A work in progress

 Well we have been trying to get a lot done in our house recently.  Now we have moved on to replacing all our upstairs doors so that they match the downstairs doors.  We still have to put two more up and stain all of them but we are getting there.  Our next project will be bathroom, painting master bedroom and hallway, new carpet, and trim.  I am hoping all will be completed by next year.

 We got new flooring on our main level last October so now I have my living room looking better with new furniture.  I would still like to get new kitchen counters but otherwise the main level is done. 

And our pool is gone and our yard is doing great.  A little patching but it's growing and as soon as we get the fence back up it will be perfect for playing. 

Indoor playground

 Now that we have a huge  yard I have been on the hunt for a reasonably priced playset for out back.  Well I found one this weekend!!!   So Craig decided it would be a good idea to test out the slide on the steps.  The kids thought it was awesome. 

Sneak peek

 I thought I would post a sneak peek of our halloween costumes......Burt and Ernie coming soon! 

Daddy's little helpers

Craig and I worked all summer on our patio.   We had some good helpers!  I love the first picture of Craig, his dad, and Luke all getting in there laying the stone.   Every time daddy would pat the sand Lukie would pat the sand.  We basically had a big sand box in our backyard for most of the summer.  Our patio is done now and I am proud to say I layed most of it.  It totally sucked!!

My sweeties

Luke is my little monkey.  Doesn't he look full of it.....he is!   Things I love about Luke:  his smile along with his big gap in his teeth, his hair ( he has great hair), the way he giggles (especially if he's doing something naughty), the way he grabs on to my leg and says mama when he's excited to see me, first thing in the morning when he wraps his arms around my neck.  What is Luke up to:  he is very verbal (we understand him most of the time but he's not really saying words just sounds and syllables that represent words).  His favorite words mama dada Lauren nana, grandma, turtle shoe poppy and poopy sometimes they sound the same, he runs really fast, climbs on everything, he's a great sleeper (he has a special blanket and has me cover him up and kiss him goodnight),  he's still a good eater but is a little more picky, he loves to be outside.

Lauren is doing great at school.  She is so grown up and has a mind of her own.  She knows what she wants and has an opinion about everything.  She loves to pretend play ("mom let's pretend you are a my friend and I am a mom too, let's pretend that I'm a kitty and you have to pet me, let's pretend I am going to hide and you have to find me and then I scare you and you scream, let's pretend Luke is my husband and you are the baby and I am the mommy."  She loves to pretend she is on the phone too.  The other day she was using a calculator as a phone and talking.  I said "who are you talking to?"  She says, "Your Mom....You know...Nana".  She is very independent.  She gets herself dressed every morning.  She takes care of Luke.  She puts away her laundry and helps me empty the dishwasher.  She picks up her toys.  All in all she does a great job of following directions....when she wants to.  She is still a little sassy.  She sasses daddy a little more than she does me.  She is getting better about writing her letters.  She knows them all and their sounds.  She can write her name.  She knows her address.  She is growing up too fast.  She seems very mature for her age (4 going on 14!!) 

She was all dressed up for Western day at school.

My  blue eyed boy!

1st day of School

This year I got to take Lauren for her first day of school.  I was such a proud mama.  The sun was a little bright.  She went right to her locker and found her seat right away.  And mommy cried all the way down the hall after I left.  She is so grown up.

Now that she is in K4, we have homework.  A couple weeks ago she was working on the letter i so we had to build an igloo.  So this is our igloo.

Door County

We went to Door County with Craigs whole family in July. I was really nervous about it because of the age of my children and going with such a big group but it turned out to be fabulous.  The drive there was well 6 hours and not so fun.  We made it about 4 hours with out stopping thanks to our porta potty.  And about 5 minutes before pulling into a parking spot Lauren threw up thankfully into a sack which I was able to throw right  into the dumpster.

our first stop was Lambeau field (green bay).  Which was sort of a hot mess because the kids just wanted to be to our resort.  We were doing this trip to celebrate Sharon's retirement.  Glenn is a huge packers fan and he bought several family members shares of stock (not including me, I hate the packers). So the purpose for us stopping at Lambeau was to get several group photos.  We got some good ones and had a few melt downs too.  But thankfully the rest of the trip was smooth sailing.  Lauren had a blast with her cousins and we loved door county!  We went to a farm.  Both my kids were terrified of the goats.  We went to a really cool rock beach.  We usually always ate breakfast as a family.  We enjoyed pool time and ice cream parlors and looking at all the boats and lighthouses.  All and all it was a great trip.  The drive home was awesome Lauren slept 4 hours and Luke slept 3 so it was a quiet car.  We made it 6 hours without stopping.

Lauren was pretty much attached to her big cousin the whole time.

Luke was not as into his cousins as they were in to him. 

Meet the Teacher Open House

Lauren's in K4!!  She was so excited she got the teacher she wanted.....Miss Jo.  We went to school and saw her classroom.  We just love Calvery so much and can't wait to get the year started.

two peas in a pod

My kiddos are so lucky to have each other!!  They are so sweet to one another and love being together.  Lauren is such a good big sister.  She is nice to Luke most of the time.  She is a little mother hen to him.  She takes care of him and plays so nicely with him.  Which is sometimes hard since Luke has a pretty low attention span and basically just runs around and makes messes.  Lauren is so patient with him.  And Luke thinks she is the best thing ever.  They have to kiss each other good night every night.  When Lauren is not around Luke calls her name and looks for her.  First thing in the morning Lauren always likes to wake him up.  One morning it was really quiet and I couldn't find Lauren.  She was in his crib with him cuddling under the blanket. 

Old Friends

A month or so ago I got together with my friend Amy, from Chicago, and her daughter, Avery, at my friend, Lindsay's house in Lockport.  She has Ryan and Tyler.  The kids had a lot of fun together and us girls had a good time catching up.  I love this picture of Lindsay and Luke.  When Luke gets comfortable in a situation he makes himself right at home.  He likes to back into people and plop himself down. 

Here's all the kids:  Lauren 4 1/2 Ryan age 3 1/2 Tyler 1 1/2 Luke 16 months and Avery 10 months