Condensed version of our summer backwards!

These accidentally got deleted at the end, so I'm putting them at the beginning to be really confusing.

Swimming

My big boy!

I always forget that I need to put the pictures in backwards, but oh well. This time we are starting at the most recent. This is my pretty mug right now (well, a few days ago). Condensed version= I broke my nose in a terribly stupid swimming accident the first day I met my new Arizona mutual friends in Jr. High, had surgery, didn't help, had surgery again, helped, but scar tissue built up & my nose was turning into a freak show similar to the late Micheal Jackson's. Hopefully, no for sure, this is the last surgery for my nose. Will post before & after pictures when it comes back down to a normal size & color.

Cutie boo & I had glitter toes done at book club. She chose pink & I chose copper.

Here is Bella showing off her new sparkly piggies!

"This is the life!" Pampered already at age 2!

Mack being a goof.

Sam being cute.

Bella being irresistible.

Noah probably gone at a friends.

One of the funnest things we did all summer was our kids book club. We started the Magic Tree house series & did fun, educational activities based on the books. This month we read about pirates, mummies & knights. We decorated & designed out own shields, got knighted by the Queen, followed an old pirate map on a treasure hunt, played mummy games & built pyramids out of sugar cubes & frosting. It was so fun!

The boys trying to wrap a mummy before the girls!

Len took the boys camping for 2 nights & Noah got stung by a bee :( Can you guess where? Check out that big, floppy ear! Poor guy was a trooper.

They had lots of fun getting dirty, hiking to Cecret Lake, cooking hot dogs & smores, whittling sticks & sleeping in a tent. Bella & I met them for a campfire foil dinner & smores one night.

This is Bella before her haircut. Such pretty hair, but it constantly had food stuck in it & she'd pull out any hair clip, bow or rubberband that I had put in there. So, she now has a short bob!

Sam & Mack played Bees baseball & had a blast. Sam loves to make gangster signs at the camera!

I was able to volunteer for Extreme Makeover Home Edition while it was in town. I had a shift from 7:00 pm- 2:00 am. It was before the house was up, so we went back a few days later to check it out. Looks great!

It was super hard work.

The kids loved the lake & playground across the street.

We took some friends & played for hours.

This summer we also saw a few dollar movies, Noah went to Scout camp & British soccer camp, all the boys took swim lessons, Sam & Mack had Chinese Mandarin language camp & played with lots of friends & our new dog. I can't believe the summer is coming to such a quick end. It seems like we just got home from California & school was ending. We didn't hit everything on our bucket list, but it was a fun summer. Monday I go back to work for training all day & the boys are going to sports camp at the recreation center. It's their last hurrah before school starts. Luckily, I got the schedule I needed for this school year & will be able to be home & volunteer at their school a lot more. Yeah! Bella is so big & going to attend Challenger with me on M,W,F mornings & another fun pre-school that all the boys went to on T,TH morning. Then, all 5 days I get to pick her up after work & head home for the day.

It will be a wonderful year & I'm looking forward to watching the kids grow up. Sam & Mack going into first grade & being gone all day will be such an adjustment. They are also going into the Chinese immersion program. It's going to be huge for them. Noah will be in 4th grade & I've heard that's a year where they change a lot. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to a big part of my life not having any babies at home anymore. It's so weird. I'm glad that they all are still my little kids though. I still get love you's, hugs & kisses. I hope that never stops.