Pictures of the Week -- Week 38

To say that Josh loves football is an understatement.  He plays catch or a game whenever he can.  This week, he taught Mattea how to tackle.  I heard him say "Mattea, you have to get low and wrap me up.  C'mon, you can do it.".  It was so cute!  He must be a great teacher because she caught on pretty quickly and had fun tackling him onto the couch.  So much for the "no balls in the house" rule.

This is my oldest son, Alex.  You may have mistakenly thought I only had two kids.  Nope, it's just rare to get Alex to smile or pose for a picture these days because apparently when you are 12, it's just not that cool for your Mom to take pictures and post them to a blog.  C'mon... PS - Yes, the walls in the kitchen are orange.  I warned you...

Here is what I usually get for pics of my sweet boy, Alex...

See what I'm sayin'???

Picture of the Week -- Week 37

I met up with my BFF, Denise, to attend ScrapFest 2011 at the Mall of America in Minnesota.  We had such a fun time together!  We shopped, ate, chatted, laughed, got pedicures, took classes, scrapped and watched oodles & oodles of episodes of NCIS and Law & Order.  Denise was kind enough to take pictures to capture all of our favorite memories AND she humored me by helping me "stalk" my favorite scrapbookers -- Becky Higgins (Project Life mastermind), Elizabeth (Liz) Kartchner (Dear Lizzy/American Crafts designer), Amy Tangerine (American Crafts designer) and Kelly Purkey (Studio Calico designer).  We have been to ScrapFest 3 times so far... twice in the past 2 years.  I think it's pretty safe to say that this is an annual event for us.  We always have a blast!

Me, Becky Higgins, Liz Kartchner, Amy Tangerine

Picture of the Week -- Week 36

Uncle Terry came for a visit. It's always nice to see him. On Saturday afternoon, we watched Josh's football game and it was an amazing game! At one point during the game, the Spartans were down by 4 touchdowns, but they came from behind and WON! Saturday night was our block party. By then, my sore throat had turned into a full-fledged cold and I was feeling pretty miserable. The block party was fun, though. There was plenty of food and socializing, but since there were about 4 other people that weren't feeling well, the party ended early. Yay! Terry & Jeff spent Sunday in the "man cave" watching football and playing video games while I was sneezing, blowing my nose and resting on the couch. Mattea & Uncle Terry built this amazing tower with cups.

Happy Birthday to Daddy-oski!!!!

Jeff's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year which is kinda lame because it means a regular day of work and the kids' activities.  We did our best to make it special, though.  Jeff enjoyed a homemade breakfast (which is much better than just a bowl of cereal), a lunch date with his fabulous wife and a homemade dinner of chicken cordon bleu.  After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to "Daddy-oski" and the kids helped him blow out his candles.  We all enjoyed his favorite kind of cake... yellow with chocolate frosting.  YUM!  Afterwards, he opened his cards from all of us and his gift.  He was thrilled with his new iPod speaker system as he thoroughly enjoys jammin' to his tunes every morning before work (it kinda gets his juices flowin' and gets him psyched up for work).

Mattea wrote this super sweet note on our memo board and signed all of our names. Sweet baby girl!

Pictures of the Week -- Week 35

Jeff and I were completely honored to be asked to be Jaelynn Rose Hawkins' godparents.  Jaelynn was born on April 5th weighing 7 lbs and 13 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.  She is a happy and healthy baby and Jamie & Lindsey are wonderful parents.  Jeff & I made a quick trip to Chicago for the baptism.  We got LOTS of snuggle time with Jaelynn and enjoyed catching up with Jamie & Lindsey.  We are excited to be a part of Jaelynn's life!

While we were in town, we got to visit with Tim, Katie, Jake, Justin and Kristina. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner... Tim even grilled in the rain for us.  What a guy! We got to see all of Jake's medals & trophies, watched Justin build with his Legos and played with Kristina. It was wonderful to spend some time with family.

Pictures of the Week -- Week 34

Instead of pictures this week, I am going to share some videos that I finally downloaded from my FlipCam. Enjoy!

This is Josh singing "BumbleBee".  I love hearing him sing because when he does, this totally deep voice comes out from his tiny body and cracks me up EVERY SINGLE TIME!

This is Mattea singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  She learned it at school.

Alex's First Day of Seventh Grade

We have a seventh grader. When did this happen and how do I make it stop??? Seriously.

Alex started his 2nd year at Falcon Creek Middle School on Monday, August 22nd after a LONG summer off. I think he enjoys being on a traditional schedule. He was quite resistant about me taking the usual pictures on the porch, but finally relented when I agreed that Dad could be in some of the pictures. (Note his tight lipped smile in the first few pics.) Mattea wrote the Happy First Day of School sign on our memo board.