Preview

The giraffe makes his return this Halloween.

Rest

Thank goodness they came across this bench.  Its a rough 30 foot walk from the car to the door!

Simon

Simple Simon coming to you this December

Brown

Sam tested for his brown belt this weekend.  He kicked butt, of course!

Change

The kids sorted out the change we've been collecting for Disney.  We have over $200 to add to our souvenir fund. 

"School"

Our co-op started last week.  All three were excited to get back to friends...and learning!

Hole

Only a few more teeth to lose then we can talk braces....great!

2nd grade

Once she woke up a little, she was ready to go!

12

A few days ago Ben turned 12.  He wanted to go out for midnight ice cream, but since his birthday was on a Wednesday, nothing was open.  We ended up buying some so we could celebrate at home.  Turns out ice cream is good no matter when or where you have it!
He requested pool time in the morning and bowling in the afternoon.  He has youth group Wednesday nights and loves it so we baked some cookies and he celebrated with some more friends.  He requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast, crepes for lunch and meatloaf for dinner.  He also snuck in some more ice cream.  Its rough being 12!
Benjamin is getting to the point where he'd much rather play on his lap top than with his siblings, but every now and them makes their day by playing Legos or Minecraft with them.  He is still sweet and sensitive and loves to give hugs.  He is loyal to his friends, loves sticking up for the underdog and believes in fairness and justice.
He loves vegetables more than his siblings, but doesn't like french fries.  He still goes out of his way to be weird, loves to sing and dance and the pool is still his happy place.  Blue is still his favorite color and collared shirts or hoodies make him happy.  He is still the most patient person when it comes to Ellie and he makes us proud every day.

Party!

Ben celebrated his birthday over the weekend with a group of friends at Play CLE.  After they completely wore themselves out, we all came back here for dinner and cupcakes decorated by aunt Corrie, who is home for Bens birthday for like the first time ever!!!

By the end of the night we had 10 guests.  7 were girls.  I really don't love that!

For someone who is afraid of heights, he's doing an amazing job of jumping off tall platforms!

First Day!!!

The school district has a very late start this year.  Since we have our big Disney vacation this fall, the boys are starting school early to compensate a bit (and they want to rub it in Ellies face when they finish a month earlier than she does). 

We're easing in with just a few subjects today.  The boys were definitely not happy to start, but were pleasantly surprised when we finished after just a few subjects.

First day pictures had to be done in pj's since we home school and obviously live in our pj's!

The signs are hard to read here.  Sam wants to be a You Tuber or work with computers like daddy.  Zach wants to be a You Tuber or work at Dairy Queen.  Ben wants to be a chemist!

Gingers

We have two more red heads in the house!

Can't look

This kid is set on giving me a heart attack!

Wood workers

We have a brand new end table, built from scratch by my guys.

Tired

Summer was made for staying up late and cat naps in the car.

Home!

Green

In between swim meets, early morning practice and late nights full of traveling, baseball, Taekwondo practice and life in general, Zach tested for his green belt.

Done

We finished baseball and swim team over the weekend.  Finally!  Baseball finished with a trip to Swings and Things for ice cream and putt putt.

Swim team ended with the championship meet (in the rain) and a picnic with temps in the 60's.

The kids got awards, had parent/child relays and an open swim for the whole team.

Ellie loved her first year of swim team.  Zach is looking forward to trying it out next year.

Drive in

We went to the drive in Sunday night with some friends. Ben and Sam made it through both movies.  I can't say the same for the other two!

Archery

Sam went to an actual archery range over the weekend.  He got some tips and was able to practice without having to look out for siblings.

Nature

5th

We celebrated Ellie day on the 5th.  She started the day with cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We went to the pool and play ground and made it out just before the rain started.  She requested Five Guys for lunch then we headed to Play CLE.

Ben did the zip line 3 times.  Hes working hard to overcome his fear of heights.

They did plenty of climbing, running, warp walls, ninja training and laughing.

We finished the day at Bob Evans, she got a present and we got a ridiculous amount of rain.  It was another successful Ellie day!

4th

We stayed home for the 4th for our neighbors annual party.  We had lots of food, lots of friends and plenty of sparklers!

Long week

Ben went on his first mission trip last week.  He did great!  They did painting, roofing, flooring and built a ramp.  He made some new friends, worked long days and came home exhausted, but he survived. 

Ellie was devastated to see her big brother leave, but being able to sleep in his bed while he was gone made it slightly more bearable!

We're incredibly proud of him, but we're happy to not have him leave again for a long while.

Purple

1 step closer to black!