Back to school ....

Well the good news is they backed our school start times back by 20 minutes. So now Andrew gets to sleep in till 6:45 which is later than his bus came last year.... now the bad news... my poor baby girls didn't get off the bus today till 5:25 - yes, and to boot they had homework ! I surely hope the school district looks at these times and gets it straightened out. And yes, today was the first day so maybe it will work out but really, we are talking about 5-10 year olds getting off the bus with 2 1/2 hours till bed time ... and they are spending and hour of that doing homework.

Enough of my griping .... here are my lovelies. Sporting the new back packs, lunchboxes, shoes and school clothes. Don't ya just love the first day of school ! I spent the afternoon baking them a welcome home treat. Today was the first time i have been alone in a very,very , very long time.... wasn't sure what ever to do with myself!

little bubble blower

Aryn got a vintage bubble gum dispenser when we were in Chicago. She has had gum in her mouth pretty much non stop since we have returned. Well she has mastered the art of bubble blowing :D ..... next time i will have to get sugar free gum .

Lemon Drop Boutique is up and running ..... this has been keeping use really busy .... creating can be such hard work :D

Here are a few of my pieces that I just listed at my store at ETSY. Check it out when you have a chance.

In other news tonight was open house at both schools. Kids are looking forward to getting back to school, as much as they can be anyway.

Extreme makeover.....

Bathroom addition... this weekend we did an update on the kids bathroom

gone are the frogs (before)


HELLO BLUE! Carolina blue at that...Love it --- the shower curtain has beach stuff on it live a sand pail, surfboard, tiki hut etc...

Kevin also put up a much needed cabinet . All thats left is to frame out the growth chart and paint the exsisting cabinet.

Lawnmower man ! ( or pre teen)

Last week Andrew took over the lawn cutting responsibilities. We weren't sure if he weighed enough to keep the engine from stalling but he made it ! He did a great job ! And believe it or not the kids a had a grin a mile wide while doing it ! Hey if it makes him happy then who am i to put a stop to it ! :D

Taking in a little culture

Today we went to the North Carolina Museum of Art . We had a great time looking at classic works of art. The museum has Classic Roman and Greek portraits, pottery, and statues ( yes, they were anatomically correct - insert Alyssa's giggle, Andrew's embarrassment and Aryn's shock here ) as well as many Renaissance and current American works as well . Some of the Greek work was from 400-600 BC hard to imagine being so close to something that is over 2000 years old. Today it was raining so it was a good day to be inside. The museum has a large outdoor art gallery as well . We will have to do that at another time. We thought we would share some of our culture and insights from today's journey w/ you .... Enjoy

After our culture for the day we surprised Dad at work with a few cookies from Fresh Market.

Wasting away in Margarittaville

We spent this past weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Myrtle Beach has a ton of hotel options ... we lucked out and stayed a great one! Our hotel included admission to 2 water parks, 1 mini golf course and 1 amusement park. Throw in a great view of the ocean and awesome weather and you are bound to have a great weekend !

On the way home we stopped at Broadway at the Beach . We had attempted to eat at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville on Sunday night but the wait was 3 hours ..... not an option with three hungry kids ! SO we lucked out on Monday and walked right in. The food was ok , atmosphere and service is what would bring you back. While in there they started playing Margaritaville somewhere - And the hurricane warning light starts flashing , sirens are going off, the lights are blinking ---- music is screaming coolest thing ever - hard to explain but here is a link on youtube that you can watch to kind of understand. No, no Cheeseburgers in paradise.... but i did buy a salt shaker that says " searching for my lost shaker of salt"

These pictures are for Uncle Duane.... Andrew said he will share with you ! :D such a good kid ! Parrotheads in training!

more broadway at the beach photos

Hmmmmm..... there's a factory for this kind of thing. Ok that explains alot !

Broadway at the Beach is a great outdoor area in Myrtle Beach. Everything is over prices,tons of tourist, but you can find everything here !

and of course the Kiss Coffee shop. Aryn used the restroom and said " I can't go in there by myself... its kind of freaking me out !" And this cabbage patch kid was so freakin funny..I just could not pass up a photo of it ! And as much as i use to complain about all the Kiss albums that i use to get from my darling, thoughtful brother Jimbo , i am the one that drags my kids and hubby to this place everytime we go ! Rockhouse S'more frozen cappacino gets 5 stars from all of the rockers in our house!

A day at the beach and getting back in the swing

Well we are slowly getting back into the routine. We had a ton of unpacking to do when we returned from Chicago. I also started going through the kids drawers and closets.... they are growing so fast i can hardly keep up. Maybe i should just have 1 giant closet for them and they can wear whatever fits! I feel like i almost have triplets..... Andrew and Alyssa are both size 12( some of Alyssa's stuff is a 10 but some back to school stuff is a 12) Andrew is too thin for 14's and not quite tall enough yet for 14's but almost . Miss Aryn went from a 6 to and 8 this summer. Hard to keep up !


The girls are both in summer dance . Aryn is doing a duet and has started practice for that. They are dancing to "Shake your tail feather" Super cute song, and of course Jenny and Brenda did a super job with the choreography.

back to school in less than 3 weeks - August 25Th! Going to be strange again to be home by myself. Haven't had that in along time!

Went to the beach this weekend. Weather was great! This time we went to Topsail Island. However on 2 seperate occassions the surfers in the water started yelling "Shark Shark" They all stood up on their boards and were all staring into the water . Never seen that before. The tide was really low, and there was a sand bar about 10 feet out in the water. Kevin and I both noticed no fish at all in the water ... not sure what that was about - weather it was the sand bar or the sharks or something else. We did collect some sea glass and some shells, and of course worked on our tans a little bit :D

One last Zoo visit ....

our membership expires tommorrow :D After the trip to the zoo we stopped in at the Fractured Prune Donut shop - Yummo! The kids had never been in the store before and i thought they would enjoy the visit!

The start of summer dance

today was alyssa's first day of dance. The dance team is required to attend a summer session. This is her first official dance team participation. She looked so pretty in her new leotard and skirt.

Auntie Monica's sweet little ray of sunshine! Isnt she a doll! Took some bribing to get these photos but they were soooo worth it!

We always have a great time with grandma and grandpa. This year Andrew and Grandpa got to play a round of golf together, which he is still talking about. While the boys were golfing the girls went to a Movie. While we were in the movie the fire alarm was pulled or went off. The evacuated the theater. The girls are still talking about this too :D

we sure miss grandma and grandpa and are glad we were able to spend some time with them!And Andrew is willing to bet that on the next visit he will be taller than both grandmas

A trip to the big city

Getting to downtown Chicago from Kevins parents is so easy. They live about a mile from the metra station. Hop on a train , no parking, no traffic, no stress..... can actually carry on a conversation with my kids or on this trip my cousin Debbie.

This adventure into the city included our favorite "usual stops" like American Girl and The Hershey Store and we added a few new things that might become some of our new favorites. Including Millineum Park, a water taxi ride down the Chicago River, and Ed Debevicks .

On a another note. Today is our anniversary, 13 years of wedded bliss. On this day in 1995 Kevin and I became Mr. and Mrs. This was the hottest day ever recorded in Chicago History. This is also the first time Kevin and I have been apart on our anniversary.

Happy Birthday to ...... everyone !

We decided to have a group birthday party for all of the summer birthdays. The June birthdays are my sister Nicole, her daughter rachel(3), Alyssa(9), and Aryn(7). July birthdays are my mom and Joshua ( both on July 12th) . Joshua turned 1. And Miss Jessie will turn 1 in August. We also celebrated Andrews birthday even though he doesnt turn 12 till September.

We went to Lake Menitonka near my mom and sisters house. The highlight of the day was the water snake that came up on the beach just a few feet away from me and all the kids ! Talk about an abrupt end to our fun! :D

cards for the Everybody Birthday party!

Good to have some time to be creative again! :D

We are back from the beach. No one got too sunburnt and no close encounters with sea life. The weather was great and the sun was hot! The kids had a great time playing in the water. We were lucky on Monday that the tide was low.... Andrew walked out a good 400 yards and was still only waist deep.

i of course enjoyed my soft shelled crab sandwich and Andrew discovered Nada Colada (silly boy had 3 )