Happy Birthday Brian!!!

We had a GREAT time celebrating Daddy's birthday!

Newborn Workshop

On Sunday I attended the Newborn Workshop in Indianapolis that I've been waiting for for months. It was incredible! We had two beautiful four-day-old babies to photograph- a sweet little girl and a handsome little boy. The photographer, Rachel Vanoven, taught us how to pose the babies and then let the 6 of us who were there to learn take turns snapping pictures. I'm only going to share a few photos on this blog...
Some favorites:

Starkiss

Last night we took the kids to D.Q. to try their Starkiss ice cream bars.
Good times!

New Camera

Sunday I will have the opportunity to go to a workshop taught by one of my absolute favorite photographers. We had been planning on making a camera purchase but this rushed it a bit as certain equipment was required for this class. So, this week my new camera arrived!

The first photo I took was of my wonderful husband:

The next few were taken before I really knew what I was doing...

Moving right along and learning a bit more:

I do really like it but it will take some getting used to after using a little point-and-shoot for so long.

Emma's 1st school work

These are the first pages Emma brought home from school last week: Coloring (left) and painting (right). She really seems to enjoy school (once she adjusts to leaving me) and has already made a special friend named Lily. Today was her "best day yet" according to her teacher! We are so proud of this little one and still coming to terms ourselves with the idea that she is old enough to be in school... and to the knowledge that from this point on she will be away from us more and more for many years to come...

Sidewalk paint

We bought this special sidewalk paint at the beginning of the summer but haven't had the chance to use it until yesterday. We took it to Grandma's to use on her nice long driveway.

One of Nathan's cool creatures:

Evidence of messy feet! (If you look closely by the arrow you can see the size difference in Samuel & Nathan's footprints. Emma did NOT want to go barefoot!)

My little sweetheart and his messy feet!

The highlight for Emma was when we brought out the hose... she loved jumping in the puddles and was eventually soaked from head to toe!

Samuel got wet in his own way... painting his head with a wet sponge...

Nathan's response to a special message Grandma wrote in chalk:

Samuel doing "throw it in the oven for baby & me" with the paint-full roller that he had just had in his mouth! UGH!

Clean up time was just as much fun!

We even had our own rainbow!

1st day of school!!

The first day of school for us was Tuesday. It's hard to believe that we have TWO in school this year!

Emma with her first EVER HOMEWORK-- an All About Me poster, ready the night before school started!

Nathan LOVES school and was very excited to go back! He is actually in a 4th/5th split class this year (due to teacher shortages) and he thinks that is pretty neat!

All ready for school!

Nathan at school, just about to enter 4th grade!

Emma is going to Pre-Kindergarten 3 mornings a week. Since we did not send her to preschool this is a very new experience for her... one that may require a little time of adjustment.

Emma heading up to the school with her backpack which is almost as big as she is!

All ready to for her school debut!

Hanging up her backpack

She had a little trouble when we left, which is understandable. Later she told me that she cried for "about 7 minutes" (more like 7 seconds, we think). I asked what helped her to settle down and stop crying. She replied, "I just decided I wanted to be my normal self."

A special treat for the school kids after dinner--
Frozen Custard-- Yum!

Last day of summer vacation

To celebrate the last day of summer vacation I took the kids to Turkey Run State Park for the afternoon. My sister LuAnne and her family were camping there so we got to hang out with them for a bit.

The kids relaxing in the shade

Lawn chair silliness with Grandma

Aunt LuAnne & Samuel

Emma hanging out with Samuel in his favorite spot

3 cousins having a great time swimming together
(Wes, Cole & Nathan)

A little more Wisconsin...

We had a very nice visit with Uncle Dale, Great Grandma & Great Grandpa M while in Wisconsin. We also had the rare opportunity to celebrate three close in date birthdays from three different generations!

Great Grandma M, Dad B, and Brian blowing out candles:

We really enjoyed seeing Uncle Dale, who we hadn't seen in quite a while:

Our family with Great Grandma & Great Grandpa

The kids with their Grandparents

It was fun to be around now walking & talking Owen!
Brian let Owen dress him up with beautiful necklaces!

Emma & Owen snuggling in Emma's tent

A few photos of the kids playing outside:

Grandpa B's old drums are always a big attraction.
This was Samuel's first time playing them:

Emma's first time (Dec 2007) She was leery, so Daddy played with her.

Nathan drumming away in 2002

Samuel riding the giraffe that was Daddy's when he was a kid:

Emma, August 2007
Nathan (fall 2002- before Grandma B repainted it)

 

I've search for a photo of Brian on this giraffe, but all I can find is this one picture of the day he received it... (dated Nov. 69) You can see someone putting it together in the background.