September stuff

 It's been a few weeks since I've posted, but we've been really busy...traveling and just doing family activities.

Last weekend Brian and I headed off to Cancun, Mexico.  Brian won a promotional trip at his work and I was able to get time off and go with him.  We didn't get to pick when we went, cause there was a big Miller-Coors party that was going on down there.  Well, we went during hurricane season, so it rained pretty much every day except for one.  The trip was pretty nice though, cause it fell about 2 weeks after our 7 year anniversary.  Nice little vacation with just the two of us.

The hotel was gorgeous and we were able to just relax and spend some time to ourselves.  The kids were with Grammie and Grandad, and except for being slightly crabby due to colds/sinus infections, that had a blast.  Poor Grammie and Grandad were TIRED when we got home, though!

Our view at the airport...a rainy, cloudy sky.

Plus, we had some issues with our car rental (they wanted to charge us over $550 for 3 days...no thank you!), but when we got to the hotel, it was gorgeous.

Our view from the hotel balcony

There were tons of pools and cabanas, where we spent the majority of our time, even though I did manage to get a sunburn while laying out on a cloudy day.

 Brian ventured out into the ocean a few times while we were there.
I am definitely a swimming pool girl, and have found that the waves really mess with my balance and I get pretty darn dizzy when I am around the waves.  So, I stayed out...

 Swimming in on the waves

 I love the beach and walking in the sand.

I had some time to myself one day because Brian went golfing.  It was the LONGEST 18 holes of golf he has ever played, and I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to come back.  But, 6.5 hours later, he showed up at the hotel and we had a nice dinner and took a long walk on the beach.

 My awesome hubby!

Can't believe it's been 7 years...time flies when you're having fun!

The week before Cancun, we hit up a Royals game.

They're actually playing really well, which makes going to the games a little bit more fun.

Of course, we picked a day when it was over 100 degrees outside.  The announcer said it was the hottest temperature for the "first pitch" all season.  Awesome.  But the kids were troopers and had a blast.

 Maggie could ride the carousel all day long if we'd let her

 We ran into a girlfriend from college and she snapped a quick picture of us at the game.

Can you tell we were covered in sun block and sweat?  Gross!!!

 Colin and Brian on the carousel

I made a little collage of the kids' pre-k school pictures.

They were so stinkin' cute, but I just couldn't bear spending $35 on just 4 wallets and a 5x7.

So, we decided to just keep the little mini-pictures they sent home and save our money for something else.

This school semester is just flying by for me.  I really am enjoying the classes I am in, but they have TONS of projects that I have to work on continuously throughout the semester.  

But, I only have until the middle of December and then I'm done with my coursework, so I'll just keep plugging along! :)

September phone pictures

 September is flying by and we are having a great time enjoying the nice days outside.

I noticed the pictures in my phone were building up, so I thought I would share some of them.  Honestly, it's just easier to carry around my phone to take pictures sometimes than my big, awesome camera.

We went to Meemaw's house today, just for fun.

Of course, Colin and Mags wanted to fish, so we borrowed Meemaw's neighbors' fishing poles and some worms.  It was another successful trip to the neighborhood pond.  Mags didn't do any fishing, but she loved throwing in the bread pieces to the HUGE catfish.

The boys, patiently waiting

 Taking a little break from bread-throwing

 Colin was fishing all by himself, he loves it!

 He's still a bit hesitant to get close to the catfish

 His first catch of the day!

 The group of us before walking to the pond...it sure was HOT out there (almost 100 degrees!)

Mags had fun playing with some empty toilet paper rolls (and Chad did, too!)

 Playing some baseball in the front yard. Colin crushes the ball when he swings with the bat level

We hit the pool a ton right before it closed on Labor Day weekend.  Colin loves the water.

We spend most of our time in the shallow end (cause of Mags), but we ventured out to do some swimming on our own in the deep end.  I caught a little video of it, we were so proud of Colin!

 Looking cute in the floatie

 Getting tossed around by Daddy

 Enjoying a pool-side lunch one Saturday afternoon

 We ended up buying 27 bags of mulch for our front landscaping (but not all at once), so the kids loved coming with me to ride on the huge cart.  They are such great helpers!

 The note I found in Mags' backpack after the first day...I love finding notes!

And finally, the kids yanking hard on the poor tree in our front yard.  Eventually they let go, ending up with a huge handful of leaves, laughing hysterically.  oh, the dog days of summer!

Parkville Days

 Okay, first off, I've got some exciting news!!!

Tiff and Chad are expecting a sweet, little baby boy!!!

Soooo excited to have some cousins for Colin and Mags on the Dudley side.  I was totally shocked by the news a few weeks ago, and super excited!

We are very happy for them and can't wait to meet the little guy!

A few weeks ago, there was yet again another carnival in Parkville.
They had the same rides as 4th of July weekend.  We headed down there with some neighbors.

 Once again, the helicopters were a big hit with Colin and Dylan

 Maggie, Sophie and Alex also had a blast

 All the kids really wanted to ride in the teacups.  

Lylah volunteered to sit in there and control the spinning some, so it didn't get too crazy.

 Mags loved the carousel

 While the boys hit the ferris wheel, Maggie and Sophie hung out

 The little kids could not get enough of the cars.  

Here are Mags and Colin on Meet the Teacher night.  It was a zoo and pretty chaotic.

But, the kids had fun playing with some puzzles while we introduced ourselves.

Goodbye, summer...
Hello 2013 school year!

First day of Pre-K

Well somehow we all made it through the first week of Pre-K.

Apparently I was more worked up about it than I knew.  I was "that mom" on the first day, crying as I walked out the door.  But really, to my defense, it was because Maggie threw me a curveball.

I was anticipating Colin being the one that would challenge us during the drop-off the first day of school.  But no, he just walked into this "extended care" room and found some toys and started playing.  

Maggie, on the other hand, marched right into her room, turned around, and clung to me, tears flowing.  This tore me up inside.  It took all of my power to not grab her and run out the door.

At the end of the day when we picked her up, she was playing with her fellow classmates.  She saw me, dropped her toys, ran to me and gave me the biggest hug ever.  All the while, saying "Mom, you came back!"  Yep baby girl, I came back.  

Colin and Mags before we headed off to school.

Colin refused to wear anything that I wanted him to.  So instead, we were out the door in a cut-off shirt with a race car on the front.  I will pick my battles, I guess!

Can't believe they are both in Pre-K!

Okay, Mom, I'm ready to go. 

Seriously, I think she could fit inside her backpack.

They are repairing the road right in front of the preschool.  Not cool for traffic, but really cool for a bunch of little kids who love to watch diggers!

Colin and his teacher, Mrs. Buchholz

I didn't get one of Mags and her teacher, Mrs. Koffman, because she was crying so much.

The second day was just a few whimpers, and then on Friday, no tears at all from Maggie.  Such a brave little girl.

Colin and Maggie came home every day with cool pictures and worksheets they have been doing.  

Colin told us the first day "Dad, preschool is FUN!"  Let's hope that continues...

Best buds

These 2 just crack me up.

They really are best friends and I hope they stay that way for a long time.

Earlier this week, we hit the swimming pool for a little bit before bed.

The kids immediately stripped down to their birthday suits before heading upstairs for pajamas.

Before that happened though, they decided they needed to finish their un-eaten pizza from dinner.

This resulted in...

Love these guys!

Happy Trails!

 One of our neighbors told us about an awesome trail about 5 minutes from our house.

We have been wanting to take the kids there, but for some reason, it's taken us a few weeks to get our act together.  Well, this weekend it happened!  It was perfect weather, cool in the mornings, so we packed up our wagon and a picnic lunch and headed out to the trail.

Colin was hoping to see monkeys, turtles and moose.  Maggie wanted to see birds.

It was about a 4.5 mile (round trip), paved trail with lots of other families and pets walking by.

Every couple of minutes there seemed to be something that was really cool, like a waterfall, trickling stream, or an old rusty bridge.  The kids loved riding in the wagon and sipping on their lemonades.

 My boys enjoying a  beautiful morning

 The kiddos and I (too bad Mags couldn't stop sucking her thumb or rubbing her eyelashes for the picture!)

 Not far down the trail was a really shallow stream, and after Colin poked at a few of the bugs with a stick, we were brave enough to walk around in the water.

It was cold, but lots of fun!

Walking in the stream

 Love this cutie pie!

 Colin and Maggie found this huge rock.

This huge rock was perfect for....silly faces!

These kids crack me up!

The kids loved when Brian would RUN down the hills with them in the wagon.

I got left behind, but had lots of fun watching them laugh so hard.

Plus, there were lots of families walking their dogs. And the kids wanted to pet each and every one of them...

One of our last stops was this beautiful waterfall (you can kindof see it in the background of the picture).

There was a pretty big drop off right in front of where Brian is sitting.

The kids had fun throwing rocks as far as they could...trying to hit the waterfall.

We spent just under 2 hours walking along the trail (with many stops), and then had a picnic lunch by our car before we headed home.  Colin and Maggie wouldn't stop talking about how much fun it was, even if we didn't see any monkeys...

:)

Yardwork and more...

 Summer is coming to an end around here, and we are taking advantage of every weekend we have left.

Colin and Maggie are starting their first year of Pre-K in a couple of weeks.  

The kids had to get new lunch boxes and backpacks, as well as nap mats for Pre-K.  

We have them all ready to go, and they are both super excited to go to school.  It's nice that we can keep them both together for another year, even though they will be in different classrooms, they will be attending the same school.  

Showing off their new lunch boxes and backpacks

Colin went with Spiderman and Mags chose Hello Kitty

 All ready for school, Mom and Dad!

 Mags is becoming quite the fan of Superheroes, just like her older brother.  

She has convinced him to borrow his pajamas to wear to bed.

Lookin good, sis!

 The kids trying out their nap mats watching Curious George

 A few weeks ago St. Therese had their annual Ice Cream Social.

We have gone the past few years, and this year was just as much fun, or maybe even more, since the weather wasn't too terribly hot.

The kids spent the majority of the time in the bounce house.

It was especially fun until Mags got a goose egg on the side of her head from a collision.  She goes FLYING around in there since she's so little!

 We also took advantage of a free Curious George exhibit at Crown Center a couple of weeks ago.

The kids really liked it, and they probably would've had a little more fun if there wouldn't have been so many BIG kids around.  They monopolized the more interactive areas, but it was fun for both of them!

 Maggie wanted another picture with George, one of the most popular guys in our house!

We have had such a nice run of mild temperatures the last few weeks, plus quite a bit of rain.

It has made everything so nice and green outside.
Brian and I decided to purchase some things for our "weed patch" in our front yard.

This used to contain the HUMONGOUS bushes that hadn't been trimmed in years (you couldn't even tell we had windows in the front of our house they were so big!)

So, last fall, we tore out the bushes and had plans for some nice plants and shrubs.

 Here is what it looked like, weeds and all.  It needed some major work, from weeding to leveling and removing of the thorny bushes around the tree.

Here is what we've done so far.

We got the ground all prepped, laid down the black weed fabric, and purchase some ground cover, lillies, mums, transplanted some box woods, and bought some new ornamental grass to swap out for our other ornamental grass we planted this spring.

We only get an hour or two at a time, due to kids that aren't so good at staying occupied outside, although Colin has become quite a fan of collecting worms and roly-poly's now.  Maggie just wanders around outside taking our shovels and getting dirty.

We are waiting for mulch to go on sale for the fall season, and then we'll have the majority of our landscaping done in the front yard.  It looks sooo much better with just a little work and probably $150 or less.