The end of August!

August has been a fun and busy month: school, birthdays, milestones, lots of things going on! Hopefully September will be just as fun, but with much cooler temperatures.

Last Friday, Kate's school had a Family Fun night with inflatables, food, and a book fair. We had a great time.

Kate and Lily were very excited to get a balloon animal, they are so easy to please!

I also worked part of the night as a parent volunteer by supervising one of the inflatables. It proved to be a very interesting two hours. I called one boy a girl right to his face, which was mortifying, but the funny thing about it was his reaction, he acted like it had happened before, which made me feel better. Cut your hair kid!!!!! I also thought two girls were boys, which would have been even more disastrous if said out loud. Parents, make sure your children aren't gender neutral or look like the opposite sex when they go out! Geez...

Elise turns 9 months old tomorrow and is such a cutie pie! She races around and is into everything...I love this stage. When she grins you can see her two little bottom teeth sticking out, its priceless!

Playing

Elise is starting to get so big! She will now sit and play with toys that she finds, and it is so fun to watch her explore. She has so many more things to play with then Kate and Lily did, so this time around it is so different than the other two. Elise played with this doll forever, touching its face and "kissing" it.

She worked so hard to get into the box, and ended up not liking sitting on all the toys inside!

Lily is 4!

Monday our sweet Lily turned 4! She was very, very excited for her big day. On Sunday we had cake and presents at Grandma Eva's house.

Elise really was loving the cake and ice cream part

Monday was another fun day of celebration

Here are just a couple pictures of Elise growing up way too fast!

The end of an Era

The last five years I have really loved being a mother of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. It has been the most joyous time of my life spending my days with my babies, but today marked the end of having all my kids at home with me. Kate went and started Kindergarten!! Many of you know of my struggle with sending her this year because she will be one of the youngest, but earlier this summer Drew and I finally decided to just bite the bullet and let her go. I did not want this to be the decision because I didn't feel ready to let my first-born grow up, not to mention I didn't want to grow up! Not following the school calendar is pretty awesome; trips whenever you want, no alarm clocks in the morning, laid back days, etc. However, over the last couple of months, I have grown more comfortable letting my little one go and following the beat of the school schedule. So, let the fun begin!!!

Above: First day of school breakfast!

Showing off her Tinkerbell backpack...Aren't we so cool?

So big and ready to learn!

We will miss you Kate! Especially Lily

Waiting for the bus

Getting on the bus! Yes, cars were lined up waiting as I snapped this shot, but thats a mother's prerogative!

Her locker!

At her desk and ready for Mommy to leave!

It is now 10:30, and I think Lily, Elise, and I are holding up great. I am excited for 2:45 to come to hear how the first day went. Can Kate really be this big?!!?

And she's 8 months...

My number 3 is now 8 months old. I cannot, I repeat, cannot believe how fast time has passed. We have had the best time the last few months with our three precious girls. What a blessing!

Elise loves to be in the midst of things, she can squeeze and push into any space if she thinks something is going on without her. Here Kate is guarding the laptop because Elise LOVES to smack at the buttons.

YUM, cake...Thanks Daddy, if you keep this up I might make "daddy" my first word

New trick

Playing with the books

We already have the "potty party" concept down in this house.

Kate and Lily are very tolerant of Elise crawling around in their play area, and Elise takes full advantage of it!

My little adventurer...coming down was defiantly not as much fun as getting up

Naked, covered in drool, and so happy. I just love having a baby around.

Land that I love?

Drew has psoriasis, that's no secret to most of you. For the past three years this disease has been part of our lives. The dermatologist he has been seeing for the past couple of years has always acted like it is no big deal, so we have been trying everything on our own to get rid of it. Finally, with Drew's new job, he has private insurance that allows Drew to go and see someone else. Surprise!!! Drew's psoriasis is severe and he needs to start on some medication. In all truth I was ecstatic that we finally had some doctor that took us seriously. Then Drew goes to pick up his month long prescription... and even with our insurance it cost more than our MORTGAGE!

That's right readers, those little pills demand more money than our house. I thought that finally having private insurance would be great and allow Drew to get what he needed, but until we meet the outrageous deductible, most things are out-of pocket. I spent most of the weekend researching prescription assistance, but because we have insurance, we can't get anything!!!! So, we have to pay a premium monthly AND cover a deductible to get the cost covered.

I am angry! When did this country become a place where the poor can get fat off government assistance but the working middle class can't catch a break? If a person makes less than $40,000 he/she has a world of financial help at his/her fingertips. WIC, TANF, Medcaid, college financial aid, and those are only a few. I feel as if hard work and self-reliance are qualities that are no longer cherished by this nation that was built on the backs of independent, industrial men and women. Its wrong, and I want it to STOP! If people need help from the government, they need to give also. This getting something for nothing plan is not working anymore. I am not sure what I can do, but I will find out, and I hope you find out too. Together we can change the world, one small step at a time.

On saturday I took the girls and the dog town to the river for some bike riding. The girls were so cute!

We really wore out Alex

Our little trio of cuties!

A few weeks ago we went to another Otter's game...this time we were smart and got in line for face painting before the game started! It is so fun to spend time with our girls!