Back To School: Part 1

Today, the girls headed back to school. They were both unbelievably excited to go back. Emali was most looking forward to seeing her friends, playing in band again, and having art first class. Erin was excited about showing off her cast, seeing her friends, and recess. Yep. That's my girls. Alvin doesn't start back to school until after Labor Day. Even then, he won't go his first week due to doctor's appointments. The girls were also excited to have the same bus driver they had last year, Miss Amy. They really really like her, which is awesome because I -HATED- my bus driver when I was in school. Mean old Mrs Phillips. Anyway, here are some pictures from this morning!

 THE sequin blue leopard boots that Emali just -had- to have for school.

 She was making faces at me and didn't think I'd take a picture. She was wrong. 

 There we go. A nice one. I can't believe how grown up she is already.

 Getting on the bus to head to her first day of SIXTH grade.

 Erin giving me the stink eye. The child just loves to ham for the camera and I wanted a serious picture.

 Her zebra pettiskirt she just -had- to have or she'd die. (Her words)

 The whole outfit. Pink, leopard, zebra, gingham, ruffles, and a skull. But she makes it work. Plus, you gotta love the 'broken doll' model pose she's striking. Too much "America's Next Top Model", methinks.

Getting on the bus to head to her first day of THIRD grade!

Thanksgiving Number One!

That's right folks. In this family, we have more than 1! Today was Thanksgiving down at Eric's Dad's house. Granted, at 62 degrees, it didn't feel much like Thanksgiving, but it was a good day! We had to cut it short because Eric had worked a 3rd last night and have to work one again tonight. :(

Emali and Erin

Alvin and Audra

How you keep 3 kids quiet: iPhones and an iTouch

Alvin shmoosed himself into a giant ball.

Erin didn't fly so far.

Bounce! Riley really flew high into the air.

"Stop!" Alvin yelling at Grandpa Rich

Then rolling down the hill.

Back to school!

So, today is the first day of school for the girls. This morning went as smoothly as it could have. Both girls managed to have a few mins to spare before either having to leave or catch the bus. (Eric had to take Em to school, as she didnt yet have her schedule of classes.) Emali was NOT too thrilled at having to wake up at 6:30 in the morning. And was a little bit miffed that Erin got to sleep in til 7:30. That's what being a Middle Schooler is all about Emali! (Did I say Middle School? Ugh.)

 Emali all ready for school. I love love love her glasses.

 Walking into her first day as a Middle Schooler

 Erin all ready for school.

 Running down to wait for the bus

 "Take a picture of my shoes Mommy. Everyone needs to see my shoes Mommy."

 "What about your outfit Erin?"

"Ok, you can put that on the blog too Mommy."

 Erin getting on the bus.

Charley sitting watching Erin get on the bus.

Sleepover

The girls got to have their long awaited sleepover at Grammy and Grandpa's this weekend. They went to a festival, had beauty shows, went swimming, etc. They've done nothing but talk non-stop about what they want to do next time.

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Curtains, children and a closet.

Yeah, stupid title, but that's what this post is about. Today was a domestic day for me. Eric and I converted a coat closet into a pantry. Going from a kitchen with over 30 cupboards to one with 15 leaves a lot to be desired. Especially when the old kitchen had a HUGE pantry. It was a converted laundry closet, so you can imagine the size of it. So, we converted the closet so that we'd have storage space for food, since my Fiestaware fills every cupboard in the kitchen. Please, dont judge what's IN our pantry. Not everyone is a health nut and I love to bake. :)

So if you look to the top of the picture, you can see the original metal shelf that was the coat closet part. We added the black shelves. It was fairly simple. We got some 5/8 inch plywood, some 2x3's for bracing and some faux leather Contact Paper to cover the shelves with. Now we have a LOT of storage space for food.

The second project I did today was convert a fabric shower curtain into regular curtains for the living room. Our living room window is oddly sized and I couldnt find curtains to fit. Not only that, I didnt find any I liked enough to hem. So we bought a fabric shower curtain in a pattern we liked and I made the curtains from that. What do you think?

I think they turned out pretty well, but I'm biased cause I made them. The final thing I'm gonna leave you with are pics of the girls (and Eric) playing in the snow.

Girls' Bathroom

Ok, so I know I havent been in the blogging loop for a few weeks. I've been BUSY! I've been doing projects and crafts galore. I'll attempt to catch up with all of them over the course of the next few days. So it'll probably end up with massive blog post overload. Oh well.

The project I'm focusing on today is the girls' bathroom. Ya'll this house is tiny. Yes, tiny. So the girls have to share a bathroom that also happens to function as the guest bathroom. For the last few months, I tried to keep it more 'guest' than 'girls'. I lost the battle today. I gave up. I made it all about them. It's an orange, pink, yellow explosion. They like it and that's all that matters.


So...here's the girls' bathroom empty:

And the girls' bathroom now:

 

Soccer Game Ten/End of season BBQ

Today was Emali's last game for the year. It was versus the other Dolphin sports team. Our team lost 3-2 but, Emali scored a goal. Did you get that?? EMALI SCORED A GOAL! She was so excited that she finally got to score. And it was RIGHT before halftime too.

The play leading up to the goal

Then this afternoon, the team had a BBQ and a parents vs kids game. We had a REALLY great time. No one kept score, but suffice to say the parents won. :) All in all it was a great day.

Alvin covered in green frosting

Tommorrow Eric has duty, so I'm gonna spend the day with the kids and relax. Probably finish taking down my Halloween decorations too. :)

Picture Day

Today is picture day at school. I wont have their actual pictures for a few weeks, so I took some myself at home. Enjoy the preview!

LONG weekend

We had a wonderfully enjoyable LONG weekend. We spent it cleaning out the garage, watching movies, playing the Wii, and just spending time together as a family. We ended the long weekend by heading out to Bluff Point. It was such a nice day today we couldnt resist. Below are some pictures from that. The girls and I also spent some time tonight making Halloween wreaths. They wont be fully dry until tommorrow, so I'll post about them then.

The view from the beach at Bluff Point
Eric and Alvin playing with Charley in the water

Charley just LOVED the water.