new beginnings

The boys both had their first days of school last week.

I was really quite sad.

I always feel like school starting is the end of so much.

Long summer nights. Playing all day. Barbeques.

Fireflies. Playing at the park.

Swimming. No 'bedtime.

It also makes me feel like I am getting older (which I am).

Especially this year. G started school. I did not want him to start. He has such a sensitive heart- I feel like school might break him.

BUT against my wishes, they both started and were pretty excited (NOT excited for school shopping though. I made them go and MADE them pick on shirt. K grabbed a green one with a soccer ball. I said, 'do you like that shirt?' He said, 'Sure, i just wanna go look at toys...' watch out, in two years me and J will be going, she will LOVE it!)

Starting third grade and Kindergarten

One last hug from J, she is going to really miss him. They have been each others

side kicks since birth.

One last hug from little B (G LOVES him)

I had to stay and wait with him until it was time to go... it was kinda less dramatic because I was there for 25 minutes. I was so sad for him to go, he was 'kinda excited' as he said.

SOOOOOOO tired.

He came home and told me that his teacher said he would be exhausted and he was.

I wish I could make time stand still.

we went where????

How do I even start?

We went to a hog/or I guess maybe the appropriate way to write it is hawg,

we went to a hawg wrestling competition.

ok.

Seriously.

This was beyond funny.

I don't think I have ever had tears streaming down my face because of sheer hilariousness (is that even a word).

Some friends of ours got a team together and went to compete.

It was hysterical.

Mud flying everywhere.

Grown men face planting into knee deep mud.

So funny.

Starting the chase

trying to catch him

getting the piggy on the stand

all the kids

They also had a great slide that the kids could go down, they loved it.

If you ever get the chance to go to a pig wrestling competition, jump at it- you will be amazed how hard you laugh.

they said what...

i am so bad about documenting funny things that my kids say, but lately they've had a couple I couldn't resist sharing...

With our new little B, I have all sorts of names for him, little man, sweetness, bitty buddy, you get the jist... one of them I didn't mention was sweet little nugget. I guess J has also caught on to these names and made a few alterations. When I call him sweet little nugget, J says, 'you sweet little chicken nugget' . She must really like him to call him after one of her favorite foods.

While I was driving in the car, K saw the word cruise by the steering wheel and asked what it meant. I respond, it makes the car keep the same speed. So if you want to go 65, you can set it to go 65. He then quickly responds, 'oh, so then you can have a nap if you want....' (don't worry, he wont be driving soon....)

He also recently got some heeley's. yesterday, he came into the kitchen and said, 'i;m going to give these a try. i turn my back and 2 seconds later, i hear a HUGE crash and turn to see him lying on his back on the floor. to which he says, 'well, that was harder than it looked'

I was getting G ready for soccer and had bought some cleats for him to wear. I was trying them on him with all the tags still on and still hooked together to make sure they fit. I asked him to stand up and walk around to see how they felt. He took a quick walk around and said they felt good. He sat down and looked down frustrated at the elastic that was still holding the shoes together. He then said, 'mom, are ALL the other kids gonna have their shoes hooked together too?

We were at the grocery store yesterday. An older couple came up to us and were admiring little B. She was talking to G and saying, 'oh, what a sweet little baby. He is so cute and so very tiny. ' G looks are her and says, 'yes, and you're very old.' The lady started laughing and seemed to have a sense of humor about it. thank goodness!

what a sweet little one

Why do these little ones have to grow so fast?

I can't believe he is 6 six weeks old.

I try to memorize everything about him because he is changing so fast.

His little cheeks are getting chubby and he is gaining weight and looking so different.

What a strong little dude

I love his profile

After 6 weeks you would think that the newness and excitement of having a baby would wear off, NOT EVEN CLOSE!

Poor little B is picked up, kissed, loved, touched, and smooched all day long.

When it's time for his nap, G says, 'aww, is B going to bed already?'

They ALL love him so much.

robert treeman state park

This is another amazing spot near Watkins Glen. It has this great place you can swim. It is normally VERY cold, but it was 76 degrees.

How great is this place?

I think these two are swapping fish stories

All of the kids together except for little B, it was too hot for him

G was so excited he got this rock off the bottom of the lake

buttermilk falls

We were about to leave Watkins glen and decided to stop at this amazing place called buttermilk falls. All the kids except for K fell asleep in the car, so c took K up the trail. They found this amazing place you can slide and swim in these natural pools. C said it was amazing and so fun. Next time we go, we'll have to take everyone.

watkins glen

C took a week off work. We had intentions to go to Utah, but decided not too with such a small new babe. So we stayed around and did fun little things.

One thing we did, was take a quick spontaneous trip to watkins glen. We met some friends from Buffalo and had a great time. It was so fun seeing them again.

This place is truly amazing. One of the prettiest places I have seen.

The kiddos all ready to hike

amazing views

so many bugs to be found

fun on the trail

exploring fun places

seeing great waterfalls

catching tiny little frogs

this place is so much fun. the kids are already asking to go back.

ricketts glen

We made a trip to Ricketts Glen. We wanted to hike a trial with a tree that was living around the time of columbus. We got there and the trail was closed. Good think we brought swim suits. The kids had so much fun.

They got a helicopter ride from our friend.

Having a great time playing in the water and sand

Ooops, this wasn't ricketts glen. C took the kids camping with some friends and they found this toad (G got sick so I stayed home with him and the baby). K is pretty proud of it!

what been occupying our time....

Playing at the splash park with friends (I only wish I had known about this at the beginning of the summer...)

Swimming

Lots and Lots of swimming. G and J have become little fish. They ALWAYS want to go to the pool... good thing they have a nice dad.

One day they asked to go and C had kinda said no, but not to convincingly, 5 minutes later, all 3 kids came down in their swim suits and towels in hand (idea spearheaded by K) so what could C do. He of course had to take them.

I found these 2 pictures of when my sis was here.

This is my cute little nephew who had just turned one. He was such a happy little guy. He had gone through some MAJOR time zones, and he just went with the flow and was SO happy. I really miss him!

My cute sis holding little B. It was so great having her here. We sure miss her fam!

I had to put this picture in only because it scared me half to death.

I walked into the kitchen after putting B down for a nap and about had a heart attack. I just saw this out of the corner of my eye. After blinking a couple of times, I realized what it was and couldn't start laughing. I guess J was just helping her doll relax a little bit.

We went looking for fossils in 90 degree heat and 90 degree humidity. We didn't find any, we'll have to go again.

We opened packages from grandma and grandpa and my sis. The kids loved getting surprise presents.

Sister Visit

My sister came to visit. I don't have words to describe how wonderful it was to have her here and my little nephew.

I have been having technical difficulties with my computer and it's memory being full... I think the kinks are worked out, but in trying to upload pictures on a full memory, I lost all but a couple pictures of her visit here, I am SO sad!

But here are some cute pictures of little B's toes.

Living on the wrong side of the tracks, we see a lot, but here was something unexpected.. One day there was a line of about 40 of these little train cars, the kids were amazed! This one looks like thomas.

I have never had a thumb sucker, and I found little B doing this, I had to get a picture