Obsessed

Someone has trouble looking at the camera during game day photoshoots.  Apparently baby Graham is the most interesting thing in the whole wide world.  

I have about 50 other photos where she is manhandling her poor baby brother, but you get the point.  I don't have one photo where she is looking at me.  Not one.  

Coast Guard Festival 2015

We have lived in the Grand Haven area for four summers and have managed to be in town for only two Coast Guard festivals.  Locals can't believe we would ever miss the huge week long festival celebrating the US Coast Guard with a carnival, concerts, fireworks and many parades amongst other "attractions".  It is a big deal around here!

This year, the Schaals and Thorntons joined us from Grosse Pointe and Grand Rapids for the main weekend of fun.  We caught the parade, joined the swarms of boaters on Spring Lake and set off our own firework display in the front yard.  It's not easy wrangling 6 kids, 4 of them three and under, but we managed to have some good laughs.  It's fun to parent with like minded individuals, who don't judge me that my kids are a bit on the the wild side.  At least I don't think they do?

The grand finale firework, appropriately called "one bad mother"

Thorntons catch the parade

Lola and I took a nap.  We could still see the boats

Gracie also choose a nap over boating, when she woke up she wanted to read.  Because why join the 200 boat party outside your window.

Coast Guard is exhausting

The boat party outside our front door.  Yes this picture is taken from somewhere 

The one bad mother firework, was really very awesome.  I was scared we were going to blow  up the neighborhood.  

some of my favorite kids.  William (3), Amelia (1.5), Levi (5), Fisher (3.5), Isaac (basically a parent), Gracie (2)

When Baby Ann Comes to Town

When baby Ann comes to town from Chicago everyone will want to hold her.

Some will hold her more successfully than others.  

Not to worry no babies were harmed in the taking of the above photo.  At least I don't think so.  My friend Katherine is too nice to say anything even if she didn't approve.  I can already tell she is an awesome mom. 

Unfortunately the weather wasn't perfect for this quick visit but we loved having Katherine and Ann visit from Chicago along with Katherine's mom all the way from southern California.  We hit up the musical fountain downtown, while Nick babysat the kids including baby Ann.  Side note, my husband is a baby pro, maybe better than me.  There was a light sprinkle in the air while we sat outside with ice cream watching the light/water display.  I'm pretty sure Katherine's mom thought she was in a monsoon.  The California drought is real folks. 

We were all dry in the morning and snapped this ragtag group shot before we jetted to Fisher's soccer practice and our house guests headed south to Saugatuck.  

Come back soon baby Ann.  My kids clearly need more baby holding practice before September.

Welcome Baby Ann!

My college roommate Katherine Suberlak just had her first baby, Ann.  I love her even if she doesn't love me.

October 2014

According to the blog, October never happened in this house.  In reality so much happened in October there was no time to blog.

Starting with an epic birthday week trip to Ann Arbor to celebrate Julianne and my birthday with Laura, Sarah and Julianne's sister Angela.   Angela happens to be marrying my cousin Andrew in August.  As you can imagine this provided endless entertainment.  The more wine I drank, the more I announced she was my cousin and the more we laughed.  Adding to the humor we ate dinner at the same restaurant as my graduation dinner 10 years ago.  At this dinner Julianne met my aunt and uncle, Angela's future in-laws.   This is all very confusing.   Why we never rode bikes in college is also confusing.  We discovered it is the only way to roll in Ann Arbor. We rode everywhere.  To the spa for facials and massages, to Dominicks our favorite pre game bar, through campus and to the house we lived in senior year, to the Minnesota game where we chained our bikes to a tree right by the entrance to the stadium.  It was awesome.  After dinner we hit up our sorority house and favorite campus bar.  An almost perfect day.

Inside Michigan stadium, three Wolverines, one Spartan (the sister friend/cousin hybrid)

Our brick inside the stadium

Sporty old sorority girls.  Young sorority girls are too cool for bikes

The cab driver told us we would last 5 minutes in our favorite bar due to our age and "classiness", we lasted several hours.  He clearly overestimated both our age and classiness. I blame Laura's pearls.

Typical Sigma Kappa stairway shot

There were many trips to the pumpkin patch. . . like too many to count.

Have I mentioned that throw yourself on the floor tantrums are a very real part of our every day life right now?  Girl drama starts early.

My 32nd birthday where I managed to convince 5 friends that going to Little Stitches studio to sew Christmas Tree skirts was a good idea.  I love them.  Thanks for humoring me and my desire to ABC (Always Be Crafting).

And a birthday cake that an almost three year old picked out.

I loved this cake.  Fisher picked it out for me.  Ugliest thing ever, and it tasted as good as it looked.

A trip to Chicago to meet Davis Gillig and celebrate baby McCutcheon and visit my parents.

A surprise cameo at Donielle's shower of my old NYC roommate Megan

Me, Donielle and Katie

Davis and Gracie.  Photographing kids is not my specialty.

And an epic Halloween birthday party complete with trick or treat, piñata and glow stick rave dance party for a little ghost who turned three!

Little friends, before the piñata

Gracie Bear sporting Fisher's Halloween costume from last year, since I left her custom monogrammed costume in Chicago the weekend before. . . bad mom

Some of the birthday gang

I was Cinderella, a bit hard to get from this picture

Fisher was obsessed with his cake.  He talked about it for days in advance and after the party.  Good thing, because this puppy took me three days to make.  It was five layers all different shades of orange in the inside. 

Ghost!

Chili bar!  White chicken chili and beef chili with all the fixings

When you go to lots of pumpkin patches you get lots of pumpkins

sadly I don't have any pictures of the completed decor, but it was one of my better efforts

An October to remember.  It took my almost all of November to recover.