BOOTS

He has long admired his daddy's cowboy boots,

see the joy on his face now that he has a pair of his own...he has been clippety clopping allover the house, now all he needs is his horse.

Now what??

What will I ever do with ONLY two at home?????

SCHOOL

Here they were last year's first day of school

8/25/2008 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Anna will be in fifth grade, Emma third, and Jakob first. They all woke up very excited and a bit early. I made them monkey bread, which Emma informed me is okay once in awhile since it isn't a really healthy choice. I was happy that I was off the hook for cooking for the remaining 9 months, cereal anyone? not such a morning person lately.

The kids are on bus 8 this year, and we were excited b/c apparently the dirver of bus 8 is a fun lady that decorates and stuff...the school redid all the routes this year, and I should have suspected something when the bus was 20 minutes late...different bus, same Mr. Tom from last year who many times drove past the house and never stopped, even at drop off. Hopefully he will get better as the weeks go by.

I hope they have a wonderful day!!!

HAIR

This one doesn't want his haircut, because he wants to look like these guys:

Maybe people are right when they tell me Sam is such a cute little girl, so we

cut off 2 inches, not really Samantha anymore

Was not sad to say goodbye to the stache!!

The girls and I like to look at hair styling blogs, though it is not my talent...maybe it is Anna's?? Here are a few of her MANY styles she created on Emma.

thoughts

Today I feel very pregnant, and I realize I still have 10 more weeks (or more) to go. It wasn't too happy about that. What am I going to do? And is this feeling uncomforable easier than taking care of a newborn, I still need to potty train Sam, the kids will be in school, Chris will be gone on interviews, it could very well put me over the edge. I will have to look VERY deep inward to find some strength, Lots of prayers needed!!!

The kids begin school in 1 week, they got their teacher letters and next week we will get backpacks (no school supplies as the school provides them :) and get a little more organized (I hope!!)
What I will not miss when the kids are back in school:
a million popsicle sticks all over
LOUD
a million band-aid wrappers from the war wounds
LOUD
LOTS more laundry especially from the hundred beach towels that are so large I am wondering why one small child may need 5 or 6 of these to dry off with
A very MESSY house
Bickering amongst the children and me with them
Chaos
unfinished craft projects, glue, paint, and other concoctions that make a MESS
sweeping, vacuuming, etc about 10 times a day


but I will miss playing in the backyard, eating outside, their plays and productions, watching them be kids, their help with the little two monsters, staying up late watching movies (olympics), sleeping in, Anna's pancakes, playing chase, crafts, going to Hershey Park, NO activities to taxi them to, and just them.

For the last two summers we have committed to nothing, no classes, and it has been great. because they are only kids for such a short while and during school year we are so busy, I am sure we will not be able to do this forever so I am trying to enjoy the small and sometimes far between sweet moments and hope the kids will have happy childhood memories.

And I am thinking I love white, maybe because we have usually lived in a smaller house and white is clean and stuff, but I think I will need to get a wash on my kitchen cabinets or something because they are disgusting, it could be the dirty feetprints from climbing up the cabinets or my kids cooking projects. I am SO excited to move into a bigger house in the near future, I almost don't believe it is going to happen. I would like to think you (I) can be happy in any circumstance, but I think I might be a little happier in a slightly larger home with a bit of privacy. Maybe my house won't look so unkempt also if all my stuff was in a bigger place??

the Nursery

Since Nolan and the baby girl will be sharing a room, I've decided to do a Dick and Jane vintage retro theme room, not too much with matchy bedding...just some gingham and dots sheets, ric rac trim added to a solid bedskirt maybe. Nolan loves his crib so I will be on the lookout for a second one. He already has a chenille bumper which will go nicely, but the curtains will be this fabric (above). I am going to paint my changing table green. I have a peg shelf to go above and am wondering what cute things to put on it. I saw a cute little red wagon, any other ideas? I am thinking of painting the walls a buttery creamy color, so do not know if the fabric I get should be the white background or off-white? Also, will order a Dick and Jane calendar for a couple of prints to frame to put over where the glider rocker that is on my wish list. The room is fairly small so I cannot put a bunch of stuff in it.

I finally sewed some curtains for Jakob's closet today (there are no doors). I've had this fabric (9 yds of Waverly Wild West )for about 3 years and now we will make some cornice boards and the room will finally be finished in the cute cowboy theme.

Wish I would have gotten my house all decorated before I had 10 months to enjoy it. Still on the lookout for a shower curtain for the bathroom. If you have any cute ideas, pass them on please!

road side stand

Since we did not learn from last year, and planted too many vegetables again this year...our kids had their first road side stand. Selling the veggies for 50 cents...a two day total over $30. They did not stand out the entire time as we just let people come and take what they wanted....although a family stopped by to buy the radio we had out there for the 50 cents. I thought it was funny. They are not into selling, but we still ahve plenty of tomatoes if interested!

The Show Me State

at Lambert's cafe, look at the size of those mugs

Lambert's is home of the throwed rolls, it was lots of fun

while waiting to get into Lambert's we saw a double (a little chubbier version) of my brother-in-law Scott

we couldn't go to Springfield without making a trip to the flagship Bass Pro Shop, or as Sam calls it the Fish Store

in honor of Chris' chickens

me at the Laura Ingalls Wilder home, where she lived as a married woman and wrote her books. I only think of her as a little "half-pint" like in the t.v. show

here is a house we looked at in West PLains, MO, it had about 35 acres...a pond, horses, but the owner had such cute ideas I will only share a few of the many pictures I took. We liked the stone in the entry way

cutest screen door to the huge closet

just a cute girly room

the pond and horses

we went with the physician recruiter from the West Plains hospital to see her horse, and I thought this blue eyed one was unusual

Chris with Clay the horse

This made me nervous, as I am scared of tornadoes

Here are some highlights from our trip to Missouri. We first drove to West Plains, a town of about 10,000, but it is the largest town for 100 miles. We had a good time...the town and hospital may be just a bit too isolated for me.

We then drove to Springfield where Chris interviewed with two hospitals, both of which were too large (sounds like goldilocks, hope we can find the just right). I loved the city as it was way easy to get around and prices were crazy cheap. We went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder home, Bass Pro Shops, a great sandwich shop called Lola's which you must go to if ever that way. Everything is homemade and delicious! We went to Lambert's and did not have time to catch a show in Branson though. I had a great time being away even though I was fearful to leave all my five children...but now it has left me wanting another trip. See I didn't know what I was missing before.

baby

I just hurried to get to my dr appt only to realize I had the wrong day, I think sometimes I am losing my marbles. Keeping with the baby talk, Here are the baby names we are thinking of....
our kids want Sarah Kate
I like Ella Claire or Ella Kate (the keep with the already confusing Anna & Emma)
we also like Maggie Mae, and plan to use the name Magnolia, which is pretty unusual since we typically steer clear of non traditional names, but it is southern and cute. (I really do not like "made-up" names for us, fine for others though),
so Mary Magnolia or Caroline Magnolia. I like the two name which is popular in the south. I named Emma, Emma Grace and that is what I wanted her to be called but it did not happen. Anna was to be Anna Claire, but she is Anna Morgan instead as I let Chris chose the middle name. We usually do not have such a short list with such a long time to go, names are very hard for us to decide on. Of course we will wait to see her, and maybe come up with something totally different.