The Signature Dive!

Hello from Megan!
Alyssa doing a spin.
Isaac and his karate chop!
Go Matt Go!
Joel doing his version of a belly flop.
Nicko's dive was voted the favorite.


This was Daniel's Revolution...not a somersault, a revolution.

Pool games seem to be a big deal for the kids when we are in Alabama. This year we had a diving competition. There were four dives and you were rated on each dive. The four dives were the perfect dive, a belly flop, a cannon ball and your own signature dive. I don't know who won, but I did get a few good shots of the signature round. I don't know who had more fun, the divers showing off or the judges watching the show.

Air Show 2009

Love the helmet, Isaac!
10,000 pound bomb and Joel...who thinks he's the bomb! :-)
Two planes attached at the wing.

We went to an awesome air show this summer. Actually, the kids went with Joel. Mom stayed home. :-) There was a World War II exhibit and the kids really enjoyed everything. They saw all sorts of unusual things like two airplanes attached at one wing....can someone please tell me why they would do that???? They saw lots of planes flying in formations, sky writing, and there were a ton of really cool cars there as well. These are a few of their favorite things:

**Alyssa - A woman standing on the wings of a bi plane while the plane was flying in the air! She never fell off even when the plane went upside down! It was cool.

**Isaac - The air bus. It was huge!

**Daniel - I liked seeing so many different kinds of air crafts.

**Nicko - The WWII fighter plane...which is not the picture above.

Alabama 2009

Here are a few shots of our annual trip to Alabama. We had a great time as usual and the cousins all had a great time playing together. I am sure Matthew and Megan were thrilled to see me and my camera were going home, but I had a good time making the kids pose. They were all good sports about it.

This year, the tallest to shortest photo is not in order of age. Matt is the tallest one in the group and Alyssa...I think you'll always be the shortest one in the group!

Highlights of the trip this year were:
**Alyssa - Clothes shopping with Grandma and Mom and swimming everyday.
**Isaac - Swimming everyday and going to the water park.
**Daniel - Seeing our cousins and having dessert everyday.
**Nicko - Sleeping in, no chores and watching TV.

First Day of School 2009!

A moment to think about the day ahead. The new shoes.
This year, the boys ride the middle school and high school bus together. So that leaves Alyssa to ride the elementary bus all by herself. She looks so little yet so grown up out there all by herself. Sigh.

Our Back To School Celebration

This is our 2009 Back To School Celebration. This is an annual celebration for us and we do something different every year. This year Isaac begged for a bonfire. We played Frisbee, Boccie Ball and we laughed a lot. The kids (and Mom) get so excited about school starting that this is really just an excuse to have a fun family night. Staying up late and running around outside was the prefect way to say good bye to summer vacation.
Alyssa's pizza. The kids all made their own pizzas to bake in the coals.

Isaac is very carefully baking his pizza so it does not burn before the cheese melts in the middle.
Life is really good when you can enjoy something like your own pizza that you baked yourself.
The whole crowd minus the photographer. Even Morgan posed for us. Nicko's girlfriend, Stephanie, joined us for the evening as well.
Even Morgan was ready to go back to school...thanks to Daniel sharing some of his favorite back to school clothing with the dog. Daniel says she looks even better with shorts on too! I wonder what Morgan thinks about all this.

Conficer is a Bad Word!

We have the 'worm'. It is surprisingly easy to get rid of...if you know how to get around it's little road blocks. And since I DON"T know how to get around the little road blocks....I still have the worm. The kids' computer is not infected, however, we cannot up load pictures to the blog from the kids' computer so we once again have a neglected blog! Is it just me or do we seem to have more computer problems that the average Joe???

So, I'll give you a brief summary of our summer so far. One child in summer school, one child in basketball conditioning, two children in football camp and conditioning, one Mom driving them everywhere, piano lessons, summer reading program at the library, youth group, LOTS of practicing instruments, dinners outside on the patio, watering the flowers, one broken garage window due to an errant soccer ball, lots of children over for play dates....or visits as the older kids prefer to say, lawn mowing, grocery shopping with four kids, really beautiful summer breezes, grilling dinner, lots of visiting with the neighbors outside, and homemade popsicles!

Also, we have a few things to look forward to like...swimming in Lake Winnebago, sitting on the dock watching the kids fishing, sitting on the dock with no kids and a pina colada, Grandma and Grandpa's visit over the Fourth of July, experimenting with watercolor painting, reading in the hammock, seeing my sister and her family at Arlington Racetrack in July, Aunt Sharon coming for a visit in July, coloring with Alyssa, a trip to Alabama, band camp, another football camp, Father's Day, and the start of the Farmer's Market.

We have a pretty busy summer planned. I was so worried about the busy schedule the kids had this summer. All those special little moments that make summer such an important part of our lives were going to be put on the back burner for...football conditioning??? But I am finding that we still have time to enjoy the summer and each other.

Well, I have to run. I have two children to deliver to weight lifting and Mom's Taxi Service is rarely late! If you want to tell me how to rid my computer of Conficer, I'll be glad to listen. Otherwise, I'll have to call my brother this weekend and beg him to give me instructions. Dan is my go to computer guy, much to his dismay!

Fifth Grade Graduation

Just in case you were wondering what 15 dozen egg shells might look like. By the way, if your child's school asks you to bring a large amount of scrambled eggs to a school function, my recommendation is to offer to bring cut up fruit instead!


This morning, Isaac had a fifth grade graduation breakfast and award ceremony at school. Sniff sniff. I am pretty sure he got a bigger kick out of the breakfast, but he did manage to get recognized for a few academic achievements as well. The above picture is Isaac with his best friend, Noah. All I know is that next year, I have four children going to four different schools and my 'baby' is going to be a fourth grader. Usually a blase expression such as time flies would be appropriate, but for today, that's not going to cut it. The kids are growing up. As things get busier and busier around here, I keep reminding myself to enjoy ever second that I can. I think I need to go shopping and think about something else. ;-)