whatever

close-ups

i know i already shared this one....but it's so awesome....it had to be on again.

i ordered a canvas of it.
my last kid to be a toothless goofball.....wahhhh.

there is still one more michigan post to do.
best for last.....

 

 

last of the beach....

i have more michigan pics but no more beach ones.
these are the end.
kind of sad.....i miss the sand..... but not the stairs.

that's not our boat.
but it made a pretty picture.  




rainbow toenails....

books on the beach.....diary of a wimpy kid is too hard to put down.





and books in the water.....



these two boys were explorers....searching the waters for lost & founds.

they found a dead fish floating.....brought it to shore and then buried it.








we brought home this whole bucket of rocks to make a stepping stone.








man i love that swimsuit.

















and that is ALL of the beach pictures i have left.

such a beautiful place.

michigan....i love your beaches.

 

 

sunsets and bonfires

most evenings....the sunsets into the water right in front of our bluff/cliff.
quite an amazing site.
wiffle ball games and big pushes on the tire swing while we soaked up that yellow light.




photo by talby.  :)  i think this is my i-love-being-in-this-place-so-much-and-i-don't-ever-want-to-leave face.


suddenly the dads proclaim "bonfire on the beach" and all the kids run to the stairs.
i think to myself "really?  do we have to go down those stairs again?"
but i go because there is no place in kansas to have a beautiful bonfire on the beach that will trick your mind in to thinking you are on a tropical island or living in a LOST episode.


this is not even the halfway point....

goofy boys.  jake telling me "don't put this on your blog!" and me saying "you didn't sign the waiver jake!"




sean discovered monarch caterpillars at the bottom of the stairs.  my favorite!






depending on which way you faced the pictures turned out quite differently.




making smores on a windy beach is challenging....but they find a way when there is chocolate involved.




and the fireworks came out.....


and then it was dark.
i used my flash....the first time in years.  


the smoke from the fire made it look groovy man.
i think they were jedis? or harry potter fighting? who knows.  
they are using the cardboard the glow necklaces came in....not sticks.








it was beautiful.
and fun.
and worth the 223 steps back up.....i think.
 
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school enrollment today.
yippee.
$$$$ writing checks and filling out forms......my favey........not.

...............................................

you can enter to win a $100 visa gift card from Degree motionSENSE
deoderant over here...have you done it yet?
why not?
it's $100!!!
 
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how is your summer list coming along???

 

some randomness....

even our breakfasts were grand in michigan.
the daddies made pancakes....jenny made french toast....craig made bubble loaf (monkey bread)....
i made.....
coffee.
my brain does not function well in the morning.
breakfast and me don't usually mix.


we allowed tv time until 10 AM and electronic time a little after that.
 

 

there was lots of art time with these girls.

and friendship bracelets were made.
 


there was a night of Dollar bowling!

oh yeah....




there was a field trip through town....the flowers were GORGEOUS!
truly beautiful.

and ice cream.
you wouldn't even believe at how expensive it was....i dare you....guess how much a single dip cone was.
it was reedonkulous!

their town had animals on display made by artists.
i was in love with this mosaic cow.
like....i would put in this in my yard....it was my FAVE.



LOTS of games were played.
apples to apples...farkle....uno....blokus....sequence.
 

apologies were made.


the Loma theater makes me happy.
$5 tickets.
.50 pop
.50 popcorn 


dancing in the kitchen.
to florence and the machine.  
annie was SO HAPPY that someone would dance with her. 
and she replayed the song.


scott found The Hunger Games at the house....and read it!
he plays so much basketball he hardly ever reads.  
he is dying for the second book now.
lauren read almost the entire time.
i read magazines and pottery barn and Boden.  :)


hot dogs for the kids and STEAK for the grown ups.



and lots of goofy times around every corner.

can i go back?
can i just live on vacation?
can we be a family that "summers" in michigan?

it would be dreamy.

 

 

a kitten and peaches and an {e}book

what a weird title.  

we almost always go peach picking when we are in michigan.
it's something to do that is good for all ages.

as soon as the kids got out of the car they saw this kitten.
and they all mobbed it.
it never touched the ground until we left.


 
we went out in the HOT sun and picked a basket of peaches.
with the kitten.
and a dog followed us too.


 

they weren't quiiiiiite ripe yet.
but we found a few in there that were ready.


 

 

 

 
it was really hot.
too hot to be there i think.
so annie was out of sorts.....and wanted more turns with that silly kitten.


gosh darn it i like that guy a whole bunch!



dave filled a basket of the peaches already on the ground (ruined ones) and made our michigan sign.
:)
he is pretty creative.
 
and then everyone got to throw them back into the orchard.

 

 

 
we took home all the peaches we picked....with grand intentions as always.
but nothing was baked with the peaches.
they just weren't ripe enough.

i don't even like peaches.
i don't hate them but i am not going to just bite into one!
i wish there were strawberry patches.
or it was pumpkin picking weather.
those are two things i like to pick.  :)

and after this jenny and i got to go out for lunch just the mommies!!!
it was wonderful.
(possibly the highlight of the trip for me.....i love lunching with my friends....and getting a crisp cold salad and eating outside by a beach....and getting amazingly yummy brushetta as an appetizer....without our conversation interrupted once with the words "hey MOM?!!" )

 
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COOL STORY here:
yesterday....i was blow drying my hair and my blog friend Jeannett popped into my mind.
i shot her a quick email saying hello and that i was thinking of her.
she told me that she wrote an {e}book.
and i thought "oh that's nice" and "too bad i don't read books"   (ha....seriously)

then later that evening after a day of throwing around a lot of frustration and thoughts i have been having
about the businesses that i have....balancing this home life with all these kids.....taking care of this house.....
wanting 20 more hours in a day.....missing my sewing machine.....looming work deadlines......

i checked her blog to support her in the {e}book.
i was shocked.
can you guess what it was about????

here is what i found as soon as i opened the page:

Are you a blogger or have a web based business and are running yourself ragged?

Do you love the community created through Social Media,
but you don't know how much longer you can keep up?

Or are you handling it all pretty well, but there are just a few things that you really cannot stand to do? 

check.
check.
check.

i bought it immediately.
why had i never thought to ask jeannett about this stuff?
she is experienced.  she knows!  
maybe you are having the same questions/frustrations.....maybe you are curious...maybe you want to be hired?
Click here to visit Hire Blog Help.


i love that she did it.
that she put herself out there and used her experience to help other people freaking out like me.

i told her that God knew i was struggling....i was telling him constantly...so He told me "say hi to jeannett today"
while i blow dried my hair.
and i did.
and she was there for me....thanks jeannett......thanks God!!!
you are awesome.

i've been at the beach.

with some of my favorite people....
my family
chicago jenny and dave and their kids
and even more old friends came for the first day with their kids!

i love lake michigan.
a lot.

the beach was full of smooth rocks at the shore line this year.
so beautiful.


we dug and built castles....
and buried each other...




Erica is a photographer too!  it was fun to watch her shoot....

this was her shot.....

:)





i love this picture.
it just screams simple summer fun.




very fun to have more girls to play with....







there was lots of football and tackling....

and screaming....

and hugging.








so jen and i thought we'd like a picture of us IN the water.
we got out there not too far and turned our back on the water.

we were POUNDED by a wave that we never saw coming.
it took us both out.
we were laughing so hard and the waves just kept coming.
i don't even like to get in the water.....let alone go under completely....i was soaked from head to toe.
it was hysterical.
kind of.







and then we were redeemed!
a lovely photo taken by erica of me and my jenny....who i am already missing like CAAAA-RAZY.
boo hoo.
 

10 kids and 6 adults for dinner....very fun and silly...that's the good stuff.

there was a wiffle ball game with the dads and kids while the moms cleaned up dinner and chatted.

then a camp fire with s'mores in the yard.

 

 

campfire songs in 2011....on the iPad.


the yard backs up to a bluff (which is a nice word for cliff) 
and down 223 steps is the beach. (ouch my calves still ache)
it's a pretty amazing place....the house itself is nothing special but the LOCATION is fabulous!

the moms....also known as the S'more Makers.

 
i hope you can handle lots of posts with LOTS of pictures.
cause i took like....a thousand pictures.
and this was only day one.  


we are home now.
we survived the 13.5 car ride back....barely.
at the end i thought about making a run for it at one of the gas station stops.
but then i remembered how slow i run.
ha.
NO ONE likes to be in the car for 13.5 hours....especially tired cranky kids.....and their mom who took dramamine so she floated in and out of consciousness all day long.

how was your week?
what have you been up to?
can you believe it's august??????

it's nuts.

happy monday people!