who needs a fork when you can use a spatula!

loving the tissue!

this is my truck and you will not take it

so excited to get a backpack- look at deagan, he's like why the heck is she jumping for joy over a backpack!
It's a hanna montana folder!

Adam + Brynn and Jeff +Tricia =BFF
GiGi and PaPa Ron

Olivia's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the day that Olivia has been waiting looking forward to since she was two years old. She has been talking about going to kindergarten for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure how it all started, but she had it in her mind and this was her goal. Today it happened and boy was she excited:)
She woke up and was full of sunshine. She had picked out her dress, from a stack of five choices, and picked out "double braided piggy tails" and was ready to go. There was no nervousness, except for maybe two minutes in the car when she overheard Jeff and I discussing if we were going to be late (which we weren't).
Jeff got up and made her a special over the top breakfast of french toast sticks, bacon, and hash browns.
It was so great that Jeff got to tack on an extra day of vacation (this weekend we had lindsey and peter's wedding) and come with us for her first day of school! He was the "papa"ratzi you can thank for all of the pictures:)
We went to school and all of the students lined up behind their teachers and waited for everyone to arrive. Once the entire class was present, then she led them into the building. This year we were not allowed to go in, just wave goodbye. Thankfully she had her friend Stephanie to cushion her transition and she did it like a pro. No tears, just joy and excitement.
Here's to a whole new world Olivia!!!

Olivia's First Day of Kindergarten

Little Miss Olivia
With Daddy
With Mommy
With her buddy Stephanie, whom she met at safety town camp.
Oh so big!

I drew a little purple heart in her hand, so that she could squeeze it and think of me if she was sad or nervous. She held that hand shut tight!
A cool shot jeff snapped when we were walking in.
such a big girl
Olivia and Mrs. Bogus, her kindergarten teacher.
waiting in line to go in.

You'd think she's a pro!
And off she went...
two seconds later she was excited and ready to go!
A little nervous (because we thought we might be late)

New Do

My dear friend Leah and her bf chad own a salon in Spring Lake, and on Labor Day after the wedding weekend they cut my hair...AND I LOVE IT:)

DEAGAN and OLIVIA's Birthday

I have not yet gotten out the invites (see post below) but I wanted to let you all know that we will be having the kids' double birthday party on Sunday September 14th this year. It will be at our house in the afternoon..
more details and an invite to come soon.
Save the Date:)

Tricia

I apologize...

I am that blogger that I hate. I never update it, and when I do it's a bunch of WORDS that you have to take time to read. Not cute adorable pictures that you want to love!
Well I know and I apologize!!!! It's been a super busy summer. Super busy.
And it's about to go out with a BANG.
My best friend Lindsey is marrying one of Jeff's best friends, Peter- THIS WEEKEND.
And all FOUR of us are in the wedding!

So needless to say, we are all super busy right now. And I just can't wait for school to start.
Deagan is starting a new preschool. Olivia is starting kindergarden and Jeffery is going back to finish college. And I might take a graphic design class...might.
Does this mean it's going to be a busy year?
(I'm tired already!)

It's going to be a productive year. A weathly, healthy and intelligent year for all of us.

You see for the last 20+ years of my life, my "years" begin in September and end in May. My body uses the academic calendar. Always has, and now having kids in school, always will.
So we are all very excited for our long summer to end and our new year to begin!

We will be over in Grand Haven celebrating the wedding and Deagan's birthday on MONDAY....
and then after that, I promise I will update more and give you pictures:)

it's sad, I have family pictures from june, july 4th and august that I still have not posted!

Kudos for Jeffers

Jeffery met with his guidance counselor for the last time yesterday and is officially enrolled in classes at Eastern Michigan University. They have a great evening program and he only has two semesters to go before he is DONE with his bachelors. It's an achievement he's been looking forward to for quite some time. And now he has the opportunity to make it happen. He'll be done by spring of next year! GO JEFFERY!!!

Our Family Trip to the Tiger's Game

Jeff got our family four tickets to see the Tiger's game on Friday night. We carpooled with our friends Cara and Greg and luckily found our way there:)
We thought for sure that we would only be staying maybe three innings and then the kids would completely lose interest and be begging to leave- well we were dead wrong! They had such a great time that we ended up staying the ENTIRE game:)
They ate absolutely everything that came our way, and this time we let them soak it all in. Hot Dogs, chips, cotton candy, cracker jacks, lemonade... endless pits they have for stomachs!
We took a little stretch and rode on the carousel too! The kids loved it:)
And at the end of the game they had a fantastic fireworks show! It was possibly better than the one we had on fourth of july in Mackinaw! It was huge, loud and long:)
What a fun night!

Tiger's Game 08/08/08

We had seats ALL the way at the top, but it was great! We could see everything and had a fantastic breeze all night long! Yes, that is a giant tiger paw on Jeff's hand attacking Deagan:)
She was in heaven sitting with her daddy!
At least I smiled:)
Growling like a tiger...

Per her request to enrich the life of her little brother- cotton candy!
Deagan's first ever cotton candy! He didn't quite understand it when I handed him a glob of the fluffy stuff... He said, "where's the candy?" Then I shoved it in his mouth and told him to suck on it... his eyes promptly lit up with an "MMMMMmmm" SO SWEET!

Riding the Carousel at Tiger Stadium

the scoreboard at night

Fun @ The Splash Park

This past Thursday, the kids and I met our friends at the splash park in Kensington for a little summer fun.
The kids had a good time, despite being afraid of getting their faces wet! Silly goofs!
This is Olivia, Lillia, and her baby sister Sienna. Lillia was on our soccer team and we have become good friends with her mom Krista who sent us this picture:)

Olivia's Safety Town Graduation

The sweet princess is growing up so fast!
Deagan and I are very proud of his big sister!
Olivia with Lauren, who was on our soccer team:)

Lauren, Stephanie and Olivia at the graduation ceremony.
On the first day of safety town Olivia became friends with little Stephanie. When her mom left, just as we were arriving, Stephanie was crying. I pulled Olivia aside and told her that she was scared and really needed a friend, and she should ask her to color with her. Well Olivia did and since they've been two peas in a pod. They would run hugging each other every day it was so cute!!!
On graduation day I finally talked to her mom and found out that they will be in THE SAME KINDERGARDEN CLASS this fall. So now we are all super excited for Olivia. She's not scared at all, and she's super confident now that she has a friend to team up with to conquer the world!