School Supplies

As Lauren begins preschool, she has a short list of needed school supplies that was sent in the mail. On that list is a carpet square that should be decorated with fabric paint to show the child's name and pictures to make it more personal. Lauren had a great time decorating hers tonight...I had to sit by, eyes closed, as my OCD tendencies came out... the letters are not the same size, the pictures are not symmetrical, etc. Her finished product is wonderful though because she did it all be herself!

Great Work, Lauren!

(That is our family on her carpet square if you hadn't guessed already!
Mom, Dad, Lauren and Andrew.)

I just hope that the paint (some is quite thick!)is all dry in a few days
so that we can take it into the school!

Back to School

Now that it is time to return to the school year routine, our kids have learned how to sleep in until 8:00! The past few days the kids have slept until almost 8:30. It has been wonderful! Now back to early mornings and busier days. Andrew's favorite part of his bedtime routine.....

He is learning to brush...and spit...just like his sister!

A Picnic at the Green Park

Today we enjoyed a picnic and some play time at the Green Park. Lauren has called the parks in our area by a different color name since she could talk. We have a pink park, a purple park and a green park. We still do not know why this is...she just asked us the other day,"Why is this called the green park?" Good question, Lauren, we still aren't sure. We were able to snap a few pictures of the kids today before they were covered in dirt...

Priceless!

Project Sleep

I am happy to report that Andrew has slept well over the past 24 hours without his beloved binky. He went down for a nap just fine today and only cried for a few short minutes this evening before falling asleep!

I just have to share this picture that I found from last April...I cannot believe that this was my little boy only 16 months ago!

We have begun putting Andrew to bed without his beloved binky! We were very anxious last night as to how this would go, but to our relief he only cried for about 15 minutes. Whew! I will have to let you know how nap time and this evening goes...keep your fingers crossed for us!

A Day at the Children's Zoo

We had such a nice day today! The weather was gorgeous, so we decided to head to the "big city" and visit the Children's Zoo. We are trying to keep the summer going for as long as possible...

Here we are at the beginning of the trip...Andrew had just woken up from a short nap. Can you tell?

Daddy and Andrew were checking out the monkeys.

Lauren loved the stepping stones and moving bridge over the water.

Andrew and Lauren learning to milk a cow. Grandpa would be proud!

At the end of our trip...Lauren was such a good big sister today. She even shared her lollipop!

What a great day!
What are we going to do tomorrow??

Blueberry Delight

I went blueberry picking with a friend today. The kids were so excited when I got home...but I don't think that they were as excited to see me as they were to taste test the berries. They couldn't even wait until we got in the house...

Our Little Ballerina

Lauren has been taking a Pre-Ballet Workshop this week at the local dance studio. She loves it! She "does not want dance class to ever end!" We will be enrolling her in a regular dance class for the school year...Todd's worse nightmare begins.

Camping

We just returned from our last vacation of the summer...how sad! We have been so busy this summer, I cannot believe that it is coming to a close. Our last vacation was a camping trip with the in-laws. This is the first picture of our camping adventure...

The car was packed, we were ready to go, Todd turned the key...click, click, click. The van would not start. Luckily it was just the battery. An hour, a little elbow grease and $100.00 later we were on our way!

Grandma and Grandpa playing with Andrew in the Lake.

Lauren and I enjoyed the dunes along Lake Michigan...

Our family at the beach! We had beautiful weather every day that we were there!

Now back to those house projects that have been pushed aside for most of the summer...

Mulch Mountain

We spent most of the day outside today. It was a gorgeous day and we really enjoyed our time at home with the kids. As we were preparing to go inside for the night (relatively clean!) the kids made good use of the "mulch mountain" that we had delivered for our landscaping. Another bath for the kids today...although well worth it by the look on Andrew's face!

These are the good times...the messier the better!

Friends

We were watching some of our friends kids last night as they went out on a date. We really enjoyed ourselves and Lauren loved having the extra company. Lauren told me at the end of the night that we should have 5 kids at our house all of the time. Eek!