Wordless Wednesday - "flowers" from Brett

First day of school

Today was Chloe's first day of school. She woke up on her own, without me having to wake her up, and she was VERY nervous/excited. We were driving to school, and this is the conversation that took place...

Me: "Hey Chloe, can I walk you into school this morning?"

Chloe: "No mom, I know how to get in."

Me: "Well, can I at least walk you to your line?"

Chloe: "No mom, I know where it is."

Me: "Are you sure?"

Chloe: "Yes, I'll be fine mom."


When did my little girl grow up? She's such an independent little girl. Wanting to do everything on her own, and to be honest, it makes me a bit sad.

When we pulled up to school, she said, "Mom, you can take me to my line." "O.K., honey," I say, but secretly I wanted to jump up and down!! Needless to say, I cried. I thought that I was going to be fine, but once I saw her walking into the school, I just felt sad. Like my baby girl's really growing up.

As I was walking out of school, their were a bunch of moms on the sidewalk talking, and they saw the tears in my eyes. And I just looked at them and said, "What is my problem?" They just chuckled and said that they had been waiting a long time for this day! Maybe I'll feel like that someday, but for right now, I just feel a little sad that she's not here with me.

We have to rewind to that vacation post that I've been putting off for over a week now

O.K., So I know all of the Grandma's and Grandpa's love to see the posts about vacations, and to see the pictures of the kids having fun, so I didn't want to neglect this opportunity to update them on our latest vacation that happened a couple of weeks ago.

We just spent a week up at the lake again, but this time Ryan was able to come with us! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us too well, but we still had fun, nonetheless.

We spent a day in Holland, and fortunately it was an absolutely beautiful day! Grandma and Grandpa met in Holland, and they were with us in the car ahead of us. We had our Nextels and Grandma and Grandpa would call us and tell us all about the scenery and such. They showed us where they met, where they hung out, where Grandpa used to work while in the Coast Guard, etc. It was alot of fun!

We also went to Tunnel Park which had a beach. It was on Lake Michigan so that was a lot of fun too!



Owen taking a look at the lake. He loved it!

All Chloe wanted was to "get me some tan."


Brett wouldn't slow down long enough for me to get a good picture of him. This pretty much captures his face for the entire time he was swimming!

A long sandy walk to get to the water


The kids LOVED playing "SHARK" with Ryan.



Owen was tired so he spent most of the time on my lap.

We also went to South Haven to see the sunset...






My goal was to get good "head" shots of the three kids. I asked Ryan to help me out, and this is what I found on my camera...


A "head" shot of my fourth kid! :) Sorry honey, but that's what you get!! :)


Owen's very first ice cream cone. Until now, he's only had ice cream in a cup. Let's just say he loved this - can you tell?


And Brett loved his just as much!

I rushed and rushed to get the ice cream in time to watch the sun "go into the water," only to have the sun go behind some clouds. Ugghhhhh!! It was still a fun time though.

We had so much rain throughout the week that we finally gave in and let the kids have a mud fight!



Some of my sister-in-laws kids are in the picture too, but man did they have fun!



And we can't forget about our High School Musical 2 premiere party! Call me a dork, I know, but I figured out a way for my sister Melanie to get me a copy. She has a DVD recorder, so she just copied off the t.v. for me, and we found someone who was coming up for the weekend, and they brought it on Saturday morning! It was really cute, we got HSM tableclothes and plates, etc., and had such a fun time! We had a bunch of kids come too!

So, not too much excitement for this vacation, but it was fun anyway! I'm just thankful that we can do these kinds of things with our kids. We really do have fun - amidst all of the chaos!

What's for lunch?

Today I took a trip to Wal-Mart with the kiddies, and I was trying to find different things for Chloe's lunch. She starts kindergarten on Tuesday. :( :)) Not sure which emotion I'm feeling. :) Anyway, I asked her what she wants in her lunch. She says. "You know mom, those salami and cheese sandwiches." Now let me tell you - she eats these just about EVERY DAY! "O.K.", I say, "what else." We then go into everything that she wants in her lunch...

Got me to thinking though. I used to eat salami and cheese just about everyday too, when I was in school. Is that just what kids do? Do they like to eat the same thing over and over? As an adult, I just would hate it, but as a kid, they probably don't know any better, right?

So tell me - waht do your kids like in their lunches? Is it the same as when you were a kid, and do they like the same thing ALL.THE.TIME? Tell me about it!!

Wordless Wednesday - An actual mailbox in Holland, MI!

(Notice the ring on the finger! :))


For more "Wordless Wednesdays" visit 5 Minutes for Mom!

Could this really be happening?

I know I promised a post about our vacation, and I'll get to that soon ~ I promise, but I just had to share this.


OWEN JUST WENT #2 ON THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!

Every time Brett goes to the bathroom, Owen is right there with him. Gross, I know, but I can't do much about it. Anyway, he always says that he has to go potty too, and I put him on, and NOTHING. NOT TODAY!

This may just be a fluke thing, but I'm excited nonetheless.

We're Home!

We're back home now! I'll post more about our vacation soon, but I've got loads and loads of laundry to do, school supplies to buy, Oh, and Monkey Bread to eat (my oven is beeping at me as we speak!):) Gotta run!

And We're Off!!!

Well, today we leave for a weeks vacation at the lake. I'm pretty excited about it, because most of the weeks (minus the week of the 4th of July)that I've spent up there this summer have been with just me and the kids. This time, Ryan will be with me!! Yeah!!

I will say that I'm, or should I say Chloe, is pretty bummed that I'll, or should I say she'll, miss the premiere of High School Musical 2. I will be taping it, so we'll just have to see it a few days late. It's not as fun as the premiere, but it'll be good just the same! :)

So have a great weekend/week! And I'll be back next Monday!!!

Brett and his "Little Guy"

This past weekend Brett found a caterpillar at the lake. Grandma bought him a cute Spiderman container to carry it around in, and carry it around he did. He took that thing E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E! Thankfully, I got him to put the container on the porch for sleeping time.;) Brett named this little friend of his ~ "little guy." I have to say that it was pretty cute the way that Brett would talk to him, feed him M&M's and cheese and carry him around. Yesterday, however, when I woke up, I checked on "little guy," and he didn't seem to being doing so good. I told Brett to let him walk around on the sidewalk a bit and just to watch him really careful, and then we'd put him back in his container. Well, a few minutes later, Brett came in crying, "I lost little guy!!" I then say, "What happened to him buddy?" Chloe then tells me "he was crawling on the wooden steps on the porch, and he just fell right inbetween them." I just have to insert that as I'm typing this, Brett says, "Mom, he's back!" "Who's back buddy?" "My little guy ~ he's outside!" Well, let me tell you, I have searched and searched for "little guy" to no avail. I'm hoping that we find another one at the lake this weekend ~ you can be sure that I will be looking on every tree! :)

I cried with a stranger yesterday...

***I typed this out on Friday, and then really contemplated whether or not to post it, because I sound like a complete moron. I decided to go ahead and post it, because I'm not the only mom around who has had days/weeks like these, and it's comforting to know that most everyone has gone through something like this. I hope?!?!?***

Yep, sure did! Ever have one of those days, better yet, weeks? Let's go back to Tuesday...

I was planning on making hamburgers on the grill, and use the little stove top thing on the grill to make the corn on the cob. Perfect! I won't get the house all hot, seeing as it's been in the high 80's all week, and I didn't want to defeat the purpose of the a/c. Anyway, I go to put the corn on the side burner, only to find out that the gas is gone. Great! Now, I think in my head where the nearest propane exchange place is, and the only place I could come up with is Walgreens. O.K., not too far away ~ the kids are in their suits from the sprinkler, so I throw some shirts on them, and get them in the car. We get to Walgreens, and Brett tells me he has to go to the bathroom. Sure you do, son! It's always at the most inopportune times. I tell him to hold on just a minute while I pay for the gas, and then I was gonna let him go. Well, no sooner did I say that, he stood on the side of the cart, and the whole cart tips over onto him ~ with Owen in it! Both kids are screaming, and I'm about to loose it, because we all know what happened the last time Brett fell out of a cart! I pick up the cart, only to realize that Brett went to the bathroom in his pants. I figure out that each kid is fine, and we quickly head to the car.

Fast forward to today. I took Chloe to dance class, and realize that these two rambunctious, wild, hyper, crazy, energetic, loud little boys are not going to behave in the little waiting room. I put them in the car and go to pick up a couple things from the grocery store. Brett asked if he could use one of the little carts that he could push around. "Sure honey! I just need a couple of things ~ stay with Mommy!" I got Owen in the little truck cart, and we were on our way! Everyone happy! Let's go! For the most part, Brett was pretty good ~ minus the time he banged the cart, and all the Shrek band-aids went flying. Anyway, we get to the check-out, and Owen wants to walk. "I walk mom, I walk mom, I walk mom....." He ended up getting out of the cart, because I didn't buckle him in, (first mistake) and heads on over to Brett with the cool cart that he could push around and bang into everything while mom tries to unload her own cart. CRAZY!! I was sweating bullets. To make a long story sort of short, :) Brett and Owen start fighting for the stinkin' cart, and both of them are screaming/crying. I'm trying to stay calm in this situation, but their are tons of people staring at me like I'm a circus act! I put Owen in the cart, and I grab onto Brett's hand, as the bagger says "Are you sure you don't need help ~ looks like you've got your hands full." "No thanks! I'm just fine!" I head out the door while both of the boys are both crying at this point, and I'm about to start at any minute. I get out the door, and get down to Brett's level to start to talk to him, when I hear this women say, "It gets better. I remember when my boys would do the same thing. I had days like that." That was it, that was my absolute breaking point. I look at her ~ thankfully I had sunglasses on ~ and say "I feel like I could cry right now!" Yep, that's what I said, and that's what I did. I feel like a moron now that I'm typing this out and reliving it. She then says, "O honey, It gets better! Tomorrow's another day!" "I know," I say. And head to my car with my head down.

Thankfully, today is a new day, and we're doing just fine! Just a little meltdown at the grocery store! :)

I'm so far behind...

I am so far behind on my posts, it's crazy! I've got all these cute stories/pictures to share, and I just can't find the time lately to post them. I'm gonna try to do a quick little update of our summer so far.


Chloe had her dance recital, the last weekend in June! It was so fun to watch her! I'm so proud of her! She's really improved so much since last year, and she has so much fun doing it!


This is Chloe with her "Pretty Woman" costume! I just loved this one on her!




Here's her whole class.


Here's the whole class in their "My Girl" costumes! So cute!!




Unfortunately in the blogging world, I'd forgotten Chloe and Brett's birthdays. Thankfully, in the real world I did not! :) Here's a little recap of their special days.


Brett's favorite new present!


This one is a close second. These trucks were actually Ryan's when he was little!


And here's the cake that Grandma Betty made! Yummmmmmm!


A few weeks later, we had a Birthday party for Chloe and her friends! It was so much fun! At first I thought, what was I thinking have 12 5 year-old girls here, but with the help of Christina, Kim and Nicole, it went so smooth, and we had alot of fun!

We did manicures and pedicures! We mad body glitter, and lip gloss necklaces! It turned out pretty good!




Here's all the girls showing off their pretty nails!


And here's the cake I attempted to make. It took two tries, but I finally got it in the end, and it tasted pretty good too! ;)


And I can't forget about my little Owen! He has been such a joy this summer! He's talking like crazy, and just having a fun time with everything. I think if I could make him stay any age, it would be now. He's just so stinking cute!!



Daddy thinks it's funny to put Owen's pants on his head! Well, O.k., it is! :)


A couple of weekends ago, we were sitting on Ryan's parents pontoon boat. Just enjoying coffe in the morning, and having a nice time. Until Owen got his arm stuck in the little whole that a table can stand in. Yep, couldn't get it out whatsoever. I knew he was going to be just fine, but I'm claustrophobic, and I just couldn't stand to watch him stuck there not being able to get out. I was about to hyperventilate, so I just ran to get the camera so I didn't have to watch him suffer while Grandpa got the tools to take it apart.



In this picture you can see the little silver thing around his arm.


All in all, we've just had a really great summer so far. We've enjoyed alot of time at the lake, and the kids are just having a blast! My little Brett is becoming such a character, and I'm really starting to have a fun time with him. (Last year was a different story!:)He's breaking out of those "terrible twos," and Owen's taking up where he left off! :) Chloe's really becoming a little girl. She's just a genuine, caring girl!

That's it for now!