G&G's Visit

My grandparents came to town last weekend and we had soooo much fun spending time with them. They left today after lunch and of course the hardest part about them coming is having to say goodbye when they leave, but we were so grateful for the time we did get to spend with them!!
Some snuggles and giggles...




Of course - lots of game playing...



The 4 generations...


Even Aunt Katie was in town and stopped by to visit!!!

A few more to check out...

As I mentioned in an earlier post - I will be putting up links to other small or local business' for you to check out and hopefully support! Here are a few more that I want to add...
Silpada Jewelry - Jill McCormick. If you have never seen this jewelry you are missing out! They have all styles and something for everyone - literally - they even have a baby bracelet that is adorable!! I am not a huge fan of wearing jewelry but I can honestly say that aside from my wedding ring, and the necklace Kobe made me - it is the only jewelry I wear - and I wear it daily! Not to mention - Jill has great parties (the last one she hired the owner of Blue to come in a roll sushi...) that you don't want to miss out on - so you may at least want to contact her and get on her list.
Uppercase Living - Karen Butler - If you aren't familiar with this company you really need to go to the website to check it all out - I cant really describe it - but it so great - and perfect when you are decorating any room in your home! My mom is actually having a party for it on September 4th if anyone wants to come please let me know and I will get you directions - or if you just want a catalog to view I can get that to you too!!
Polka Dot Cake Co. - Megan Ringenberg - If you have any birthdays, showers, or parties coming up you need to call this girl!! Check out her site to see some of her work - but she makes great cupcakes, and decorates them perfectly and she is soo reasonable!! Not to mention all the time and hassle you will save yourself!!
Lou Dog Designs - Lindy Rogers - I already have a few of these on order for Christmas - Lindy does an amazing job!! She handpaints stools, bulleting boards, chalkboards, and plates. The stools are perfect for bathrooms for washing hands and brushing teeth, or in the kitchen for little helpers! And the bulletin boards would look great in any room. The little chalkboards make great teachers gifts!!! You get to choose your design and colors so it truly is customized just for you!!

Bella's ABCs

Madison sang her ABC's in their entirety tonight all by herself for me - and then I bribed her with pez candy to do it on video - it required a bit of helping this time - but you get the idea of how cute it was. (I will apologize in advance for my own volume level on the video - it is quite piercing, shocking, and pretty annoying...)

We are proud of you Kobe!!

Kobe's teacher sent us this email today - we are so proud of him and feel so lucky to have such a great teacher who takes the time to send out things like this...

Just wanted to let you know how lucky I am to have Kobe in class. He is a hard worker and a great leader. Kobe is very bright and I can't wait to challenge him this year. I hope he has had a great week, and I look forward to seeing his cute smile everyday.

Have a good weekend
Missy

Mommy's Birthday!

My birthday was today and we had such a great day! Starting last night Renee and I got to go out - no kids!! - and do some much needed catching up. Today the babies and I went to NFM and looked for a big girl bed for Maddie. It was adorable watching as she tried out every single bed there. She chose the "football bed" (it was a boys bed with football bedding - but it made her daddy so proud - obviously that is not the one we will actually be getting!!!).
We went to my parents house for dinner and dessert and even got to play with the neighbors dogs which the kids thought was too cool.





Maddie and I even got to walk down and watch the train go by - this is one of her favorite things to do there.

Thank you SO much to everyone who made my day so great by emailing or calling or even the overly generous ones who sent such wonderful gifts! Kobe made me a necklace out of an old necklace chain and a "crystal" that he had - he did such a good job and I LOVE it and can't wait to wear it tomorrow - it was one of the sweetest things he has ever given me.

Kobe's 1st Day of 3rd Grade!!!!

We walked to school this morning with some of our neighbors.

Kobe and his buddies in his class

Kobe and his new teacher!

Kobe and Mom's Fun Day Together

Kobe and I had our special day together before school started. We went to the World War II Museum (Kobe's choice) - I thought that he was getting so bored listening to our 80+ year old tour guide who you could barely understand, but when we left he told me that was the coolest museum he had ever been to.




After that we headed to Mahoney State Park, had some lunch, went on the paddleboats, painted some things at the arts and crafts center, climbed the tower, played mini golf (a true sign of how much I love my son - because I HATE mini golf...), got some ice cream and went horse back riding. It was such a fun day and it was sooo nice to be able to spend some one on one time with Kobe. Then to top it off when we got home Daddy took him to the driving range for a while and when they got back we had the entire circle of kids and parents at our house hanging out for a little "last night before school" kickoff...

Milestones

This past week has been full of milestones at our house.
Our biggest news yet - MADISON IS POTTY TRAINED!!! Three VERY long days of intense training - but now we are full on potty trained - during wake hours anyways. It is pretty exciting and we have been sooo proud of her. I think my favorite part is the portable toilet seat that I now get to take everywhere with me...


this is extreme pride...

Jax is also officially a walker. He has started to walk much more than he crawls - I wouldn't say he is good at it - but he loves to try!

And of course - Kobe is starting the THIRD GRADE on Wednesday!! Honestly - I can't even believe it when I say it. 3rd grade seemed to be this huge turning point - your officially the "older kids" of the school. He has an awesome class with lots of his good friends. We had open house tonight and got to meet his teacher and she seems so nice.

Just some more summer fun...

Miss Independent decided that she was going to wear her church shoes and swimsuit and walk her baby to the pool the other day - not only did she end up with blisters - but the usual 3 minute walk took 35 minutes... maybe next time she will take mom's advice - but most likely this will just be the beginning of many many more battles.


Madison got creative with her own little art project the other day - it was so cute to watch her be so proud of her work.



Jackson loves anything he can climb in or on - which includes the playhouse. Madison mocked me by yelling "Be careful Cha Chi Nona!!" (Be careful Jackson Noah).


Kobe had a buddy spend the night and stayed up waaaay too late - but he paid for it the next day and had a tough time recovering. (he takes after his mom - the other night I also stayed at my neighbors hanging out until 4:00 am... we just don't know when to call it quits!!! ha!)

Mornings are the best around here - the kids are all usually in cute good little moods, and they love to play together. Madison always has to gather up every blanket and dolly she can carry to drag around the house for about the first 5 minutes out of bed. They all eat breakfast together and make each other laugh - I think it is my favorite time of the day with them.

Jean at the Gym

Jean was our daycare lady at the gym - and the kids all LOVED her soooo much. Jax used to fall asleep on her every day (although those days are looong gone) and Madison asks to see her every morning. Even Kobe grew to love her this summer. Her last day was Friday because she took a preschool job somewhere else - we are going to miss her so much!!

Our new Sunday thing...

We started at a new church this Sunday and we LOVE it!!! Kobe's buddy even goes there and so he came over for the afternoon after church.


Maddie's bath time - just a random picture of fun bath time!!

A short visit...

Aunt Stephy was back for the weekend so we got to her and Tanya for just a little while on Friday - but as always - the kids were so excited to spend time with her - and having Tanya around is just an added bonus!!

It's about that time!!

School starts on the 13th!! Kobe and I went shopping and got everything the other day - it was soo fun!

Jax and the sprinkler

I thought being the rough and tough kind of guy Jackson is that on this HOT day he would love to play in the sprinkler - I could not have been more wrong. Every time it hit him he would cry - it was pretty amusing to us onlookers though... he was being so dramatic.





Obviously Kobe didn't mind the sprinkler.