Austin's first soccer game this season...

The weather was a little rainy; yet, it at least cooled it off. I didn't get to many good pictures this game because of the rain. Oh well, we have the rest of the season. Austin really enjoys soccer. He's still learning the game and seems to have a wonderful time with his teammates. That's what it's all about at this age anyway, just having fun!

Preston being silly!

Preston loves to make us laugh and we love laughing with him! He is so funny, cute, sweet, and loving! He sure lights up my life! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful little boys! It seems like yesterday that they were just little babies, where does the time go? It sure goes by fast! I try to make as many memories as possible, taking pictures all the time so that I will always remember all the great moments that go by so fast.

Austin's first day of school!

Austin's first day of kindergarten! How exciting! He did great;however, by the end of the week he wasn't so sure about it. He teared up a few time when I left in the morning! I'm hoping this week will be better now that he knows what to expect! He looks forward to coming to my classroom at the end of the day and I really enjoy having him there with me. Preston did great at Christian school without his big brother there. I sure do miss his cute little face while I'm at work! He is so happy to have his friend Hailey at school to play with. When I picked him up the other day, he was sitting by Hailey and she was reading him a book- it was so cute.

Last weekend at the lake before school starts....

Well, I knew once school started I would get behind on journaling; school hasn't even started and I'm already getting behind! I've been so busy getting ready for open house and the first day of school. It's been an adjustment for all of us. So we decided to get some much needed R & R at the lake Saturday. We stopped for lunch and took a walk on the nature trail while we waited for the coals to get hot. On the trail, we stopped to look at the beautiful butterflies, they were everywhere, it was a very peaceful walk. The weather was perfect, not too hot finally. We took it pretty easy by just floating around in the water, Preston and I rode on the tube, and I ended the day with ride on the skis ( the only exercise I actually enjoy). The boys, Jeff, and I had a great time as always. They were a little disappointed that we couldn't camp; however, we will probably camp Labor day weekend somewhere if the weather is nice. After church this morning we took the boys to Texas Road House so they could get their free meals from the dentist for not having any cavities at their last check-up. Then we went to get new shoes and finally a trip to wally world would complete our day. Now there's lots of laundry to finish, dinner to make, clothes to pick out for tomorrow, and well you know how it is, there's always something to do. Tomorrow is Austin's first day of kindergarten and I'm sad already, I hope I don't cry too much. I just can't believe he is going to school, I know I should be ready for this since we waited to send him; however, it's still going to be hard to watch my baby wave good-bye to me as he starts his first day of kindergarten.

Chuck-e-Cheese

S

Chesterfield Mall

St. Louis

At the hotel, the boys enjoyed the ducks, the bridges, and the pool with the waterfalls. We stayed at Westport, a part of the city we've never visited. We definitely enjoyed the hotel and the little village area. We ate at Albert Pulhol's restaurant Friday and then went for a night swim. Saturday we dropped Jeff off to take his test at 7:00 in the morning. The boys and I grabbed some breakfast, went swimming again, got ready, went to the mall, and after we picked Jeff that afternoon we went to Chuck-e-Cheese. Although it was a short trip, we were able to pack in lots of family fun! The boys love Chuck-e-Cheese. It's great fun to watch them having such a wonderful time!

Yesterday at Pottery Ewe! I had this on our list of fun things to do this summer and we had not been there yet. This is my last week at home with the boys so we are still trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible. They did a great job painting and had a good time. Austin kept grabbing more things to paint. I think he ended up with the star dish, another oval dish, and two napkin rings. Preston enjoyed working on the cross for me to hang at the house. Then we went across the street and tried Cozmo's ice cream, it was delicious, as I heard it would be.

Trying to stay cool!

A Hot! Hot! Summer day!

It was over 100 degrees today with the heat index! I took the boys out this morning to play in the sprinklers, hoping it wouldn't be so hot, I was wrong! After lunch we went swimming. In the water was the only place to be. Danielle swam with us, too. The boys also enjoyed an ice cream cone she made for them.They had fun playing bumper boats and playing with their little shark. Now it's time to rest, having fun is so exhausting!

Clearwater Lake

Preston decides to get a ride on the tube! Somehow we made it work as you can see. He is sitting in a little triangle opening in the middle of the tube! We didn't go very fast but he still had lots of fun. Jeff's mom and dad came out Saturday. We stayed at the Fisher's cabin that night. We ended up getting there much later than we had originally planned. So, we ate a wonderful meal (thanks to the Fisher's), let the kids do some fireworks, and went to bed on the screened in porch. The next morning we filled up on eggs and bacon, thanks to Parker and Hailey's e-ah (AKA grandma) and headed out to the lake where we met Jessica (Jeff's sister) and Matt for another day on the lake. Jess had lots of fun on the tube. Jeff gave her a really fast ride and she sure held on tight, eventually he threw her off! That's what she wanted.. to be thrown off the tube. We were pretty exhausted from the day before but still managed to have lots of fun! Clear water is just beautiful, not very big but very clean and calm. We will definitely go back again.

Where did the week go already?

Wow, this week sure flew bye! Preston went to Christian School Monday and Tuesday while I worked on my classroom. Austin got to spend some time with grandma and grandpa LaFave. Preston caught a fever virus Wed. and Thurs. so we just took it easy inside, painting, play dough, and movies. He's back to normal today ( two days at school and sick already)! I took the boys to get their pictures taken at Sears today. They did a great job. Yes, a little late for birthday pics; yet, we were having too much fun doing other things to get pictures taken this summer. However, I figured we'd better make time before I go back to work! Now, it's time to get ready for another weekend at the lake. We're not tired of it yet! I'm not sure we could get tired of it, it's just so much fun!

Thursday

Too hot to be outside, so we
resorted to Toys -R-us
clearance.....Dr. Dreadful slimy snack
lab! Looks yummy, huh? It
entertained them for awhile, once
we finally got the thing together
and figured it out! Quite messy, but fun!