Picture Day

Today was picture day and it started out a cold but beautiful day. I tried to capture the sunrise this morning but couldn't quite do it justice. This is what I ended up with. I love sunrises and always thank God for giving us beauty first thing in the morning.

When I was in school just a few years ago (right??) I remember picture day and you went with your little packet and your parents always hoped for the best. This is my first year with public school pictures and things have changed. I had to pick between four poses and five background colors. There were also about 12 different packages. I never order huge packages because Lauren doesn't always take the best shots and sometime with glasses they can not be the best. I like to look at my pictures before I buy them. Today they had recess before pictures so I will have to wait and see how they turned out. She looked very cute before school.

Lauren loves to help decorate for fall. Her job is to put the little pumpkins in the window. It may not be how I would put them but she is so proud of herself that I would never move them. She wanted to stand by them and make sure you could see them in the picture.

A Nice Evening

We thought we should take advantage of this nice evening and go for a walk. Our weather is iffy this time of year so we try to enjoy the nice days. We had a nice weekend, although we just stayed around the house. We started our neighborhood bible study on Sunday evening with 5 other couples. I think it will be a nice mix of people and a great opportunity to meet people that live close.

Aaron loves to get in front of my camera and make faces. I always threaten to put them on my blog so I did. He doesn't look at my blog so he won't get to see the amazing shot.

My little man. So cute!!

Here is the tire swing that made Lauren sick. We put a limit on how much time she could be on the swing. She understands and gets off. Maybe she did learn a lesson.

Spirit Day

Today was spirit day at Lauren's school so we had to find something that was blue and green. Thankfully Jen had given me some clothes from Amanda so we put some stuff together and sent her off. Her class won the spirit award because they had the most kids wear school colors. She got a water bottle. What I didn't know about spirit day was that it was also popcorn day. I needed to send $.25 or two box tops, both of which I had. Bummer. She was a little upset so I talked to her teacher to find out when this would happen again so I'm ready. She is so tough for some stuff and so sensitive for other stuff. Hard to tell.

I finally got my rug to go with my curtains and I love how it turned out. I like the brown and blueish color combo.

My Sickie??

Yesterday morning at 4:40 we woke up to Lauren yelling "Help, Help!" What a way to wake up. She was getting sick in her bed and every other surface she could find. I don't do well with that clean up so Aaron got that mess and I took Lauren. She needed a bath and a change of clothes. We finally got her settled on the futon because now she was awake, I can't say the same for myself. She got sick a few more times but was done by 6:00. Thankfully it was short lived but she was still quiet for a few hours. I was very tired but she was wide awake. She had some Gatorade and a few crackers and was doing good with them. I finally told her that when Colin went down for his nap she needed to lay on the couch, she was out in a few minutes and slept 2 hours. She was back to herself today and off to school. YEAH!!! She loves school and hates to miss it. My kids like their routine which involves getting up and going somewhere. Colin asked all day if we were going somewhere. He was so ready to go to the gym today.

I took these pictures on Tuesday and just love to watch how Colin plays with his toys. He is often using a bat to golf or using a golf ball as a base ball. He just likes to play outside.

For my niece, Kate's birthday I got her a little outfit and the store had the same shirt for Lauren. I know they may never wear them together but she wanted me to put this on the blog for Kate.

Almost There

Lauren is really close to riding a bike. She did it a little bit by herself tonight and then got all nervous again. I think we are definitely going to need a lot of practice.

Last night I took Colin to get his haircut. I've been trying for a few months but it was time to let the professional take over. I brought three suckers so I knew I was prepared. I gave him his sucker and he just sat there totally still and not sucking. I finally told him to put it in his mouth so it didn't get hair on it. He did but didn't even finish the sucker. We wrapped it up and brought it home for him to finish. I know it's hard to tell in the picture but he does look better.

Happy First Day of Fall

Today it is officially Fall and it feels it here. We started the day cold and rainy and now have sun breaking through. Lauren had her first day off school for an in service, seems early to me but what do I know.
We borrowed my parents little bike and Lauren practiced a lot yesterday and is getting better. She still gets frustrated when things don't go her way but that is how she is about everything so we are always working on that. Hopefully there will still be enough good days for her to practice. Colin was on Lauren's scooter telling us he was practicing his balance also. Very cute.
Hope Fall is finding all of you well, leave a comment and let me know. I love comments.

He's Home

Aaron made it home safe and sound late last night from his week in Las Vegas. He had a conference with a few of his closest friends, all 15,000 of them. Aaron doesn't travel a lot with his job but more then I like. One of the days he was gone Aaron informed me he just got done talking with Bob. I said my Uncle Bob and he said yes. My Uncle was attending the same conference and he happened to run into him in a hallway. How weird is that. They were going to do dinner but my Aunt, who was there also, got sick. Bummer.
I don't make a good single mom. For those of you who read my blog last week you can tell that I plan my evenings to be busy so I don't go crazy(er). I'm very thankful that my husband is home and doesn't have any traveling planned. That could change.

Bikes and Berries

We headed to my parents house for dinner on Thursday and brought Lauren's bike with us. She is still very unsteady on her bike but thought we could keep trying. She let Papa try a few times but then was done with the big bike. Then Papa found a little bike they had and took the training wheels off of it and she really liked that. It still teaches balance but at her speed.

She really liked the little bike. We may need to borrow this one.

Colin had to get his bike out also. Must be like his sister.

When we came out to pick berries last month we took them all home. We decided it was time for Grandma to have some berries and my kids like to pick. Colin would pick a few and then....

he would stop and eat them all. He kept telling me these were his favorite snack. I took the bowl and told him to just eat. So cute.

Dance - Take Two

Today was Lauren's second dance class and we were all prepared which made her feel so much better. She had the right outfit and shoes, although they didn't make it to tap today but did lots of tumbling. I love that all the music played is the Christian stuff I listen to and they prayed together when class was done. Way cool.

Today is Amanda's birthday and we went to her family party tonight. We had a great time. The pizza place has a horse carousal ride that the kids loved. It was a nice break to our day with great food and great friends. Thanks for having a birthday Amanda, we are blessed to have you in our lives.

Colin got a suckers and boy was he happy.

Papa Time

We went out to Mimi and Papa's house last night for dinner. Michael was great (as usual) and played with the kids. They had the pool set up and picked apples. The new adventure was the tree. They would go under the branches and hide. So much fun.

It isn't raining, Papa let the kids have the hose.

Strike a pose!

I'm hiding.

We finished the evening with a story from Papa.

Thank you both for a very nice, relaxing evening.

An Evening at the Lake

We had a church get together at a local lake and had so much fun. When we got there Lauren was saying in her very grown up voice now Mom there will of course be boat rides and I said no Lauren just playing. Then about 10 minutes later one of the people came with their boat. After I asked about life jackets I told Lauren and she could hardly wait.

There was lots of great food and a requirement to go on the boat was a clean plate. No problem for Colin. He needed Papa's hot dog also.

They had lots of fun playing volleyball together, although the ball never made it over the net.

This was Lauren's first ride in the boat. She loved it and wanted to go more.

Here she is again as queen of the world. She rode like this the entire time and was saying wee. She would have gone more but we did need to let others have a turn.

Colin didn't love the boat. He cried some and didn't like the noise. He calmed down when we saw the sailboats but never really loved it. He hasn't stopped talking about it though so I don't think I scarred him for life.

Good-Bye Training Wheels... Hello New Shoes

Our mission today was to get Lauren ballet and tap shoes for dance class. This was almost cancelled when I got a call from the school to say Lauren had gotten sick. I rushed to school thinking she was sick and going to be very disappointed about not getting shoes. I asked if her tummy hurt and she said no, so I asked what she was doing when this happened. She informed me she had been spinning on the tire swing the entire recess and they had even received and extra 5 minutes, then they came in and had snack. Any guesses as to why she got sick?? Hmm... Needless to say she is fine and we got shoes. YEAH!!!

Getting her new ballet shoes, very fun.

After many tries we finally found a pair of tap shoes. YEAH!!

Last night we took the training wheels off Lauren's bike. She was very excited to try to ride her bike. She still has along way to come but was having fun. Daddy got tired of bending over so..

Mommy took a turn and it isn't very comfortable. We told her we would keep practicing so she would get the hang of it.

A Picnic at the Park with Papa

My dad had the wonderful idea of a picnic at the park today. It is beautiful here today and we know that will be ending soon so we needed to enjoy the day. We packed our lunches and headed out to have our lunch. We ate and then played for awhile. It was quite warm.

Lauren and Papa enjoying lunch.

So happy!!

Is he to big for this??? Maybe just a bit.

My little monkey.

Colin finally finished his lunch and got his Snickers. Thanks Papa.

We had a great day. Thanks for the great idea Papa. Keep reading I did two posts today.

Dance Time

Lauren started her first dance class on Wednesday and did great. She was a little nervous because this was new (although I couldn't tell but she said she was). We weren't able to get her shoes yet so that is the mission for tomorrow. I tried taking pictures during class but couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off. I have now figured out so next week I will try again. Her class runs for an hour each week and she will do a little ballet, tap, and tumbling each week. I thought for a first class this will give her a nice variety. She is already talking about next week so I know she had fun.

Look very close and you can see Lauren skipping across the floor.

New Furniture

My furniture was due to arrive around 10:00 today but I got home from dropping Lauren off at school and it was here. Jen took Colin and I quickly mopped where the furniture was going to go. Thankfully I had vacuumed this morning. The guys took a very few minutes and boom I had new furniture. This part seemed so much easier then actually picking it out. We still need a new rug and curtains but it is getting there. I love the new stuff and it should be great with kids.

I hope this video doesn't make anyone sick!

Summer Apples

When we were at my in-laws on Sunday, Papa took the kids to his apple tree to pick some apples. They have a very interesting tree because it has 5 different types of apples. The kids were so proud of themselves and even got to eat one. I put them in a bowl because they look nice and we will eat them if we can see them. The kids have been enjoying getting an apple and washing it and then eating it whole. Lauren does great, Colin is still learning. Thanks Papa for picking the apples and letting us have them. The kids love it.

To Buy or not to Buy

We have been looking at furniture for some time but hadn't found anything we really liked so we just kept looking. We found some we like on Friday and then my parents watched the kids so we could look a little on Saturday. We found another set we liked so then we had to decide if we wanted to make this purchase and which set. We picked one and then Aaron was having second thought so after church we cancelled the first and went to look at the other. It was still on sale so we did it and it will be here Wednesday. I'm excited about getting the living room done.

We enjoyed ice cream at our local Cold Stone. The setting is so nice there.

Our pastor celebrated his 60th birthday on Sunday so we had a great excuse for cake.

The only reason the kids got to come with us to buy the furniture was the store had a ball pit. The kids had a blast and didn't want to go.

We finished our weekend with a wonderful dinner and play time at Mimi and Papa's.