entering eighth

 but all I can think about is that this time next year we'll be entering high school,

 and that is just not acceptable.

when i had my open house at school a few nights ago i chatted with several parents who actually ventured upstairs to visit the art teacher and that seemed to be the main topic of conversation, how fast they grow. really, once they hit kindergarten times flies and i hate it.

 he's dying to get back to school, but i'm thinkin' it's just for the social scene and once the homework kicks in he'll be missin' those lazy summer days in the pool.

i know i talk about how big he's getting all of the time but seriously those legs are long, aren't they?

don't even get me started about the feet. we're going shoe shopping today and i'm anticipating at least a size and half larger than what he was last spring.  

 although baseball's been his thing for quite sometime i see a bit of drama in his future. he can impersonate anyone, speak in any accent and has quite the personality. he wants to give it a try so we're lookin' into it.

after all, ya gotta have something to fall back on when you retire from baseball right?

Sunday snapshot~ headed for third

can it be so? third grade..... really? because my third graders at school always seem so old to me; like there's some big change that happens the summer between second and third. problem is, i just don't see it yet with the First Lady. maybe it's denial, but my little girl is still my little girl. so here's a bit of an update on her lately.

cheer leading. we did a bit of that last spring. learned a few basics, gained some confidence and performed in a group in front of hundreds. she concluded it wasn't her cup of tea and decided this fall to head back into gymnastics.

hair. it's a problem my friends. the longer it grows the more maintenance it needs and she wants none of it, but she wants to keep it long. i've tried everything, but she detests me doing anything with it. i've stumbled through many you tube tutorials on french braiding and various other styles but i suck at all of it (don't forget two boys came before her) anyhow, she's more than happy with the unkempt wind blown look.

which thankfully worked great at the beach, but i'm dreading those school mornings comin' up.

she's still loves turning trash into treasure. the box below was where she took her lunch 4 days in a row this week. it came from our new dishwasher but she made it her own personal space. she even invited the Lil' Lady in a few times to decorate the walls with chalk.

she wants to be so many things right now. she'll tell you she wants to be on America's Got Talent, probably singing or with her own animal act she says. she wants to take care of all the wildlife out there and give them massages. she wants to be in the newspaper in the worst way (because some how she got the thought that everyone she knows has been in the newspaper but her) and she wants to marry a man with a dog.

either way she's got some time to figure it out, it's only her third grade year.

here's hopin' it's a stellar one!

twelve today

 yep. 12 years ago today, but not actually 12 until 8pm sharp, this boy came screamin' into the world hungry.

and he's been eatin' ever since....every minute of the day.

Happy Birthday baby:)

Hope you enjoy the mint oreo icecream cake you picked out that feeds 20-24 just so you'd have the leftovers.

Sunday Snapshot~ anniversaries

so our Lil' Lady is home 2 years now. i simply cannot believe how fast time has gone. the hubs and i have also been married now 15 years.... that was in June, but we decided to celebrate both anniversaries with a trip to the "ocean".

we miss the trips to the outer banks in NC, but let me tell ya, this little beach off of Lake Michigan actually made us feel like we were there.

it was a bit chilly and windy our first day but it did get warmer as our trip carried on.

everyone tried their hand at the putting green at the hotel along with some bocce ball. much easier than taking the Lil' Lady to miniature golf somewhere. i can't see that happening

behold. our oldest. who struck this pose several times during our trip. you will see this later. again.

i was worried they would think it was too cold to venture out, but not so. by the end of the trip we were all in several times! and the other awesome thing...no saltwater!!

the crew. this picture is exactly how we pictured things when we began our adoption process 4 years ago.

why there it is again. told ya.

the First Lady and her turquoise cowboy hat. i loved taking her picture while wearing it. she never wears hats!

the awesome thing about Lake Michigan is you can wade out extremely far and have the water still up to just your waist. our first day in the waves were fierce and no different than the Atlantic. the oldest and myself spent the most time out there trying to ride them in.

the First Lady and i shared a spectacular moment. one night we went out to sit on the beach in the dark. the sky was so clear you could see every star. all of sudden we both witnessed the brightest shooting star i had ever seen in my life! we literally started screaming we were so excited. as we sat there we counted 11 more, some not as bright as others but still amazing. we felt so special as if this was only our moment, but later we found out there were people all over the world watching the Perseid meteor shower too. oh well, we may not have known about it ahead of time, but at least we didn't miss it!

Lil' Lady spent most of her beach time playing in the sand. she and dad built several "snowmans" as she called them. i thought it was clever how she related the sand to snow and asked to build a snowman instead of castles.

yep. i was there. just sayin', since i hate having my picture taken.

last one, i promise. grandpa told me this was Usain Bolt's Olympic pose. must've missed that night on TV. but you can see here how far they really were out there!

the First Lady tried to befriend a gull as she does with any creature she finds.

we didn't bring any food though which i know would've helped,

but she did manage to get a picture of his footprint!

my giant kid.

the boys had actually moved to get a bit closer to some babes who arrived after us. it was funny.

after the beach we took the Lil' Lady to pick out some fancy chocolates for her special day. her favorite was a chocolate cow lollipop.

and then her most favorite was the water park, she was a maniac in there i tell ya!

in all it was a great trip and although 6 hours away, one we would definitely make again just for the views!

this wharf outside our resort was my favorite. it reminded me so much of the movie Pete's Dragon
i half expected Shelly Winters or Mickey Rooney to pop up.

the kids never got bored,

and when they were tired at the end of the day it didn't take much for them to fall asleep. those are the best vacations, ya know:)

except for this one who missed some shows on her ipod.

and on the way home, dad made sure we got to stop in Amish country, something i've missed from back home. we got some yummy apple fritters and some cheese of course.

yep, definitely wanting to go back already!