Learning to Tie

So Adalie and I headed to Fresno one day. We were searching for jeans that would not cramp our style. And in the dressing room, our very decisive Adalie decides that she is ready to learn to tie her shoes. And so there we were, in the dressing room, clothes sprawled everywhere and sure enough ..... she did it!! And now is a shoe tying expert extraordinaire!!

(This picture was taken on our Mommy/Adalie Field Trip Adventure. We took our school books out to one of the lake beaches, had a snack, did some schoolwork, hunted for treasures, skipped rocks soaked up some end of the season sunshine and just enjoyed our time together..... just the 2 of us!!)

New Do

Look who is sporting a new do!! Adalie has decided she is ready to grow her hair out. Before now, she loved her short hair because of her precious curls...... but then 1 day when I asked..... she was ready for long braids like sister! So watch out this girl and her new do will be racing down the soccer fields!

1st Day of Pre-School

Adalie and I began her 1st official day of Pre-Kindergarten curriculum. She and I were both super duper excited. We stuffed her pencil box with all the goodies a Pre-K girl might need, found a comfy place to be ..... and we dug in!

And boy did we have fun!! It is our special time, just her and me. I love seeing just Adalie. She is funny and spunky, sweet and sassy. We shared alot of smiles on our 1st day of PreSchool!

And how lucky and I? I get to savor my little Adalie, all to myself, for a few hours each week!! This Mom's dream come true!

1st Day of 1st Grade

Here is our Big Girl 1st Grader. She looked so beautiful and was very excited!
School is so much FUN!

Remember last year's excited little Kindergartner!

Adalie and Mommy were a bit more put together this year. In comparison with last years all out blubbering, this year we only just choked a bit! It could have been because we knew the ropes a little, or we knew that we could be with our Sister when we volunteered, or because we knew she would still be ours at the end of the day....

Although Sister was SO excited last year, we were so (selfishly) sad.... it was the end of a very sweet era!!

And here she is at her desk.

Although, just between you and me......she was disappointed that .... first they did not get their own desk ..... and second.... they had to sit boy girl boy girl (bummer)!

And we look forward with great anticipation as a new journey begins.....

Summer of the Surfer

Every now and again you need a new spin to the same ol' thing. So this summer the wakesurfer got thrown in the mix......

Josiah could do it all by herself...

Daddy and Josiah were wild ones on it...

Papa got it....

Uncle Jon could carve....

Aunt Jen found the sweet spot....

Daddy caught a ride....

Mommy and Daddy could ride it together....

Mommy and Adalie take the antics to a whole new level!

Regular riding...

Up with Mommy so the water doesn't splash us in the face....

taking it up a notch...

Wah-la!!

Grand Finale!! Good bye summer 2009!

How to...

Just a couple of things we love about our family......

They know how to laugh until their sides split..... (Papa)

They know how to tease ceaselessly..... (Grammy)


They know how to encourage one another along into random acts of stupidity..... (Uncle Jon)


They know how to die laughing trying something new..... (Mommy)

they know how to never take themselves (or anyone else in the fam) too seriously...... (Uncle Dan)


They know how to have some fun!! (Daddy)

This collage was inspired by Grammy one day while skiing at Shaver Lake, who in her most serious voice, politely asks if we could all give her our best wipe outs so that she could photograph them and create a collage wall for the cabin. Now any other family might have thought this request to be out of the ordinary or perhaps even odd. But not my family. We quickly obliged and instead of spending the day perfecting our form ON the board, we encouraged one anothers' best forms OFF the board. In fact, you couldn't get back into the boat until your wipe out was satisfactory...... and we about died laughing doing it!

Only my family...... and we love you for it!!

The Lump

I know in blogger world I am playing catch up on a fabulous summer, but here in the real world.... IT...... is 1 week away. 1 week!!! 7 days from today, school starts.


There go the lazy days of summer, the days of staying up late and sleeping the morning away, of deciding what to do on a whim, of not having to be anywhere at any particular time, of having my family all to myself, of following no body's schedule but our own......


Here comes the lump. The one that makes your breath shallow, your nose burn and your eyes sting with tears.


Oh dear, not again! How will I ever hold it together on that 1st day if I am already missing her now?