Photos of Gary & myself!! Many of you have probably seen these, but I couldn't go with out posting them. This particular fall football Sunday was absolutely gorgeous & the perfect day to tailgate. We had a great time hopping around different parties. The above photo is with our great friends & neighbors Glenn & Michelle. Such a fun couple who we're so happy to have meet. {All of our neighbors are MORE than fabulous!}

{In between all the madness, Gary & I celebrated our SEVENTH wedding anniversary! Seven wonderful years to celebrate & we've got many more happy years to come. We are so blessed with our healthy, loving family!!! Happy Anniv. to us!!}

 And here are the crazies all dressed up for game day Sunday! They all looked so cute in their green/gold apparel. We had a tailgate party with neighbors, it was so fun to see all the kiddos dressed up & cheering on the Packers!

Once again the lull in blogging is a great indication of how busy we've been. The fall colors have been in full effect & I've been busy snapping photos left and right. Looking forward to a weekend w/o photo sessions so we can get some work done in our half-finished basement. It's coming along & we are SOOOO excited for the finished product in a few weeks.

For the past couple of weeks our neighbors have thought the deer had been nibbling on all of their raspberry bushes leaving little bits of the unripened berries behind. Nope, not the deer... Just Maeve!

We can't even go in the back yard with out her running to the raspberries. Gary has brought her back in the house several times saying "I just can't keep her away from the berries." She's addicted! As soon as she sees them she starts saying "nummy" and runs right to them. She knows she's not supposed to be there, so once we find her she always has this guilty look on her face...oh, oh!

Not long after & she's distracted by the slide & happy as ever. {well, at least for 5 minutes. Then she's back at the raspberry bushes!} Cute as ever! xoxo

 

We made our annual trip to the Apple Orchard this past weekend. Little Maeve's first time @ the orchard {she stayed home last year} and she LOVED it! This little lady was in heaven with all the apples. She walked around saying "more" & "apple" for the entire hour. It was so cute.

   I'm actually quite surprised she didn't have a stomach ache after all the apples she ate. {Although if she did, she couldn't really tell us!} She kept dropping them on the ground & then we'd get her another, and another, and another!

 Marin was very particular about the apples she would eat. They had to be FLAWLESS... no imperfections or she wouldn't eat it and the stems had to be completely removed. This one was her first apple, after this one she would only eat apples that were all red.

 So much fun!

 And then there's Margaux. She just walked along with us as we tossed apples in the bag talking the entire time! She's so goofy all the time & makes our conversations so fun. She ate one apple & that was enough for her. She had just as much fun running around in the rows between the apple trees.

 We picked a lot of apples & now we need to get to work and start cooking/baking with them. I see an apple crisp in our future. Such a fun time, makes me very anxious for the pumpkin patch!

Love these long lashes....

First Day of School Round 2!!!

 Today was little Margaux's first day of 3 year old preschool. She's been asking me for weeks when it is her turn to go to school, last night I was finally able to say TOMORROW! The big smile on her face was just priceless. Cutest thing is she kept telling me "Mommy, I've never been to school before!" Well now she has & she loved it! Way above is a photo of her this morning eating her cinnamon rolls on the special plate. She told me it was a very special breakfast!

 I just love these shots of her before we left. So Margaux to be acting silly for the camera. She also never looks at the camera, her eyes always wander to the right or left. I was very lucky to get her looking for at least a few. And here she is with her sisters just before it was time to go. We waited & got Marin on the bus first & then drove Marg to school.

 Margaux in front of her school sign {Actually the church sign, but it's where she attends!}

I thought I was going to get all these cute shots of her by her hook, with her friend Karis, etc. but NONE of that happened. Once we got inside she would not pose/stand for any photos, so I decided to take a photo of her hook alone!

 No tears but her excitement quickly went away once we got into the school {hence no posing for photos}. I could tell she was all of the sudden a little scared, which was how I expected her to be. The good news is that she held it together, sat right down on the carpet next to her friend Karis & kissed me goodbye. Such a sweet little girl. She had a blast at school & has been talking about it ever since she got home. She's already asking when she gets to go back! xoxo

 

Marin's 1st Day of Kindergarten. I can't believe it...where in the world does the time go? Last night was the second night in a row that she was crying at bed time saying that she didn't want to go to kindergarten. I was up all night thinking of how our morning was going to pan out with her crying as she got on the bus & me feeling terrible, crying as well. BUT....she did great! She woke up excited & never said a thing about not wanting to go. {Thank God!} She had her favorite breakfast {cinnamon rolls} on the special plate, we took a bunch of photos & then it was time to walk to the corner to wait for the bus!

 It was so cute to see her with all of her friends waiting for the bus. It is always fun to see the excited {and a little scared} faces that first morning. It's especially exciting for Marin & Aubrey {She's just right of Marin in the pink polka dot shirt} because they're in the same class! So fun for them both. Margaux had no interest in being in a photo at all & stood behind Maeve's stroller like this the whole time...she was obviously still tired! Good thing she doesn't start 3K until next week!

 Ready to get on the bus with her bus card around her neck so she doesn't get lost or get on the wrong bus this afternoon!

 And here is the bus arriving... my heart was just pounding.

 And then I saw this cute little face look back at me with a smile! I can't wait for her to get off this same bus in 6 hours {who's counting??!!} so I can hear all about her day. I miss her already & can't help but wonder what she's doing while away. It's the first time ever that she's with someone else longer than she's with me each day. I know she'll be just fine, but it still makes this mama quite sad.

Happy 1st Day of School Marin! We love you! xoxo

It doesn't get any better than this...10 kiddos getting together for one last fun-packed day before school starts.

Our dear friends The Anguil's came up to visit us a week ago.It was their second annual summer trip to our house. I used to nanny for these boys before Marin was born... in my youth! To put it into perspective, John on the top left was only about a year old when I started watching him & his big brother Jeff {not pictured because he was attending his 1st day of High School!} Now their family consists of FIVE boys. Charlie {the youngest} is Marin's age. My friend Holly drove up with 4 of her 5 boys & her three nieces as well. We had such a fun day together, the kids were thrilled!

We can not wait to do it all again very soon.

That very afternoon, I gave Maeve a spoon & let her feed herself her yogurt.

She had yogurt on the entire spoon {handle included} and was an absolute mess!

She, of course, thought it was hilarious & so fun. I had a good time watching her. She went right into the bath after this one. About 2 min. after I put the camera away, it was in her hair & on the wall. Nice.

Time for dinner & bed time before SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!! Photos to come! xoxo

Finally, a post about the school house & photos as well! Although the outside is still not finished {still needs a little more paint, a new roof, some landscaping & mulch} the inside is looking great. Our girls & all of their neighborhood friends are having a blast with it. They've been able to play in it a lot more now that it hasn't been so hot! Just in time for school!!!

Here are Marin & Ella {aka The Teachers!}

And the students Aubrey & Margaux...

And just like any classroom, this school house has rules too!!!

The back of the school room {Near the front door}

Bookshelf compliments of my Grandma Goessl... it's a hit & fits all their school books quite well!

And the little red table with two bench seats was actually my mom's when she was little! It fits perfect, adds additional seating & is even super cute!! Matches the decor too!

And the front wall with the chalkboard. Also notice the AWESOME curtains that my mom made. They look wonderful & really pull it all together. I love them!

Pictures of the outside to come! It's definitely coming along. We just love it. Marin will often say "Mom, I'm so happy you & daddy got this for us. It's SO fun!" I love sitting outside while the kids are inside listening to them play. It's so cute. I think Marin has actually learned a thing or two this summer for her friend Ella who is two years older than she is. Ella is a great teacher!! And Marin & Aubrey just found out that they are going to be in the same Kindergarten classroom this year. The letters arrived yesterday via the mail & they are sooooo excited! One more week of summer & then it's back to school! xoxo

This little one has become a huge fan of crayons, markers & anything else she shouldn't have! I'm always finding her with something in her hand. One of these times she'll have a masterpiece on the wall I'm sure! She doesn't like it as much when she's refined to her chair!!!

"Hmmmm, color with this or eat it??"

Marin showing off her Green Bay Packer pom pom that she colored...

Margaux drawing her picture...

This morning the big girls asked me if they could paint their nails. I said no, but about 20 minutes later they were yelling for me {I was in the laundry room}. I came out & Maeve had reached up onto the table & gotten a bottle of nail polish AND dropped it on the hardwood floor! I was so mad! Mostly that the girls didn't listen, but also because she's into everything!!! Can't leave her alone even for a second. All of the kitchen chairs are lined up along the wall... FAR from the table. She's a huge fan of climbing onto the table & then standing on it! She can even get up the stools at the counter & get up there too! {one of these days I'll take a photo!}

One week ago today {Monday July 30th} we had another hail storm. This one was much different from the last one where the hail consisted of tiny little balls. This storm produced golf ball sized hail! Some of the pieces were even a bit bigger. It was coming down so hard that we couldn't even watch from the front porch because the balls could have hurt someone! Once the storm passed Maeve & I went back outside & she had a ball!

Those balls of ice were a one year old's dream! She was popping them in her mouth, throwing them & whatnot. It was fun to watch her. The big girls didn't even care. They were exhausted & there was no way I could pull them off the couch to come see the hail. Lazies!

I happened to be out just before the storm & pulled into the garage JUST in time {30 seconds later & we would have had a hail damaged vehicle.} But now, we're dealing with the roof which is apparently damaged. Below is Gary up on the roof checking things out. I love the neighbor boys supervising down below!

The same day we got a new bike seat for Maeve. How cute is she with her little Trek helmet???

And here she is with Gary {on my bike} taking it for its first test run. She loves it! I have been on my bike every night with her. We ride around the neighborhood & she just babbles & talks the entire time pointing at everything she sees. She gets especially excited when she sees a dog.

So fun! xoxo

Maeve had her 1st trip to the dentist!!! She was a little scared at first & didn't ever want to get too far away from me. She only sat in the chair for a brief moment & then she wanted to be back on my lap.

She cried pretty hard when the dentist looked into her mouth & HATED her brushing her teeth! I wasn't at all surprised since that is exactly the way Marin & Margaux were at their first appointments. Once she was done she had fun walking around playing with all the buttons, etc.

Margaux did great! She was a little hesitant to sit in the chair at first but once she sat down, she got more comfortable. Dr. Evans counted all of her teeth...

And to our surprise, she even let her do a cleaning! I couldn't believe it. She picked bubble gum tooth paste & chose to have Dora sparkles {fluoride} brushed onto her teeth at the end. She kept talking about how the brush tickled her teeth. What a big girl!

And then there's Marin. She went off by herself with the hygienist right when we checked in. {Made me kind of sad... she's all of the sudden really growing up!} After Margaux & Maeve were done, we walked over to the other side of the office to check on Marin. She was all smiles & even had a secret to tell me when we got there... She is cutting a "big girl molar" in the back of her mouth & they could tell that one of her front teeth is showing signs of movement.

She was so excited to tell me that & even continued to tell everyone for the next few days. I can't even imagine her with holes in her mouth & losing teeth! I know the day is coming though. We better warn the Tooth Fairy!!!!