independence

keep science cool :)

last week in class we disected a sheep's brain.

the instructor suggested that anyone with kids should take a
brain home and share it with their kids.
he made the point that most kids love science,
it's only when we adults let them think it's yucky or gross
that they'll stop thinking it's cool.

so...



the kids did think it was pretty cool.
and yes, a tad smelly.

so remember keep science cool :)

{liking bugs is not mandatory - whew!!}

wordless wednesday

random

just a few random pictures from the past few weeks...

if you ask me, this is total proof that living
in a warm climate would ensure fun all the time!

don't you agree???

wordless wednesday

check out the new 1st graders

09.02.08
you were a brand new kindergarteners!!

06.09.09
smarter & a tad crazier
you're moving on the 1st grade!!

this year you had lots of fun hangin' with anthony
& you loved your teacher mrs stratton

and thanks to the "little kids"...

you made it through whole year of getting up early,
getting dressed and riding along while the "big kids" got dropped off.
then you had to be woken up early from naps or
pulled away from afternoon cartoons to go pick them up.
you guys are awesome :)

thanks allison for helping me with carpooling!!
{oh man, no picture of the moms. no fair!}

and as the cast of hsm2 would say...

school's out
scream and shout!!!

something to think about

yesterday olivia & garrett told me they wanted an ipod when they turn 16 -
in pink & blue, obviously.

sure.
but something tells me they'll want one before 16.

that got me thinking...
it's not that long ago that walkmans, discmans, etc. were the cool thing.
i can't even imagine how much things will change by the time olivia is 16 -
that's 10 years away!!
will ipods be ancient history?

i think i'll ponder that today.
that's way more fun than thinking about what olivia
will be like in 10 years - ha ha!!

it's all about the shoes...

saturday we took the kids hiking.
we went to the state park by our house -
got a trail map from the park attendant guy and were on our way.

the kids had a blast.
picking up sticks,
throwing random nature items into the creeks we crossed over,
walking in mud,
and best of all...
we came to a bridge that had fallen into the water.
{we saw the "bridge out" sign on our way back}

we could have turned around, but we had 2 kids
who really, REALLY wanted to cross the water.
the creek was low and there were plenty of rocks,
so cross it we did.

shortly after we crossed it, we realized the round trip back
to our car was a little long for the kids.
so we turned around and got to cross the creek again.
this time i was carrying josie and got to see how 20lbs of baby
changes your center of gravity on wet & slippery rocks :)

only one slight casualty on our hike-
the 2nd time we crossed the creek, olivia fell in.
drama, drama, drama.
"i'm sooooo embarrassed!!!!"

but we made it back to our car, had dinner and all was well again.



all in all it was a fun way to spend our saturday afternoon.
and we learned one lesson regarding footwear...

keens are totally worth it on a hike!!!



thanks to tim they've been hosed off and are back to new :)
so worth it!!

just a few sunday pictures...

i love this time of year -
when the peonies are in bloom.

i love how the look in the yard.
i love how they smell in my house.
i love taking pictures of the kids in front of them.
ok, maybe that's not true-
but i tried anyways...
unfortunately, my subjects weren't 100% cooperative.
and i'm not really sure why one of those subjects
was not wearing a shirt.

mmm...maybe next year i'll get a good group shot :)

finally

what's josie smiling at?




her excited brother, of course!

yes, we finally gave in and bought garrett a skateboard

originally, we had decided he could have one
for his birthday - but the more we thought about it,
we decided that a skateboard isn't much fun
in october in the michigan :)