Kane County Cougars

To celebrate Emily's birthday and Keith and Nancy's Anniversary the whole family went to a Kane County Cougars game! We love going to these games! They are super family friendly, parking is free, it's only 40 minutes from home, and it's just alot of fun! Now this was a particularly hot and humid 1pm game...so there was also an element of misery, but overall it was a blast! And super cool to hear Keith and Nancy wished a Happy Anniversary and Emily a Happy Birthday, by the announcer!

The Whole Gang




This next series cracks me up...I was going to choose just one, but I couldn't...







Thanks Keith and Nancy, for a great afternoon together!! And Dana thanks for organizing it!

WHO are our new teachers????

Brian and I had an awesome date weekend and went to Great America together while the older three kids hung out with Grandma and Papa, and Nate Dog with Auntie Dana! We had a great time, yet with the oppressive heat and humidity that day, we realized we are no spring chickens and we had to take 2 45minute breaks in the air conditioning of the car! =) But it was a very fun day together! We picked up the kids after grabbing a yummy breakfast and then headed over to their school because class lists were posted!!
They had their guesses as to who they would have, and who would be in their class that they knew, and were filled with anticipation!




Two very happy campers...both were totally pleased with the outcome~! Kelli has the same teacher Andrew had for 1st grade and she ROCKS! She is an absolutely amazing teacher! And though we don't know much about Andrew's teacher, he said she is who he wanted!



We are SO thankful for a wonderful school to send our kids to. We really wrestled with public vs. private school, and ultimately it came down to the expense. We have not regretted our decision for one second. Excited about another great year of school!

Road Trip

We woke up one morning and decided to take a spontaneous road trip to spend the day with my mom and dad, grandpa and sisters...it was a super special time, and I am always grateful to have a little time with the kids and their great papa! He is a precious man.







After lunch at mom and dads we headed over to Nikki's and the kids played the rest of the afternoon and evening with their cousins! Such great memories for them! Wish they could spend more time together! They did SO much more than play on the DS, but these are the only pictures I grabbed...

Catching up...

I want to write sometime about my couple week hiatus from the computer, but I will save that for later. For now, I just need to catch up...I have oodles of photos to share, so bare with me!

We started August off with our Annual Maillefer family picnic...the weather was perfect..the fellowship was great (as usual) and the food was delicious!!

Signing off...

I am going to be taking a vacation from this time sucker, my computer, for the next couple weeks. I CANNOT believe that there are less than three weeks left in the kids summer break, and I am having some major regrets about not making the most of my time with them while they have been home. So I am determined to be more intentional with my last days with them here at my finger tips! =) They start school on the 25th of August, so I will see ya back then!

Here is a video of sweet Emily singing her new favorite song to tide you over! (Make sure you pause the music on the player to the right before you start it!)

From baby to boy...

I can't believe how fast this last year has gone. I suppose it's inevitable with 4 children. And I also imagine the years will just keep flying by, and probably at an even more rapid pace. I was looking back through some photos on facebook last night and the album of Nathan's birth, and the few weeks that followed, really struck me.

My memories of his infant stage are really a blur. I suppose some of it was that we were finishing up construction, just starting summer break so all 4 kids were home, and perhaps even that when you have 4 kids the baby stage of each one blends with another! It saddens me a little bit. He is our last baby. Made that official this past Friday (Thanks to Brian for taking one for the team). Then I think about what lies ahead. This year has also included alot of "We can't do that, it's too hard with a baby." or "We can't do that, we'd need to find a sitter." or "Let's wait a year to do that when Nathan is a little bit older." Thinking towards this next chapter of our family's life, I think about it with excitement! As hard as it was for me to leave the childbearing chapter of my life, one I WHOLEHEARTEDLY enjoyed, I look forward to these next years of child-rearing. Not that this last chapter hasn't included that! =) As Andrew gets older, I realize that this next chapter is going to take a whole lot more energy than the child-bearing chapter did, at least to do it well! I am SO thankful for the 4 beautiful, healthy, perfect for me children. On to the next adventure, family!

I am choosing to embrace that my sweet baby (who will always be my "baby") is quickly becoming boy...and this little boy lights up my life!

He can be the biggest pain in the butt, and then flash one sweet smile and I am a puddle of mush. He is smart and learning SO much everyday. He watches his siblings like a hawk, taking in everything they do and then trying to do it himself.

He does everything with passion, whether it's snuggle or throw a tantrum.

He has said goodbye to bottles and hello to sippy cups.

He is a super eater, and there is no doubt that he is well fed (weighing in just a pound less than his 3 year old sister).

When he wakes up for the morning of from a nap, more often than not, he cries like his leg is broken and I go running in, and I am met with squeals, smiles and laughter. He has his mamma pegged!

He has a sparkle in his beautiful blue eyes that I dare you to look at and not fall in love with this sweet boy.

Baseball season comes to an end...

This has been our first weekend FREE of baseball! WHOOHOOO! I loved watching Andrew grow as a baseball player, and his enthusiasm for the game, but I was really, truly thankful for the All Star season to come to an end! It was a lot of work, a lot of extra planning and shuffling of kids, a lot of traveling, a lot of turning down invitations to do things because they would conflict with baseball...but then I look at these pictures and I am glad that we had to do all of that, because this boy loves baseball....And watching him do something he loves, and doing it well (for the most part), makes me happy...