picnic at the park

Yesterday Sam and I met at the park with the kiddos for a picnic lunch.  It was really fun considering we were outnumbered with 7 kids and 2 mommas!  The weather was beautiful, the kids had a great time playing together and we actually got to talk. Sounds like a great afternoon to me.

Looking for trolls under the bridge

Later that afternoon we all played outside in the culdesac.  A little shower didn't keep us from having fun!

life has grown

Thank you God for your many blessings!

desperate housewife?

The other day I had to fill out a form that asked my occupation.
 

Housewife? 

Homemaker?

If I am either of those, I am failing miserably.  I do keep the house running, but I am no Bree Vandecamp with a spotless and organized house. There is dust on the tops of the ceiling fans, the carpet needs vacuuming once a day instead of once a week, and there is almost always a stack of laundry somewhere. 

My kids are fed, played with, bathed, and most importantly loved on.  So what did I put on the form?

Stay at home mom.

I think that describes the job I'm doing better and makes me feel less like a desperate housewife.  Raising kids is an important job and I'm so thankful I have the opportunity to do it.

monday monday

We spent this beautiful Monday morning enjoying the cooler weather and playing outside with friends.

For lunch we headed over to my parents' house to see Grandma, Aunt Betty Jo and Uncle George who stopped by on their way through town.  The kids were happy to see their great grandma.  How lucky are they to have seen all their great grandparents in two days? 

Later we played outside again and enjoyed the perfectly cool day.  It gave us a tiny glimpse of fall and I. can't. wait!

65 years

65 years ago this lovely young couple were married.  Today they have two daughters, 4 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren and one son in Heaven.  They started this loving family and are a great example to all of us.

 

Saturday we headed over to Salado to celebrate with Nanny and Papa. We couldn't go our normal route due to flooding and had fun showing the boys the water. 

The boys were really excited to see a turtle on the side of the road.

 

Happy 65th anniversary Nanny and Papa!  We love you! 

a few of my favorite pictures

Kirby enjoying the lake house.

Canoeeing with the boys at Inks Lake. 

So tiny!

Sweet brothers swinging happily together

Ethan put screws in his crocs while Eric built the deck around the hot tub. Love how his little mind works!

Love how our kids have friends they enjoying playing outside in the culdesac with. Such happy, fun memories.

Complete love and trust of brothers.

Little Austin is so precious!

Love my little rule follower breaking the rules at the lake house.

Love the giraffe's head in my car and love how happy Ethan was!

WAKE UP!

Every once in a while Ethan will take a nap if I make him. Today was a day I made him. I had just put Lauren and Austin to bed and it seemed like the perfect day to attempt a nap. I snuggled in my cold room and quiet house and couldn't wait to catch some much needed zzz's. For 45 minutes I layed down with him and tried to get him to go to sleep. When I begrudgingly gave up on my nap, I went in the other room to get some housework done. Of course then my little sweetie quickly fell asleep. Figures. I almost laid down again but knew with my nap luck, Lauren would wake up as soon as my eyes closed.

Austin woke up from his nap before Ethan. When he wanted to wake Ethan up, I didn't mind too much.

How could you mind this angelic little face waking you up?

new notebooks

Eric brought the boys some new Dell notebooks.  They are really having fun with them. They are pretty spoiled huh? 

Ok, so they are actually real paper notebooks designed to look like computers.  The boys had so much fun pretending to work like Daddy! 

First day of preschool

The boys started preschool today!  They both went to the same school last year, so this year was no surprise.  They both happily ran into their classrooms and started playing. They have been counting down the days until school started again and so have I!

Ethan graduated to the 4 year old classroom and has new teacher.  This will be his last year in preschool before he goes to kindergarten next year.  I just can't believe how fast he is growing up!  He was really excited about being in the big kid room this year.  His first homework assignment was to decorate this paper to put into a book that will have all his classmates artwork too.  I love how he chose to decorate it with a soccer playing dinosaur, cars, trains, Blue Rat, bumbebee and number 4!

Austin will be in the three year old classroom this year.  He is lucky to have the same teacher as last year move up with him.  He ran right in his classroom and couldn't wait to see his friends.  What a difference from last year!

Lauren and Daddy came to see the boys off.

I must admit that as happy as I am to have some time alone with Lauren, I will miss my little guys today!

September Market Days 2009

 

We had a fun weekend camping, hanging out with family, shopping around Market Days and popping kettle corn. 

The boys took the Free Samples sign to heart.

on the go!

Our little sweetie is growing up!  She graduated into her big girl carseat this week. She loves being able to look out the windows and watch her big brothers in the back seat. 

She also got to sit up in the shopping cart for the first time.  She thought it was pretty fun! She is at such a fun age right now.  I love that she can sit up, but isn't mobile yet.  I'm trying to enjoy it because she is going to be crawling any moment now!

Cabela's

Today my parents and I took the kids to Cabela's.  We had never been there and the boys were really excited to see all the animals.  My mom gave them a baggie to collect pennies for every animal they saw.  In Cabela's, that is A LOT!  The boys loved it and had fun counting.  They got to buy a little treat at the end of the trip with their money and they really loved that!