Happy Halloween!!

This year we all decided to respect our ALMA MATER Boise State!

So.... of course Max was the Boise State Bronco & Isabel was a Boise State cheerleader! (However, Max was mistaken for a donkey a few times... we should have been bugged about that, but we chuckled about it all night!)

Tom and I were Boise State Super Fans.... Go BSU!

We had an excellent night for weather... cold, (which is why Isabel opted for jeans rather than her cheerleading skirt!) but DRY!

Is it even worth it to try to catch up?

Life has been CRAZY.... although as I type this, I'm realizing that my last post (which was sometime back in July I think?) began the same way! So, one can only conclude that "Crazy" is the new "Normal". Either that, or we don't know how to effectively manage our time. Either way, I am struggling to keep up with everything in the manner in which I like to... (OCD anyone?) So, here (again) is a bombardment of pictures of our recent events....

FIRST AND FOREMOST... WE SOLD OUR CONDO!!! Whew! After 4 years, it finally happened! However, what really took us by surprise is how sad we were to leave it.

It was our first "home". So many memories.  Babies walking for the first time, graduating from college, first day of school pictures on the front porch, whisky barrel full of impatiens in the springtime... etc. I was not prepared for the emotions that would accompany the sale. Needless to say, it was a tough "Goodbye".

But, we move forward with life. Onward to our next home! (Stay tuned....)

Farewell Rosewood V.

Some of our last days....

Now, this was fun! Silver Lake Sand Dunes.... Now, to convince Tom to buy us a "RAZOR"!

My Uncle Tom and Aunt Janie gave us a Kirby Vacuum 22 years ago for our wedding.... It was time for  a new one.
Like the condo, I miss my old one.... but I LOVE my new one!

Beach Baby.... with Lulu & Gracie jumping in the background!

Salted Caramel Apples.... we made this little discovery while on a trip to Harbor Springs. Heaven.

Pool time.

Firs Day of 6th Grade. I've said it before and I'll say it again..... Where does time go? She is such a good girl. Too big too fast.

Lulu was asked to be on the "Safety Patrol" during the first week of school.... a week later she was asked to be a "Patrol Captain". Obviously she's a little more excited to be wearing the orange belt. (The note was written by her teacher at the end of the week)

My girl during "Spirit Week" at school. The themes were:
Monday: Decade Day (She chose 80's as her decade)
Tuesday: Western Day
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday
Thursday: Blue Day (4th Graders wore White & 5th Graders wore Red)
Friday: Blue & Gold Day (School Colors)

The many Faces of The Dude.

Some of my favorite things....

We sold Molly.... Meet Venzi.

Quick Recap....

This has been the craziest summer.... It started out with a 4 week trip "Out West".

Poor Tom couldn't take 4 weeks off of work, so it was just the kiddos and me! Isabel was a HUGE help with Max. By the time it was over, we had put 6000 miles on our car!

MANY (good!) things  have happened since we've gotten home... but I will go more into that in the next post. 

Below are some pictures of the trip. Needless to say, we left no stone unturned. We were able to see a ton of friends and family members... we loved every minute of it!

Most of you know who everyone is.. so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

(Click on the pic to make larger...)

 

Whew! How 'bout them apples?

Until next time!

Our girl... the runner?

Girls On The Run 2012

This is such an awesome program for 3rd-6th grade girls. 

They train for 12 weeks to run a 5k. They (the coaches) are so positive and uplifting for each girl. If this program is offered in your area, you should definitely check it out! Isabel has been so lucky to have wonderful coaches every year.

Here are a few pictures from the race that was held last Saturday.

Way to go babe! (And by "babe" I am referring to both Isabel & Tom!)

Of course the race wouldn't be complete with lots of great friends!

OCD... Love it!

Homeboy And A Snail

We have been having unusually AWESOME weather around here. Yesterday it got up to 86 degrees! WHAT? We've been loving it. (I hope that there 's not going to be some huge price to pay... like some weird  batch of crazy spiders that have been laying dormant all winter long and have decided to prematurely come out of their slumber.... only to have to inevitably hibernate next week IN MY HOUSE!) Seriously, I kept myself awake last night thinking about this.  I also thought about the fact that my dog drank river water yesterday and might break out in a case of  "something" due to "storm water runoff, pesticide runoff, or  industrial waste"... Here's to hoping that exposure to sunlight, aeration, and micro-organisms in the water would counteract all that... But I digress.

Back to our weather.... we have been enjoying every minute of it. Case in point: Yesterday, Tom decided to take Max & Carmine to the park. Great idea. When he told me that he was going to ride his bike, I didn't really think much about it. When I came home, I passed Tom on his bike: See picture below:

 Look a little closer: (aka: The "sway like" dip at the bottom of the carrier.)

Why yes, that is my son and my 50 pound dog in the carrier. WHAT? See, here's the deal. Homeboy (Carmine) has the endurance of a.... Hmmm, I even can't come up with an example of an animal that would be less motivated than Homeboy. I would say snail... but I believe that even though a snail is "slow"... he keeps a steady pace. Unlike Homeboy. Don't get me wrong, he does pretty good for the first 50 yards or so. Then he either lays down, or walks at a snails pace.

There, I knew he and a snail would be somehow comparable. 

They were all exhausted to say the least. Especially Homeboy. 

Skiing... finally!

We have had an extremely mild winter around here... odd for Michigan. There have been so many up's & down's in the temperatures. We're not sure if we should simply resign to the fact that spring is around the corner or if we should hunker down for a tardy winter. Either way, we were happy to finally have some snow to go skiing in! (Even though it was only 6 degrees outside when we went.) Don't worry, Max was bundled up in his "sauna", & Isabel was... er' well, cold.

Even Max has learned how to pose for a "self"!

11 Years Later

How did this baby turn into:

This baby?
Ok, so she's not a "baby" anymore.
Tom took this picture of Isabel and me on the morning of her 11th birthday last week. When I saw it, it reminded me of  the first  picture. Isabel was 6 months old & I was totally in the throws of new-motherhood. I vividly remember when Tom took the picture. Isabel had been up and down all night  long.... but I was young(er) and could handle it. I was just happy to be a mom. So here we are 11 years later... in the same chair and in the same position. Minus the binky, and plus the pre-teen attitude.  Don't get me wrong. She is still the same sweet & thoughtful girl. She's just changing into a young woman who is figuring out her place in life.  Oh how I love what she is turning into. I look forward to the next 11 years.
She will never leave me.
I know this because I will be right behind her.
(Yes, I know I've said that before. Because it's true.)

And then there's this character. I could eat him with a spoon.

Wow... It's been a looooong time since I've posted. The intentions have been there, but the motivation was lacking. Since I've last posted, the following things have happened:

Thanksgiving,

A trip to Florida

2 birthdays

Christmas (Whew!)

Family Pictures

Haircut... (Isabel)

And much more... Here are a few pics to recap.

Florida... what a place. As you can see, Max slept a lot of the time.... Thank goodness. He was a rock star! Completely fascinated with everything, all while being perfectly content in his stroller. (That's "Butter Beer" on Tom's nose and on Isabel's lip by the way.... We visited Hogwart's baby!!)

All of the above pics were taken when we went out to chop our Christmas tree down. Tom tried suggesting an artificial tree this year, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. (aka: Isabel had a crisis when we brought it up)

Can you tell that Max had an excellent experience with Santa this year?

11 Years old!!

Oh how I love these two.

Solar System construction.

Sorry this is so "picture-y"... but it's what I can do while Max is napping in a short amount of time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!