1st Day of School

It's here....It happened.....the first day of the new school year. Oh.My.Gosh! Is it wrong for me to be this excited?! Okay, maybe it is just a bit....I'll tone it down. But c'mon...can ya blame me? I have these 5 crazy boys that are so sick of each other by the end of the summer, they can't even walk by each other without nudging or just outright pushing the other. Then the other one pushes back, then the other one hits him, then the next one yells, then the first one cries, then mom steps in and smacks them both on the head......that never helps, but it makes me feel a little better.
I think in light of the fact that the above scenario and similar ones happen several times daily.....I am very reasonable in my excitement about them being back in school.
So, that's the mom in me that is tired and ready for some peace during the day. The other mom in me is feeling a little nostalgic about having my youngest start kindergarten. Is he really 5 yrs. old? How and when the heck did that happen? It really is true about these days flying by. I think my mom puts it best when she says that time goes by so fast, but a day can last forever. Very true.


I realized that I forgot to spike the boys' hair, so I ran in to get the paste and took care of that before the bus came.....so we needed a new picture. Love the smile.

Labor Day Camping

This past weekend we went camping at a new campground. It was at Helen's parents place. Okay, so that's not a campground, but it was probably one of the funnest places we stayed at. They have a huge yard and lots of property covered in woods and a pond. The boys just love being able to walk the trails through the woods. They find all these boy treasures....like frogs, catepillars, and a turtle shell with no turtle inside. The shell was cracked and broken on one side so someone said it must have gotten attacked by another animal....to which Timmy said (totally serious) 'oh, that must be why he left'. Ha...I am picturing this shell-less turtle walking around the woods cold and afraid looking for a new shell to call home.
We had a really nice time though. They were so nice and kept inviting us in to eat and Helen's mom cooked some great breakfasts and lunches for us. We told her she didn't have to do that, but she insisted and I think she enjoys it. We teased them all weekend about their "campground" saying things like "what kind of a place is this, there's no electrical post out here or water" They just said "you get what you pay for" Haha....too cute.
We spent the day at the fair on Sunday and got them each a gift for letting us stay there. We got Peggy an ornament that was a chef and had it personalized, and we gave Frank a wooden thing to hang that said...."I childproofed the house, but they're still getting in". They really got a kick outta that.
Here is just a part of their yard....you can see why the boys love it so much.





We did some fishing on Saturday at White Bear Lake....

....and bonfires every night