Smarty-Pants

Overheard outside Emma's school while waiting for parent pick-up, "Now calling buses 1,2,3,4,7,8,9."

Lila mutters under her breath, "Boy, they sure need to learn how to count in this place!"

:)

Fall Weekend

We've been busy, busy, this weekend. The weather was beautiful, and we had lots of stuff to move in our yard. It started with a very large pine tree next to our driveway. We've been debating if it was dead or alive for several years, and yesterday decided it was dead. So, Ryan took it down, and we cleared all of the branches, then dug the stump out.

Then we moved a ginourmous, too-big-for-it's-location forsythia into the vacancy.


We also ripped out an entire section of ivy and rearranged the shrubs in our front bed. Plants that got relocated included: arborvitae, peonies, azalea, dwarf holly, maple tree, and forsythia. We also did lots of weeding and trimming - looks good. We always laugh when our well-to-do neighbors drive by multiple times staring as we work our tails off. It gives them something to talk about while they sit inside watching their landscapers.

Here's another portion of the fun:

Last night, we finished our labor in time to go to the local high school football game. Our neighbor is a starting senior, and the girls had fun cheering him on.

Fun Friday night game under the lights...

Now I'm wiped out! I'm not sure if it's my bad cold, overexerting myself, reacquainting my self with my Jillian Micheals DVD, or PMS - a bad combo for sure! I'm off to go play "Set" game with Ryan and the girls.

Rec Soccer

Emma has been playing some awesome soccer this fall! I'm telling you, we didn't even know she had it in her! She is leading her team and scoring most of the goals. Today, she really wanted to try playing in goal, but her coach told her she needed her in center forward. Amazing! We love seeing God's hand in the whole travel soccer drama. He knew that this would be a better fit for her, and we are loving watching her grow! Here are a few shots from today. She's #2 - purple team, otherwise known as the one who's always running the ball toward the goal! :)

Time For a Mid-Day Tooth Cleaning

I just kissed Lila, and she said, "Your breath stinks ..... (pause) .....like a port-a-potty."

Nice. I can't make this stuff up.

Lila's Turn

Today was the first day of Pre-K for Lila - very exciting! She's had mixed emotions all sumer, but once Emma started, she was ready to go and asked everyday if it her first day yet. We purposely didn't talk much about it yesterday, as Lila tends to shut down if you make a big deal over her. At bedtime, I said, "You know you have school tomorrow?"
"Yes, Mom," was her overly calm response. She wasn't nervous last night or this morning - all smiles over breakfast and getting ready.

When we walked in the room it was a different story. Lila hid behind my legs and wouldn't look at anyone. She wouldn't even take a squirt of Purell from her teacher, and Lila loves Purell! After about five minutes, her pal Kate came in, and that made a huge difference. They played and didn't even care when I went to the parents' meeting. She had a great time and didn't want to leave when I came back for her.

Tomorrow is the first real day, so we'll see how that goes. Her teachers still think she's a shy, frightened, fragile little girl. ;)

Yum - pancakes on the special plate!

Does she look nervous to you?!

Ready to go in...

Yeah! Kate is here!

Busy ironing for some new friends

Look Out Fourth Grade, Here Comes Emma!

This morning was finally the first day of school for Emma! She was ready to go back, and we're all ready for a little more of a routine around here. She had her outfit all laid out, and woke up with her alarm even though she had a hard time falling asleep last night. We even had time to paint her nails (blue to match her outfit) after breakfast. We woke Lila up to say goodbye, knowing she'd be missing her sister all day. Luckily for Lila, the cable guys were here this morning, so she had someone to talk to. And show all of her toys to. And talk about dog breeds with. Incessantly. For an hour.
I hate waiting for the first day to be over! The suspense is killing me! I feel so left out! Emma has a half day today, though, so only a few more hours before I hear all about it.

4th Grader

Back Pack Shot

Beautiful Emma!

I'll miss you!!

Here it comes!

Happy Birthday Gappy!

We love you and hope you had a great birthday! And thanks for keeping the girls so Ryan and I could go away for the weekend!

LBI

We're running out of summer quickly here, so I took the girls to LBI last Thursday for a few hours. I haven't been to the beach hang out of my youth in many years, and it was great to go back. The beach was a bit chilly and windy, so we stayed for a bit, had a swim, then went shopping down at Bay Village. New anklets and ice cream for the girls, and a toe ring for me made it almost as much fun as the beach!

Hazy!

Chilly!

Windblown!

My Merfolk

Babysitting

The girls (especially Lila!) were so excited to have our 13-year-old neighbor, Ellie, babysit last weekend. They've been asking for her all summer. We are fortunate enough that we rarely have to pay for a sitter with family all around us, but we planned a dinner outing with friends and planned to have Ellie come for a few hours. Lila talked about it all week, "What day is Ellie coming?" "Is tomorrow after this day?" "Is she coming after breakfast?" etc.

Ellie also has two high school age brothers, Jack and Ryan. In the car, the afternoon of the big night, Lila said repeatedly, "Mom, I bet Jack and Ryan are SO JEALOUS that Ellie gets to come babysit us!! I bet they wish they could come over too!" Emma and I exchanged glances and enthusiastically agreed. That's just what teenage boys like to do on a Friday night!

It's so cute the way she flatters herself.....