Ella's Happy Hearts Preschool

Today, Ella and I went to her preschool orientation....yes, my baby is going to preschool (just one day a week). This is a first for our family... my other kids did just one year of preschool before kindergarten, and Ella will go for two years. The teacher is a friend of our neighbors Josh and Rebekah, and comes HIGHLY recommended. From what I saw today...Ella will absolutely LOVE it. Josh & Rebekah's little girl, Sandra, is Ella's age,and they will go together. It makes me teary-eyed just thinking about this new adventure, but whattya do, huh?

Love and laughter to all, Kim

Tribute to the Kennekuk Batmen

So, Brian has been playing church softball for what seems like forever....tonight their season ended. They finished 2nd in the Regional Tournament. However...it was disappointing! They definitely should have won, they (on a "typical " game) were certainly the better team. Their last 2 games, they just couldn't hit it! I feel bad for the guys, they were so frustrated. Anyhow, they played an awesomes season, that's for sure. Way to go Bri!

The First Day of School

Awwww, yes! The First Day of School! I took our annual picture of the kids in the front yard (yes, even Ella wanted in on the action...she will be starting her first year of pre-school, so i guess it's just to be expected), and then we headed off to explore their humungous, brand-new school. It was totally awesome! I was walking around the halls and thinking to myself how different things are from my good, old, Amos McDannel Elementary! My, how things have changed. I remember being in high school and going back to Amos for a visit and remembering how tiny everything seemed. Well....there is nothing tiny about this new school, that's for sure. Anyhow, my kids LOVE it, and I'm glad they are having a good first week back to school. Lots of love, Kim

Playing and Dancing

Last week, the kids were cherishing one of the last evenings they could before school started (I am such a meany to make them go to bed early and get a good night's rest before school)....you all know what I mean! Well, Brian had a church softball game that evening, the kids and I had ridden our bikes over and back from the church, and just about the time that we got home, our wonderful neighbors, Mike and Heidi, pulled into their drive. So, the adults were out visiting and the kids were dancing and goofing off. Take a look at the pictures....Love and happiness, Kim

Tess Birthday

My Tessy Messy turned 8....I can hardly believe it! Here birthday was Wednesday the 13th, but we had her party on Friday! She had so much fun...we had 10 little girls there, and they had a blast! We made shirts, ate pizza, cake and ice cream, played games, jumped on the trampoline, and played with Tess' new presents. It was a lot of fun having the girls over...enjoy the pictures. Love, Kim

Sleeping Baby

Awwww, my baby girl!

I had to include this photo of Ella. One Sunday night, as we were all getting ready to go up to bed, we noticed Ella had passed out...kneeling on her stool at the counter. It was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!

Our Boating Adventure

It seems as though the days have just been flying by lately. Yesterday, I got the camera out and noticed that there were pictures on there that I hadn't even dowloaded yet. So, after downloading pictures, I decided that it was best to just hang-out with the kids and spend some quality, quiet time together. Every time I get on here to post an entry it takes me FOREVER, and I didn't want Brian and the kids getting upset. So, I saved it for today.

The last weekend of July we went boating with our friends Josh and Rebekah. It was so much fun! You'll notice in the pictures that Tess wasn't there. Well, Michael and Bekah had an extra ticket to Lagoon and Tess wanted desperately to go with them. She had a blast, but we sure did miss her. On the way to the lake Brian decided to stop by the Sporting Goods store and get life-jackets for all of us. Well, by the time he came out, he had a wakeboard with him as well. What a crazy guy (can you tell he loves to play, just like the kids)! He couldn't figure out the proper technique, but he sure did try. I was especially proud of Zach for trying. He tends to me more like me...timid and scared of the un-known. BUT he was determined to try, and he sure got close a few times. We had so much fun just relaxing and hanging out on the lake. Thanks again Josh & Rebekah! Enjoy the pictures.

Love to all, Kim

Look at Lauren's face...she wasn't very fond of tubing

The boys...Michael, Ben & Zach

Ben, Josh & Sandra

Ella & Bri

Michael & Zach

Ashley

Michael

Josh & Sandra

Lauren...relaxed and having fun

My little turtle Zach

Answers to a Tag

Okay, so after reading this on Jaime's blog I decided that it might be fun to see what the kids had to say. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Zach: “Zach, come here”
Lauren: “Watch Ella!”
Tess: “Stop fighting”

2. What makes mom happy?
Zach: “When we’re not fighting”
Lauren: “When I listen”
Tess: “When I’m honest”

3. What makes mom sad?
Zach: “When we fight”
Lauren: “When Zach is being mean to us”
Tess: “When I fight with Zach and Lauren”

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Zach: “When she teases me”
Lauren: “When she teases Zach”
Tess: “When she tickles me”

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Zach: “She was mean to Uncle Mikey”
Lauren: “She looked just like me”
Tess: “She was nice”

6. How old is your mom?
Zach: “34”
Lauren: “34”
Tess: “20”

7. How tall is your mom?
Zach: “5 feet 6 inches”
Lauren: “5 feet and 3 inches”
Tess: “7 inches”

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Zach: “Shopping”
Lauren: “Fixing her Blog”
Tess: “Take us to the movies and being together as a family”

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Zach: “Fix her Blog”
Lauren: “I’m not around so I don’t know”
Tess: “Dance”

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Zach: “Saving someone’s life”
Lauren: “Being on a talk show because she talks a lot”
Tess: “Seeing Hannah Montana”

11. What is your mom really good at?
Zach: “Cooking”
Lauren: “Cleaning the house”
Tess: “Picking out new shoes for us”

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Zach: “Controlling her temper”
Lauren: “Singing”
Tess: “I don’t have anything to say”

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Zach: “Take care of us”
Lauren: “Taking care of us”
Tess: “What job?”

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Zach: “Spaghetti”
Lauren: “Hawaiian Haystacks”
Tess: “Pizza”

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Zach: “She spoils us sometimes”
Lauren: “That she can live with all of us”
Tess: “When she smiles and takes care of us”

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Zach: “Bugs Bunny”
Lauren: “Phineas and Ferb’s Mom”
Tess: “Superwoman”
Ella: “Mommy Beazer”

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Zach: “Ride our Bikes”
Lauren: “Shopping”
Tess: “We go on Mommy/Daughter dates”
Ella: “Go on a bike ride”

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Zach: “We both have tempers”
Lauren: “We look the same”
Tess: “Our eyes”
Ella: “Brown hair”

19. How are you and your mom different?
Zach: “She likes talking on the phone and I don’t”
Lauren: “Different personalities”
Tess: “Our hair”
Ella: “I’m little and you’re big”

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Zach: “She cooks for us”
Lauren: “Because she takes good care of us”
Tess: “She hugs me”
Ella: “Because Jesus loves us”

Ella came in on me asking Tess the last 4 questions, so I thought that I should post her answers also. She did better than I thought she would do...I didn't even know if she would understand the questions.

This was a lot of fun, and if you want to do it...TAG, you're it!

More Photos of Vacation

So, here are the rest of the pictures that I promised....Enjoy!

These were taken at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park

These were taken at the Family Reunion