40.

October 2nd

39.

September 25th

The morning and the sky was so beautiful that we ended up outside. Madeline posed for me so I could practice using my flash. I really wanted a picture of her and the pretty sky. Didn't happen with the flash, but we thought this one of the sky was really nice.

38.

September 24th

Daddy was out of town so we ate dinner at the kids' table. French toast, bacon and bananas!

37.

September 16th

Madeline's first face paint at Sea World in San Diego. She was so pretty and loved all of the attention she got from strangers.

36.

September 4th

We went to Sunset Park to feed the ducks but all we found were a bunch of pigeons!!

35. WHaaaa! (First Day of School)

August 30th

My big girl started kindergarten today and of course I was a nervous mess. She loved every minute of it though. Her teacher is Mrs. Berry and there are 22 kids in her class. She shares a table with 2 boys and a girl and is learning letters, sounds, and some words.

34. Candyland

August 26th

Today they initiated their first ever kids-only game of Candyland. I was so proud that my kiddos were being so independent.

33. Oh Sammy

August 20th

I was lucky enough to go visit my brand new baby cousin in Chicago this week. He's such a tiny little bundle.

32. Big Boy Bed

August 13th

My little man looks so tiny in his new big boy bed. I can barely tell he's in there when I check on him at night. He picked blue Star Wars bedding out at Target. We had to put up a railing because he fell out a few times (I think it's the same railing that was on my bed when I was a little little).

31. Go-Carts

August 2nd

Fun at the Mini Grand Prix. It was hot hot hot, as you can see by Madeline pink cheekies, but the kids didn't notice. Madeline and Ian had a REALLY fast car and Maison and I were in a put-put. They lapped us at least once. Max got to ride by himself and was in a fast car too.

Oh the pack-rattiness

Madeline can almost always remember who gave her what when it comes to gifts. Even things from years ago. Today as I was sorting her too small clothes from her closet she intervened, informing me that if we can remember who gave her something it has memories and that means we have to keep it FOREVER. She certainly didn't learn that from me, but that idea does run in my family. I see a very cluttered house in her future. That is one thing that my horrible memory is good for. I don't become attached to things and even if I have a hard time getting rid of something I forget about it soon after it's gone.

30. The Teenager

July 30th

Ian turned 13 today. 13! At least he's not too grown up to make silly faces with his cousins (even if he was staring at his cell phone while he did it).

29. Little fish

July 18th

Give the girl goggles and she swims.

28. Bubbles in the backyard

July 11th

27. Independence Day

July 4th

We started out the holiday weekend with some serious yard work. Lucky for us we had A LOT of help spreading the rock in our front and back yards. My grandpa, dad, mom, and the boys all helped us and we were able to get it all down and raked out in a few hours. We (not including me, or my mom, or the boys) started before 5am and we were done before 10.

On the 4th of July, my parents had a BBQ and we lit our nice, safe, legal fireworks in the front yard while the sky all around us was lit up with other people's giant, illegal ones.