a kindergartener & a preschooler

the first day and week of school has come and gone.

and

it would seem i am officially a PTA mom.

my kids are growing right before my eyes. how did that happen? (i promise, i never even blinked!).

 it seems the older 2 are kids now, and not babies anymore. 

the thought makes me weepy but i sure like what they are growing into.

jude malcolm

5 years old

kindergarten 

teacher : mrs. cornia

 

true to form... we were LATE the first day, and we weren't even on GST (gregory standard time 15 min late). somehow, i thought school started at 12:30 when really, it started at 12:15. woops! i pulled up all emotional about my baby starting public school and then realized my mistake. jude and i busted our little hineys in the school and barely got a goodbye kiss. it was so insignificant that i felt cheated a bit. however, i think it made it a little less traumatic for both of us.

greta goes to the same school jude does and has been anxiously awaiting going back to school, she LOVES it there. (isn't funny how siblings differ so much?) after we dropped off jude, she realized it was not her turn to go to school she broke out in tears, which quickly turned into a temper tantrum. she did NOT want to be at home with me and ez. obvisouly, she doesn't know how kewl we are. we are, by the way.

little man did it! he was so proud of himself, but anxious to get in the car to see ez-E.

our little station wagon, filled to the brim with our kids.

i think its time for an upgrade...

______

the next day came and FINALLY it was miss greta's turn. jude felt so proud that they were going to be at school at the same time, and in the same hallway!

greta pamela

3 years old

preschool

teacher : miss lindsay

loves this girl and the outfit SHE picked out. 

she's a babe.

jude (day2) waiting his turn....

oh and its a damn good thing i had another baby... or i'd be lonely.

breakfast babies are cute.

OH and you make think to yourself "geez, what does she do with all her free time?" well, i will tell you.... drive to the school 4 times a day. that's right, 4 times.... take greta @ 11:30, drop off jude @ 12:15, pick up greta @ 1:45, and make one last drive thru the parking lot @ 2:50 to get jude. sound fun? tender mercies of having a preschooler and a kindergartner. i know, i know, all you seasoned mom's out there are rolling your eyes but its new to me, new and already getting old.

"i'm a team player... "

SL bees vs. IOWA cubs

 the cubs are trevan's favorite team... ever.

he's never seen them play IRL (sniff sniff sob sob). last week we did the next best thing, we watched their farm team play our bee's.

wish you were there?

well, now you can feel like you were....

key points:

my knothole club kids

cam's bunnions

grandpa mike left the house

dancing kids

best seats in the house

cam on the jumbotron

the bee's lost... but to the cubs

ezzie

the cam&greta love affair
my ever present, cannot be hidden in a turtle neck, nursing boobs

....

 oh and it was my parents 38th anniversary!

and now you know.

celebrating my man.

a few fun facts:

trevan is officially 30.

trevan loves baseball.

i love to celebrate.

we have the best family (and friends) in the world.

terni made the cutest baseball bat cookies (*trevan loves chocolate chip cookies, not cake) and accompanying baseball cupcakes. she is the cutest.

some of the guests

*did you know dustin bought trevan a kindle, a lighted cover, and $25 amazon gift card for his birthday? he is the best friend and brother in-law in the history of everdom. too much... and so dustin.

the man of the hour, my man friday, mr. right... senor.

and his adoring blurry son.

nannie's typical arrival celebration.

more party guests.

---

after we ate enormous amounts of delicious food, a very serious baseball game was played....

all were invited to play ball but somehow it was just the young buck men, some kids, my dad, and me. i think everyone was impressed by my skillz and... 

trevan's pitching.

gaga-licious.
*note her drawn on necklace and bracelet. jude drew them on all the girls so he knew he was in his baseball club.

 sexy cam.

get.in.my.belly.

see that guy lounging on the grass? well, that's rog and he is the best, really, the best man i have ever met. i am so lucky to know him, and my kids are even luckier to call him grandpa.

and

here he is playing baseball with all the littles... for an hour. 

happy birthday trevan.

you are ALWAYS worth celebrating.

xo.

campers.

we did it... we FINALLY bit the bullet.

after 5 years of wanting to do so, we bought our own camping stuff.

what better excuse to do so, than for trevan's 30th birthday.

a few weeks ago, we loaded up the family wagon and headed east to our beloved canyons... turns out everyone else in the tri-state area (p&f reference) were thinking the exact same thing, it was pa-za-acked. we drove and drove and drove, every campground was booked and all the "dispersed camping" spots were taken but we would not be deterred. finally, i spotted a little spot by the side of the dirt road we were on that was vacant. it looked like it would do, so we broke camp then and there. the kids were beyond stoked.

jude could not contain his excitment, but managed to do so for just for one picture.

dual survivors.

 

remember what i said about that spot by the side of the dirt road? weeeell, that dirt road turned out to be the interstate for all things cars, trucks, ATV's, and dirtbikes. after about 10 minutes we relized... we was in dust heaven! 

at this point i was done, done with dirt, done with yelling at my kids to stay out of the road, done with dusty food, done with sneezing, DONE... but i put on my smiley face and i's made us some supper. i am a happy camper!

instead of having my kids play outside and enjoy the outdoor as they should while camping, i put them in the tent and zipped them in for safe keeping (i.e. road kill) . i could almost hear their laughter over the sound of revving engines.

my cute parents came to visit us for dinner. they turned around 2x because they did not think we would:

a. go up that far
b. camp in that location/environment

they were wrong, and luckily they found us. although, my dad is still teasing us about our dust bowl location.

 it's true.
she is the best.

nannie and grandpa left us (after us reasssuring them that we would be okay without any more firewood) for the night and the headlamps came on.

my kids are the cutest.

goodnight snuggles and goodnight moon.

the kids were perfect and we slept famously. we bought this king size sleeping bag for trev and i and it is the cats pajamas. ezzie stayed warm and toasty right next to me, and there were was even room for greta when she woke up in the middle of the night scared, cold, and needing to pee. jude did not move a single muscle all night long and woke up happy to be alive. i love sleeping outside, really i do. our dust spot was right next to a river and once the ATVers hit the hay we could actually hear it and finally our spot didn't seem so bad. who doesn't love the sound of a rushing waters while sleeping?

taking down camp is always the worst part and neither of the kids felt up to helping, much less cooperating so trevan put their cute little butts in the car and there they sat rocking out to bieber, glee, and katy perry for the duration of the trip. WHAT? i didn't say they were happy about it!

all and all i would say it was a success and we CANNOT wait to go again. this time we will do it right (more wood, less food, bring fold up table, extra socks, hat for greta, change of clothes for ez, etc.) but what can we expect for our first time? trevan was great and totally in his element. he was so mindful of my fun level and made sure i was always comfortable and happy. he's cute like that. trevan was so happy to finally be doing this, even if it was a lot of work and he didn't get to fly-fish or hike... we were all pooped by mid-morning.


p.s.  and i think we finally realized we are a full blown family... when did that happen? 

6 month review.

somehow, i think maybe while i was sleeping, ezra turned 6 months old.

why does this keep happening to us? 

 :: at 6 months ::

15.7 pounds

27 inches

the smiliest, supported sitting, nearly crawling, always standing, mama loving, most adorable baby boy, ever.

he's a keeper.

* images courtesy of the ever amazing, brooke

7 years

imagine me and you, i do.

i think about you day and night...

 it's only right.

so happy together.

happy anniversary senor.

*wedding hat