8.31.2010

colin you are growing up so fast that i often have to look twice to see who is walking by me.
colin you are adjusting to your new third grade routine & teacher.
colin you are still into legos & usually use your afterschool snack time to create a new
lego masterpiece.
colin you watch espn every morning in the kitchen while you wait for me to return home.
colin you love to check out the morning newspaper for preseason football scores.
colin you still take a peanut butter & jelly to school everyday.
colin you are into the magic treehouse books.
colin you still love chicken nuggets for dinner.
colin you always say 'can i have a hug?'.
colin you make us smile.

8.30.2010

morning routine:
600 up/pack lunches/coffee
620 in car to take justin to football practice
645 home/colin breakfast/empty dishwasher
710 in car to take colin to school
725 home/nathan breakfast/goodbye steve
740 walk nathan to bus stop
750 home

2 busy hours that must flow like clockwork
in order to get everyone everywhere on time.
i'm down to one alarm clock.
i've figured out how to trigger the signal light
at 620am on university.
we make the coffee at night.
we lay out our outfits.
we start our lunches.
we pack our backpacks.

we haven't been late yet.
(its only been 1 week!)

heres to school days.
routines.
homework. practices.
recitals. concerts. games.
clubs. meetings.
forms.
emergency contact info.
memberships.
book fairs.

love it.

8.28.2010

safe travels half way around the world.
its always wonderful to pick steve up at the airport.
the boys were excited to fill him in on all the events
of the first week of school.
heres to getting his clock back on austin time.
welcome home.

8.27.2010

catching up on some scrapbooking.

july & august pages are everywhere.

from 2009!

speed pages are fun & quick.

take 40 photos, add some printed

blog posts, trim to 4x6 and you
have one summer vacation done.

updates around here.
finished reading the pillers of the earth by ken follett this week.

started and finished best friends forever by jennifer weiner.

slowly getting back into the school routine.

beautiful friday night.

took advantage of the evening and popped some

popcorn and watched night at the museum 2 outside

under the stars on the back deck.

we got eaten alive by bugs

but thankfully didn't know it at the time.

felt like a drive in movie.

next time smores!

8.25.2010

finally.
goodbye triple digits.
you were with us for 24 straight days.
todays forecasted high - 96.
and it feels beautiful outside.
this is fall for us.
cranked the a/c up to 80.
it was 80 when we stepped outside to go to football at 6:20am.
sat outside because i could.
in the afternoon.
on the back patio.
love this weather.
working on those projects now that the boys
are in school.
watch out to-do list.
i'm working on you.

8.24.2010

tonight we went to fridays for dinner to celebrate surviving the first day of school. i asked each of the boys a couple questions in my classic interviewing process. i love their answers.

"what was the best part of your day?"
c: recess - i still get one! (a dig at the older two who no longer have recess!)
n: finding each classroom - eventually.
j: surviving football practice - barely.

"name one thing that scared you about today."
c: being the only one at teravista. (missing having another sibling at school)
n: being late to class.
j: coach.

"name one good thing today."
c: i knew everyone one in my class except the 3 new kids.
n: kyle's locker is next to mine.
j: spanish counts as a high school credit.

we spent the evening gathering the last of the school supplies at office max, filling out forms, writing checks for various shirts/fees/uniforms and signing my life away for permission to the internet/to publish our address/to allow photos to appear/to replace instruments if lost at a value of 2k/to pick up children if they have detention/emergency phone numbers/cell phone numbers of spouse, neighbor, friends in case i can't be reached/science class rules/etc...

i finally watched the season finale of greys anatomy. good one. can't believe i was 3 months behind on that one. this is the down side of a dvr system!

i finished reading the pillars of the earth by ken follett. 973 pages of great reading in only 3 weeks. driving to and from canada allowed me 48 glorious car sitting hours which was perfect reading time.

the back-to-school mode has hit the house. projects are getting checked off the to-do list. routines are being tried & altered. colin got his homework done before the brothers got home from school - thats his goal this year ! homework time alone with mom - no need to share me.

i survived day one.
i relived each of the past years.
i cherished today.

8.24.2010

first day of school.

3 boys. 2 schools. 3 different departure times.

no group photo this day.

will have to settle for individual snapshots.

colin was all set and ready to leave well before necessary.

nathan was ready early but the last to leave the house.

too bad his bus was 30 minutes late.
justin was first up (theres a first for everything!)
he was ready to leave at 6:20am.
wheres that bus when you need one?
we made it to football practice by 6:30am -
the moon was still sitting low in the early morning sky &
the traffic was in full swing already.
made it home in time to take colin to school.
made it home in time to walk nathan to the bus stop.
and its only 8:10am.
i'm going to need to adjust to this new schedule.
heres to routines, homework & schedules.
heres to alarm clocks, watches & meetings.
heres to another year of learning, growing & understanding.
can't wait !

8.23.2010

traditions.

last day of summer vacation treats.

traditions.

last day of summer haircuts.

short as ordered by football coaches.

found the llbean backpacks in the hall closet.

opened up the new lands end lunchboxes.

laced up the sneakers.

laid out the clothes.

pencils sharpened.

lunches packed.

alarms set.

we are ready for the first day of school.

where did that summer go?

8.22.2010

rockn' river sunday fun.

promised the boys a trip here on the first day

of summer vacation.

made good of my word - with a day to spare.

104 degrees of fun.

with concrete so hot, it makes one run to the water.

yes, i even went in - many times!

the lazy river.

shaved ice.

water slides.

summer memories.

church. round rock donuts.

papa murphy pizza.

sunday memories.

8.21.2010

happy 12th birthday month nathan!

we have celebrated your birthday all month,

but your actual birthday is today.

you started the day with balloons & presents from your brothers.

the celebration continued at lunch with cake and presents

from mom & dad.
happy day nathan!

can't believe you are 12.

can't believe that you will be in middle school this year.

can't believe you'll be taking the trumpet.

can't believe its been 12 years since you were

born at sisters hospital.

time passes too fast.

enjoy today.

enjoy everyday.

8.20.2010

nothings better than a party with friends

at austin park & pizza!

this was nathans first celebration there &

he enjoyed every minute!

he counted down the hours all day long.

he declared the party went way "too fast"

go carts, water boats, laser tag,

miniature golf and rock wall were just

a couple of events that passed the day away.

friends from school.

friends from the neighborhood.

friends from afar all joined together

to celebrate the big one-two.

hot, sunny & lots of pizza for all.

8.19.2010

todays memories:

bowling at 9am with great friends and bumpers.

swimming in hot pool water.

getting justins football equiptment.

figuring out tackle football pants.

finding a helmet to fit justins head.

fitting it all in one little locker.

trying not to think about football injuries.

4 more days of summer vacation.

8.15.2010

on the road at 7:34 am.

arrived home at 5:30pm.

the vacation is over.

the memories last forever.

thanks for making them with us this summer!

8.14.2010

today is probably the hardest day of all.

24 hours of highway ahead of us.

let down from all the celebrations fills the van.

on the road at 6:38am.

goodbye 23 promanade.

goodbye tim hortons.

goodbye canada.

goodbye vacation.

full service front seat - coffee included.
more room back here now.

sandras mix fills the car.
vacation memories all captured in 700 photos.
happy anniversary mom & dad.
happy visit y'all.
we'll be back before you know it.
drove all day.
made it to memphis by 8:35pm.
crashed.

8.13.2010

we can't take 100 water balloons home.

so nathan volunteered &

justin and colin were quick to smash some balloons.

the annual photo of the rental -

complete with steve reading on the front porch.

nan and granddad came up to say goodbye &

brought a surprise birthday party for nathan.
happy 12th nathan!

doesn't get better than this.

vacation days are coming to an end.

packing. laundry. tubing. boating.
goodbye canada.
hope to see you soon.

one video game for nathan.

enJoy.

8.12.2010

today we hung.

today we walked around downtown ridgeway.

today we spent the day with paul & debbie & the kids.

today we went boating & tubing.

today we went swimming & sunning.

today we enjoyed the sandy shores on a hot & humid day.
today we played games on the beach - baseball,
volleyball & lacrosse.

today we set up the tent and found
relief from the blazing sun.
85 & humid in canada is hotter

than 105 in austin.

today we bought a minnow net &
went a hunting.
successful x 2 baby minnows.

today we played standup bingo at
cherry hill.

today we continued the sippel
non-winning summer streak.
no luck tonight.

today colin was close to a win.
he was prepared to run up front
just in case his number was called.

today was a wonderful, fun filled
day.

thanks y'all.

8.11.2010

today was filled with sunny skies & humid air.

we spent the morning on the tennis court.

lots of laughs filled the astroturf grass.
off to the shack for lunch.
nothing like a hot walk on the sandy beach
to make us appreciate a cool dip in the pool after.

i can't believe i caught a photo of
the cousins all together.

off to the city for a trip to wegmans.
colin enjoyed jumping from the hot tub to the

pool all evening long at the zengers.

another wonderful summer tradition.
can't believe how fast all the kids are

growing up, driving, going to high school &

off to college.

when did that all happen?

it was just yesterday we were trashing

houses on friday family fun night.

over the bridge to pick up daniel

for a summer sleepover.

we are stocking up on cousin time!

8.11.2010

{carefully walking to the palmwood for dinner with paul & debbie last night}
posting from vacation.
posting backwards.
501 photos so far.
2076 miles on the honda so far.
too busy to blog.
too busy visiting.
vacation days always fly by way too fast.
vacation days are the best kind of days!

8.10.2010

steve worked.

we headed to nans.

watched laurens wedding video with hannah.

hannah danced for us.

hannah dressed up for us.

owen played the drum for us.

visited goodrich & aunt liz.

fox valley for a quick swim & french fry.

picked up steve at work.

palmwood for dinner with paul & debbie.

vacation days are the best days!

8.9.2010

on the road monday.

drop steve off at work.

hang with nan.

visit grandma rice.

hit the movies with nan.

brennans for dinner.

justin. nathan & colin spent the night

at nan and granddads.

vacation days simply fly by.

8.8.2010

today we said goodbye to ryan, julie, hannah and owen bright and early.

today we headed to fort erie for a battle show.

today we went swimming at the pool with some rainless grey

clouds in the background.

today we said goodbye to uncle eddie.

today we took a couple photos to document the day.

today we made vacation memories.