Celebrating Brian

We went out to eat on Brian's birthday- his pick!  

 He got free dessert, so we tried chocolate covered bacon!

 Then we went home for a proper party

 He got a Bear's jersey for Gracie-- just what he wanted!

Please?

Ponytails

 And cute as a button!

Sickie

Poor Lucas had a fever for four days.  He didn't feel too terrible, but did have a headache and developed a rash.  We did enjoy the extra snuggle time while the other kids were at school.   He was so sweet holding Gracie's hand and he even covered her with his "binkit".

Another day, another bike

Samuel's bike has been a bit small for him this summer.  We finally pulled out one of Nathan's old bikes and it is a perfect fit!

I just have to post this adorable picture of Nathan from 2008 on the same bike.

A tree fell

We were so blessed that when an old tree fell, it went straight down the "mountain".  We had a clear some from the driveway to get through, but there was no damage of any kind to our property.  Oh, and poor Brian-- he had to buy a chainsaw!

Now we will have plenty of wood to burn!

Cuteness Overload

 When the kids are in school and I am editing, this is my lap...

The First day of school!

I took the youngest three to school (at their request) but we waited at the bus stop (by our next door neighbor's house) to meet their driver before heading to school.  They did ride the bus home!

One day down, 179 more to go!

A new school

Emma, Samuel, and Lucas had an open house at their new school the night before classes began.  They were eager to see their classrooms and meet their teachers.  It looks like a pretty neat place!

 Lucas was so glad to get a class with a loft like he saw at Kindergarten orientation!

Bedtime reading for Lucas:

Here's hoping to a good year!

a boy and his dog

More vacation

After a few days in Michigan, we drove to Wisconsin for the rest of the week.  There we spent time visiting with people we love and just having some down time.

We always enjoy our time with Grandpa M!

Nathan got to show his Belize album

 Bedtime is always a favorite.  And Grandpa reads the funniest books!

 We went to a fancy movie theater with reclining seats.  They all loved it!

 And saw this in the parking lot!

One of the funnest things was playing with cousins at a local park.  It's an awesome park anyway, but all the kids had a blast playing together!

Beach'in it

We waited until the last week of summer break to take our little summer vacation.  Our first stop was Michigan!  I had a date to take Wesley's senior pictures (as well as his friend Addam's) but we decided to have a little fun while we were there as well.  The main event was hitting the beach-- our kids love every bit of the experience-- the sun, the water, the sand...

As for the Senior pictures-- we had a great time downtown, on the beach, and at the football stadium.  Here's a peek at Wes's: