to Camp Classen they go

Both Darren and Connor headed to Camp Classen this morning with most of Connor's fifth grade class. For three days the fifth graders will hike up Mt. Warren, learn archery, fish, canoe, shoot rifles (bb guns), have astronomy lessons, plan skits, make s'mores by bonfire and on and on. It's an outdoor school of sorts...isn't that every boys dream come true!? I am so glad that our school does this every year for the fifth graders. What a special time this is for them. I just can't wait to hear every detail when they get back. Until then, I just have these....a few pics taken this morning. (They're not great. I left my good camera in the car as both D and Connor do not like having their pics taken so if I just take my little old camera I can sometimes sneak a few pics more quickly without them noticing...that didn't go so well though...they were both annoyed fairly quickly! Oh well.)

Connor and his daddy/camp counselor

Connor and his friends/cabin mates

Connor and Cameron

The boys were running around when Mr. Haws got out the megaphone to announce it was time to load the bus. Connor's cabin was the first to load one of the three buses.

getting his things together

loading up

It was so funny to see Darren on a school bus! It brought back memories of Jr. High (yes, it was still called Jr. High when we were in school) when he and I would ride the bus together! Awww. ;-)

the boys (I think they named their group the Nacho Ninjas!?!)

At this point I knew Darren would fit right in with the fifth graders. He is right at their maturity level (or maybe a hair below)! ha

I am so glad that Darren was willing and able to go with Connor. I know that they will have memories of this trip for a lifetime. I know they are having fun...Darren has already called me twice! Both times he's said what a great time they're having and I love hearing that. However, I must say that I sure am missing those two tonight. I'm enjoying the time with just Coby and Cale, but dinner sure was quiet without Connor here (Darren too, but Connor is our talker!). I know that they will be back before I know it though, so for now, I am savoring the time I have to myself with my "littlest" boys! Thankfully the "big" boys won't be gone too long.

this boy

• is my first-born
• is already 10 1/2 years old
• is growing like a weed
• has gained 4 pounds in the past 2 months (YAY!)
• has the cutest cluster of freckles spread across his nose that I just adore
• is becoming more and more independent with each passing day
• is finally coming out of his shell when it comes to socializing & making new friends
• is getting very brave and trying out new things on his bike
• loves to read
• is a great baseball player
• is a worrier like his mommy (I wish I could take all of his worries away)
• is very active and loves the outdoors
• his confidence has increased enormously over the past few months (hooray!)
• is pretty serious most of the time, but loves to have fun too
• is a talker!!
• is a detail person just like his mommy (which I completely appreciate!)
• is giving
• is a rule follower (for the most part...thank goodness)
• is not looking at all like my little boy anymore, but more like a young man
• is finally coming out of the hard to deal with attitude that began at around 9.5-10 years
• is (sometimes) wearing clothes from the junior's section of the mall...WHAT!?! When did that happen?
• loves school and is doing great with high A's in all subjects but math, which is a B (he got his daddy's math skills, or lack thereof, and that's alright!)
• thinks he would look so cool if he could get braces (hmmm...I bet by the time he gets them he won't think they're quite so cool!)
• LOVES Jesus with all his being (we were talking about friends the other day and he told me Cameron was his second best friend which surprised me so I asked who his first best friend is. He responded, Jesus! I LOVED hearing it!!!!)
• is going to Camp Classen tomorrow with all his fifth grade class mates for three days and two nights. This is a rite of passage in our school district and I remember thinking not too long ago that Camp Classen seemed "so far off". I can't believe we have a child old enough to be going, but I'm so thankful that we do! I can't wait to hear the stories he comes home with! (Darren is going as a counselor so I will get to hear it all...the good, the bad and the ugly.)
• I love this boy!

show us where you live: master bedroom

I'm so glad it's Friday again! I am joining Kelly from Kelly's Korner again this week for Show Us Where You Live Friday. This week it's master bedrooms. This is my favorite room in our house because it is full of my favorite colors. Please come on in and take a look around....

Please excuse the treadmill!

Thanks for stopping by. I can't wait to hop over to see your master bedroom. I am always looking for new ideas and inspiration! Happy Friday!!

Fall is here again!!!!

I am SO happy that today is the first day of fall. I've said it before and I'll say it again and again, I heart fall! I love the smells of fall, the colors of fall, pumpkins, mums, pansies, wearing hoodies with jeans and trick or treating with my boys. Fall is the best!!! So, to celebrate fall's arrival I made the boys pumpkin bread for breakfast....

Then after I dropped the boys off to school, I put out my autumn flag....

It was placed next to my mums which are in full bloom again!!!

I even allowed myself to get one little Halloween decoration out even though it's still a bit early (I'm holding off another week or so before getting it all out)

And lastly, I can't do a post about my love of fall without showing one of absolute favorite things about the season, the smells....

cinnamon roll candle

fall flavored Wallflowers refills. YUMMY!

I have my fall Scentsy order placed and cannot wait to get those yummy fall scents in my warmers! As you can see, it's the little things in life that make me happy!

Happy Fall!!!

back to school 2010 edition

This post is a month in coming. The boys actually started back to school on August 20th and I am just now getting around to a back to school post. What in the world!?!

We are getting used to our school routine and the boys are all having a great year. This is the one and only year all three of the boys will ever be in school together. That is so hard for me to wrap my head around! We absolutely lucked out this year as far as getting three incredible teachers (although I have to say it has been rare for any of the kids to get a "bad" teacher). For that, I am so thankful. Cale's teacher and teacher's assistant are constantly telling me how much they love Cale and the teacher's assistant is always telling me she wants to take him home with her...to which I reply, when do you want him! ;-) Coby is always telling me how nice his teacher is and he seems thrilled to go to school everyday. Connor is doing great and loving school as well this year. He got the teacher he wanted, his best friend is in his class and he is putting a lot of effort into his work. It doesn't get much better than that. This mommy is happy and I hope all three boys have a great school year. I think they will!

So, here are a few back to school pics....you know, a month late....

The school supplies were sorted...it was the first time that I had to sort/buy

supplies for all THREE boys!

August 19, 2010

Meet the Teacher Day

before leaving to meet their teachers

Cale sorting out his school supplies and putting them in their proper homes

I can't believe I am typing this, but Connor is in 5th grade...hence at the TOP of the school. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

August 20, 2010

First Day of School

the boys before heading out to their first day of school

Darren and the boys walking toward the school...we had to park pretty far away (Coby was hidden by Darren and I hate that!)

the bug on his first day ever of elementary school

sitting down to color a picture (he looks so little here, but I know that he is going to grow up so quickly and that makes me SO sad!)

After getting Cale settled in, Darren and I went to see Coby who told us we didn't need to walk him to class (WHAT?) I'm not sure that he loved us stopping by, but goodness he is only in 2nd grade, surely he isn't too cool for us already!?!

As for a classroom pic of Connor...that's not happening! He hasn't let us walk him to class for two years now and we don't dare stop by his classroom. I mean seriously how embarrassing would that be? ha

Darren and I went to breakfast and ran errands after dropping off the boys. It was so nice to have some time together. It was like date (only it was in the morning) and we didn't even have to line up babysitters. I think we can get used to this!

My mom told me that I'd probably be really sad after dropping Cale off on his first day of elementary school, but nope, I felt just fine about it! I mean he only goes for 2 1/2 hours so it's not like it's the "real deal" just yet. Next year...that's a whole different story. The first week after one of the boys goes to school all day for the first time is really hard on me, but after that I'm fine (and so are they). It will be strange having all three gone all day, but I'm sure I'll adjust just fine! I guess I'll find out next year. Where has the time gone?

show us where you live: living room

I am so excited that Kelly of Kelly's Korner is hosting a home tour again this year. This week we are sharing our living rooms. I am really excited about this because there are so many things I'd like to change in ours so I'm hoping to get some great ideas while going on all of the other tours.

Our living room is just that...the place where we truly do most of the living in this house. Everything in it must be comfortable. I love the size of our living room, but would love to paint it a darker shade and also do something different with the fireplace. I think I'd like to replace the brick with rock and paint the mantel a distressed black. Until then, I just decorate around it.

The pics are from the last show us where you live, but sadly not much has changed since then...

The above picture is the view of the living room from the entryway and the pic below shows both the living room and the "piano" room view from the entryway.

This is the view from the "piano" room.

This is the room that we named the "piano" room. It is supposed to be the formal dining room, but we just aren't formal people and prefer to eat at our kitchen table. So, we decided to turn it into a room that we could actually use. We pulled the hanging light fixture up toward the ceiling and turned this room it into an extension of the living room. We needed a place for the piano which was the piano my parents had when I was growing up. Darren loves to play, so they passed it on to us.

Thanks for stopping by our home! Up next Friday is the Master bedroom tour...it is my favorite room in the house! Happy Friday!

rainy days

What do you after school on a dreary, rainy day?

You get out the Lincoln Logs of course.

But only after mommy has kicked your booty in a mean game of Candy Land!

Rainy days at home are the BEST...especially when they're spent together.

sneak peek: back to school 2010

The boys started school on August 20th. Since I am too lazy to do a proper back to school post this will have to do for now....

I really hope to start getting caught up on here next week. During the summer I just decided the time with the kids was more important than blogging (but boy do I have a ton of pictures to share!) and I thought that once school started I'd have all kinds of time to get caught up. ha! That is not working out so well! Now I am busy driving to and from school 3 times per day, volunteering 2 days a week (just while Cale is in class), taking Connor to baseball practice and games, Coby to Karate 2-3 days a week, and helping the boys with homework. While they are at school I am trying to keep caught up with the house, meal plan, laundry, ironing, errands, etc. I really don't know how "working" moms do it!

I've told myself that this is the week in which I will add blogging back into the schedule (I do it for me so I have a journal of my kids growing up and I hate that I am SO far behind!), but for today, I am off to enjoy a beautiful day outdoors with all FOUR of my guys. We're so excited to have a rare three day weekend in which Darren is actually off. We plan to make the most of it...no plans, just hanging out and having fun together.

Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day!