Look Who's 4 Months Old

At 4 Months Old

Quentin is:

26.5" (93%) tall

13.15 lbs (17%) skinny

and 100 % cute!

Gabe's in Kindergarten!

The night before school started Gabe got to choose what we had for dinner.  He chose macaroni and cheese, and watermelon.

 Excited and Nervous and Ready to Go!

The first day of school was only a half day and I got to go with him.  John was able to take the morning off work and stay home with the other kiddos.  It was fun to all walk Gabe to his first day of school together!  Then I think it about killed John to turn around and take the other kids home while I got to stay at school with Gabe. 

After meeting his teacher, I'm pretty sure he's going to love school!  I just hope he doesn't pickup her New Yorker accent!  
Today was his first day of going to school by himself and he did great!  He told me he was nervous when we got there, but after a hug and a kiss he walked away and never looked back.  This kid was born ready!  Here's to a great year of Kindergarten!

Hoffman's Playland

Every week we drive by this place on our way to and from church and the kids ALWAYS beg to go.  John and I love having the excuse that it's Sunday, so we can't go.  However, we decided to be nice and surprised our kids on Monday by taking them to Hoffman's and letting them ride the rides.  

Porter's favorite ride, the trucks!

And this was Gabe's favorite ride, because it had a gun.

 

This lil' dude didn't ride a single ride.

I swear he only comes for the food.

After Hoffman's we stopped for dinner at Red Robin.  This is the other place we pass on Sundays and the kids always beg to stop since they're hungry after church.  And I'll confess, sometimes I secretly wish it wasn't Sunday so we could stop and eat there too, I love Red Robin!  If you like heat, you gotta try their Burnin' Love Burger . . . so good : )

We picked up a couple of Red Box movies on the way home, popped some popcorn, and all snuggled up for a movie night.  Once the kids were in bed, John and I watched a horrible remake of Footloose, a very disappointing end to an otherwise great holiday weekend!

Summer's End

I can't believe school starts this week and fall is almost here, this summer has just flown by!  The boys have been hard at work enjoying the last few weeks of our summer vacation!

 

 

     

This is a fun birthday party we went to.  For dinner the kids had fettuccini alfredo, without plates!

There's always a lot of dressing up going on at our house.  Usually the kids dress like super heroes, but Gabe came up with this interesting outfit the other day . . . there's even a sports bra on underneath the t-shirt.  What a spaz!

Quentin's been busy too!  He's smiling, "talking" to us, and even laughing!  I swear he gets cuter and cuter every day!

Gabe is such a good big brother!

Gotta love watching cartoons on a lazy morning!

And finally, check this out.  All three boys napping at the same time.  Miracles do happen!

On The Home Front

We kind of got a slow start this summer since I was preggers and didn't feel like doing anything, then we had a new born and walked around like sleep deprived zombies, and then we were out of town for a month.  However, now that life is getting back to normal, we've been busy working and August turned out to be a very productive month on the home front!

First up.  Our mailbox got a makeover.  No pictures of this, sorry.  But the thing was 50 years old and had someone else's name on it.  The wood now has a fresh coat of paint and we put a brand new mail box on.  Absolutely refreshing!

Then we got up bright and early one Saturday morning and went to the nursery.  The kids were very disappointed that there were no toys there like there are at the church nursery.  But they soon found that pushing Quentin around in the stroller like he was on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was pretty fun and they were happily/crazily entertained while I picked out some new plants for our yard.

I've been wanting to get rid of the ugly bushes in our front yard ever since we moved in and it just hasn't happened.  However, after I spent a small fortune on plants we (meaning John) got the  motivation needed to tear out those ugly bushes in the front yard.  Then we (meaning John) dug lots of holes and put in the new plants.  Don't you think I did a good job?  The plants are still small, but next year they should fill in nicely. 

Now onto the next project, staining the wood porch and deck.  Seriously, I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than do this again.  I have one word for you people . . . TREX . . . not only is it maintenance free, but you're saving the planet.  Anyway, off my soap box, here's the before and after pics, but seriously Trex.

Front Yard 

Landscaping and Porch

 

Backyard Deck

Saratoga Springs

After the horse races we visited Congress Park to let the kids ride their own horses and to sample the mineral springs that Saratoga is named for.

"Go horses go!  Run ponies run! Bwhahahahaah!"  This is what the drunk guys behind us at the track were yelling, so I thought I'd yell it at the kids on the carousel.  Bwhahahahahaaah!

And now to sample some supposedly super healthy mineral water.  Each spring has a unique flavor.  This one was naturally carbonated and tasted like sulfur.  Yuck!

We saw lots of neat stuff while walking through the park!

Pretty streams with lots of rocks to throw in the water.

Pretty fountains.

Pretty statues.

Pretty weird statues.

 

 It's a park, so fact is, the kids had fun!

 And so did the big kids : )

 Oooh, another spring!  Fill 'em up!

 This one was yucky too : (

 Let's keep trying.  Next. . . 

This spring tasted like rotten eggs too.  I don't care how good it is for you, that's nasty.  How do people drink this stuff?  

At last, we have a winner!  Mineral water worth drinking!

Is this an awesome park or what?

And finally, the perfect way to end the day, dinner at a Mexican Cantina (where the kids actually behaved).