Luke's first soccer game

Look at this big kid!

First day of school

We switched up our tradition of a little bit this year. 

Instead of me sewing dresses for everyone...

Here's Kate, off to 6th grade

 Kate made her own shirt,

Luke and Ally off to 2nd grade and Anna off to 4th

I made Anna a shirt instead of a dress and we bought Luke a shirt.

They survived the day.  And Luke is off to his first day of soccer.

You may notice Anna looks a little different.  She woke up the morning of the day before school with her eye completely swollen shut from a bug bite.  It healed a lot that day, and was looking quite a bit better by the first day of school, but still a bit swollen.

Luke's new haircut

Luke got his haircut yesterday.  (I clearly explained how I wanted his hair to stay long, but just wanted it neatened up around the ears and neckline.)

The hairstylist had an idea for him, and she cut it completely differently.  (Who's the mom here?)

(Although I consciously had to hold back tears,) Luke LOVED her idea.

When the hairstylist was done, Luke looked at his reflection in the mirror and his expression was (almost) worth the cost of all his beautiful hair spread over the salon floor.

He got down from the chair, pulled his new wallet out of his waistband where he kept it because he didn't have a pocket.  He took out a dollar and held it out to the lady saying, "Thank you so much.  This is a tip."

My helper

Kate has always been a good helper, but she seems to do it because she knows it's the right thing to do.  Anna and Luke also help, but their groans are barely suppressed just below the surface.

Ally, though.  This kid lives to help.  A couple weeks ago, we were cleaning the cottage, and Ally and Anna had been having some conflicts that morning, and Ally was in a bad mood.  When Ally finished dusting, she handed me the cloth and grumbled, "That wasn't even as fun as usual."

Today Ally had been feeling down this afternoon, and I knew the cure for her would be to let her help me do something, just her and me.  She chose to make dinner.  As we were cooking, she practically beamed and commented more than once, "I just love to make dinner with mommy."

I love it, too.

Vacation books

When Kate was a baby, I decided that I would make a book for any trip we went on as a family.  I figure if we spend hundreds of dollars on a trip, it makes sense to spend $40-$50 more to help the kids actually remember it.

Sometimes, as I'd spend hours making the book, I'd wonder if the time and money was actually worth it.

Lately, though, the kids have been reading the books, "Oh, mom, remember the sandcastle we made?"

"Oh, mom remember how we got to jump in that big ball pit?"

...and I know they were worth every penny and every minute.

Babysitter qualifications

This afternoon I had to run Kate up to school to set up her locker.  Anna asked if she could watch the twins for those 15 minutes.

Luke and Ally both looked at me while I was thinking it over.  Then Luke, nervous I might agree, asked accusingly, "Anna!  Do you know CPR?"

Property Brothers

The kids were all getting their back to school haircuts yesterday.

I was sick of stylists messing up Luke's hair, so I took them to a real salon.  (It ended up being the biggest catastrophe of all for Luke's hair, but that's a story for another time... for a time after I recover from my son suddenly getting a big boy hair cut.)

While the kids were sitting there, Luke saw a man walking towards us.  Luke's eyes got big and he said, "That looks like one of the brothers from, um... that show that's on the channel with House Hunters."

I looked up at the guy and he really did look just like one of the Property Brothers.  I said, "He thinks you look like one of the Property Brothers."

He pumped his fist and said, "Yes!  That's what I had him cut my hair like."

Soon everyone in the salon was saying, "Yes, you do look like the Property Brothers."  And all because of Luke's observation.