Hodge podge

Here we go...another post with lots shoved in to it.

We are settled in to the school routine and I feel like things are slowing down a bit in a good way. Fall is absolutely one of my favorite times of year. The weather is perfect, it gets darker earlier and we settle down earlier than in the Summer when we're running around outside until 10pm. This is why I love seasons, each one lets us tackle life a little differently.

School is going well for Tyler. He is starting to read!?!? It's crazy that after 2 months he's coming home with his book in a bag and is reading it. Now, a lot of it is memorization (and the kid has a crazy memory) and reading based on the pictures in the book, but he's starting to recognize words and has 2 or 3 new words a week to learn. And we have our fist official school picture!

Zac is learning a ton in his new class too! He's spelling his name, working on recognizing numbers and letters and I can already see he's come a long way since September when he changed classes. Zac got his 3rd goozer since June in the same spot and I'm pretty sure it might not go down until high school. The day after Zac fell and hit his head, I got a call from the school nurse that Tyler fell on the playground and hit his head. He also had a goozer on his forehead. Life with boys I guess.

We went to the Monster Truck show earlier this month and of course they loved it. Best thing ever watching the trucks and they're really in to it. It's great. We also saw two little old ladies who were the biggest Grave Digger fans EVER. I snapped a pic below where the one was she was cheering like a nut for the monster trucks it was hysterical. Lots of heart I tell ya!

Dave turned 36 this month and we celebrated with Gram and Pop and ate filet. His Mom knows him well :)

We also got new a new kitchen and foyer floor last week and I love it. I was so sick of looking at the old floor which always looked dirty. I am so happy with it!

Tyler has a community scavenger hunt and he wanted a picture with the chef at Mr. P's pizza. We have the best community we really do. We went to pick up food and they had him come in to the kitchen and they took a picture with him. There's really good people around here!

Kyle had a sleepover with us the other night and they slept in a fort in the living room. It's awesome to have your best buddy a few houses up the street and last night Tyler slept at Kyle's house! This was huge, Dave and I weren't sure when he would ever sleep away from home without us, but off he went wimpering that he was going to miss us but insisted he wanted to sleep over. I kept telling him he didn't have to and he could sleep there another night, but he wanted to go. Funny thing is I don't even know how it was set up. The boys must have set it up because all of a sudden Tyler was in his room packing underwear haha and when I asked where he was going he said to sleep at Kyle's so we went with it! I think I woke up every hour checking to see if I had a text or call but he didn't come home til 10:30 this morning. Success! This is a big milestone in our books!

Last week Dave and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. We scheduled a babysitter and planned to go to dinner on Tuesday night only to get a call Tuesday mid-day that we had to pick Tyler up because he had a fever. So, we canceled dinner plans and ate filet at home and celebrated with all of us. They next day Zac had a field trip to the farm so we lugged Tyler along with us since he was still sick. We all had a really good day at the farm and the weather was gorgeous! Tyler didn't go back to school until Friday and that pesky fever snuck up on us again tonight out of nowhere! Hoping it's gone in the morning :(

Tonight we hit up the corn maze at a museum that's close to our house. Jackson and Tyler immediately noticed the statue with boobs when we pulled in the parking lot and they'd play in the corn maze then every once in a while go over and check out the boobs. Apples didn't fall far from their Dads with these two.

And lastly, somewhere scattered in the pictures below is how I was going to walk out of the house one morning this week. You know your mornings are crazy when you don't even realize you have on two completely mismatched shoes.

Last bits of Summer

It's officially Fall. This might just end up being the longest blog post ever as I feel the need to get every picture that had to do with Summer up before October, which happens to be in 2 hours.

So, here it goes. Here's what the end of summer had in store for us...

We got the boys a new dirt bike. Tyler is really great at riding it and he got some gear to wear from the friend we bought the bike from, he's loving it. Zac has started riding the quad on his own. For 3 years old he's a really good driver and very responsible when he's on it.

Bike jumps were also a big hit this summer and all the neighborhood kids dig the jump.

The boys were obsessed with wanting to golf this summer. Dave and I don't golf but we managed to get them to the driving range a few times and they have a blast.

We hot another milestone at the end of summer when all four of use went rock climbing and everyone got to climb! Zac got on the rocks for the first time and it was awesome. More family climbing trips to come for sure!

We finished off the unofficial end of summer with the St. Mary's church picnic. We've been on vacation the weekend of the picnic the past few years but this year we vacationed earlier so we were able to go. Nothing takes my back to my childhood more than the picnic with polka music, homemade food and old friends. Can't beat it! Mocanaqua rocks :)

We did the Wilkes-Barre triathlon where I finished 3rd in my age group, I moved up to the 35-39 group those ladies are fierce and Dave took home first place for the Clydesdale division (over 200 lbs.). Not too shabby for our minimal training!

We hit up Ringing Rocks State Park which is a nearby state park that is a boulder field and you hit the rocks with a hammer and they ring. It's crazy and the kids loved it. We hung out with friends, built teepees and watched 3 grown men try to knock over a tree. I can't even take the picture...you'll know which one it is below I'm sure.

Katie and I held the block part again this year and it was a success! About 60 or so adults and 30 kids came. The fire truck came and squirted the kids with the hose, we had the Eagles/Cowboys game on TV in our driveway and everyone hung out it was a great day. The kids were in heaven! We have such an awesome block!

This past weekend, Amy and I went to the Penn State game and had a great time as always. And my Mom and I finished the weekend off by going to the Bloomsburg fair with the kids. I got to stop by the Bloomsburg campus and I haven't been there in years. Good stuff!

That house is the sorority house I lived in and I think it's actually going to fall over pretty soon.

A few video notes. When your kid asks to get out of the car and race you home, you let him and video it. And when your kid is half asleep but is still singing Eye Of the Tiger you video it to show him at his wedding.

And the random last picture. That's tonight when the boys decided they would take the work bench in to the bathroom so they could play while in the tub. It might end up being a long Winter ;)