Everly "walking"

Okay okay, it's more like Everly "pushing" but we are PROUD nonetheless.  We are creeping up on her first birthday and she's not officially walking yet.  Not for our lack of trying though, I assure you that!  She is pulling herself up and pushing toys around like a pro though so this victory we are celebrating, it's a shame she doesn't look proud of herself at all (insert sarcasm).

Labor Day Pool Party

We decided we needed to get one more good neighborhood pool party in before the end of the season.  We didn't get as many pool days this year with our intense sports schedule so we decided Labor Day was the day to live it up!  Our neighborhood pool is never busy, often it feels like our own personal pool to be honest, and this day was no exception.  We lived it up with our Barbagallo buddies, Violet kept the pool safe with her lifeguarding skills (probably just as effective as our paid lifeguards) and the boys did their best trying to drown each other.  Oh the summer memories!

Everly's Baptism

 The day had finally come, time to get rid of that original sin...it was Baptism Day!  Everly was all set with her little white dress inclusive of flowers sewn down the back that were taken from my Mom's wedding dress.  Her Godparents (Eric and Kelly) gave her the sweetest little bracelet with the date on it.  She was good to go with all the sentimental things!!  She did really well, and just gave the Pastors a few "what the heck are you doing" looks.  So all was well.  This was the first Baptism that the new Pastor had performed and it MIGHT have showed just a little bit, but we were happy to be his guinea pigs.  After the service we headed back to our house to celebrate our little angel (and we also threw in a little celebration for her brother's birthday because well, we're efficient).

Bennett's 7th Birthday

Bennett once again got to share his birthday with the first day of school this year, but we didn't let that overshadow his big day.  There was a big party in the works!  This year Bennett wanted a soccer party, and what Bennett wants...Bennett receives.  So we invited a bunch of his little buddies to the indoor soccer complex and got our soccer on.  We attempted to make teams by giving different color jerseys to the boys, but I think it quickly turned into every man for himself.  Typical for 7 year olds I suppose.  I'm not sure how much actual soccer was played, but I do think they had a blast and we had a very happy birthday boy so that's all that matters!

First Day of School

The day had come, the first day of 1st and 4th grade.  This was also the first time I did the math and realized eventually I will have a Kindergartener and a Freshmen in High School at the same time.  Totally normal right? I digress.  Anyway, the boys were ready for their first day and were SUPER pumped about doing their annual first day of school pics (okay, that might have been a lie) but they participated nonetheless and we have documented proof they went to school this year.  Winning.  Note there are no pictures of us dropping them off in their classrooms, they kindly asked us to just say goodbye in the parking lot.  Don't worry, my feelings weren't hurt at all.

Open House

Welp, all good things must come to an end.  Summer is OVER and it's time to head back to school :(. We headed up to Open House to drop off our supplies and meet our new teachers.  Both boys seemed as excited as expected to start school again, but they were excited to see their friends so there were some items in the "Pro" column after all (not very many, but a couple nonetheless).  Ready or not...here they come!

Everly Crawling

Everly had been crawling for a while now but I hadn't really gotten a good picture yet.  And to be honest, a picture doesn't do this crawl justice.  It's a weird one folks.  But it's definitely a conversation starter.  Anytime someone sees her crawling I get a story about how Little Jane used to crawl like that, or their Grandson Johnny.  I guess that will be me in a few years when I get all teary eyed watching some stranger baby crawling.  Can't wait, love getting old and emotional...love it.

Lake with Friends

Well we spent last weekend with this group of looney bins, figured we should go for two weeks in a row.  Why not?  This week we decided to head to the Lake of the Ozarks for some more water fun.  We had a great time doing all the lake things.  Tubing, knee boarding, fishing, snorkeling, playing king of the hill on the lily pad, drinking, eating and making fun of each other.  Ahhh, the memories.  These kids were all such troopers and have more energy than the adults can keep up with!  But we tried!  Everly has also proven to be quite the "vacationer" and rolls with all the non-scheduled days where naps are at a scarcity.  She's a keeper that one.