Visiting Anderson
what happens when Auntie Reg babysits... forts and boats and castles


being super sweet while the parents weren't looking...

cousins bonding.

Isla enjoying the grass.

I still have a ton of other pictures to go through that Aidan took so I'll be adding more later.

Thoughts of the day...

kids at home all day… I completely understand why my mom couldn't wait for school to start again in the fall. I now have weekly checks for new carpet stains that I then spend hours getting out. Is it school time yet???

dogs malting…. this means emptying the dyson three times just to vacuum the living room and dining room, twice a week. seriously.

buying new things… I've had the same ugly pencil holder on the side of the fridge for somewhere around twenty years. It was bought in the late '80's. It had kittens on it and said something about friendship. It was cracked from getting knocked off but it still worked and I was too cheap to go get a new one. I was picking up school supplies the other day and I saw a new one. It was on sale for $2 and it's bright orange. You can see where this is going. I say to myself I've gotten my money's worth out of the old one and it is cracked and broken and the pretty orange one is on sale and sure I'll spend the 2 bucks and be happy. I came home and switched out the pencil holders and for three days I looked at the new one as I passed by and was happy. Today, while vacuuming of course, I hear something. Look over. And there on the kitchen floor is my new pencil holder without it's magnet. Three days. The damn thing lasts 3 DAYS... That other ugly thing lasts two DECADES and this piece of S-H-I-T lasts three days. ARGGGG!!!! I'll be gluing it back together.

The last couple of weeks...
I accidentally uploaded these backward and am too lazy to spend the time to fix them so bare with me.
Last weekend we were down in Anderson for a wedding and stopped to see Mark's grandparents too. Here's some pictures of Great Grandma with Isla.


Cecelia at the wedding waiting with bubbles.

Gabby and Aidan sitting together during the ceremony. They are soooo cute!!!

hiding... from who, I don't know.

Gabby walking down the isle.

Naked baby sleeping. I love her!

Aidan's Additions
These are some of my favorite shots. He's really getting pretty good with a camera.

Trip to DC!

Kendell giving a sleeping Isla a kiss (our night in Pittsburgh)

Popsi 'just resting his eyes'

Olivia amused (as we all are) by Uncle Mark

Aidan (he needs no other intro)

The Andres side at Olivia's baptism

And the Bond side....

babies interacting... I think Isla was recognizing the gown.


Parents, priest, and godparents with Olivia

Olivia in the pretty gown

riding a train at a DC park


thinking about eating a toe...

Olivia, the librarian...

a cheetah posing at the national zoo


Isla sleeping sweetly while holding a little teddy bear

Isla hanging out with Uncle Chuck

four cousins hanging out...

Cecelia's New Hair!
While in DC, my cousin Michelle offered up her services to cut Cecelia's hair but couldn't bring herself to curl it. She offered some temporary color to appease Cecelia instead. She now has some pink highlights. Michelle is her most favorite person EVER!

Back-dated...
So I'm a little behind. Here's pictures of our bathroom being fixed. This happened two weekends ago before we went to the DC trip. The floor under the toilet wasn't level with the rest of the floor. Richard came up and supervised Mark while fixing that problem. (Thanks!! ;)) And then I got busy laying a new tile floor. That's right, I laid it myself! And no I've never done it before. Now, I can notice a couple tiny places that I'd love to tweak a little but Mark says I'm crazy and that no one else would ever notice except the other crazies in my family. We are a little detail oriented and competitive with each other. By the way, my dad, who's done everything, has NOT tiled a floor.... hehehe









A FABULOUS side note!!!
Among the first floor bathroom being fixed and living without a toilet on the first floor and then taking a trip to DC which was 12-13 hours in the car, Aidan is potty trained!!!!!!! I really do love that kid. He's such a trooper. We're still working on consistently making it through the night but I have not purchased any pull-ups since we ran out two weeks ago and I'm so proud!