A boy and his dog

Bella, our dog, really loves to look out the front window of our house! In fact, she jumps up on the couch and perches there, just waiting for someone to come over or drive by (which, whenever happens, she barks! Any suggestions to curb that habit?). She looks so cute just chillin' and waitin'. If anyone ever wonders why that front window is always dirty, it's because she presses her little nose up to the glass! I could seriously clean those windows all day and they would still be dirty!




Cole loves to look out the window too, especially since we and our neighbors have put up our Halloween decorations. Ryan put a huge picture of a skull in the window and in one of our upstairs windows too. Pretty creepy!



But it's fun to finally be fall-time and cooling off a little bit! I think today was the first day we didn't have the air conditioning on at all and the kids even went out to play in the backyard and I had to tell them to come in! Usually after ten minutes, they're so hot they want to come in themselves.

Date Night!

Our friends Ryan and Alleen invited us to go out with them last weekend. It was so much fun! He had gotten a limo ride as a bonus for his work and asked us to go along (we're so lucky!).

Anyhew, we went to Maggiano's (the best Italian restaurant I have ever eaten at). Although I do still love my Olive Garden, this is way better I do have to admit!!



Afterward, we came back to the Fish Bowl (aka our house) and played Rock Band. It was Ryan and Alleen's first time but they rocked the house!

Thanks for inviting us out, you guys! We had the best time!!

Cole's 1st report card!

I have uploaded and uploaded this picture and it keeps going the wrong direction for some reason! Very frustrating! Anyways, you get the idea, right? :)

This is Cole's first progress report - ever! It's so weird to think that I'll be getting these every quarter for the next 12 years! He is doing really well in kindergarten. He caught on fast to blending sounds to make words and is reading as well! He has gotten 100% on all his spelling tests so far (maybe he got that from me?). I'm so proud of my Cole-y!

Our first parent teacher conference was the other day (unfortunately I didn't get to go, but Ryan went instead). Ryan said it was nice to hear from his teacher how he's doing and she gave us the art book he has been working on in class to keep! I'll post pics of that later, but it is so cool!!

Crashing on the Couch!

I snapped these sweet pics of Ryan and Katelyn a week ago. Katelyn has given up her afternoon naps (much to my chagrin) but sometimes she will crash on the couch around 7pm or so.

Why do they look so dang cute when they're sleeping? I love it!

I sewed!

I know for many of you, sewing is super easy, but for me, that's not the case! I was doing a challenge for the Project Runway scrapbooking challenge I'm part of, and it involved making a fun beach accessory. So, I had been wanting to try to make this bag for awhile, and finally decided to do it.

I'm embarrassed to say, I had to ask Ryan for help on this! He is a much better sewer than I am. (He defends his manliness by saying it's just like welding.) I was just glad he was there to help! He is so amazing and knows how or can figure out how to do pretty much anything!

He was helping me thread the machine and I kept getting it wrong and he just cut the thread so I had to keep doing it over and over till I got it right! I can definitely say I know how to do that now. :) That's why he's so good for me - he doesn't let me give up and he pushes me to be better. :)

Anyways, it was such a shocking sight while I was sewing that both of the kids were just sitting on top of their little Tikes cars watching me. Ryan had to come take a picture of me sewing in case it never happens again!



Here's a picture of the bag I made, in case you're interested. I used my die-cutting machine, the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up to cut out the butterflies and the Top Notes which I sewed together to make the bag! I was very happy with how it turned out, and now I can show my customers that the Big Shot can be used for sewing and other projects too! It's amazing all the different materials you can cut with this machine! Anyhew, that's all! :)

A little of what we've been up to lately

building fun forts

wearing scary masks Daddy made

painting Ryan's office



Just bein' silly - Cole and Katelyn both wearing Ryan's shirt at the same time!

laying in the grass - yes, it really was that high!