Family Pictures with Tess

We managed to get a new family picture a few weeks ago...I have to say I love being able to have them...but no one really likes to cooperate when its time for pictures. Basically, it is a lone selfish endeavor of me..."the mom" to be able to have a family picture on our wall. No one else seems to care in my household...lol.

More Fall Fun...

New Boston ScareCrow Alley

Every October our town has a "scarecrow alley". This year we decided to get in on the action and have some fun with it. We entered our scarecrow in the "family" category and of course came up with a fishing theme...that is Luke's favorite thing in the world to do...so it came together pretty easily once we had our idea. We called it "Fishing Rules" with a list of 3 fishing rules. 1.Bait your own hook. 2.Gut your own fish. 3.Tell your own lies. A special thanks to Bapo for always being a good sport and ready to help with anything.

We love Halloween and had another fun year. This was Tess's first trick or treat and we thought it would be fun to have a theme. Another great year of trick or treating: Featuring the Wizard, Fire Breathing Dragon and the Little Princess ) What's a little princess without her castle? Elle and her Dragon buddy Oliver...they are breathing their fire on everyone :) The wizard and his spell that he cast on everyone this year...that's what he came up with :) Bapo and his newest little princess :) Check out Elle's face...she is freaking out about something scary in the back of the car :)

Lukey Loves Tessy

Luke loves to hold Tess and make her smile. It is so cute to see how happy the kids are to have a baby in the house :)

Babies and Sweaters = Very Squeezable

Gymnastics Class for Elle

This girl is ready to try anything! How cute are 3 year old girls in leotards?! Elle started gymnastics for the first time a few weeks ago...let me just say that she had been waiting for that special day for what seemed like forever! It really was the cutest thing in the world to watch her excitement and enthusiasm on her very first day of class. She wanted to be there soooo bad! One of my favorite parts...besides seeing her run around in her leotard was when the teacher was taking attendance...She said "Is there an Elley here?" Elley Lavalliere? to which Elle responded..."No my name is Big Sister...just call me Big Sister."

Saturday Morning Soccer

Go Lukey Go! That's what Elle yells from the sideline :) Luke with the slick low five with Coach Rick ... that's about all the celebrating he does when he scores a goal...if you didn't guess...he's pretty serious out there :) Would love to have know what useful information he was sharing with his teammates in this photo :)Clearly he had their attention. This is Luke's game face :)

Toothless

Luke lost his first top tooth today...he was very excited!

Luke's line of the week...

Well as you know...Luke has been entertaining us for years. Now that he is 6 he has taken on a very "matter of fact" personality and he continues to crack us up. For example: We asked him how school was going... Me:"So Luke..How do you like 1st grade?" Luke:"Well...my favorite time is lunch and recess." Me:"Well...what about the other 5 hours you spend in class?" Luke: "Its kind of boring Mom...I'm always one step ahead of the teacher..." New Scenario: Last Saturday at his soccer game we brought the team snack. He was very happy to pass it out to his teammates and then proceeded to read the nutritional information on the side of the juice box to his team. He followed it up with..."And you know...they give 100% of their profits to charity." Basically the rest of the team didn't process a thing he said...it was classic :) It is so great that he is reading...

Well...the summer was a blur but Tess is doing great (11 weeks now) and so is everyone here. We are excited that fall has arrived in NE! Lots of fun in store... Big brother Luke taking good care of his baby sister Tessy. He just loves to show us how responsible he can be with her. It is very cute and we are so happy that he loves her so much.

First Day of School - First Grade!

Well...the day finally came. Luke is officially a 1st Grader! It was a bittersweet moment for mom when I said good bye to him...but mostly SWEET!!! He was such a big boy...as if you didn't see this coming...he was ready for action! He put his stuff in his cubby and then found his seat and went right to work. He was so happy! It was really fun to watch his excitement. Here he is feeling like a dork because his mother is the only one in the class room taking pictures of their kid and the teacher on the first day. This picture is actually my favorite because he is literally speed walking to get away from me and this is him turning around (about 20 feet in front of me)to see if he was able to shake me in the crowded hallway...but no such luck I was on his tail like a poparazzi mom :) Take note of the teacher down the hall laughing at the situation. I thought your kids were supposed to still like you when they are 6? The problem here is that Luke is actually 6 going on 40. He is super funny and driven. I would say focused is a great word. He scored 4 goals at his first soccer game and didn't smile once. Keith and I were wondering if he was having any fun because he looked like Stone Cold Steve Austin the whole game. This is Luke and we love him!

Big Brother and Big Sister

Tess is now 2 months old and growing big...Elle and Luke love her to pieces! And if anyone asks Elle what her name is now...she no longer goes by "Elle". She says with authority..."call me BIG SISTER...my name is BIG SISTER". This happens pretty much everywhere we go...when people see her and the baby they ask what the baby's name is...and then they ask Elle what her name is and she says..."It's Big Sister".

Thank You!

Just recently we received a box full of wonderful things for each of our children and I am not sure who sent it to us? I have a guess and if it was you Denise...thank you so much! If it is not Denise...I apologize a million times to whom ever did this nice deed :) Please know that we loved the surprise and it made our day! In fact...the day that it arrived I had been talking with my sister about wanting to make my girls matching dresses...and then arrived the box with a set of matching dresses. It couldn't have been more perfect. So here is my attempt to show off our first trip to church with the girls in matching attire...basically impossible to get a good shot of them...but you get the idea.

Our Babies - Luke, Elle & Tess

Baby Tess has arrived!

On Monday morning July 9th,at 8:11am Tess Isabel arrived and wasted no time! We got to the hospital at 7:15am and almost an hour later she was here! Sooo another close call for mom...and another natural delivery (darn). Luckily everything worked out great...our other kids were taken care of by Bapo and Mimi on their way to work and Keith wasn't already at work that morning. Thank goodness for small miracles and for the man upstairs! We are all home now and adjusting to life with our new baby. We love it! Our newest family picture! Everyone is in love with baby Tess! Luke brought me a picture of what he thought the baby was going to look like. He showed it to me and then looked at the baby and said..."Well, it looks like I was a little off!" Mommy and Tess just minutes after her arrival into this world! Another little angel for daddy.