Favorite Photo Friday~ team spirit

this photo means a lot. you see, these kiddos have not really ever been at one school long enough to acquire any sense of belonging.

between redistricting and one giant relocation our oldest is the only one who's spent more than 2 years in any one school system, and that was K-2. this is their third year as Tigers and they're lovin' it. especially since today is homecoming and our high school football team is undefeated. it's been spirit week the last few days and we've done the crazy hat and backwards days but today was the day they couldn't wait for.

  

so we're headed to the game at the high school tonight.





even the Lil' Lady who gets on the bus today was dressed too. you're never to young for team spirit, right? 

 although her hair was a bit too dark for the spray to show so we just did a cool stripe.

yes that's dad photo bombing in the background. he was a little late getting ready because he was digging through his Middletown High School box from the eighties to see what he could contribute. we were the Middletown Knights, but we were black and orange too!

GO TIGERS!!!

 

Sunday Snapshot~ can't let go

our second came back from a sleep over about 8am and thought a refreshing dip in the pool would wake him up.

 the outside temp was...

 the pool temp was...

but he scoffs at all that. you see he's not ready to let go of his summer pool fun.

 so even though mama had to bring in her flower pots last night due to the freeze warning

and it is officially now autumn, our boy's gettin' in. 

he's been getting in after school just about every day 

but the water temp then was in the upper sixties. 

 funny thing, when we were at the beach in

August the water temp was 75 degrees and he thought it was way too cold to get in. 

i guess he's acclimated now though. 

shortly after this my battery died so i missed the immersion!

but don't worry, he didn't stay in long:)

Favorite Photo Friday~ Improvisation

I love this photo!

 

an impromptu baseball game in the backyard with their 4 year old cousin



no catcher's gear, but a life jacket will do!

Sunday Snapshot~ Changes

Our girl is growing and gaining some independence lately 

with going to pre-school everyday now i think she's decided she can do everything by herself which has caused quite a few messes lately.

  like just this morning she filled the toilet with one 9 ft. strip of toilet paper she used to blow her nose.....
she used to come to me for that. she also decided to make her own breakfast by going to the pantry with her step stool and getting out a bag of sour gummy worms. there have been other incidents which have required the steam cleaner but we won't discuss it so close to dinner:) i'm sure she figures she's savin' mom the trouble of trying to tackle these tasks on her own but this mama's a little worried about what she'll try on her own next. it all boils down to her desire to do whatever the big people are doing. from the moment we brought her home she's observed and emulated. her toys at 13 months were calculators, cell phones, pens, keyboards and whatever else we had in OUR hands; it took her forever to be interested in age appropriate toys. at the end of last school year, grandma surprised me by bringing her into my classroom to visit. it wasn't long before she hopped onto one of the art stools at table 3 and drew right along with my fourth graders! along with the independence has also come this crazy creative eye. she' making connections with what she sees in her books to real life and she can even repeat what she's learned in school for the day which is huge. this was her breakfast plate awhile back. she kept saying "duck mama, duck" and i'd look out the screen door thinking they were out in the field as they usually are but she kept pointing to her plate and then I saw it. of course i was so impressed i grabbed my camera, but she had even done the same thing with a shadow on the ceiling that the light fixture was making too another time. She said 'butterfly" and it definitely looked like one! i'm thinking, hey, maybe i've passed on my creative genes:)  have no idea where she learned this from though but i love that she had to have both of them.





yep, our Lil' Lady sure has changed but i have to say we love her just the same, if not more:)

Favorite Photo Friday~ the gift

 

a few weeks back our second turned twelve and headed off to 7th grade. no longer the newbie in middle school; this year he's acquired a bit more confidence and a great outlook. remember, this is my boy who'd rather be outside under the hoop or on the mound rather than reading a book or listening to a teacher lecture on and on. so far he's enjoying his classes and the smaller load of homework from last year which this mama is grateful for too!

we promised him a birthday party with a bunch of friends to come over and swim in the new pool but a few weeks before the big day we thought of something better. something he's wanted but was a bit pricier than what we usually spend on a birthday so we gave him a choice- have 20 kids come over or have a family party with a sweeter gift. we didn't want to tell him what the gift was to leave it a surprise but after he thought about it for a day, he chose the gift.

 the week of his birthday happened to be the same week our new dishwasher arrived so we thought it would be funny to bring him out to the garage to get the awesome birthday "gift" he chose over a party

 thankfully he had a good sense of humor when he finally realized he just opened a dishwasher. he was actually kind of gracious about it at first not wanting to hurt our feelings. then he was annoyed.

so when the big day arrived and he knew the real deal was coming he just couldn't handle the suspense.

but we made him wait to open it last... and i have to admit i was feelin' the pressure. what if he regretted not choosing the party?

but in the end it was totally worth it. he even forgot he wanted an ipod touch which was even better cause he wasn't expectin' it!



 



i think getting a dishwasher for your 12th birthday makes a better story though, oh well.

Favorite Photo Friday~ the makeover

the First Lady loves the makeup. i have no idea where she gets it from because I don't wear any. i never learned how to put it on. period. so i'm not quite sure where this fascination comes from, it's not like i have the stuff lying about! 

 lately she's been on a makeover kick. i think we've all had one...

 even her brothers. but shhh, we're not allowed to speak of it.

 anyhow, sometimes i'm not in the mood to have my eyes and lips done, but a certain someone is

 always ready to pick up the slack for mom. she will sit perfectly still for her big sister

 when i can't even get her to hold still to do her hair, i don't get it.