Mommy's Little Helper

He's getting so big so fast!  I can honestly say that at some point in every day right now I wish I could just stop time...and keep him just the age he is.  He is such a pleasant little person.  I love these stages of learning and growing so much!  I feel like we're just starting to really discover the cute little personality inside him.

(However, I held a one month old baby for a while this week and I can also honestly say that I feel no current temptation to go backwards!) Maybe we can love him so much because he usually lets us get a great night's sleep! 

Mischief

This face and these little feet spell mischief.  Aaron is getting too mobile too quickly for me!  He's figuring out how to pull himself up quite well now and can make it up several stairs before getting caught.

First Day of School

The crew.

Nate in Third Grade

(Last year at school he chose to go by his full name Nathaniel.  This year he's trying out being Nate.)

 

Joshua in First Grade.

(It was hard to get a great picture of him because on this and each morning of school since, before we head out the door we crank up our two current favorite songs to pump us up for the day.  "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction and "Party Rock Anthem".  Joshua was too busy dancing to hold still for long.)

Elizabeth -- who get's to be my big girl at home this year.

 

Walking to school with some of the neighbor kids.

Labor Day

Finished off the summer with our last swim at the neighborhood pool, and our very favorite pizza. 

 

BBQ and Court of Honor

 

Greg is still the Scoutmaster in our ward, and he wanted to do something special for the end of summer Court of Honor.  We had the scouts and families over for a little barbeque and then did the Court of Honor in our backyard.

 

The picture on the top right is Greg leading the older boys in a silly skit.  You can tell he had them pretty roped in.  =)  Had to include the one of Elizabeth watching.  I feel like whenever Greg has had callings with the youth, our kids benefit so much from getting to be a part of it...and more to become like little brothers and sisters to these great young men.

Stake "End of Summer" Carnival

Our kids anticipate this annual church event like a second Christmas. =) It's the ideal evening for kids like ours. I feel bad Elizabeth even got to have her dream-come-true...a ride on a real pony. But, somehow the photos got deleted. =(

They loved the bounce house, giant slide, and obstacle course... 

Elizabeth held very still while she got her hand painted...

...a beautiful unicorn. 
(Have I mentioned we love all things pony?  We each even have our own "My Little Pony" names.  Greg included.)

 

Joshua and Nathan made sure to pack their swimming suits so they'd be ready for the dunk tank.

Greg even managed a picture of Nathan in the process of being dunked.  =)

A fire truck and hose...

 

And sweet Aaron, happy to be along for the ride.

Teeth!

 

Hard to believe that Aaron is 9 months old today!  He's rolling, going from his tummy to sitting, and can climb up from the family room (one step lower) to the dining room.  He's army crawling every where!  We'll take a more "flattering" picture later ... but for now we have to show off his four cute teeth!  What did we ever do without this big guy?!

American Ninja Warrior

 

We've hit every park nearby this summer ... more times than I want to remember.  I've been afraid that Nathan is getting old enough that being at a park isn't the same "perk" it used to be.  But, one night Nathan and Joshua saw a few clips of "American Ninja Warrior" and our stops at the park -- for better or for worse -- haven't been the same since!

Bike Ride

The weekend cooled off enough that a bike ride sounded fun.  Greg got all the bikes' tires fixed and filled and we headed out.  I think this could definitely turn into a favorite family hobby.

 

We bike to a park with a Velodrome ... made specially for bike racing.  We hope to go back and watch some time when there's a real race.  Amazing to see the setup!

Nathan is convinced that his two "sports for life" are going to be biking and swimming.  (You can tell what we've done most this summer ... and that the Olympics were inspiring!)

Camping Out at Home

Some year we'll buck up to actually take our kids camping.  We had planned to this last weekend, but just couldn't bring ourselves to do it!  Maybe some year when Greg isn't the Scoutmaster.  =)

Instead, we did some of our favorite camping things at home.  We ate on the deck with hot dogs ...


Woof 'Ems -- Greg's favorite from Scout Camp this year.

They're tube biscuits roasted on a little piece of dowel, and then filled with pie filling and spray whip cream.

Of course they must be "Woofed" ... Greg's specialty.

Finished off with S'Mores.

 

 

 

 

And then we watched an old movie called "Follow Me Boys" about scouts and their great Scout Master.  A fun time and a great night's sleep.  (The best part of camping at home!)  =)