front row parents

I'm certain I've mentioned it before, but we're lucky to have a small private school for the kids to attend in our small community. I love all the activities they're provided, and I think the kids do as well. I sure miss the Christmas concert in the beautifully renovated church, but they do a really nice job in the gym as well, just a packed house! Lucky for us, our good friends saved us a seat right.up.front! we have great friends :)

Lia - sitting, closest to the camera

Nash - ringing the blue bell

Tayt - back row in the plaid, big smiles for the camera

Austyn - front, dead center

Austyn has always loved to sing and it's always a joy listening to her. Excuse the proud mom moment and terrible recording skills, but she really did amazing. Best of the night if you ask me ;)

Austyn - on the left

Lia - middle row with the scarf

the entire group, focusing on Nash, hiding in the middle :)

kudos to the schools music teacher for doing another great job. keep up the good work!

ten. seven. five. three. one. all the tears.

unfortunately, I *still* haven't found a way to stop time. I'd even settle for time to ssslllooowww down! but alas, another school year has begun. 

in summers past, I haven't been ready for the kids to go back to school. this year... they were driving me bonkers the last couple   few weeks   month. goodness! I haddd to pack them up and head to our best neighbor evers pool a few times in the last few weeks in hopes of not locking them all in a room together and leaving!

and now as I sit here in the middle of the day. Will napping. girls snacking and watching Sophia. I miss them. it's quiet. too quiet. this is most likely preparation for the day when they're out of the house, but I don't like it one bit.

enough rambling. photos!

first, the 'school age kids.'

from left to right: 

Tayt (7) - 3rd grade

Lia (12) - 7th grade

Austyn (10) - 5th grade

Peyton (15) - 10th grade

Nash (6) - 1st grade

and now I'll cry myself to sleep for a nap instead of anything else that needs to be done around here :(

shockingly, I only took a total of 14 photos. and of course Dave drives by in the butcher truck just a honkin' at the kids. had to laugh at this one :)

get serious kids!

and then we added em all in :)

a couple things about this photo... Will may or may not have just nose dived into the gravel. finished drive way, yay!!! and Peyton may or may not be patting Tayt on the shoulder. nice and gentle. looks can be deceiving people. ;)

this one on the other hand, they are, in fact, being nice.

Drew (Rowdy) starts a 3yo preK program this year, twice a week, and she is *beyond* ready and excited to go. imagine the sheer terror.disappointment.sadness when I told her she was not riding the bus yesterday. or ever actually. glad I caught this photo before I broke the news to her.  :|

and this one just because. come on! none of my kids had curls like this!

we cleaned. we ate lunch. we did laundry. we played outside. we went to the park. we napped. we watched them get off the bus! not a bad first day at all :)

and I'm still sad today that they're all back to school :( wishing all of you and your kiddos a happy first week of school. if you have little ones at home, enjoy it! before you know it, they'll be gone!

for the record, Drew and Meg dressed themselves. a nice break from tutus, pjs, and yesterdays dirty clothes :)

27 to 31ish/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week(ish), every week(ish), in 2015"

Peyton: the best big brother.
Lia: lounging.
Austyn: very enthused.
Tayt: helping cut down trees. found some huge grubs. I gagged.
Nash: strange boy.
Drew: fashionista.
Meg: never a dull moment with her.
Will: testing Lia's popsicles.
Duke: he walked with us for the first time the other morning. he's a slow old man.

as usual on this blog, I'm behind. these photos are from the last 5 weeks, one here, one there. I thought summer would make it easier to take photos and post them. it's proving not to be. while we're trying to pack as much fun into the last few weeks of summer vacation as possible, we're also extremely busy with other things as well. work. weddings. photo shoots. school shopping. cleaning. gardening. editing. family reunion. so much to do, so little time. I'm honestly not sure how we fit it all in. one of these weekends will be for relaxing... I hope!

hope all of you are enjoying the last days of summer vacation!

26/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015"

Peyton: all arms and legs. all electronics too.
Lia: still hates having her photo taken. still growing up.
Austyn: playing peekaboo with Will.
Tayt: chillin.
Nash: transplanting trees with Grandpa Z.
Drew: dddeeee.va.
Meg: love it when her face lights up.
Will: finds all the puddles.

it's easier to take photos during the summer than the winter months. but for whatever reason, I post less during the summer. probably because I rarely sit down to get them off the camera. I'm working on it... a little ;)

first+last

I'm in denial that July has started. where is the summer going!?! we had a wonderful weekend. we ran so much I barely took my camera out of my bag. probably an indication we were enjoying ourselves :)

playing a little catch up. because I love a good comparison, here are a few photos from the kids first day of school. Nash did not attend a 4k program so he was *beyond* excited to go to kindergarten with the big kids. I wish I could tell you his first few days went as well as his face would suggest. there was screaming. and crying. and it was downright ugly from what I hear. the kids attend a small Catholic school here in town so the teachers and staff know the kids pretty well. he spent a couple days real close to one of the teachers and after that was right at home :)

Nash in front of Tayt.  Austyn.  Lia holding Meg.  Drew.  Peyton holding Will.

just the school kids

Rowdy's hair! Willlll!!!! 

{all the tears}

and now the 'current' photos... the whole crew on the last day of school :)

Meg.  Drew.  Nash in front of Tayt.  Lia.  Austyn.  Peyton holding Will.

well, this just isn't fair.

and then we added in my nephew, Luke, because why not ;)

and of course, a comparison to make me cry myself to sleep :(

threw you off with Peyton's choice of hoodie. his favorite I guess.

grades entering:
Peyton: sophomore
Lia: 7th
Austyn: 5th
Tayt: 3rd
Nash: 1st

andddd Drew is entering a private 4k program here in town. while I didn't send Nash because I didn't think he was ready, Rowdy... she's beyond ready to go. that girl has nnnooo problems leaving me :(

I will never wish these years away. I only wish time would slow down. My once baby is now a sophomore. Signed up for drivers ed this summer. DIS.BE.LEAF! They're sure quite the bunch. And I wouldn't change a thing. My only prayer is we continue to live a long, happy, healthy life together!

okay, that got a little deep... no apologies. they're worth it!

24/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015"

I'm a *smidge* behind in the 52 of 2015 posts. Don't be fooled, I'm taking photos every day. I just don't sit down to put them on the computer and then post them. tsk.tsk. so here goes for 24/52!

Peyton: the teenage struggle is real. must.find.a.balance with these games!

Lia: she's taken to reading and won't stop. things could be worse ;)

Austyn: she recently told me she has a boyfriend. she's locked up.

Tayt: boy. through and through.

Nash: teenage wolf... he wants his hair long...

Drew: always proper. until she's not. then she's a wild one.

Meg: working hard on pedaling that bike. her patience is short with this. with everything actually.

Will: yes, I do indeed feed my kids sugar. by the spoonful actually. what of it.