date night...

with Mr. D and a giant chip...

back to school

4th grade, 1st grade, and a little wannabe.

ugh

I guess this is one way to clean the fridge out. Also, I thought Pyrex containers were supposed to be pretty much unbreakable.

so much for collections

This is what happens when he decides he no longer needs his state quarter collection. (I think Big Sister may have something to do with it when she counted them and informed him that he had $19 in quarters.) One trip to the toy store later...

Also, in Great Kid Quotes, this is what the youngest asked very indignantly upon driving up to the store:

"Hey! Where those people put my binkies?"

(He had used all his binkies to "buy" a new tricycle last month.)

nine

I can't believe my baby girl is 9! I also can't believe how I keep falling more and more in love with her every day. She is such a great kid. Fearless. Creative. Compassionate. Artistic. Imaginative. Book loving. Easy going. Kind.

We had a great day celebrating yesterday. Pancakes and bacon for breakfast. A new sewing machine for the aspiring fashion designer. Ice skating. Swimming. Ice cream. Movie night. Falling asleep in the living room.

I'm not even thinking about the fact that she is half way to 18.

Happy birthday Miss A. I love you!

mr. d vs. a hill

The hill won.

I bet this is the last time he skips church in favor of a bike ride!

Ironically, he had this hat on under his bike helmet. Luckily, he was wearing his bike helmet.

After his crash, he was taken to the hospital and was discharged a few hours later with a separated shoulder, a right side covered with road rash, stitches above his eye and a lot of "maybes" (i.e. maybe you have fractured ribs, maybe you have a fractured sternum, maybe you have a punctured lung). We went home until the morning, at which point he woke up and couldn't breathe.

One collapsed lung later, he was admitted to the hospital.

It must be the pain meds making him smile.

week at uncle jed's house

Let me just say that I love vacations. The vacations I normally love are the fly-somewhere-new-and-see-as-much-as-you-can sort of vacations. This year we drove north to my brother's house. A went to summer camp with her cousin while J and Z spent the week running around outside with the other cousins. Mr. D and I spent the week sleeping, reading, eating, talking and laughing at the kids.

Best. Vacation. Ever.

My favorite things:

Swimming.
The kids running outside as soon as they wake up.
Hearing the kids playing and laughing outside until they collapsed at 9 or 10 at night.
Impromptu soccer games with the dads.
Sitting around and reading. And eating. And eating some more.
Uncle Jed taking the kids fishing.
The snowball fight in swimsuits after fishing.
Neville the Deer Stalker.
A (aka Miss Independent) having a fabulous time at camp.
The many hours the kids spent on Uncle Jed's tire swing.
The kids riding the little Jeep until the battery died.
Z plowing over the plants and into a tree while driving the little Jeep.
Having the entire family together on Friday.
Staying up until 1 in the morning multiple times, talking and laughing with Jed and Casandra.
No RA for the entire week.
Resting.
The amount of love I have for my family.

Seriously. Next summer I think we are just gonna move in to their house.

I'm waiting for the camera battery to charge so I can upload the hundreds of photos and post a few. Or twenty. In the meantime, here are a couple of the trip up and back:


Z had to stop and pee about 7 times.


Mister never-take-a-nap slept almost the whole way home.