5...4...3...2...1...

It's not a countdown to the summer ending but the ages of each of these kids. Sky 5, Trevor 4, Jett 3, Brooke 2, and Sterling 1. How cute are they. It's been a fun summer. I'm not ready for it to be over, but I guess I don't have a choice. I really enjoy the days of living in swimsuits, running through sprinkers and eating popsicles. I love this picture, so much personality. Sky making sure nothing drips on her, Jett treating it as if it's a sword or light saber and Brookey being silly and putting it on her head without a care in the world.

Around the corner...

is Gardner Village. I love to shop there and my kids love to go and feed the ducks... oh, and get candy from the candy store. So it works out perfectly for those days when I just need to get out of the house for a half hour. Sometimes we head over on Sundays to enjoy the peacefulness of it and as a family activity. This last Sunday, we did just that. We grabbed our bag of bread and headed out the door. I, of course, grabbed my camera.

Charming beyond belief!

This picture deserved a post all on it's own... my little Brookey Brooke winking! My husband can do eye tricks and we've found out that Sky can too. Jett thinks he can and it's adorable but will Brooke be able to? We'll see... for now she can wink and it's so stinkin' cute.

This little girl warms my heart in so many ways. She can make me smile when I'm in the worst of moods. She charms the pants off of everyone! This summer my little sister Megan has been around a lot. When she says "Megan" it sounds like she says "bacon" so now we all call Megan, "Bacon." I don't think Megan was too thrilled at first, bacon... pig. But then I told her it's cause she's a long, lean, piece of meat. :) She is... she's a gorgeous girl. At age 11 when most are starting to look awkward, she looks like she should be starring in a tweenybop Disney show. I'll be sure to do a back to school photo session with her in her amazing back to school clothes so you can see for yourself.

What happens when I say no.

My little Brookey Brooke came up to me and asked for some "yellows" (translation... marshmallows) to which I said, "no, you can't have marshmallows for breakfast." So... this is what soon followed. She being the smart girl that she is, figured out that she can reach the Lucky Charms out of the cupboard and there's marshmallows in there... what a great solution to moms answer, right? See for yourself. What a smart cookie!

She first hid, afraid of what I might do when I saw the mess...

But then mom broke out the camera, so that had to be an okay to go fish through the cereal for the oh so desired "yellows".


Then of course there's my crazy, cleaning lady named Sky who immediately came to the rescue!

Notice there's NO "yellows" left? That's because she managed to grab them all before I put my camera down to stop her. But I couldn't resist getting pictures to go with the story!

I get teary-eyed thinking about it...

No this isn't any sort of "back to school" picture, but it's one of my little girl who's about to officially start school this year. I know, I know it's still 23 days away (who's counting), but it's August and school starts this month so I've been thinking about it a lot.
I remember my first day of kindergarten.
I remember my teacher.
I remember my friends.
I remember crying while my mom tried taking a picture of me in front of the Sonoma Elementary school sign.
I remember the blue dress I wore.
It's hard for me to imagine, I have my very own little girl who is going to soon make these same memories that will last a lifetime. So what does this mean for me... tears!
I can't even look at this picture for some reason. It just makes me tear up. It's so genuine and so my little Sky Hannah Banana! You're growing up way too fast sweet girl. Will you stop it already?