Wow.

Really? I am so dreadfully behind with my blogging, I actually had to stop and think a minute about how to sign in to blogger. Oh goodness. I have so much "big" stuff to blog about...parties, wedding, vacation, etc..."big" blog stuff that takes a lot of time to do. I hate that I am missing out on sharing "little" stuff as a result. So nevermind all that for a minute, it's late and I am definitely not going to be catching up my blog tonight :). I just want to remember today.

Life is busy. And crazy. And fun. And the lives of my little people are going by so terribly fast. I have been shifting my gears to soak more enjoyment out of each and every day. Stopping to smell the roses, you know, that kinda thing. Some of this is a result of the book I am currently reading. "The Happiness Project" - but that deserves a post or 2 or 3 of its own.

But back to today. My kids love me. They tell me and show me all the time. And lots of kisses. Today was really special to me. 2 things. I was tickling and kissing Emma while we were getting ready for naptime. I said to her "your mommy is so silly" and she said "my mommy is a good mommy!"
Also today, Connell was getting dressed and his underwear was inside out. He asked me to fix it, which I did. He proceeded to tell me, "you are a great mommy! If you had a clip, you would be on purple!" He is referring to his behavior chart. A clothespin on a color chart, and purple is the BEST!!!

I love them. They love me. I am forever grateful for these moments. Small, but HUGE at the same time.

Be looking for more posts like this. There may not always be pictures (sorry, Mom) but there are so many moments and memories I want to preserve, so I may just be documenting more like this. We'll see. But still need to catch up and share all my AWESOME pictures from the last month and a half.

School Days!

Connell and Emma were both excited after a two week break from summer "school" to get back to it! Emma is in the 2 year old room now. Her teachers are Mrs. Amber and Mrs. Candice (Connell had her last year:) and they both love Emma to pieces. Right now, Emma is still just going one day a week. She loves school, and would gladly go both days with Connell, but MOMMY wants to have that one-on-one time with Emma. :)
Connell was in the pre-k4 room on Tuesday. He had several friends in there and one of his teachers from the summer. During the day, the director called me to say that they needed to move one child from the pre-k4 to the pre-k5 room and the teachers first mentioned Connell. They said that he is ready and that he is a good listener and knows his stuff! I was so proud! I talked with Tim about it and we decided it would be a good move for him. While he is probably the youngest in his new class, it will go a long way in preparing him for next year when he starts "big school", as he calls it. On Thursday we moved him to the pre-k5 class and he loves it!
I am so proud of both of them. They adapt easily to change and love to do new things.

These were taken on the first day. The next 2 are on Thursday when Connell moved to his new class.

Bedtime stories

Meme and Papa came to visit this weekend. It's always fun to have grandparents around for storytime/bedtime! The kids manage to stretch the bedtime routine quite a bit...they have become masters at negotiating one more book. :)

Saturday night we all went to dinner to celebrate Uncle Kelly's birthday. There is a fun picture from that night, but I can't get to it at the moment. We had a delicious dinner and a fun time!

OH TWO-DLES!!!

This turned out so much cuter than I even imagined! And Emma just LOVES it!

Photo shoot for Emma's invite

I needed to get a picture for Emma's birthday invitation, so after dinner the other night we headed over to the pond in our neighborhood. Five minutes yielded so many precious pictures...it was tough to choose! And of course, Connell wanted to get in on the action a little bit too! They are so silly together!

And it's August

Well, I am not really sure where the summer went. I know it was busy, but my goodness. August is here and that means several different things to me. First, my baby girl will be turning 2 at the end of the month. 2. I can't believe it. Can't talk about it. Second, a new "school" year for Connell and Emma at Mother's Day Out. And this is it for Connell. I keep thinking that next year at this time, our boy will be starting kindergarten. Can't talk about this either. Third, Uncle Patrick and Aunt Samantha are getting married at the end of the month and we are so excited for their big day. Connell will be starring as the ring bearer (hopefully he remembers from Aimee's spring wedding) and Emma will be the flower girl. Once we get back from their wedding weekend we will be in full swing of Emma's birthday celebration week! Yep, in this family, you get a week. Especially when you are the cutest, most adorable little girl ever.
So here we go August.

We love to read

Our kids both love books and love to read. It makes me so happy! They beg to go to the library. I caught them in a "sweet" moment...Connell was "reading" to Emma and teaching her shapes and colors (which she already knows:).

MORE Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing. Actually, it's coming to an end soon for the bigger kids. Around here, school starts in the next few weeks. We are trying to stay cool since it's been so stinkin hot. We either stay inside and go CRAZY, or swim!
Friday night, the Jacobs took us out on their boat. My kids were on cloud 9. Emma had been on the boat last summer, but she doesn't remember. She was all about it! Connell surfed at the end of last summer with Mr. Chad, and he was definitely ready to do that again. At the end of the weekend, Emma included "boat time" in her bedtime prayers. She even declared that Mr. Chad is her friend, which is so cute, because she has been very timid and standoffish with him for the last year.

managed to capture this sweet moment while we waiting for the boat

Ian surfing, making it look too easy!

my little surfer dude:)

Me & Shannon with the kids

cool shot of the big girls

Emma's first time tubing! She is so brave!

We finished out the weekend swimming next door. The kids are loving the water this summer, and I am loving that it keeps them happy!

This posted out of order and I am too lazy to fix it. Isn't she a doll baby??? :)

Aimee & Nate's wedding weekend in Wisconsin

This post has been a long time coming. My beautiful cousin Aimee and her fiance, Nate were married in Wisconsin on April 2. Since we already know that I took a loooooong break from blogging, that sort of explains why this is so delayed. Also, we took a ton of pictures and it's hard to choose only a few! So I chose a bunch, and started to work on a slideshow as I usually do when I have a ton of pics. Only, I couldn't get my slideshow to cooperate so I decided to try some photo collages (click on collage to enlarge). Enough about that...
The entire weekend was perfect. We drove up (split the drive into 2 days) and Connell and Emma were great travelers. We stayed in a hotel suite and they shared a room for the first time. They really like that! We first stopped in Milwaukee to visit my Grandma and spent the night at my aunt and uncle's house.

On Friday, we drove to the resort where we would be staying for the weekend. It is a beautiful resort on Lake Michigan and has a HUGE indoor waterpark. Our kids were cRaZy excited as this was their first time to visit a waterpark.

after arriving in our suite

This is Emma with my cousin Mark (who I haven't seen since the 80s!) We had such a fun time catching up with family and cousins that we haven't seen in far too long.
I wish I had some good pictures of Connell and Chandler "rehearsing", but I don't. They were a little "skiddish" about the whole thing and I didn't want to push my luck taking photos! ;) Here they are getting "briefed" my Tim and Chris. In the end, they both did their walk down the aisle perfectly during the wedding. They are without a doubt the two cutest ring bearers I have ever seen!

Grandma and Emma before the wedding

waiting for the wedding to begin
Aimee & Nate
Their wedding took place at the prettiest little country church. It was cozy and Tim and I agreed, one of the sweetest and most beautiful weddings we have attended.

Mr. and Mrs. Charlton!!!
Mr. Ring Bearer
This is the best I could get...they weren't feeling cooperative!

This is the gorgeous view of the lake from the resort

Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike
The reception took place at the resort. Our kids had the BEST time! Emma finally passed
out at 1030!

Here are some pics from our time at the waterpark! We played Saturday morning since the wedding was in the afternoon. Connell and Emma still talk about the wedding, resort, and waterpark, and it's been months! What a wonderful weekend! We pray that Aimee and Nate are blessed with many many years of happiness and thank you for sharing your wedding weekend with us!