Water table

A great investment...both the friendships and the table!

Like the big kids

Yep, Errol plays right along with the big kids!

My gang

Here are the 6 little people I spend my days with.  Aren't they the cutest?

Emma Krumbees

Emma Krumbee's with Melissa and Marie. This is becoming a tradition!

Take a look at us last year.

This boy is on the move. He's taking his sweet time mixing walking and crawling. It will be fun to see when he officially stops crawling!

Sponsels Minnesota Harvest

Sponsel's Minnesota Harvest Orchard.
We had an amazing day. I love fall. I love scarves. I love boots. I love apple picking. I love vests. I love tights. I love being outside and not sweating. Fall literally makes me giddy.
We had an amazing day.

That being said, if you're looking for an amazing orchard, Sponsel's would not be my recommendation. That being said, they were closed last year, were reopend by new owners this year and is my understanding they're still trying to figure this whole thing out. We went on a weekday and the only thing we could do was ride the tractor to pick apples. No animals (pony rides by charge on weekends), no corn pit, no corn maze ($5 per person age 2+ on weekends), no hay bales. That didn't stop us! We had a blast!

We ate apples.
Our favorites this year are Chestnut crab apples. They are really tiny so if a kid takes a few bits and is done, you don't feel like it's a huge waste).

We raced amongst the apple trees.

We ate more apples.

We enjoyed time with precious friends.

And we photographed our brood.

1st day of preschool!

Emmett's First day of preschool!

We're all loaded and ready to go!

The kids really miss him for the 1.5 hours that we're actually home without him, but it's also a nice dynamic change for the little ones.

Sandbox Swimming Pool

No better way to spend a hot summer morning than playing outside with friends (and photographing the most adorable little 10 month old).

The kids were busy playing in the sandbox swimming pool. I sandbox is fun, a pool is fun...a sandbox swimming pool is a blast!! :)

Bowling!!

Guess what we did today?

We went bowling! It was wicked hot today so instead of facing the heat we fled to the bowling alley and had a blast!


First place and second place. Emmett got 96 and Eric got 93.

And then a little black light, just for the fun of it!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!
My friend made these AMAZING shirts for us. They have each child's unique profile on them. Eric's shirt says, "one proud dad."

Eric had to work, so we spent the day with my mom. In perfect Nana-style, picnicked with the kids in the mall parking lot while I did a few returns.

A perfect day

A perfect day...

...for laughing...

...and biking...

...playing with chalk...



...and splashing.

We love the rain!

5 kids looking at the camera

The kids love eating outside, even when we need to wear our fleece coats.
This picture cracks me up.


MY FAVORITE PICTURE EVER!
These kids are my life! They're all looking at the camera! Wow, seriously, make my day! I love these kiddos!

Emmett is a big help around here. This game he designed for all the kids to play. Look closely at Eisley's face. Yes, they were all thrilled. Sylvan looks like he's plugging his ears but he's actually trying to listen. I was pointing to my ears telling the kids to "listen with their ears" while Emmett explains the game and then to follow the directions. Emmett tried, but he had a tough audience!

Then we played outside in the rain/snow.
It started out as snow and then turned to rain. Eisley likes to wear shorts all the time since returning from Texas.
Eisley was saying, "I need my mittens!"

Lauren's birthday party

Today we celebrated our dear friend, Lauren's, 4th birthday. It was a fabulous day.

We walked to the park.

Planted flowers.

Ate these gorgeous cupcakes Marie made. Aren't they fabulous?!

And played with Lauren's new toys!

The kids had a blast.

All in a Day's Play

My friend, yes that you Heidi, gave us a bunch of wild animals work books, flashcards and games. Emmett asked, "How did she know I love wild animals!?" Today we read the flashcards and worked in the workbook.

Played the animal matching game. Basically it's a bunch of animals cut in half. The kids had to find the matching top and bottom half of the animals. The 4 year old loved it, the 3 year old and 2 year old females were able to do it with a bit of assistance and the 2 year old male enjoyed being part of the excitement.

Then we filled the tub with water and tried not to flood the bathroom.