Twins

These two twin a lot- by accident! I think it's hilarious.

Quinceañera

Ali was invited to a friend's Quinceañera, and I had to take a picture since she looked so lovely. She seemed to be one of the few invited who wasn't family or a long-time friend, which I took to be a sweet compliment to her.

Fantastic 4 Pizza

Eli saw this ad for a "Fantastic 4 Pizza" and wanted to buy it (with his own money so he could have it all to himself). His mom humored him and was rewarded with a slice!

With Me

My people still like to be wherever I am. Sometimes I like to see how long it takes before they join me on the deck or in my room or in the front room...spoiler alert: it's not very long!

Chalk the Spot

Jake helped me chalk Ali and Logan's parking spot. We found this Pac-Man idea and made it happen. At first, we wrote 2025 (instead of 2026, the year they're graduating!) and were glad we could fix it, haha. At the top, it says, "Choose player Ali or Logan." And notice it's the Final Level (I'm not crying...)

First Days

Happy first day! We have 2 Seniors, a Freshman, and a 5th grader. It's going to be a big year. We got a normal shot, but I like this one better:)

Cantigny

The boys' yearly physicals were the last day of summer...not so fun! But we were going to pass right by Cantigny on the way home, so we decided to stop! Never a bad idea to go to Cantigny! 

Gary's Birthday

On Gary's birthday, all the kids and grandkids try to eat ice cream in his honor. We've started taking photos and sharing them in a group chat, and this year, Amy made a collage of all the photos. We agreed it would make Gary very happy to see his family so connected on his day (and enjoy some ice cream too).

Family birthday

Happy 23rd birthday to our family (aka mine and Jason's anniversary).

High Schoolers and a 5th Grader

We have three in High School this year! Eli went to an orientation for a few days before school started, which took care of most of the nerves he was feeling. 

And then we all went for schedule pick up a few days later, mainly so I could take pictures (they all knew their way around the school by that point!)

And Jake is in 5th grade (middle school is NEXT YEAR!) He has Mrs. Fisher this year, just like Logan did (in fact, there is a picture of 5th-grade Logan on her wall still, along with a sweet note he wrote her!).

Here's to a year as amazing as you four, my loves!

Summer Marching Band

Ali enjoyed doing marching band again this summer. They work hard to get ready for the upcoming season. We all went to family night and learned to march with her:)

This is her Senior banner that will be hanging in the football field all season!

They have theme days the kids can dress up for (like spirit week). Here Ali is as a Frat Bro, haha!

Gifted Math

Jake worked really hard in math class last year, and was recommended for gifted math in 5th grade...but what that means in practical terms is that he is skipping 5th grade math and doing 6th grade math during the school year, and so they expect the kids to basically learn all of 5th grade math over the summer. Since 5th-grade math is really beyond my comfort zone, Jason got the assignment of math tutor this summer. The two of them worked really hard and got this huge pile of work done (about 120 pages of worksheets).