9.17.2012

1st day of preschool!

ellington starts preschool!
we're doing a homeschool co-op with 6 other moms {7 kids} twice a week

packing the bag...

 getting our breakfast energy...cinnamon rolls, lil' learner's special request 

 and we're off...


showing off our backpacks...beckett wanted to join in


"how excited are you, ellington?"...que face! 

our first day was at mrs. barlow's house
she had a cute little sign for the kids and lots of "A"wesome activities

getting right to work...making the letter A w/ stickers


 making apple pies with emma

the crew: samuel, ellington, gavin, sam, emma & nathaniel  

apple picking obstacle course


gram & papa "1st day of school" gifts 




we are so excited to see ellington {and beckett} grow this year. she loves learning and asks LOTS of questions. have a great year ellington! we're proud of you :) 



9.05.2012

end of summer...

goodbye summer...

we had a great summer with the kids, lots of beach visits, cottage weekends, swimming, friends, playing outside and of course plenty of popsicles! 

we wrapped up the summer with a final trip to yet another fair, the Berrien County Youth Fair
josh took the day off of work so we could fully enjoy the day

visiting all the animals!


elle could ride a lot of the rides this year and loved doing the fun houses by herself

lindsay joined us for the day

next year beckett will be sitting with her. he was too little to ride ANY rides, so josh took him to try out EVERY tractor they had. both josh and beckett were in heaven! total boy stuff 


 mommy's weekend away!
at the end of august i spent 5 days in california visiting a college friend.
we had a blast, even though we didn't do a ton of things.
hiked, massages, shopping, our usual stop at in & out, and hitting the beach


it was the perfect get away
thanks mark & sarah for a relaxing weekend


 another day outside!
we've had amazing weather this summer, while some days have been a little too hot we've enjoyed every minute of it. soon enough we'll be stuck inside.

beckett is a little fish this year in the water. he doesn't matter the temperature he'll just jump, dive or slide in. we set up our little kiddie pool outside and it's filled most days, but the best part is the slide we added this year. so much more fun than just sitting in the water. 





mr. curiosity...like his daddy, has to figure out how everything works. 



our evenings outside....

after dinner we're outside again for more fun with daddy. 
this summer we upgraded our trampoline for one that has a net around it. a must for this busy boy!

doing summersaults...thanks to his gymnastic teacher "ellington"

she's perfected her summersaults with hands!

and this is why he is 120% boy...always trying to up the danger 

but such a sweet smile through it all

he has to do everything big sis does, and copies after the 1st time.
he knows how to climb in to the baby swing, buckle it, ask sister for a push and then get out of the swing (without unbuckling) and slides himself down to the ground. logical, i'd say yes! 

ellington loves to ride her bike and really good at it. she's got some endurance in her


and of course, he must follow suit...climbs up and says "GO"...next year he'll have long enough legs to reach the pedals and can then keep up with sister. 

helping with some yard work

found a new toy!

haha...so funny to hear your voice echo!


yep, still funny

new toy for hours of fun, who knew??

we have LOVED every part of our summer!
the kids are the perfect age to do fun adventures in the morning and crash for a long afternoon nap.
we've had so many fun memories made this summer and look forward to the fall
preschool, BSF, and hoping to sell our house!

here's to a fun fall of more outdoor adventure and family memories


we {heart} color!

color run 2012

white shirts
white head bands
&
lots and lots of COLOR! 


 yep, senior picture pose! 


ready to start



first color station: purple & the devos cancer area




the end!
color cloud on 3





just a fun sunday morning running through the streets of GR for a little bit of color
next year, we bring the kids! that should be fun