Fall colors

We've been enjoying some nice weather lately and I must say that fall is much prettier when the sun is shining and the weather is warmer! We had a nice weekend at the lake and came home early on Sunday for my nephew's birthday. Carson did not have school on Monday so we took our last trip of the year to the zoo and the boys and I had a great time. In some ways I miss having those afternoons to go somewhere fun with the kids. Anyways, I will enjoy throwing the baseball around with Carson, walking to the bus stop with Caleb and chasing my dog in the yard until we get slammed with our lovely winter.

My Little Pre-Schooler

I just had to make a quick post about how much Caleb loves nursery school. He just bounded out of bed yesterday and said "I'm going to school today!" It was so adorable. This morning he said, "Mommy, is it school today?" I felt so bad saying that it wasn't! I am really amazed at how many of the kids names he knows and how easy it was for him to hang up his stuff and get his shoes on by himself. He even recounted everything that was in his snack to my mom last night on the phone. Carson used to always say he couldn't remember so this is a real switch. It's fun on the way home from walking to the bus stop at 345 to hear the boys argue who is going to tell mommy a story from school. My boys sure are growing up! One of the moms at preschool asked me what I was doing with my "alone" time yesterday morning. I answered that I was going grocery shopping and she said "the whole time?" and guess what? I was there the entire time and was almost late picking him up! I had to laugh at myself but it was nice to shop alone and that will be the one thing that I will be doing with my "alone" time. Although I must admit I am having breakfast with a few friends tomorrow! The rest of the week has a bit of running around as tonight there is Carson's music lesson and tomorrow Caleb has his first music lesson. Then in the evening is a welcome back BBQ at Carson's school which will probably end up being in the gym as the weather has been crappy. Then on Friday my nephew is having a fun 7th birthday party in the afternoon because he has the day off of school. Carson doesn't and I am going to take him out of school early-yikes rebel mama! We hope to go to the lake again for a bit on the weekend. Last weekend we had a lot of fun and some sunshine to go along with it. We were a little chilly but we have some coziness from baseboard heaters. My husband tried soooo hard to make a fire but the whole cottage just kept filling up with smoke and I am still smelling it around here! Yuck! We enjoyed walks, bike rides, steak, canoeing, burning branches, kicking the ball with the boys and watching the premiere of the apprentice! Thank goodness for tv, pvr's and movies out there! Oh and raspberry schmirnoff ice! Anyways, I packed up a bunch of cupboards and now have 2 of everything at home but that's ok - it will get used over the winter and then we will start fresh in what feels like a lifemtime from now - spring!

August and already September

We're well into September already aren't we? I guess that's one thing everyone around the world has in common - it is September 12th for us all. And the start of school affects plenty of us as well. Around here that has been a large part of our focus this past week as our big boy began grade one and is now at school all day. It was a very different week from the one before where we enjoyed a trip to Minneapolis and then rushed out to the lake for the long weekend. This weekend is the first weekend that we are not at the lake. Running errands yesterday (Sat) was not something I really missed and would rather be at the lake but I did enjoy a movie premiere with the boys and my mom and I did get to attend my friend's housewarming party for a bit. Today Chris is off to the Bomber game and when he comes home we will try to enjoy some fall right here in our own backyard. We've had so much fun bikeriding at the lake and haven't once gone riding down our own street!
We did have a great time in MN at Valleyfair and just being together as we drove all that way. We also went with our brother and sister in law and nephews which was so much fun. They also came out to the cottage for the first time all summer and it was fun to watch the cousins play. I've got a bunch of pictures to share that kind of explain a little of what we've been up to.