Bon Appetite

Look at my BiG boy eating with a fork!

Flower Girl

I am so excited that Isabella gets to be a flower girl in my cousins upcoming wedding!!!  We went to try on dresses tonight and she is in complete amazement with the "beautiful" dress that she gets to wear.  She told me that she felt like a "true princess".  

With her fellow flower girl Chloe.

This was the dress that they chose, Isabella will have a matching pink sash.

Another favorite, but trying on just for fun.

First Day of Pre K

Tuesday was Isabella's first day of Pre K!!!  She misses the cut-off date for kindergarden by 2 1/2 weeks, which is fine by me, I don't know if I am ready to have a kindergardener.  I feel that even though she is ready, the older she is when she goes the better.  A few of her friends have moved ahead and began their school career and I worried that Isabella would feel left behind but she seemed really excited to begin her new adventure.

She goes four days a week (which is practically like kindergarden to me!) and is in what she remembers from last year as being the "BIG kid class"  She loves her teacher and loves the fact that one of her best buddies is in her class.  

Snuggles with her buddy

  As I looked at these pictures I am in amazement at how fast these last years have gone by.  My little bug is not so little any more and she is growing up to be such a beautiful little girl.  This week we were all kind of lost without her here with us in the mornings.  She is our motivator, organizer, helpful one, patient one, and most of all the best cuddlier in the world.  She has grown so much in her confidence that I barely got a kiss from her as I dropped her off in her classroom.  If you knew this kid two years ago, this would have never happened.

I am so excited and proud of you my Isabella, I already know you are going to have a great year!

Love You!

Zoo Trip

Summer would not be complete without a trip to the Topeka Zoo.  I love this zoo for many reasons...  

1.  It is very compact, all of the animals are close together.  We never seem to get through the entire Kansas City Zoo because of its size and the amount of walking in between exhibits.

2.  It is very clean, if a zoo can really be clean.

3.  The animals always seem to be present and easy for my little ones to view.

4.  There are great play areas for the kids.

5.  We can get through the entire thing in about 1 1/2 hours.

6.  I remember going here all of the time as a child.

We had a great visit and got to see lots of fun animals!

As you can see Margaret's favorite was the giraffe.  This was the only animal she would pose for a picture with.

Isabella and Alexandra showing their surprised faces when they came upon this handsome looking fella.

My attempt at an organized photo of four kids.  As you can see Walter is a bit distracted here by a water puddle.

How Sweet It Is

We have been blessed to have my older brother and his family in town for the last couple of weeks.  We don't get to see them often so when we do we just can't get enough of them!  If you know me, you know how important my family is to me, it is a huge comfort to have everyone together.  I have also loved seeing my kids getting to know their cousins better than ever before.  As I have mentioned before, growing up my brothers and I were surrounded by family from all angles and it was so nice to always have someone to hang out with.  As I have gotten older, I see my extended family less and less, but when I do we just pick up where we left off.  This is just what family is all about!

Shout out to Theresa for letting us hang out again, we had a blast as always:)

M.I.A.

We have been missing in action lately!

Life has gotten a little crazy, a little good a little bad, but all in all we are still going through life having a great time.  Here are some highlights from the last couple of weeks...

Miss Margaret moved up and got a scooter. 

 Isabella didn't have one until she was four, this one is a smooth talker!

We spent a few days running through the sprinkler, believe it or not my kids thought it was too cold to go to the pool.

We have eaten popsicles...

and more popsicles.

We did some rearranging in the backyard... 

and now our kids actually play with our outdoor toys:)

We got our faces painted at our Back-to-School carnival at our gym.

Walter got fitted for his tux!

He is a ring bearer in an upcoming wedding and we are so excited!!!

Margaret completed her dance session and we had a mini recital.

And last, but not least, Nana bought Walter a helmet for his head (his melon took a size for three and up, hope he grows into it!) when riding  his bike.  You should see him whizz around the driveway on this thing, he is fast!  When she came for a visit I think he made her a little bit nervous.  

As summer comes to an end I must say I am a bit sad.  We have loved our lazy mornings and days where anything goes.  I know schedules are good but we are not looking forward to getting back on one.  I hear people say they can't wait for their kids to go back to school... maybe I am crazy but I am just not there yet.  I love having my kids home with me and even though it gets a bit nuts at times at the end of the day I have many blessings to be thankful for.