Zoo morning

65 degrees, sunshine, peace & quiet of early morning, random bump into someone I've been meaning to bump into, a certain 18 month old who suddenly "gets" the zoo...well, that's how I started my day.

(The scratchy face, poor thing, is from a big step down a small stair. The photo of Bea reaching up high is her trying to hug the red panda in the tree.)

For your viewing pleasure

Need a little shot of happiness? Here you go.

The first smile comes to you courtesy of our sweet Beatrice who has a real fascination with recording herself on the phone.  Here she is kissing herself (and ending with a big lick of my screen).



And here is Josie, super exuberant after her first big coaster at Coney.



And just in case that wasn't enough to make you smile, here's the video of Josie and Bea getting their new swingset. Maybe you saw this already on Facebook, but that big squeal that comes out of Josie when she rounds the corner and sees it just might be worth another view. Enjoy!

I blinked...

...and suddenly she was 18 months old.

Some random sweetness

Now that I figured out how to blog from my iPhone, I had to share a little collection of some of the sweet little moments from the past few weeks.

Free-wheelin

Here's a quick pic of the girls riding their wheels up and down our new (long) driveway. They were sending me off as I left for a parent meeting at Josie's school. Bea suddenly adores her helmet (saying "hat, hat, hat" and patting her head) and Josie is nearing successful achievement of a land-speed record on her scooter. Just one of the many many things about our new house that makes us all smile!

Testing 1,2,3

If this works, and the iPhone blogger app fulfills my wish, I'll be back in blogging business like the good ole days.

Here are some Labor Day snaps from my phone. Holla!

Labor Day Smiles

Labor Day weekend was chock-full of Austin/Johnson/Schneider smiles. The kids got four quality days together (and my sis and I got one good long night over a bottle of wine). The extra pairs of hands were super helpful, as Louie and I checked item after item off of the "Unpack and Organize" To Do List. AND the big girls got to spend a night with Grandma & DD in Dayton and go see The Fresh Beat Band Concert LIVE.  (Yup, still never posted those pics and videos from J's first FBB concert. Maybe someday.)  The big smiles in this photo pretty much sum up the whole weekend. 

Happy kids. Happy family.