'Tis the Season!

There are so many reasons why our family loves the Fall ~

Apple picking is just one of them...

We were so happy Grandma (pictured on the left) came with us!

I think we picked about 25 pounds of apples...

that is a lot of apple pies, apple crisps and applesauce!

I'm not sure if we were supposed to be climbing the trees... But, we did!

Two teeth in two days!

This picture was taken yesterday...

This picture was taken today...

All I have to say is... the Tooth Fairy is broke!

My Zinnias...

We had a big wind storm which blew a few of my Zinnias over.

We were bummed because they were big and beautiful!

The biggest Zinnia was taller than my youngest two kids ~

and just a few inches from towering over my 8 year old!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for two of my kids.

They were both very excited and had a great morning.

The kids have some great friends in the neighborhood.

Boarding the bus...

He is an old pro! She was excited to get on the bus,

until her little friend got nervous and had to be carried onto the bus!

The little guy was fine until the bus pulled away!

Labor Day 2008

It is always fun for us to host our annual Labor Day Party,

which we have done since we've lived here the last four years.

This year we had nearly 80 (half of those being children under 18)

people over to play volleyball, bocce ball, horse-shoes and

ultimate frisbee... which seemed to be the crowd favorite!

The kids love having so many friends at our house to entertain.

The sandbox is always a big hit with the two year olds ~

Sorry to those of you who'll be washing sand out of your kids hair for days...

This year we ended the night with a few fireworks...

I believe they were illegal, but the kids loved them!

Dancing with the horses...

"Horses, Saratoga Style is a whimsical and unique outdoor sculpture

exhibit featuring 24 fiberglass horses transformed through creative

artistry. These magnificent sculptures were vibrantly brought

to life to tell a story or awaken memories of a unique place or time."

We drive by the horses, but never walk around and look closely at them.

Tonight we decided to take the kids for a walk downtown ~

what we didn't know was there was an outdoor music festival going on...

I think the little guy is dancing... Yes, definitely dancing! The older two are not amused by his dancing in public!

Now she's got the dancing fever!

A visitor...

My cute niece came and spent a week with us.

My kids adore her and wanted to take her to all their favorite places!

A weekend surprise...

I just spent six days in Utah ~ and met my cute little niece for the first time! She is such a sweet little baby... I miss her already ~

(Don't look too closely... I had just gotten off the plane and am exhausted!)

I also spent time with my parents and sisters... I miss living close to them! They are so fun to hang out with ~ The time went by way too fast... I didn't get to see everyone on my list, I need to do better planning next time!

After a day or two I was missing this good looking gang back home!

Major Ouch!

Today Zeeny put some pressure on me... so, together we braved a

Spin class at the gym. It was definitely a great workout for us ~

we did some serious sweating, we even had fun (making fun of ourselves),

listened to some great music and left with incredibly sore bottoms!

I'm not sure which burned worse at the end... my thighs or my butt ~

Memory Tag ~

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing along in this game of tag and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I hope you'll play ~

FYI ~

For an 8 year old, hearing your mother say,

"BE CAREFUL ~ IT WILL BURN YOUR FINGER!"

is not enough to make you stop touching it...

According to him, what I should have said was,

"BE CAREFUL... IT IS HOT!"

Now he has a big burn blister in the shape of a C on his thumb.

Hopefully, it will remind him to listen to his mother!

Swim Lessons...

This summer he's mastered treading water for 30 seconds, swimming from one side of the pool to the other, and made several attemps at the backstroke... but can't figure out why he keeps sinking!

She is still learning to go under without plugging her nose (just like mom), has fun "blasting off" from the side and loves jumping "like Tigger." I wonder if the swim instructor thinks the kids are two, instead of five!

He just likes to watch and soak up the sun... again, just like mom!

It's been fun this summer watching the kids swim ~

Deliciousness!

Welcome little one...

This is my new little niece, isn't she the cutest little thing?

She arrived a few weeks early and gave us all a little scare ~ one look with those big beautiful eyes and we'll forgive her! Click here to watch her grow!

A Fun Filled Fourth

I've always enjoyed the 4th of July, I love parades, BBQ's and fireworks!

This year we started our day by opening a fun package complete with cute holiday shirts from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks, mom and dad ~ the kids loved them, the pink one was a big hit! The kids played outside with friends on the new waterslide all afternoon. We had a couple families over for a yummy BBQ, followed by a campfire to toast up S'mores... yummy!

When it got dark our neighbors pulled off a fantastic display of fireworks!

You can't beat watching fireworks from the comfort of your own backyard.

• Can you believe I didn't have my camera out all day? What a bummer!