Picture of the Day -- Week 33

August 14th – Jeff eats eggs for breakfast most mornings. We saw this cute omelet pan at Home Goods and thought it would work perfectly to give him another option for breakfast.


August 15th – Alex & Mattea gave Cody a bath this morning. It was quite entertaining to watch. I think they were wise to do it in their swimsuits because when he shook the water off of himself, they got soaked!


August 16th – This is Mattea’s bike tire that we had to put out for the trash because once she learned to ride her bike, she never stopped without skidding!!! She must have older brothers…


August 17th – We went school supply shopping for Alex and I couldn’t believe all the stuff he needed. We got spoiled in elementary school because we were able to buy school supply kits online. It was much more expensive this time around!


August 18th – Once again, Alex orchestrated some fun for the neighbor kids. They were playing some game and got all dressed up in costumes.


August 19th – We made pretzel hugs for Mattea’s kindergarten class. This week, they are studying the letter “M”. (Yes, I know pretzels starts with the letter “P”, but there are M&M’s on top. Get it???)


August 20th – I know it might be surprising, but the Dolan kids seem to have a tough time keeping track of their library books. So, I ordered this cute bag and it hangs on the door to the laundry room. When the kids aren’t reading their library books, they are kept in the bag. When it’s Library Day, they take them out of the bag and return them to the library at school!

Picture of the Day -- Week 32

August 7th – I saw Goober Grape at the grocery store and I just couldn’t resist introducing the kids to it. They were super excited to try it!


August 8th – Let’s play a game. It’s called “Where’s Mattea?”.


August 9th – Alex lined up his stuffed animals on the stairs one day when he was trying to entertain himself while Josh & Mattea were at school.


August 10th – It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago when Indy didn’t want anything to do with the little puppy we brought home. Now, Cody and Indy hang out together all day long.

August 11th – Alex wanted to cool off, so he filled a bucket with water and hopped in! Mattea couldn’t resist joining in on the fun!

August 12th – Often, my desk becomes a dumping grounds for everything… mail, school papers, work papers, my iPod, etc. Today was one of those days. It drives Jeff crazy, so it doesn’t stay this messy for long.

August 13th – Summer is the perfect time to ride your bike… in your bikini and flip flops… with one white tire and one black tire because you skidded through the other one. : )

Picture of the Day -- Week 31

July 31st – Since Mattea learned to ride her two-wheeler, it was time to initiate her to a Dolan family bike ride. We didn’t go as far or as fast as we normally go, but 5 miles for her first family bike ride on a two-wheeler was an awesome start!


August 1st – We were so excited that Missy & her family made time on their trip to Colorado to stop over for a visit. It was wonderful to meet Ella and hear about their life in Chicago.


August 2nd – This is Alex’s latest Lego creation. He has been creating with his Legos quite a bit since Josh & Mattea went back to school.


August 3rd – Tonight is the first night of adult pick-up volleyball at Lifetime Fitness. I got the volleyball out to practice a little bit and before I knew it, I was surrounded by the neighbor kids who all wanted to play. Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of practicing in!!!


August 4th – Alex loves his dog. He loves to lie on the floor and snuggle him or just use him for a pillow. Cody doesn’t seem to mind.


August 5th – Josh has a creative mind. Apparently, he couldn’t go fast enough on his roller blades, so he borrowed the neighbor kid’s motor scooter to increase his speed!!!


August 6th – This print is in my office so I see it everyday. I hope to check at least one thing off this to-do list everyday of my life. (Hopefully, not just the “eat ice cream” one.)

Proud to be an American...

Picture of the Day -- Week 30

July 24th – The kids had their bikes all lined up next to each other in the garage and it just caught my eye. Little, big, biggest. So cute!


July 25th – Mattea got a new scooter. It’s her first one and she was SO excited. It came with streamers on the handles and a bell. Oh, and it was pink! BOOYA, baby!


July 26th – Hanna’s mom, Shelley, found these totally cute “My BFF Rocks” shirts while she was shopping and knew the girls just had to have them. She took Hanna & Mattea shopping one afternoon and they came home wearing the new shirts… and the new denim shorts & cowgirl hats that Shelley couldn’t resist!


July 27th – Today, was Mattea’s first day of kindergarten and Josh’s first day of fourth grade. Mattea was thrilled beyond belief to start school... Josh not so much!!!


July 28th – Josh got this Ripstick several years ago from Aunt Julie for his birthday. I remember my initial thoughts… "A skateboard on caster wheels? You’ve got to be kidding me. The boy is going to seriously hurt himself." Well, he hasn’t and he’s become very talented. I’m amazed at how well he can ride and he can even do some tricks!


July 29th – Alex is the master of making up games. I went outside to check on the kids and he had the neighborhood kids playing a game he made up using a curtain rod. He had them lined up on the side of the house taking turns. I love that he is such a leader.


July 30th – We found this scary looking bull snake in the backyard.. and it’s not the first time either. Both times, our neighbor, Paul, has come to the rescue and gotten rid of the snake for us. I’m thinking the next time this snake shows up, it’s not going to be lucky enough to just be tossed out deep in the field.

Picture of the Day -- Week 29

July 17th – Today, we took Grandma Judie and Grandpa Bob to Castlewood Canyon State Park. It was only about 25 minutes away and it was somewhere we had never been before. We were all amazed at the desert-like appearance of the park. It was pretty cool!


July 18th – We went for a family bike ride and ended up at Schlotzky’s Deli for dinner. The boys did a great job keeping up with us and Mattea loved her easy ride in the bike trailer. Family bike rides are one of our favorite things to do in the summer.


July 19th – Alex built a HUGE fort in the living room. I believe he used nearly every blanket in the house! But, I must admit, it was a totally awesome fort. He had a jam box for tunes, a window fan to keep it cool and pillows for comfort. He even slept in it one night!


July 20th – We had a bad storm today and lost power for about 2 hours. It reminded us of our time in Illinois at Aunt Julie and Uncle Kevin’s house!!! We had a fun time playing Sequence by candle light!


July 21st – A package came today in the mail for Mattea from Grandma Carol & Grandpa Pete. It was a new dress for kindergarten! She was so excited! It was pretty AND sparkly… what more could a girl want???


July 22nd – Josh was tooling around on his bike and jumping off ramps with the neighbor kids. He caught some pretty good air and his facial expressions were quite hilarious!


July 23rd – Mattea attended Hanna’s 6th birthday party where the girls were to come dressed as their favorite pop star. Although Mattea LOVES Taylor Swift, she surprised me and wanted to be Hannah Montana instead. So, I straightened her hair and she wore her sparkly vest and skinny jeans. The girls all looked so cute. They went bowling, had cake & ice cream, sang karaoke, enjoyed candy from a piñata and had a sleepover!

First Day of Elementary School

Today was Josh's first day of 4th grade and Mattea's first day of kindergarten (or "king-ger-garten" as she calls it!). To say Mattea was excited was an understatement. All summer long, she had been sleeping in until 8am-9am... sometimes even 10am, depending on how late she stayed up the night before. This morning at 6:14am, I was awakened to hot breath and a loud whispering voice directly in my ear saying "KING-GER-GARTEN"!!! Did I mention it was 6:14am??? The start time for school had been changed from 8am to 8:45am, so this early waking time was clearly unnecessary (but still pretty darn funny). Eventually, we were all up and moving and getting ready for the day... even Alex, who doesn't start middle school until late August. Josh was not nearly as excited as Mattea. The kids all humored me with my typical First Day of School photo shoot on the front porch.

Soon, it was time to go. Mattea wanted to ride the bus, but I insisted that Mommy & Daddy wanted to take her on her first day and make sure she got to where she needed to go. So, we drove over to the school and parked the car across the street. Mattea hopped out and said "Bye!". I said "Mattea, wait. We are going to walk you in. You don't even know where to go." She replied "That's okay, Mom. I'll figure it out." SERIOUSLY? Seriously. Considering, I didn't even know where she was supposed to go, we walked her in anyway. Josh spotted his buddies, I took a quick picture and we dropped him off at the 4th grade entrance. After walking all the way around to the back of the school, we found the entrance where Mattea was supposed to line up. Whew. After a quick picture with Mommy, she was gone! Poof. Just like that. And that was the last First Day of Kindergarten for this family!! Both of the kids had a great first day! (Note: Mattea started riding the bus to/from school on Day 2. We couldn't put it off any longer!)