The Li'l Kid's 1st Day

The Big Kids' 1st Day

Not thrilled for the morning but only because her "Twinkle Toes" were boddering her, (which, of course, made her brother all that more thrilled).

After all the tears, she struck this pose in front of her classroom door. (This is her classic silly face. My camera is never quick enough to catch it completely but she crosses both eyes and gives me a big smile.) I think her and Mrs. F. WILL have lots of fun together:)

Austin is at the exact opposite end of the school than his sisters. He's thrilled that his locker buddies are boys on both sides.

Whew, we made it thru the first day.

I'll Try Harder Next Time (*sigh*)

Lexi got these really cool Crayola sidewalk crayons for her birthday. Bold, bright, vibrant colors. I couldn't wait to try them out. We doodled a birthday message on the sidewalk to greet her party guests Monday nite. On Tuesday, a friend called over and asked both Audrey and Austin to stay the nite (in addition to her 5. Ummmm, ok, whatever... if you want 7 kids, 7 and under for 24 hours... oookay. Seriously though, Teresa is a cool mom, totally laid back and chill. My kids had a blast at her house!) Anyways, that left me and Lexi alone and in the driveway with the new chalks Tuesday afternoon. I became quite engrossed in my art project and created a beautiful rainbow, which I announced with a "ta~da!!!" Lexi, barely glancing up from her own masterpiece says (in a very grown~up, bored voice), "I am not impressed." Well, excuse me then. Next time I'll keep my brilliance to myself.

Happy Birthday, Lexi J!!!

Today, this little lady turns 4. Not so much my baby anymore, totally ready to be a big girl. Happy birthday, my beautiful Bearsie Boo!

S'more Fun, Please!

Andy and Rona took the girls awhile back and Austin hosted Anna for the evening. We did a complete hot dog roast and had smores for dessert.

Ha, Ha!!! I love this picture of me. I think "Kate" of John & Kate plus 8 when I see my expression. I honestly wasn't freaking out. I think Austin's marshmallow was on fire and I was trying to get him to blow it out before making his smore.

We couldn't leave Ed out of the smore'y goodness. He ate all of the rejects (i.e., burnt marshmallows:)

Binder Park 2010, part 1

Last year, Austin's 1st grade class worked toward an end~of~year zoo trip. They did nacho and treat sales, even worked at Encore one morning to make money to cover the trip's expenses. Finally, On June 2nd they boarded the train to Battle Creek and spent the day at Binder Park. Tom took the train with Austin and I drove separately to meet up with everyone at the zoo.

Mrs. L made the kids personalized t~shirts and put together great little travel bags for each of the kids: snacks, card games, a trip journal, and sunglasses:

Austin's class waiting to depart the station:

All Aboard!!!!

Headed out to Wild Africa:

Each of the kids also got $20 in spending money. Austin bought a spider monkey (among other things). Posing with his new friend:

Feeding the goats:

Audrey's Pre~school Picnic

Well, since the kids start school in less than 2 weeks now, it seems appropriate to post pictures from Audrey's year~end preschool picnic. One of these days I'll get caught up on my pictures and posts. Maybe in 2 weeks when I'll have ALL 3 KIDS in school! (can't believe my baby is already old enough to leave the nest;) anyways, back to the pics: the picnic was held at Ella Sharp Park and the pinata was part of the end~of~year celebration.

I didn't get a good shot of Audrey but after the preschoolers all had a turn, the little sibs were invited to take a swing:

then the teachers,

and finally, the parents. When even the big, strong daddies couldn't bust thru,

Mrs. Williams ripped the dang thing open. I *love* Audrey's expression as she's running toward the loot (far right):

Somehow, Lexi ended up with a bunch of skittles (*love* her curls:)

So sweet: Julia, Lexi, Zoe, and Jenna

What A Charmer!!!

Austin's 1st Grade circus

May 2010

There was a ringleader to keep the action going...

There were silly clowns....

& muscle men (check out the hairy 'pits)...

but my favorite was a certain snake charmer....

and I think his sisters would agree with me

Ummm...

It's been so long since I've done a "real" post, I don't really remember how. Hopefully it's like riding a bike. But I'll ease myself back into it and do this bullet style. It makes me sad that I've been so busy that I haven't taken the time or energy to record anything. We've been having such a great summer and I hate to think that these memories will slip away and be forgotten. In the last week:

• Austin attended basketball camp at Spring Arbor University. He played hard every day and swam in the pool after camp on Monday and Tuesday. He was so tired, he fell asleep in the van on Monday nite. He came home on Thursday as "Camp Champ" in the small boys college division (his age group) for the free throw and lightning competitions. He was also runner up in the jump shot contest and his team was runner up in the camp tournament. For the amount of money we paid for him to go, these ribbons ought to be stamped in real gold;)
• As the wife of a auto service center owner, I never quite know what cars will be parked in my drive at nite. Last week, I drove 3 different vehicles (because Tom "loaned" our van out) but I finally have my van back. I wasn't the only one who missed it. The kids kept asking when we were getting our "blue van" back.
• While Austin was busy at camp, the girls and I headed out to Michigan Center and helped decorate the church for VBS, which is this week. The girls had fun driving the Little Tykes cars around the empty halls while I hung up lots and lots of footprints to go with the mystery/investigation theme.
• I took up an invitation to head over to a friend's parents' house to do some raspberry picking. Mmmmm! Fresh raspberries! In a scene similar to Blueberries for Sal, the girls ate the berries as fast as they could pick 'em. Audrey kept exclaiming, "These are just so good!"
• When my Friday became completely unscheduled we spur~of~the~moment decided to head to Battle Creek and meet Lindsey for an afternoon at Binder Park Zoo. We had a fabulous time feeding giraffes, giggling at the monkeys, and playing in the misting sprinkler thingies. We even saw a peacock trying to get the attention of a lady friend.
• Yesterday we spent the afternoon at my mom's friend's fabulous pool. Austin swam in the deep end all by himself (ok, with the help of a life jacket) but he's getting the hang of it!!! The girls also did swimmingly well.

Squeezin' One In

I keep thinking to myself, "baaad blogger, bad, bad blogger" and every time I do it's to the tune of Sandra Boynton's song "Bad Babies".... I think I may need to turn off the kiddie music for awhile;) But, I snuck a post in for the month of June. (I wouldn't want June 2010 missing from my archives, after all.) And some day (hopefully soon) I'll actually sit down and do a real post.