Sunday snuggles!

Some days are just too good not to remember.  It was a rainy dreary Sunday. So after church we piled all the blankets and pillows and cuddled up to watch a movie.  It was so nice to relax and enjoy each other..those are my FAVORITE days!!

Fall Soccer 2013 and Cross Country at Gower Middle School!

 I love the colors this year..so fun and bright!! It's been a little crazy this season trying to get to every one's practices and meets and games and young women and homework and school nights and activity days and piano lessons! Phew, that's just been in the first month of school. But it's all worth it.  They are working so hard and doing an amazing job at it all.  This was Jolie's first year doing cross country and she has already shaved over 3 minutes off her time!  Genna has also worked hard and is a top 10 runner for her school!

First day of school 2013-2014

We have Jolie in 7th grade, Genevieve in 6th Grade, Jillian in 3rd Grade and Jacob in Kindergarten.  So that makes 2 at each school.  Jolie and Genna don't think it's very cool to have their mom and dad take them to school anymore so we only have one picture of them in front of the house.  Luckily Jillian and Jacob still like it.  The best part for them is they get a locker at this school. Jacob actually has 2..he has a morning class and an afternoon class so 2 lockers.  Last year Jillian talked non stop about this light up chandelier for her locker so this year I found it and got it. The funny part was at back to school night a bunch of the parents asked me what this chandelier is all about because there daughters have been talking about it...oh that Jillian and her fads!
Jacob LOVES going to school and the bus.  Mr. John is the nicest bus driver who has the patience of a Saint!!! So far it's been a great year, go Fox kids!!

Labor Day- Apple picking!

Apple picking has been a family tradition since we started our family!!!  I was SO SO bummed last year when we didn't get to go.  This year we were determined to find a place.  WE DID..it was a good hour away but was worth the drive..sort of!! We had a blast and yummy yummy apple cider donuts..but the apples were a lot more expensive and the bags were a lot smaller. BUMMER!! I still loved going and yes I will go again because it is that important to us!! Yay for family traditions!

Genevieve turns 11!

We were in Michigan for Genevieve's birthday this year! I saw a friend post a really fun idea for a birthday child.  I got the supplies and asked my mom to help me out. She did a WAY better job then I ever could have!  She was surprised in the morning. It was great!  We had cupcakes with cousins after lunch and then headed back home for church where they sang to her in Primary for the last time. 

 I can not believe that she will be in Young Women next year.   Life is going by way too fast!  Genevieve you are such an amazing daughter with SO many skills that I can't even name them all. The best part of you though is you have a testimony that shines wherever you go.  Thank you for your willingness to share it with others and be such a shining star for our family. We love you SO much!!!

Holland, Michigan with the Mendenhall's!

We met my siblings and their families and my parents for a fun quick trip to Holland, Michigan. I had never been before so I was really excited.  Lake Michigan is so beautiful and what a blessing to live so close to it!  It was a bummer that some of my family didn't get there until so late in the day but the cousins still managed to have TONS of fun together.  Playing in the freezing cold water...climbing dunes and playing lots of games.  We stayed in a really nice hotel that had a warm pool and hot tub. The kids loved that the most.  We are all sporting fun t-shirts that my mom made for everyone!!! It has been really fun to see all these cousins play and love each other.  What a blessing for them!

Girls weekend to Ocean City for Jennifer's Bday!

Brett's sister turned 30 this summer and instead of a big party she wanted to get away from it all.  We packed up and headed to Ocean City MD for the weekend.  Well to leave 5 kids is no easy task..especially with a husband that has a demanding job. Luckily I have some pretty awesome friends that helped out and I got myself super organized and it worked out just fine. I REALLY missed them though!!!!

We started the trip with a decorated car and a decorated Jennifer.  While driving down we were having a great time when Jennifer grabbed my shoulder and made this face like...UH OH and BAM someone side swiped us. While we were driving.  We luckily were not hurt but started to get over to see the damage and see what the heck happened.  We thought the driver of the other car was also pulling over but they kept going. We were shocked. We tried to catch up to him and see if we could flag him over.  He moved over to the shoulder like he was going to stop and as soon as we had slowed down to stop he took off again.  I immediately called 911 and Jennifer thought she had gotten his license plate number.  The police met us at the hotel but no luck. He got off scotch free. SO CRAZY.  

 We still managed to have a lot of fun dressing up and going to eat and hitting the beach of course.

We even saw some inspirational sand art!

we got all our favorites..Dumsers ice cream, Thrashers fries, ice cold lemonade. Yes I went home feeling 5 pounds heavier!!! It was great!

Nichole and I introduced Jennifer to Instagram and duck lips!!!

Jennifer and Nichole wanted to check out a club but Laura and I had no desire. So went putt putt instead. Laura killed me.

She also had her 1st hole in one!

We took one last picture of us in our matching shirts and went back to the real world. It was a lot of fun and can't wait for the next girls trip!

Jolie goes to Taylor Swift!

Jolie got to go to her very first concert and I couldn't have picked a better one for her to go to! The tour was called "Red" so she of course had to wear Red.  Isn't that sign so adorable?  There was more to it..it lit up and there was a guitar that lit up..pretty amazing stuff.  She went with her good friend Faith from church and Faith's older cousin.  They had so much fun and she was so cute texting me all night..I LOVED it.   Every time I turn around Jolie is doing something more grown up...it's fun and scary all in one!

Genevieve free hand!

The other day I found Genevieve working on this picture.  She decided to try to draw this for fun.  I couldn't believe how good of a job she did.  She has a lot of natural talent and good genes..her Great Grandpa Jackson was an artist and her Grandma Sue is also very talented in that area!! So fun to learn new things about your children!

14th Anniversary!

Jillian had earned a free ticket to Six Flags and it expired in the beginning of August.  She had been dying to go all summer and were running out of time.  Brett has been so busy at work but finally had a slow enough day that he took it off and took the 3 older girls to the park.  He really wanted all of us to go but I felt it was a waste of money to have me go and not be able to ride any rides and Jacob and Giselle could only ride a few so not this time.  It ended up raining a little for them so even more reason I was happy not to go. It was just ironic that it happened to be the day of our Anniversary but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!!! Happy 14 years Brett!! I LOVE YOU!!

Ice blocking for Young Women!

We had a super fun activity planned...to try ice blocking!!!  The girls loved it and had fun but it was SO hard to push it back up that hill.  It was also quite messy..I put towels over them but it was still messy.  I was in charge of this activity and their is an ice place RIGHT down from my house so I thought..no problem!  I put a cooler in my car to keep them cold...well I got the first block and it comes shooting out..and it's HUGE...It took me FOREVER to get it into the car..I was going to get 4...but they were so huge and heavy and took way longer than I thought so 2 was plenty!!! Lesson learned...you need two adults for ice blocks!

Starved Rock!

We had heard about Starved rock pretty much since we moved here but FINALLY decided to go there and check out all the fuss! WOW, it didn't disappoint.  It was about an hour away and the kids were in PURE heaven! They loved everything about this place.  

 We hiked all over and found lots of fun rocks to climb on and take breaks too!

 There are a couple of waterfalls too but it hadn't rained very much so it was a very small trickle while we were there..a couple months earlier I am sure it was quite the fall after the record floods we had.

 We walked for a few hours and the kids were such troopers. They kept saying how they wished this was right in our backyard and how come we can't come here every day?  We lucked out BIG time and went on a cool day..it actually felt kind of chilly in the forest.

 This is one spot where there was supposed to be a waterfall instead we practiced skipping rocks. The kids got really good at it and I couldn't believe how long they stayed in that one spot.

We hiked up to a few overlooks and Brett took them out to the very edge to look over. He took me too but I was super chicken and only looked for a second.
It's amazing that this beautiful place is only an hour away from Chicago..what a treasure!!!