Watering Flowers in Rain Boots!

Elli put on her rain boots to water flowers and ended up having so much fun jumping in the little puddles we made!

Elli is my outside helper and my inside helper! She helped me make apple crisps in little ramekins for supper! 

College Sophomore!

Kaitlyn and her best friend, Hailey, are ready for their Sophomore year at college!

Brady's 17th Birthday!

Cheesecake is turning into a tradition for Brady's birthday.  :)

Phones & Shades!

Elli dropped my iPhone a few weeks ago and the home button stopped working!  I turned on the on-screen home button, but then we took it to the Apple store.  The guy took the phone out of the case and pinched the phone with his fingers to snap the top screen back in place!

It was just the girls and we were downtown, so we did a little shopping!

When you find sunglasses that perfectly match your pink-checked dress…

… you may have to buy them if they're only $6.  Hehe!

 Oh, the cuteness!

A pink Hello Kitty sucker completed the ensemble for our downtown stroll.  ;)

Bicycling with Training Wheels!

Elli got a new Disney Princess bicycle helmet, knee and elbow pads, and gloves a few weeks ago.  She is excited about getting to ride Kaitlyn's old bicycle with training wheels!

Mama's Little Helper...Making Energy Bites!

Playing Music for Grandma!

Elli's First Ice Skating Lesson (Videos!)

Elli's First Day of Preschool!

Elli had a great first day of preschool today!

 New "Frozen" backpack!

During the drop-off process, a few cars at a time unloaded and then the children were escorted by their teachers to line up by the school.  Elli's teacher sweetly asked, "How are you doing, Mom?"  I was doing fine, but then started crying after she walked away holding Elli's hand…

"Pop-In to Preschool"!

We attended "Pop-In to Preschool" last night to visit Elli's preschool classroom and meet her teachers!  She is in the morning class.

Elli marked that she felt "Happy" about starting school.  :) 

Elli's teacher has a little girl adopted from China and a son who plays tenor drums with Brady!

Elli loved the play kitchen, just like Kaitlyn did when she was in preschool!

Elli "called" us. :)  I tell her I'm going to miss her when she's at preschool and she says, "We can Skype!"  Haha!

Dress-up clothes!  Elli put on the "fighter fighter" hat… backwards.  ;)

Elli is excited about making new friends!

I think it's going to be hardest on me… 

Brady's First Day of Junior Year!

Niagara Falls and Canada Trip ~ Part 1

Here are some pictures from the first stop on our summer vacation in July - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!

The museum sat on the shores of Lake Erie.

Kaitlyn's Instagram pic.

 Brady loved reading about the guitars.

 Elvis exhibit.

 Michael Jackson exhibit.

 John Lennon piano.

 Jimi Hendrix exhibit.

Memphis Recording Studio Wurlitzer spinet piano- was heard on such Sun classic records as "Whole Lotta Shakin", and "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis.

 Brady really enjoyed the Les Paul exhibit.

We made the cover of Rolling Stone!  Haha!

After the Rock and Roll museum, we ate at Hard Rock Cafe.  :)

Elli loved the cherry on top of the brownie dessert!

Fun with Cantaloupe!

Elli and I used alphabet cookie cutters to make a cute cantaloupe kabob!  She loved it!

I cut the cantaloupe in slices wide enough for the cookie cutters.  This would be cute done with any shape!

We did this part together carefully… 

So cute!