Preschool Bound

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Okay, I might have gone a little overboard with the photos, but it was Elliot's FIRST day of preschool!!!

She has been looking forward to this day for weeks.  The preschool is through our towns Park and Rec department.  There are only 4 other kids in the class, including her friend Dallin Hunting.

We are looking forward to a fun year!

This collage has one of Elliot's classic looks (top left hand corner)  She is so funny.  Bottom left she is screaming, "preschool, yea!"

 

Projects

Now that I've lost 3 kids to school, I have a little time to do some projects.  My sewing machine is getting some good use, and I'm trying to tackle some projects that I've been wanting to do for a while.

 Like finishing this quilt.  I found this adorable hedgehog fabric a while ago and I just waited to find the right quilt pattern.  This one seems to fit it perfectly.  It's only a toddler size but it's the perfect blanket for my living room for extra kids to use.  Now my kids can't say, "that my blanket" to their friends.

My craft cabinet has been a growing mess for a while, and I hated how I couldn't find anything.  After a day of de-junking and putting things where there supposed to go I was able to buy some storage containers and put it all back organized.

It makes me so happy to grab what I need.  Now I have to tackle my coat closet...

School, Summer, repeat....

It's already that time for back to school.  Summers fly by when there only 2 months long.  Luckily we were able to make the most of them, and the kids love school so...

Have a great year Miles, Caleigh and Griff!!  The kids are proud of their back to school shirts.  They picked them out themselves.

13th Anniversary and counting...

On the 22nd, Mike and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary.  Mary generously offered to watch our kids for as long as we liked ( I know, she's the best right!) while we hit the town for lunch and a movie.  It might sound boring to some but Mike and I love to go to movies together and we never get to anymore.

We ate lunch in downtown Dover, at Kelley's Row an Irish pub and Restaurant.  For you fellow foodies out there we dined on fried pickle chips, lobster clam chowda, and an open faced turkey sandwich.  Yum...  (Thanks for the suggestion Brother Kane, we'll  be hitting this place again, especially when family is in town.) 

Since I got to pick the restaurant, Mike picked the movie.  No surprise, we saw Capt. America.  I was assured there would at least be kissing, but for the most part it was a pretty good action flick.  It was just fun to be out of the house, and spending time with Mickey.  I love hanging out with Mike laughing, venting, reminiscing, and talking about all the worlds problems.  Love you Mike.  

Don't you think Capt. America looks kinda like Mike, just not as cute?  I know right?  That's why I married him.

Final days of Summer

 We are counting down for school to start on the 30th, but until then we are trying to make the most of our summer.

Most of our days are lazy, with plenty of play time with friends in the neighborhood, but we've fit in a few activities.

 One was a hike with the boy scouts and activity days girls.  One of the great things about NH is there is no shortage of good hiking trails.  We hiked Blue Jay mountain (I think that's what it's name was).  It was a pretty good hike, not too long.  At the top is a cell phone tower and a fire lookout.  The kids loved climbing up it when we stopped for lunch.

 Hello down there......

And Tuesday we lived it up at Water Country a awesome water park.  It brought back my days of playing at Roaring Springs in Idaho.  The kids aren't really thrill seekers right now, so we only hit a few big slides.  Most of our time was spent in one of the 3 kiddie areas, or the lazy river.  The two pools were a big hit too.  We went with our friends the Huntings and the kids had so much fun.  Elliot surprised me when she volunteered for the "mat slide" a pretty impressive slide, that requires you to lay on a mat.  She didn't even blink an eye when I held your mat at at the top and told her to lay on her tummy.  She laughed the whole way down and asked to do it again.  She never got to, they switched life guards between turns and the second LG claimed she was too short.  Oh well, we snuck one in.   

Now it's back to lazy days till school starts... 3, 2, 1.   

Standing in Holy Places

I'm so thankful for our ward's tradition to take a field trip to the Temple every year.  The kids look forward to it and always have a great time.  I love to see them all dressed up walking around the Temple grounds.  It was a beautiful day not too hot, but the sun was still shining.  We had a great picnic in the shade after we walked around.  I always use the opportunity to take some photos of the kids, we got a few extra kids in a few of the shots.  

 Ooops we got an Oliver in our photo, good thing he's pretty cute.

 Can't believe how big my "baby" is getting, Elliot is turning into a beauty, inside and out.

I'm so blessed to have these four little people in my life.  I'm grateful we get to spend eternity together.  They make Mike and I laugh, and they keep life interesting.

Nature

We had a visit from this little prince the other night.  We had just come home from the beach and Caleigh notice him sitting on a flower!  He looks big, but he was only about the size of my thumb.  He hopped off and stayed for a few photos.  

What a handsome Prince.  Too bad no one was brave enough to Kiss him.  But we did name him "Froggie."

Putting the Kid to work

Miles has no desire to work in the yard, but that didn't stop me from having him mow the lawn last Friday.  He did the whole front and side by himself (if me following him the whole time counts as "himself").  He felt so proud of himself when he was done.  Good Job Miles, we'll do it again soon!

I love this picture because it shows his little fan club in the background.  Miles always has a few kids waiting to play with him.  It makes for a great incentive to get him working.

Two for the price of One

The twinners are 10!  The have been looking forward to this day the whole week.  We actually had a pretty lazy day, but it was so nice.  They played with their new toys and rode their new bikes.  In the evening we had Aunt Tracy here, and the Hunting family, minus Steve.  

The kids were truly grateful for all the gifts, phone calls, and cards they received.  Now for the sappy part.

These two made Mike and I a family, and they continue to bless our home tremendously.

Miles is my go to guy for help around the house.  He has amazing musical talents and social skills beyond his years.  He loves to tell stories just like his grandpa Tom.  And he has an energy for life that wears me out at times.  We love you "smiles."

Caleigh reminds us all of a cartoon character.  She makes us laugh with facial expressions, and her timely whit.  There's nothing this girl can't make with paper, tape, clay, wire, etc.  She is always busy creating things, it inspires me and makes me smile.  Our little "Lucy Lu."

Birthday Family Fun Day

This summer our Tuesdays have been dedicated to, what I like to call, Family Fun days.  Since the twins birthday was this week, we chose to do some birthday things.  The twins each got birthday money from grandparents (thanks guys) so they wanted to do some birthday shopping.  And what 10 year olds wouldn't want to shop at the Lego store and The American Girl store!  Mike grumbled a little bit at driving an hour and a half for a mall!  But I think he had fun.  

The Lego store is any boys dream.  It has everything you can imagine including an interactive "try me" screen.  You just hold the box up to the screen, it scans it then builds the lego set on the screen.  Then you can play with it!  How cool is that.
 

But before we could go to the Lego store, the American Girl doll store was our first stop.  Ahhh, it is so awesome.  What a cute store for girls of all ages.  All of us girls couldn't stop saying "cute."  

After the kids were shopped out (okay, really after they had spent every last cent) we headed to the Rainforest Cafe for some grub.  What a fun place to eat.  This was our second time eating at a RFC.  Our first time was in Vegas when the kids were much younger, with my dear friend Kata.  Griffin had to have been about two and terrified of the atmosphere.  He ate his entire meal under the table.  Everyone stayed surfaced this time and enjoyed the gorillas who looked over us as we ate.  

What a fun day, we were tuckered out at the end of it.  

Our final day with family

Shannon loves lighthouses so for our final day with their family we did a self guided lighthouse tour.  Apparently here in New England we light to make our lighthouses hard to find, so we had to rely on maps and GPS to get us to the few we wanted to see.  We also stopped at a store known for it's large lighthouse gifts and decor selection.  It was appropriately named the Lighthouse Depot.  The coast of Maine is so beautiful and has charming little shops in the towns.  It was a great day.  

Some of these pictures crack me up, Carter looked so much like Griffin that I would snap a photo and realize Griffin was missing, but I had Carter in the photo instead.  Ooops.  

We finished our day at Wild Willy's a local burger place.  Yumm.  We had so much fun with Matt, Shannon, Carter, and Ashlynn, we hope we can get together again soon.