Autumn: A Summary

 

It's official!  The accomplishment of the summer:  after a whole lotta work, tons of commitment, and a TON of research and paper writing this summer, Shawn has earned his master's degree!!! 

The new school year got off to a great start.  My new job has me teaching 9th grade English at the high school in the morning, spending some time doing my school counseling internship in various buildings, and then working as the Student Success Coordinator (with kids at-risk) at the middle school in the afternoons.  This means I have an office at the middle school, rather than a classroom.  Oliver and Sy didn't mind helping me get settled in there...mostly because Jody keeps Legos in the guidance office.

What else have we been up to?

We had lots of fun watching football with the Branstroms when we could.

"Basket rides" are always a hit.

In September, Auntie Linda and Lou had a wedding in Green Bay so we were able to catch a quick visit with them.  Here Sy and Oliver hang out outside the hotel. 

As you can see, it was a gorgeous day!

Auntie treated us to lunch...I forget the name of the place but it was delish.

Since we were in town, we swung by De Pere for Silas' first haircut!

He did ok...

The cool fire truck chair helped.

We stopped by the Reese's on the way home so Silas could get some Elsie and Brie time.

Other fun stuff:  Hanging out at the Thursday farmer's market in town.

Helping Kaylie get ready for the middle school 80's dance because her mom and dad were up north for her older brothers' football game.  She wasn't so sure about the side pony but once she got there, she realized how essential it was.

 Colder weather always puts Shawn in a lasagna-making mood. 

This fall, Silas decided he was a huge fan of it.



Greg and Tricia Rose have been friends of ours forever.  They own the Clintonville Chronicle and recently started a new paper for my old stomping ground.  In September, they featured an article on Shaunie B's with a big 'ol picture of my handsome little brother.

Speaking of my brother, here's a cousin shot from a spontaneous Pinetree visit

with him, Tonya, and Addy.

The other Shawn used one of the nice weekends for putting the new hardware on the door Bug hung for us.  Silas loves watching dad work and playing with the new mailbox.

Love this picture...he looks like such a big boy...and his shirt is correct. 

That boy is ALWAYS hungry!!

Oliver used the time for bubble blowing.  Mr. Loberg's sweet granddaughter Libby gave O a new bottle of them and he about used them up entertaining Silas.



We spent some time at the "big kid park".

My big kids!



You're probably already aware of Oliver's crazy reactions to bug bites.  No idea what got him this time, but it made his poor little ear huge again.

Homecoming was the first week in October.  When Oliver saw all the toilet paper around his sandbox, his response was, "Is this some kind of joke?"  Yup, buddy.  It kind of is...

Weekends have become more precious as our lives get busy again.  More time spent doing laundry on Sundays means more time spent in laundry baskets
 (which of course means more laundry thrown on the floor!)



And finally, Silas starting to get a little more comfortable on his legs...he's not quite there yet but walking is gonna be sooner rather than later, I think.

Only two weeks until his first birthday!

Summer's End

 It's been awhile since we've summed things up here so this is how we spent the rest of our summer.

Reese called with an invite for the boys and I to meet up with him, Elsie, and our friend Kelly and her kiddos to head to the Children's Museum in Green Bay. 

Lots of things for Oliver to do but not so much for the itty-bitties.

 Oliver loved it so much he didn't want to leave.

 Silas did find the sandbox but I had to take him out when he kept eating the sand.

 Here's the whole crew before we left.  This was the best I could do for pictures.  Reese had a better one on Facebook I should have stolen:  Mathias, Elsie, Emma, Brie, Silas, and Oliver.

 This was our first summer trying out a real garden.  It was a family affair.  Shawn built us a raised bed, Grandma sent over some special fertilizer, and Oliver did the picking.  We had some HUGE tomato plants and lotsa broccoli.  We're still waiting for the brussel sprouts!

And speaking of veggies, Silas loves him some corn.  Actually, since this whole eating-real-foods thing has started for him, he is a little piglet.  He looooves to eat!  He's not too picky but his favorites are mac and cheese, pears, chicken, and waffles.  I think this was eggs...

I got to hang out with some of my very oldest friends.  Amanda lives in the Cities but she was "home" helping out some family members.  Robyn and I used the opportunity to catch up with her at the Harbor.  Such a nice visit!

 And we pretty much look exactly the same as we did in this picture from 6th grade, don't you think? :)  We were headed to Milwaukee for the New Kids on the Block concert in this picture.  We won free tickets for reading the most books...

funny, we talked about books while we were at lunch twenty years later.

 

Our outdoor projects continued most of the summer.  Here Oliver helps to maneuver the removal of the two giant bushes in the front of the house.  The hat was uncalled for...it was pretty nice out but I guess he just likes that one?

Paully and Dan came to help out, as they always seem to when manual labor is involved.  We're very lucky to have handy friends with power tools.  Silas looks on from the driveway.

The boys finally decided the best route was to hook the stump up to Paully's truck.  I was a little nervous but it worked out great.  I should have been better with before-and-afters.

The class of '97 had our 15 year reunion at Cedar Springs.  Tiff, Casey and the kids traveled up from Madison and stayed at our house for it.  Allison came over and babysat for the whole crew and Kaylie came over as an extra set of eyes and hands.  Two babies is a lot...even cute ones like Silas and Emmy!

This is just a silly picture from after a dinner out with my dad.  The boys were supposed to be looking cute but it was melt-down time instead.

We had a last hurrah in Michigamme to visit with a bunch of family and have family photos taken.  The weather wasn't so great for boating so Sy got his water fix in the sweet pink tub. 

 Here are some of the professional pics...the whole fam.

And all the kiddos.  Oliver has a hard time not sticking out his tongue and scrunching up his face. :P

Back at the park, Silas was all smiles.

Oliver and the ducks

 and the shores of Michigamme. So pretty!

 It was a chilly weekend but we managed some boat time.

Dad and Silas

Mom and Oliver

Back at home, we had a few more excursions on the boat...



And our annual Waupaca County Fair visit included Cousin Leah, Nate and Zoe this year.

Nate and Oliver are tractor buddies.

Hanging out in the wheel.

Not sure if you can see it here but this sheep's name was "Oliver" too.

Grandpa, Great Grandma and Addy met us there too.  Sy thought it was a lot of fun too but he's excited for next year when he can try a ride or two.

Group shot!

This was about a close as we could get for a kid-group shot...like nailing Jello to a tree.

News: Harper (and her other siblings) got a new baby sister this summer!  We went over to do some visiting and snuggle up new baby Portia.  While we were there the big kids were using a mattress to practice throwing baseballs.  Oliver and Harper took a free moment to so some relaxing on it...a random backdrop but they're both so darn cute.



Another silly one.  Oliver has been potty trained forever but he did spend his nights this summer in a pull-up so this is a diaper shot x2.



The end of summer brought us back to daycare at "G.G.'s" house. 

Here's our back-to-school shot

Oliver saved his cool block tower to show me when I came to get him that week.

We tried to take advantage of the gorgeous end-of-summer weather in the backyard (with Elsie sometimes too)

and at the park

Oliver "helping" Sy up the climbing stuff.

August also means the dentist!  Oliver did a great job at his first real appointment.

Fun times!