Enjoying a smoothie.......

Silas loves drinking from a straw and sat patiently on the stool while I made Nolan a smoothie. Then it occurred to me, I bet Silas would love a smoothie too! What do you think?

1st day of school

Hard to believe how time flies! I always heard, the older you get, time goes faster! It is so true. I still feel like I am 20, but my kids say different! I may always look at myself as a 20 something year old! It is so hard for me to believe that Isabel is in 3rd grade and has grown up so much! I still feel like she should be that little 2 or 3 year old with tons of questions and she thought she could take on the world! Oh wait, she still has tons of questions and thinks she can take on the world! She is amazing! She may be dramatic and hate when things don't go her way, but she will be one strong woman someday! God has blessed her with many amazing talents. I still listen to her sing and I am amazed (she has been singing so beautifully since she was 18 months old...truly amazes me!). Now, she is in 3rd grade, getting ready to learn cursive and multiplication! I worried about her dislike for reading just 2 short years ago and now she reads books I would have never thought she would read! She loves mystery and figuring out the unknown!

My baby boy is now in Kindergarten. He cracks me up! I would say that he is pretty indifferent about Kindergarten. He likes it, but also is enjoying his mornings at home with Silas and me. I think he could take it or leave. Like Isabel, I think he would miss his friends if he did not go at all. His teacher is Miss Gray and she teaches morning K at an Elementary school across town and then she travels to our school for the afternoon. A funny story about his first few days, we kept asking him about his new friends and who he was playing with....so, he told us he had a new friend and so matter a fact, that his friend has Down Syndrome. I thought this was weird because on the meet the teacher day with the kids, I don't remember any of the children having down syndrome, but he was SURE he had DS. I asked him how he knew and he would squint his eyes and say because he looks like this. So, after several days of asking him about it and saying, "Are you SURE he has Down Syndrome?", he said, "Why don't you ask Miss Gray", so the next day I asked. Miss Gray had a good laugh and said, "No, we do not have any students with Down Syndrome." Long story short, Nolan's new friend has a "lazy eye" and not Down Syndrome! He was so sure, but the fun thing to me is that even know he knew there was something different about his new friend, he did not care and enjoys playing with him every day!

The taste of Fishers---or something like that!

Brad always has these great ideas to check things out....although this was a lot of fun because we spent time with the Timmy, Carmen, and Baby Kate...we also spent more money than we should have for a family who is trying to conserve!!
Gotta love the bounce houses, even if they are full of germs!!!!

Lakeside Michigan July 2009

Ever had one of those times in your life that a vacation was needed more than you even realized it before you got there? This was a time for us! We knew that we were excited to have the chance to get away after Brad's job had been eliminated from his company. The vacation could not have come at such a good time. I don't think it is where we were, but just being together and sharing time with his mom (aka: Grandy) meant more than it had in a long time! We were secure in the fact that we knew (and still know) that God had brought us to this place and if He brought us to this place, he was going to guide us through it and to the other side, so there was nothing to do but enjoy the time. No worries, no stresses, no calls from work that a database was down or someone needed help with something at work! The time was priceless. The pictures don't even come close to showing the time we enjoyed in Michigan, but there are memories and I am glad to post them!

Thanks Grandy and my beautiful family of 5 for the great memories and time spent together! I love you all!

More Lakeside Michigan

Little Miss Olivia enjoying the beach! Her smile says it all!


She was showing a treasure to her daddy after he had been out playing in the waves! Boys will be boys...I think Brad and Tommy spent more time in the waves than the kids!

Lakeside Michigan

Grandy treated us all to a great time away for a few days in Michigan. The kids had a great time and enjoyed the one day with their cousins. Playing on the beach and swimming in the lake and playing in the waves was a blast and we hope to make it a yearly tradition! (:
Logan was so cute seeing the beach for the first time and you have to love his swimsuit!
My creative husband made an alligator in the sand! It was so fun, but didn't last long. The kids wanted to jump on it and destroy it the second he finished...at least we got a picture!

Michigan vacation...Lakeside Michigan

While we were away, I realized Silas wanted to eat his mac n cheese by himself....he loves feeding himself, but he holds the spoon in one hand and eats with the other hand!
The Warren Dunes....Brad and Isabel climbed to the top while the rest of us swam. Then Brad, Isabel and Nolan climbed before we left. Can you find them in this picture?
Here are the three of them walking back in the middle of the picture.
This is what Silas did at the beach all week. He sad on the towel and went through the bag. He hated the way the sand felt, so he would not get off the towel.