sometimes...

sometimes you want to wear a birthday shirt
when it's not your birthday

and sometimes you say "take my picture"

and sometimes you act cheesy

and sometimes your brother is so sweet,
and i give in and buy him something he really doesn't need.

it's not the exact one he wanted, but pretty darn close!

what josie could do ALL day...

excited

today was ryan's first day of preschool
and he was excited.
yup, just a little excited...

or maybe A LOT excited!

on the way to school he asked if he could just go in by himself.
i said that was fine - when he was in high school! HA HA

i know it's going to be a fun year for ryan -

i just hope his teachers are ready for him!!!

{not so} wordless wednesday

remember these pictures?

right after they were taken we drove through the night
so i could make it back for my classes.
{which had actually started 2 days earlier - ooops}

the car ride wasn't too bad - at first :)
everyone fell asleep and we thought it was going to be the perfect setup.
we'd drive 4-5 hours, then sleep for a few hours at rest stop.

well... josie woke up around 1am and was WIDE awake.
so we drove and drove hoping she'd fall asleep.
no.such.luck.

long {and yes i know, very exciting} story short,
we eventually stopped to sleep.
our patience was nonexistent and josie had lost her favorite child status - ha ha.

well, we obviously made it home
and this picture was taken shortly after tim unloaded the car of crabby children
while i was trying to stay awake in organice chemisty.
fun times!

but we had a good trip seeing family & friends - so it's all good!

a career in retail

would you buy from these kids?
{ok, well maybe not from mr crabby face}

olivia might just have a career in retail -

leave the proof reading to someone else :)

friday wednesday night lights

this fall garrett is trying out a new sport.

it's not necessarily the sport he is built for...

but he when you're 5 you don't realize that kind of stuff :)which is pretty cool - because he TOTALLY loves it!!!

it's also pretty cool that there are lots of other kids to play with -
which means the parents can attempt to watch the game {or chat}

thanks evan for cheering up josie :)

high expectations

early this morning...

garrett: mom, am i going to learn how to read today?
i can't believe the summer is over and school is starting!we had an awesome summer and truthfully i'm sad to see them go back to school.
but-the last week or so it was pretty evident that they needed a break from each other - HA HA
so here goes...today we start another year of school!
just like garrett, i have high expectations for this year...
here's to getting up early.to remembering to pack lunches at night.to taking papers out of backpacks after school, NOT the next morning.to making new friends.to having awesome new experiences.
basically, here's to a great year of learning how to read & lots more!!

we're all set for school
with enough time to spare to take pictures - a miracle!!

can you read the expression on olivia's face???

basically it's "mom, please leave" - ha ha

garrett was nervous and even cried a little -
breaks my heart, but i know he'll do just fine :)

***

and now, for a fun look at how they've grown...

pretty cool

today was pretty cool because...

tim built a ramp for the boys -

and because ryan learned how to ride without training wheels!!

it's totally ryan to learn to ride one minute and attempt a ramp the next :)

p.s. notice the fate of our beloved sunflower?? ha ha!

what makes me happy

i'm happy that my kids have a lot of fun friends to play with.

i'm happy that the nearest hospital is just a few blocks away.

i'm happy that the adults had a few minutes to enjoy
some uninterrupted conversation!

go team

last weekend we did one last final, end of the summer road trip
to visit family in minnesota

in addition to hanging out with family,
the highlight of the trip was checking out the brand, spanking new stadium...

the kids had a blast at the game -
they stayed pretty busy with stadium food & family to play with.

thankfully we had a nice long row they could roam :)

i'm not really into baseball,
so the best part for me was meeting up with an old friend :)

thanks nana & papa for a super fun experience!

oh, and did i mention the team the twins played???

gotta support your home team!!