Happy Birthday Simon!

 lots of pictures  : )

 Friday morning Simon woke up around 10.  I pushed his dresser in front of his closet and moved the cedar chest away from the window so that I could have a mini cake photo shoot.  very messy, but very cute.  This was the best picture of the 5 min shoot.  I wish someone would have been in the room with me to try to get his attention.  He only looked up a couple times and unfortunately those pictures were blurry.  : (  I could have used Molly, but I thought Molly and Lincoln in Simon's bedroom with cake everywhere would be even more chaotic.  Luckily Simon's room is across the hall from the bathroom for easy clean up.  What better way to say happy birthday than by having cake for breakfast?  ;)

 When Gabe and Drew got home we headed to the park for a few more pictures.  

classic Simon face.

 my favorite

 look at those two little teeth...

 ready to be done

 yay for dad being around to tickle and save the day!

 doesn't he look thrilled to be with me?

 mmm I remember those cupcakes

 Things Simon LOVES (in no particular order): 

 being outside, fruit, climbing stairs, pulling out pots and pans, shoes, clothes, you name it, his brothers and sister, mommy, daddy, being tickled, phones, pinching, crackers, water, and Franklin.

It's been fun watching him as he's grown this past year both mentally and physically.  He's very observant and opinionated.  It makes me nervous and excited for what the next year will bring.  We're lucky to have this little guy.

argh.

 Tomorrow is Simon's birthday!  I'm planning on lots of pictures.  It's supposed to be a beautiful day.  Why does he have to have a rash all over his WHOLE body?  I love that little face.  A dimple on his right check and chin.  Know what I don't love?  That he looks like he has some kind of disease.  boo.  :(

On a lighter note.  Guess who came home with a mustache yesterday?  yep.  He wore it to the library and got a few double takes.  Drew called him Mario all night.  Although Gabe likes playing Mario Brothers I don't think he got the joke...

Hello

One of the things that really bugs Drew is when people say "I'm going to try..."  Drew always says just do it or don't.  Don't say you're going to try to do ...  for months.  I've been terrible at keeping our blog updated since well ... forever.  I've decided that I'm going to get back on the blogging wagon.  I miss it.  I'm forgetting some of the sweet day to day moments that are happening in our house.  School started lets see 5 weeks ago and we're finally getting into a good routine.  I have two boys at home that nap!  It's a miracle.  :)

Summer is always really exciting.  The kids always enjoy those first 3 weeks of freedom without a schedule.  Then we traveled for a few weeks.  We went to Nebraska for a little over a week to visit my parents and friends.  So So Fun.  I really miss Nebraska.  Then we were off to Chicago for a week to visit more family and friends.  We came home for a couple days to do laundry and repack and then we went to South Carolina for a week with friends.  I fell in love while we were there.  My new dream in life is to live next to the ocean.  Beautiful.  After all the traveling and time in the car everyone was happy to be home.  Well for a couple days and then the whining and bickering started.  I think they were ready to go/missing school.  And after those two weeks a part of me was ready to send them to school, but another part of me is so sad at the beginning of every school year.

 first day

Gabe started Kindergarten.  I was so nervous.  Gabe is a free spirit and I was scared that all-day-very-regimented kindergarten was going to kill it.  School started on a Tuesday.  Friday morning when I woke Gabe up for school he said "but I already did that yesterday".  The next week was really rough lots of tears and not wanting to get on the bus.  Broke. My. Heart.  Luckily it didn't last long and everyday he was really happy when he got off the bus.  I talked to his teacher and she said he's been doing great and hasn't been upset when he's there.  They get a new spelling word every week.  They're up to 4 words and so far he's got 100% on all of them.  Hallelujah.  Spelling tests are another thing I was really worried about with Gabe.  He doesn't have the best memory when it comes to things he isn't really interested in.  Numbers and letters fall into the things he couldn't care less about category.  I'm hoping that school continues to go well for Gabe.  I hope that he'll love learning.  The past two weeks have gone really well.  He's starting to talk about the kids in his class by name and not just "my friend".  His handwriting is also really improving.  It's fun watching the transformation.

Molly is in first grade.  She's loving it.  One of my favorite things is that everyday she comes home with a journal entry that she's written and illustrated.  I'm finding out so many things that I didn't know.  :)  I also love reading the way she thinks things should be spelled.  So sweet.  M joined the cross country team.  She practices Monday and Thursdays before school.  And then of course Drew takes her out running with him throughout the week.  So far she likes it.  Hopefully it's something that she'll continue to like. (maybe she'll get really good and it will be her ticket into a great high school?  :)  I think our school system is so weird.)  Molly had her tonsils taken out last Thursday.  She was so brave no tears and very calm.  Her nurse said that she won patient of the day.  The recovery is going well.  She's starting to get her voice back.  Hopefully she'll be ready to go back to school next Monday.

Lincoln wishes he was in school.  The first two weeks of school every morning I would hear "me school too!  I go bus too!"  several times.  He was really upset to be left behind.  How quickly things change last Saturday Lincoln was yelling at Gabe and said "you school go".  I started a play group 3 weeks ago Lincoln's been liking exploring different places with his friends we've also been going to story time.  We're keeping ourselves busy.

Simon turns 1 on Friday.  Part of me thinks that can't be right and the other part thinks he isn't 1 yet?  Simon is crawling and climbing on everything.  He loves making me big messes.  He has two teeth and the most adorable little smile.  He walks along things.  When I try to encourage him to walk by taking his fingers he'll do maybe 2 steps and then throw his head back and yell at me.  I imagine he's saying something along the lines of why are you pulling on my hands your standing pick me up.  I think it will still be a while before he has a desire to walk.  Simon still LOVES being held.  He definitely knows his siblings and is always looking for them and wanting to be where they are.  He's going to be a tough little guy.
That sums up the past few weeks.