10 weeks old

Gemma is 10 weeks old! She is getting so big! And fun!

William's First Day of School

William just before starting his first day of Kindergarten.

A blur

These are two pictures of our last day of summer! William starts kindergarten tomorrow (today!) and I won't talk about how very overwhelmed I am by this whole transition to school age kid thing. No, today was about finally scoring the right pair of school shoes (thank you Facebook friends!), meeting friends at chuck e cheese for lunch and games and ending the day with a trip to DQ for a little treat. Goodbye summer, take your hot weather with you.

Hello 2012-2014 school year!

Night time conversations

Sometimes (okay, all the time) our lives are so chaotic,I don't get huge stretches alone with our littlest one to just enjoy. I always have one eye to the child in the bathroom, a fight beginning to erupt, the dryer buzzing, phone ringing and on and on until the day is almost done. Good thing this precious one doesn't mind waiting. She isn't up for it some nights. She tired and done and ready for bed. But many nights she is ready for some chatting with her mama and daddy. Enjoy!

Bug

Amelia at dinner: my taste bugs LOVE this corn!
Mama: what?
Amelia: my taste bugs say "this corn is delicious!"

Sent from my iPhone

I am a show off

This is from last month when we were in North Dakota. Here i am holding 2 babies because I am a show off! Gemma is the baby trying to escape and baby Z is trying to figure out what is going on. Don't worry baby Z. It is just your crazy auntie!

Summer goodness

We're squeezing the last bit of goodness out of summer. Temperatures outside are finally bearable and we made the most of it! Gemma is finally at the point where we can do a little running around town without a major meltdown. Her schedule/feeding patterns and needs are starting to be more identifiable.

Saturday, I settled for a picnic and hike when I really wanted camping. The weather was absolutely perfect. Our big kids managed a 1.75 mile trail walking the whole way!

Turns out I got a camping night Saturday when I woke up with everyone in bed with us and the window open. We'll call it camping light.

This morning, the weather was again too gorgeous to stay inside after such a long, hot summer. So, we packed it up and went out to Cahokia Mounds Stste park. We took in the museum and did some more walking before hitting the road. Just a quick hop away on the map is "World's Largest Ketchup Bottle". We took what should have been a quick detour....and never found it. After 40 minutes, we gave up and headed home.

All in all we had a gorgeous weekend of family time together - a nice way to wrap up the summer. This next week is a big one for our family. William will start kindergarten. This will push our family into the school age years as opposed to the preschool years. It is a big step - one that have a big impact on all of us. As big of a step as it is, I am certain this mama is much more worked up than the boy is about the whole thing! Wish us luck!