good eats!  It's hard for me to believe that the next time I see Amy and Mike...there will be a baby too!  

Bear Cub spent some time with his Aunt and Uncle, and Grandma & Grandpa during the shower.  They all had a good time and it was SO nice for me to be able to socialize and help out with the party...and not just keep my own little one out of the gifts, the cake, the punch bowl, etc, etc, etc!  :)

I'll post some more pics from the weekend soon!  Also had our walk through at the new house and went BLUE TAPE crazy!  Mostly cosmetic flaws to fix, so the house is looking good.  We have a closing date set ...less than 2 weeks away.  WOW!

Have a good rest of the week!  

Hi!

"I WANT DAT FOR MY BIRT-DAY!"

Zoe feeling frisky!  She and BC played together for a long time tonight in the frog pool and with this pink flamingo stuffed animal.  I LOVE it when Zoe plays like this...she's just like a puppy!

Getting ready to throw the flamingo...

Let the games begin!

Making his cheese stick into a "Pirates of the Caribbean" boat during dinner at Magic Kingdom.

Big smiles at Magic Kingdom!  This was pretty funny...BC was looking at a duck just a bit a way on the grass here and a little boy came running up with his camera to take a picture of the DUCK.  Well, BC thought for sure this boy was aiming the camera at him, so he kept saying, over and over, "CHEESE!!" until I finally got my camera out to snap his pic.  I'm pretty sure the other boy was interested in the duck....  We had to laugh over this one!  

Getting ready to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride.  Bear Cub seems to be getting more into the rides...he liked this one, Dumbo, and of course, the usual monorail and train rides!  :)

Well, in one month from today, our Bear Cub will be THREE!!  He definitely knows his birthday is coming...each day he says something like, "It is my birt-day!"  Almost!  Along with this, he constantly tells us what he wants for his birthday.  I'm telling ya, his wish list is LONG!! He wants a boat like the one from Splash Mountain, a Thomas the Train set that he saw on one of his DVDs, and just about any toy commercial he may see!  Luckily, PBS doesn't run those toy commercials, so we don't see too many of those during the day!  I do believe he is going to LOVE his birthday this year!  :)  I can't believe he's going to be 3, and starting preschool in August.  Where does time go??

Despite our busy times here, we've managed to have some fun, too!  We've been to the park, done some swimming with friends, Magic Kingdom, birthday parties...phew!  He needs to be busy though, so it really is important for us to keep on chugging, even though we have a lot to do at home.  As for his birthday this year, I'm really hoping to have a small party here with a few of his friends before we move.  And then we'll do something with the family once we get settled.  I know this month is going to fly...

Here are a few random tidbits from our lives these days (sorry, my writing skills are off tonight!)

• We did find a nice preschool for Bear Cub in the new area!  It's another church school, with nice, new facilities!  I really liked it!  
• Bear Cub is VERY into Daddy these days... he wants Daddy for most everything!  Oh my, this could be trouble once Daddy has to travel away from home this week...
• Potty training - we're still working on it!  Yesterday was great...not one accident all day!  A new rule in the new house...NO cars or toys are allowed to come in the bathroom with us.  They cause quite a distraction.
• In the new house, Bear Cub is going to have a "BIG BOY" room!  We have decided to not re-assemble the crib and let him start sleeping on his twin bed.  He does sleep on it for nap, but it will be very interesting to see how our nightly routine goes when he can ESCAPE.  I do believe that Warren and I will be perched at the top of the stairs, ready to redirect him to bed for some time!
• Also, along with the BIG BOY theme...he knows that he can pick out new car decorations for his new room once he starts going potty on his own (well, pulling his pants down, etc. by himself) and doing a few other big boy things.  He's excited about it!
• No official word on our new house closing yet...most likely at the end of this month though!
• This weekend we're heading to Mimi's to have a baby shower for my FAVE cousin, Amy!  She and her hubbie are expecting their first baby ( a boy!) in early September.  I can't wait to meet this little boy when he arrives!!  I am SO happy for them!  :)
• We have started packing a few things around here... pretty soon our walls will be bare when we start taking our pictures down.  Now that will be strange!
• We went to my school where I taught to pick my mail box system up from a teacher that had been borrowing it.  I had some big time sadness when I thought that could be the last time I walked through those halls.  That was my home away from home and my family for four years!  I always thought I'd teach there again.  
• Discovered that one of the new teachers at school also graduated from the same high school that we did!!  BUT...and GULP...she graduated from HIGH SCHOOL in 2005.  Ok, I stopped liking her at that point!!  ;)  HA  Pretty interesting coincidence though, although I didn't like the math that went along with that.  You know, I will be celebrating the 2nd anniversary of my 29th birthday in just a few short weeks... :0)
• With all the excitement of a new move, there does come that sadness of leaving a place that you've loved.  I have had these feelings off and on....but I do know that we'll settle in and start making new memories in our new home.  Home is where your family is!  :)

That's about all for tonight!  Sorry for my random thoughts here!  Have a great rest of the week!