First Day of School - 2024

The first day of school was on August 22nd and while we hate to see the end of summer come so early, we also know that we will still be able to enjoy the longer days and warm weekends on the lake.

With Jack in Middle School now, he had to be up earlier than usual to ride on the first bus route that picks up high schoolers and middle schoolers a little before 7 am.

6th grade, 11 years old:

8th grade, 12 years old:

11th grade, almost 16 years old:

Obligatory group photos:

My little "stair-step height" group:

Taken just as the bus was ready to pick them up:

Starting next week, Sam will catch a ride with her dad for zero hour jazz band (leaving our house by 6:30 am each day), but I was secretly happy to see her still ride the bus with her siblings on the first day of school.

This young man was able to sleep in a bit for his first day of school because his bus does not pick him up until about 7:50 am each day.

3rd grade, 8 years old:

I wondered if Jimmy would be a little disappointed to not have his brother on the bus with him this year, but he seems to be doing just fine ...

For the first time, I only have one kiddo left in the elementary school and that makes me a little sad but I also know that James is enjoying having the school 'all to himself' for the first time ever.

End of Summer Randoms

Summer at the lake!

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Slime has been banned from my house for a long time now, but I don't mind the girls making it and playing with it outside.

I'm not sure why Sam is wearing an actual garbage bag in this picture, but I suspect that it has something to do with just how messy slime can be!

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It's corn season in Michigan!

Also noteworthy is the nice pile of wood that Steve and the boys have been collecting, splitting and stacking for the upcoming winter.

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Jack has had a pretty lucrative lawn mowing business this summer with about 7 customers that he continued to regularly mowed their lawns for them.  A week ago, he let Jimmy try out the lawn mower in our front yard.  

He is a few years away from being able to operate it by himself, but he soon got the hang of it.

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A bonfire in the driveway with s'mores!

And more wood piled up, drying out, just waiting to be stacked out on the back patio.

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The end of an era ... after years of having the playscape in the back yard (inherited from neighbors across the street), it was time to take it apart and donate it to another neighbor.

It was a bit of work to dig it out, but the boys worked on it together and made great progress.

After they got it all dug out, they helped transport it down the road and then filled in the area with grass seed.  It seems to strange to me to look out the kitchen window and NOT see it anymore ...

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4th of July - 2024

While not all of the kids want to participate by riding their bikes in the annual 4th of July parade in our subdivision, I love that they still dress up in patriotic colors for all of the festivities that the day will bring.

Just two sisters hanging out by our decorated golf cart ...

The boys added some minimalistic decorations to their bikes and prepared to set out to join in the parade that morning.

The boys went left on their bikes and the girls and I took the golf cart.

Just prior to this, we were down at the park to watch as Jimmy earned a medal for his fish that he entered into the annual bass fishing competition.  Jack and Steve both entered fish but narrowly missed the cutoff for weight in order to place with a medal in their respective divisions.

These three are pretty much inseparable.

While the games were taking place, I hung out with friends under the shade of our pop-up tent.  Note to self: make sure to bring that again next year.  

At one point, I looked up and saw these two riding in on the 4-wheeler with matching captain hats, sunglasses, a pipe ... and the best part -- matching tattoos.  Everyone had a good laugh over that sight!

And what could make 4th of July any better?  A sweet and salty snack mix with red/white and blue M&Ms, of course!

Mid-Month Randoms

Sophia is incredibly excited about our strawberry plant coming back to life this Spring.  As of the 3rd week in May, it has already starting producing berries.

With that being said, she has also been helpful in getting some new tomato plants in the ground.  We were gifted 12 tomato plants from one of our neighbors and we anticipate having a bountiful harvest of them in about 2 months.

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A fun Mandalorian-themed craft project:

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Getting the favor bags ready for Jack's upcoming Mandalorian-themed birthday party:

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Whenever Jimmy is feeling a little bored, I suggest doing a painting project.  It is one of his most favorite things to do and I love displaying the artwork in his room afterwards.

I drew the tiger and then he added the trees as an extra embellishment.

This occupied him for almost an hour from start to finish and I admire his intense attention to detail and color.

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Another boredom-beater now that school is over for the year?  Finding old puzzles downstairs in the game closet and putting them together.

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And 'tis the season for sidewalk chalk!  Sam started this and then over the course of a couple of days, all of us took turns adding more veggies and fruit to the collection.  

By the time that we were done, we had filled more than half of the driveway.  

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Speaking of Sam, she started her first official big-girl job!  She is working at a newly-opened banquet center/winery just 1.5 miles from our house.  This was taken on her first day and so far, she is really enjoying it.  She is also loving the paycheck that comes along with it!

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Rock-painting!  Many of the rocks in my front flower garden are faded, so Jimmy was excited to be able to add some new ones to the garden that is blooming with color.

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Jack's 11th Birthday

We began the celebration of Jack's 11th birthday with cinnamon rolls bright and early before school.  As a 5th grade captain, he was wearing his "house shirt," representative of his group of classmates that make up Mahalo -- the House of Respect.

While he was at school, I set to work wrapping the gifts that his siblings had picked out for him and set up a special table showcasing the Mandalorian theme that he had chosen for his friend party.

After his dinner of choice -- pizza! -- he was able to open the gifts, beginning with a new pair of camo shorts to replace his favorite ones that were about 3 sizes too small.

One of the presents that he opened was a laser tag set, which has already turned out to be a great gift.

Up to four people can play at once, which is perfect for the 4 kids or they can play in teams if friends come over.

The new chain around his neck was also a gift and I am certainly pleased with its size.  Not too bulky and the optimal length.  He asked for both a gold and a silver one and we were happy to oblige.

He asked for a chocolate cake and I tried out a new recipe for a coca-cola cake (since a coke is one of his special treats once in a while).  The cake turned out pretty good, but we all decided that it was a bit more dense and sweet than we are used to.

We will be celebrating with friends and family in 2 weeks and he is pretty excited about both of those parties.  I opted to push out the events a bit on the calendar because of the upcoming holiday weekend and because I surprised Jack with a video game trailer rental again and wanted to be sure that the date that we picked would allow the majority of his invited friends to be able to attend.

Mid-Week Randoms

The total solar eclipse took place on Monday, April 8th.  We pulled the kids out of school and headed down to Ohio to see it even better than we would have been able to see it in Michigan.

Initially, we had plans to meet up with one of Steve's friends at a park not far from his house, but we ended up just going directly to his house.  We had glasses from the library and then waited patiently for the big event.

It was such a remarkable thing to observe and the kids are STILL talking about it.

The neighbor had chickens and the boys loved being able to feed them while we were there.

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James went on a field trip with his 2nd grade class and was required to bring a "sack lunch."  He set out a paper bag the night before on the counter to remind me that it need to be packed in a disposable bag (instead of his reusable lunch bag) and I surprised him by decorating it first.  It definitely made him smile and he told me that he was SO excited to show his friends.

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Recital weekend!  Sophia has worked so hard this year and I was excited to surprise her with some flowers and one of her favorite beverages of choice before her first performance.

Her tap costume!

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One of our neighbors gave us a smaller set of gold clubs and James has been working on his 'swing.'

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James has also been working on his art skills.  He chose to do his 2nd grade research project on "jellyfishes" and we worked on his poster at home.  

I suggested that he do it in watercolors (one of his favorite mediums) and he loved that idea.  I helped with some of the outlines, but he did the writing and all of the colors.  It turned out perfectly and after bringing it home following his in-class presentation, he now has it hanging up on one of the walls in his room.

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Mother's Day with my babies:

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10th Grade Band Awards

Mr. Cousineau has been such a strong role model for her and Sam has thrived under his leadership in playing the trumpet for jazz band, concert band and marching band.

Sam is only about 4 inches shorter than her dad right now.

I can't believe that she is going to be 16 years old in just a short 6 months' time.

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