Double Rainbow

Beautiful scene in Grace with handsome Luke to present it!
Normal scene in Grace--Julia & Jack catching a bug with a ladle!

A Quiet Morning...

Joy School officially started last week, but this is the first time it was not at our house, so this feels much more official to us! Adam inherited Jack's preschool backpack, a rite of passage around here!
He was very excited and now Luke or I don't quite know what to do with the quiet!

Jack-a-bub

My sweet Jack--never grow out of this! You are such a joy!

I told you so....

Isn't it wonderful how kids listen to other adults, but don't believe you?---Maybe a preview for teenage years, where everyone else knows a lot more than your parents!

I took Adam to my doctor's appointment with me today and we listened to the baby's heartbeat and the doctor looked at Adam and said, "There is a baby in your mommy's tummy."

Now remember up until this point every time I mention this to Adam he says, "No, you need to stay big."

We get in the car to leave and he says to me, "So, there is a baby in your tummy?" I say, "Yes". He says, "Did you eat it?"

More explaining followed!

Finally, some pictures!

Remember being a teenager, in tears with your car broken down and you are just stranded and your dad shows up and listens to your awful drama and he says, "let's take a look" and by some great magic--keys go in and vroom, vroom, car just starts right up. That has been me all over again with the computer---minus the tears and maybe a bit less drama than a teenager, (& not my dad :), but Aaron has listened to me complain and complain about the computer and downloading pictures while he was out of town, then he gets back and after a few busy nights, finally sits down to the computer and again by some magic, the computer just works for him---where are the dang pop up messages when he's around?!

So, I finally give you my summer rundown and first day of school pictures----

We had a great and fun summer, apparently just like the rest of the blogging world because who really writes about how horrible their summer was! But, honestly we did have a fun one--lots of fun family parites, julia's baptism, t-ball & coach pitch baseball, swimming lessons, lagoon, the fair with family visiting (see cari & cricket's blogs), aaron & jack to flaming gorge (see marilyn's blog--I love the picture of Jack in it, he's so dang cute!)---and I don't have one picture of any of these events, but all the more dedicated family members previously listed do!

To top off the great summer we went camping for one night and I dusted off the camera! Ok, with babies and a tent, one night is my limit. I actually like camping, it's the sleep part that is the kicker for me or should I say no sleep!

It really was fun & the kids can now say we went camping, so we're awesome parents for it--providing camping memories for our children!
School has now begun and I have to say it's nice to have some type of routine back. Julia started 3rd grade, Jack started 1st grade and Adam is in Joy School!
More pictures of Joy School to come---needless to say Adam completely loves it and will sing to anyone that will listen, "Oh Boy, I got Joy, I do, Do you?"

In other news---for anyone that reads this and doesn't know---we are expecting a baby! We are super excited and this being the last paragraph of this long post is not reflective of how excited we are or how big of a deal this is for us! Obviously, Luke is clueless that he will be spending his babyhood with another babe, but I am confident that they will be close and little buddies. When I bring it up with Adam he gets all in a dither thinking that I am going to turn into a baby and says, "Mom you need to stay a grown up!"---whatever! The baby is due the end of Feb. and we get the big ultrasound the first part of Oct., so more news to come!

Long Summer Days!

I am having computer issues, so I can't post any pictures---I gave Luke his first haircut and he looks darling, can't wait to get the pictures up!
I think it's time to break down and just buy a new computer--isn't a ten year old computer considered an antique in the computer world?
Aaron has been working like CRAZY--leaving at 5:30 am, getting home at 8:00 pm---this has been going on for what feels like forever, but really about 3 weeks-- and for the last 14 days straight! I've been promised it will be over in the next couple of days! He also has a break from school for a few weeks, so that's a double plus!
So, in my long, no break from children (that I adore, but come on no break for weeks on end!), living in the middle of no where, a/c broken (getting fixed this week) days I've realized some things that I hear over and over and over again everyday. There is such repetition in motherhood--which sometimes is wonderful, other times you want to scream if you hear it one more time!
So, I give you my latest top ten list of what I hear as a mother everyday:
1. "If you liked to make a call, please hang up and try again"--(think operator voice) Luke is constantly getting into the phone!
2. "Joe is coming over"--Adam thinks that Joe from Blue's Clues is his brother and that he is coming over to play--maybe in his world he does come over everyday!
3. "I'm hungry"--This comes from everyone at every minute of everyday--I swear there cannot be a time where everyone is full for more than an hour.
4. "Don't supersize me!"--A sign that the kids have watched too much PBS in the morning.
5. "Poop coming out!!!"--Gross, but reality in being the mom to a potty training child!
6. "Can we go to the gas station and get a sucker?"--I told you our lives are exciting!
7. "Can we ride our bikes?"--Sure, we spent all that money on grass and a fence for the backyard, but go ride your bikes in the free road!
8. "Goo, Goo, you're the Goo Goo, the president of the Goo, Goos"--Julia and Jack's loving name for Luke is Goo Goo and I hear baby talk A LOT around here!
9. "When's Daddy going to be home?"--Great question, let me know when you know the answer!
10. And my personal favorite....."MMMMOOOOOOOMMMMM!" Heard too many times a day to count in varying tones of voice!

There is one thing that I have to say is a huge blessing that I never hear my children say, "I'm bored"--they do have a wonderful way of keeping entertained, even if it does involve taking every cushion off to make the biggest fort ever or playing school for hours and I have to say that their shows (little skits they make up) are hilarious!
And, in all fairness to Aaron, after he comes home after a long day, he still takes time to bounce the kids on the tramp--they love it---I guess that's a few minutes of a break---I'll stop complaining!

Baptism Day

Yes, I have a daughter old enough to be baptized---yes, that makes me old---I've already come to this conclusion on my own!
But, getting old is great when it involves events like this! Aaron baptized & confirmed Julia last Saturday and it was a really special day. She looked beautiful!