Greg, the Fish....

 

This is what happens when your kids start receiving an allowance....welcome home Greg!

 

 

 



Halloween

The kids talked us in to carving their pumpkins this year,  Very messy but very fun!

 

Caroline's school hosted the Ghostly Gala again this year.  My pretty girl with her "BFF" Sienna.  

 

Chris and I didn't see much of Caroline...she and her friends were dancing up a storm with the DJ :)

 



 

We partied again in Caroline's classroom! (Whew...what a week!)

Caroline with a new friend Ava M.



Abby, Caroline and Brihanna

School Parade!

Ready to go out!  My 50's girl and zombie.  Connor told me that this was his most awesome costume ever (boys like to be creepy) but I think it's awesome that he still wants to smile at his mama when she has the camera! I see you smirking at me buddy :)

 

Alan joined in the fun this year which made Connor very happy.  

Big hugs to Chris who braved the rain with the kids while I stayed warm passing out candy at home! 

Since it was so ugly outside the kids only stayed out about an hour and a half but they managed to come home with plenty of candy.  We'll see how long it lasts! 





Seven

 

We have a sweet 7 year old in the house!  We celebrated with her friends at a local ceramics studio. So much fun! 

 

Opening "the best gift ever!" How exciting!

It's an iPod from Nana and Papa!

 

The girls: Abby, Ava, Sienna, Caroline, Mia and Melanie



Party #2...Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner to celebrate with the Birthday Girl :)

My darling boy made the cupcakes!



 

Take 2 on the birthday song.  Lots of wishes for Caroline this year!

 

Celebration #3.  Jungle Java and pizza dinner with Jack Brooks and Kennedy!  

 

Wishing you a wonderful year ahead.....I love you more and more each day!  These past seven years have gone by in the blink of an eye and I am amazed to see what a beautiful, kind, caring and smart little lady you have become.  I am so proud of you and can't wait to see what wonderful things happen to you this year!

XOXO.

 



Today....at our house

 

Was a day for snuggling by the fire....

 

Was a day for friends....

 

Was a day for a warm apple dessert....

Today was perfect.

"There's nothing like staying home for real comfort."
Jane Austen


Hooray for School!

 

 

First Day of School today for the kids!

My handsome Connor all ready for Middle School....

 

 

 



 

Someone was not very happy about being up so early.  Thankfully this didn't last too long!

 

And here's my sweet girl ready to take on first grade!  

 

Here's to a fantastic year ahead!  I'm looking forward to watching them grow and accomplishing lots of great things!



Caroline with the sunflowers she planted in Kindergarten and with her Daisy troop.....

 

Last Hurrah!

We had some fun before school started.  Caroline's Kindergarten teacher arranged a playdate in the park for last year's students~they were VERY excited to see their friends.

 

Payton, Caroline and Sienna.

(giggling at the ladybug that landed on Payton's hand!)

 

Who's the boss?  We switched things up one day and I told the kid's that they were in charge of a "Kid's Fun Day!"  They could pick three things to do and I would happily go along. The only rules were that we weren't coming home with any new pets (smart, right??), we had to stay somewhat local and both kids had to agree on what we were doing. 

Dave & Busters was agreed upon immediately.

Connor won 500 tickets on his first game...this kid has some serious luck!

 



Happy kids:

Activity #2 was supposed to be lunch at Max & Erma's. They changed their minds at the last minute and decided to stay and have lunch at D&B's.  Since it was their day I happily went along with their plans :)

 

And lastly....activity #3 was a trip to the ice cream store.  They were sweet and said that they wanted to wait until after dinner so that Dad could join in on the fun.  All in all, a wonderful day and a tradition I'm sure we'll continue next summer!

The days are flying by....

While we have taken lots of pictures this summer I never feel like I have 5 minutes to get everything in order.  Maybe that means that we are having way too much fun with activities, family and friends?? So, it's 11:45 on a Saturday night, everyone is asleep and here I sit determined to post some pictures.  (If I don't do this right now my kiddos are going to think that we didn't do anything during their summer break!)

Caroline and her friends have had lots of fun on the slip and slide~it has been so HOT!

Connor even decided to take a slide one day...

Tigers game!  Super fun night, even the thunderstorms and 2 1/2 hour rain delay couldn't dampen our spirits.   

4th of July.

Lots of fun days spent visiting and playing with Hadley!



We've been to the movies and to the beach.  Caroline learned how to play Crazy 8's (watch out Aunt Pam she's a card shark!) and Connor whipped up some yummy banana bread :)

Today Chris took Connor up to the Woodward Dream Cruise.  Connor thought it was "totally awesome!"  Best part of the day?  Sitting in a Viper of course!

Only a few more weeks left before school starts but still lots more to do!

Summer is in full swing over here.  Between the revolving door of friends coming and going, playdates in the park, late night swim parties, bbq's and s'mores we are all relaxed, happy and enjoying every minute of summer vacation.

Lucas, Caroline and Mia at the park. 

Our summertime tradition~ice cream at Stahl's after a day at the park :)


Babysitting our sweet Kennedy. 


S'mores!

Chris and I met some friends for dinner on Saturday night. We went downtown and dined at Michael Symon's restaurant Roast.  This was our first time here and it certainly exceeded all our expectations!

The restaurant is located in the Westin Hotel and after dinner we walked upstairs to have a drink at the bar and continue our evening.

Here is a picture of where we sat....so pretty!  Maybe one day I can convince Chris that we need to go back for dinner and stay overnight :)