Joy's Hope....

I follow a lot of blogs. They have the ability to suck you in and it's so easy to get hooked!!! This blog is one of my favorites. And...as it turns out there is a small connection. She lives in California...close to Kelly. The photographer that she uses for all of her fabulous pics is a friend of Kelly's sister. It's a small world. And the photographer (Drew) did the pics of Kelly's niece!

 

 

Anyhow....this blog is awesome for many reasons. But her post today http://www.joyshope.com/2012/08/best-friends-forever.html got me thinking that maybe I need to stress this idea with our kids. No matter how friends come and go, no matter where you are or who you are with..it's family that is the most important and the ones that will always be there for you. Which is why I have this hanging on our wall....

 

Along with this one....

 

 

 

Life is hard work...no way around it!!!

 

First Day....

I am happy to report that we all survived the summer!!! The first day of school brings mixed emotions. Happy that we get back into a regular routine and that I have some kid-free time! But sad that summer is over, it's back to early wake-up times and homework!

 

The big kids were out the door early!!! This year they are asking to walk to school AND home from school alone. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet!! They started walking to school alone in the spring. The 2 rules were that they had to stay together and they could not run....and they did really well. Getting home makes me nervous because the crosswalks seem to be busier!!

 

Third grade in Mrs. Howe's class...

First grade in Mrs. Moeller's class....

 Pre-school Young 4's class with Ms. Martha....

Notice the same smile (somewhat pained looking) in every picture!!! Since yesterday was his birthday he got to bring birthday snack to school. Mini cupcakes, strawberries, apples and watermelon!

Really hoping that all 3 kids have a great year!! And that it won't take too long for us to get back in the swing of the school schedule!!

Happy Birthday Joshua!!

 Four years has gone by unbelievably fast. Somehow we went from this teeny tiny little guy who gave us a quite a scare when he came a month early....

 

To this big 4 yr old who is full of spunk and personality!!!

 

Happy Birthday Joshua!!! We love you!!

It's Almost Over....

Today is the 3rd last official day of summer. I'm not counting the weekend. :)

 

We took a trip to the Witte Museum....

 I rode the Sky Bike...hoping to inspire Jake or Sophia to ride it too....no such luck!

 This is one thing I would never have at my house....random objects and a bunch of drum sticks so kids can make all the noise they want to!!

 Sitting inside a dinosaur footprint.

 Then it was off to the park for a picnic and to feed the ducks.

 3 approaches to feeding ducks...

 

Sophia...sitting calmly and throwing small pieces in the water hoping that more ducks swim

over to her.

 Joshua running full speed at all the ducks and throwing food at them. And wondering why they keep running FROM him!!!

 Jake sitting on the table throwing pieces while keeping a safe distance!!

Funny how their personalities come through even while feeding ducks!!!

And for one last thrill we took a train ride. What a day!!!

The Sleepover Party....

This was the original party invite. Until Jake got sick, we went to the beach...and had to wait until the 16th to make it work for all the boys. But...it was a success!! Jake had 3 friends over. Played putt-putt and did water wars. Ate pizza cake and ice cream. 4 wheeler time in the back yard. Lego building and DS time inside...and a movie to finish off the night. I'm fairly sure there was a little sleep that happened...but it was quick...so I might have missed it. Hoping for a nap this afternoon!

 Getting ready for water wars....

 Everyone got wet...it was a success!!

 Happy Birthday to Jake!!

 Hudson and Joshua having another piece of pizza.

 4 boys on the floor...ready for sleep...maybe!!!!

Second Annual Beach Trip....

 We have all been looking forward to the beach trip!! 7 families from Northwood...16 kids total! Wow!! Lots of fun...lots of sand!!!

We stopped at the Lexington on the way down. The kids really enjoyed seeing the inside of the ship and all the big plans!

 Shark picture....no one was cooperating very well. Jake was the only one who would pose!

 Dolphin boat ride....we saw some dolphins right close to the boat. And they dragged the net for awhile and pulled up some crabs and one fish. The kids could touch everything in the touch tank.

And here come the pirates!!!

 Jake getting ready to battle the pirates!! Joshua wanted NO part of the water fight. And Sophia was busy sitting in the captains chair and watching from the top deck!

 The last night we did Beach Olympics. I was in charge so I didn't get any pictures. Really hoping to get some from the other moms! The kids got edible gold medals after it was over.

 Hot dogs in the sand.

 And smores over the fire. And we also did fireworks!

 What a great picture of 15 kids....where is #16??? Running away while screaming. I was pretty irritated that Joshua wouldn't get in the picture. Kids from 1 yr old to 10 yrs!

 Last morning at the beach. Very tired kids and Sophia was sick.

 Crashed out once we got home.

Hoping to get lots more pictures from the others! It was a great trip. We had lots of fun and made a lot of memories. Can't wait to go back next year!