Random stuff I want to remember

I had a few miscellaneous pictures that didn't fit into other posts. But I want to remember these little tid bits from our summer.

This boy has been begging for a Mohawk all year. I told him he could keep it until school started. I think I liked it even more than he did.

This kid melts me.

They all still love to make and find me hearts.

Ice Cream for lunch! For real, we had ice cream for lunch.

I like when we are goofy together.

This kid finally had a successful dental appointment. There is a big story behind this one. I will remember it. It was a momentous occasion.

Why can't soccer season be year-round? Actually, I know the answer. Because Daddy wouldn't survive... But I LOVE soccer season!

First Day of School!

I went a little picture crazy. But this is the first year they ALL went to school at the same time!

The littles actually started a day before the bigs.

I love these pictures of my little boys from behind. They just make me smile.

 Getting bigger. 5th, 3rd and 2nd grades!

And the baby is in school! Thank you TK, Thank you.

I LOVE the way he writes his little name.

The thumb was in use as the parents started moving toward the door. But he did great.

As I returned for pick up his class was walking down to the car pool line. Jacob was the little caboose. So cute.

The big kids were a little annoyed to be taking "first day of school" pictures. But this one turned out to be my favorite. So typical. Such a perfect representation of the average teen "pretend to be disgusted" look. Neither of them could keep from smiling. Love these kids.

Dropping Jacob off the next day in the carpool line instead of walking him in made me smile from deep down inside. He's so little! And I was so ready! No tears here.

Brothers. Squeezy heart.

Tahoe

I wanted to make sure we got Justin up to Lake Tahoe this summer. So when our friends from Huntington Beach texted me to say they were on the way up for the week, did we want to come meet them to play? I pounced.

We had a fantastic day up at Sand Beach on the Nevada side of the lake. Gorgeous.

San Fran with Fam

We had family visit from out of state. We decided to go into the city together. So all 14 of us piled in to trusty ole Bertha and played the day away together.

We stopped to enjoy a magic/juggling show on the pier.

The boys LOVED the puppet shop.

This day was interesting as one end of the Golden Gate was like a blizzard and the other end was sunny. The littles only made it half way.

Lombard Street... in a 15 passenger van.

This was one of my favorite memories. Nine o'clock at night as we were leaving the city to head home. Every time we started down a hill Jacob would throw his arms in the air and squeal, "Weee!" We all couldn't help but join in. Best roller coaster ride ever. 

We had many adventures worth recording and I have several more photos. It was a great week with family. But we'll leave it at that.

The Game Room

Our first priority in the new house this summer was to build the big kids a game room. Why? Because we have always wanted to be 'the house' our kids' friends want to come to. Some of our family members were in desperate need of a social reset through our move. Creating this space for all 6, soon to be 8, of our kids to be social and get their friends close enough for some parental involvement has long been our goal.

We made plans for this room before our offer on the house was even accepted. It was a project that began on paper before we moved in.

This was a full blown car shop before we moved in complete with a car lift. 

We had a few holes and oil stains to float over before we could paint.

Brad teaching Justin how to install the carpet tack strip. All 6 of the kids got their hands in on this project. We always try to find something for them to do to make it 'theirs.'

Brad built all of our shelving, cabinets and counter.

The day the TV arrived was a day of high excitement in our house. We have never had a new TV before. Ours have always been hand-me-downs and have usually been broken in some way. To open a box with a brand new TV inside was like Christmas morning. I'm not sure who was more excited: Brad or the kids. But it is safe to say it was a highlight of the project.

There are still a couple details left to dial in. Eventually there will be a fridge and microwave. We'll throw some fun decor up someday. But for now we have neighborhood kids knocking almost daily. And the teens seem to be enjoying their space and inviting friends more often. Mission accomplished.