because she wanted to help frost garrett's cake...

ya, that was NOT going to happen.
so she got her very own project...

and it kept her busy...

for all of 2 minutes - HA HA

but i got a few cute smiles out of it :)

stay tuned for garrett's cake...
but you can guess one color just by looking at her :)

super 6

garrett kicked off his birthday {a day early}
at ford field
and brought the lions some super good luck!
{first win of the season - woo hoo}

happy birthday mr garrett -
you are going to have a super fun year being 6!

right now you LOVE all things related to skateboarding & biking.

you like to get up early and watch anything & everything on tv -
but superhero shows are your favorite
and you really wish we'd break down and let you watch
non-cartoon superhero shows - ha ha
{maybe this year?}

garrett you are a good friend & brother -
we are so lucky to have you in our family!

happy birthday to a super 6 year old
{enjoy pj day at school!!}

love you!!!

another fabulous year

happy birthday, miss olivia!

dear olivia,
i can't believe you are 8!!!

seems like just yesterday you were a baby taking lots of naps
and leaving me lots of time to scrapbook & knit -
ahh the good old days! {ha ha}

now you love hanging out with your friends and are a social butterfly.
you could spend all day writing in your journal
or drawing pictures.

you love reading...
magic treehouse
the littles
the boxcar children

you love eating pepperoni & parmeasan cheese sandwiches.
if every breakfast was bacon & muffins you'd the happiest girl alive!

you are a great big sister & tell everyone you meet
that you are the OLDEST cousin :)

your favorite fashion accessory is "dangly earrings"

you LOVE to sleep in and stay up late.

you are such a fun part of our family,
and we love you so much!

have a fabulous year of being 8!!!

xoxo

it's that time again...

to hang out with friends at the orchard...

to go for a wagon ride...

to pose in a pumpkin patch...
{argh - bad choice wearing hot pink! ha ha}

to pick out the perfect pumpkin...

and umm...

it's time to watch a pig race {i guess!}

HA HA

i love this time of year!

art prize, part 2

yesterday a friend and i planned to take
our littlest-not-in-school kids to art prize.
garrett ended up staying home sick from school,so he got to come along too.

welcome to our adventure...

ok, this first group is pretty interesting...

first, the lips - can you tell what they are made out of? {straws}

statue guy - ya, strange! {but so lifelike!}

and finally, the guys all looking at a rabbit.
i wish i could explain this one, but it had no description!
{the title of it is "knave" - yes, i'm still confused}

this next one is pretty cool.
it's in the 10 top and it might just get my vote.

it is titled "helping mom one penny at a time"
check out the description, i think it's pretty cool.

some more...

"a matter of time" is in the top 10

the colored rocks were really beautiful
{yes, too lazy to look up the name!}

the bottom picture "salt and earth" really doesn't do the work justice.
in my defense, the room was dimly lit and we had to file past it
and it was super crowded - so no time to play with my settings :)

anyways, it is a picture done in salt {that people have somewhat messed up}
check out these way better pictures and you'll see why it's in the top 10 :)

and now for a kid favorite - "dancing with lions"
it's entirely made of nails and in the top 10.
{can you tell we were on a top 10 quest?}

well, that was the clear kid favorite until...

{can you spot our well mannered boys?}

yes, outside of the nice quiet museum...

these boys fully embraced "water prize"

at one point ryan put his entire shoe in the water

because he claimed it was waterproof.

and the picture of him slightly wet was taken BEFORE he was truly wet.

definitely a top 10 entry for ryan & matthew!

now how do you suppose we kept the kids happy this whole time?

i have to admit, it took us a while to figure it out.
especially since garrett threw us for a loop and had to come along
{and take up a spot in my double stroller!}

ahhh, next year we'll know what keeps them happy!

highlights

this past weekend we cast lots of votes for some really cool art.check just a few of the art prize entries we saw...
this card was such a fun idea -it's the world's largest greeting card, that we all could sign.

a quick pose in front of the starburst -
in between classes i watched the artist put this together,
so it was fun to show the finished project to the kids.

"lights, camera, action??" man -
we saw him this summer in mackinaw city,
he's pretty cool to watch.

the kids loved the "play me, i'm yours" pianos.

the elephants were lots of fun -
pulling their ears made their heads move up & down.

the ufo pod was just plain odd,
but the kids thought it was way cool!

the guy who made these flowers took our picture

in exchange for our vote - ha ha!

olivia's FAVORITE -
87,000 toothpicks!

the steam pig -
how does one explain this???

and that is just the teeny, tiny tip of the art prize iceberg.

don't worry, more pictures coming soon!

once the top 10 are announced and we definitely will go back and scope them out.

there are already so many cool ones that we've heard about

in the past few days that we didn't see.

ugh.

it's kind of like disney world - you just can't see it all in one day.

multiple visits required!!!

***

and now for my favorite moment of art prize -

the kids were standing around a building spotlight

and saying how cool it was.

they totally thought it was art!

they cracked me up

{and the guy who walked past them too!}

even though i hate the mess...

some days i just have to give in!

self-addressed josie

one crazy, mixed-up place!

we've had several rainy weekends in a row,so we've been stuck doing really cool, awesome, fun activities inside.
.or not.
so instead of pictures of us watching lots of tv and playing wii,i give you our trip to one crazy, mixed-up place,back when the weather was nice :)
at first you might assume it's a petting zoo...

or is it a zoo?

or is a bakery with yummy treats?

they all chose these cookies insead of apple spice donuts
-- pure craziness!

obviously no one regretted their decision :)

and we can't wait to go back on a weekend it's not raining
to get apples & pumkins.

and next time,
i'll get a picture of the camel, reindeer & sloth -
seriously one crazy, mixed-up place!!!