Fall 2016 Family Portraits

I think all Moms agree: getting pictures done is one of the most nerve-wracking, stress-inducing things of all time. Yesterday was humid and sticky hot (so much for fall, ha!), and sometimes it's kind of annoying to be a girl, if you catch my drift. But we got some good ones, and though I am my own worst critic, finding every.single.flaw in every.single.shot, I know I'll treasure these. I already do. I can't believe they are all mine. Well, ours. You know what I mean. ;)

First Day of School 2016

We haven't had a traditional "first day" back to school for several years now, so this felt really bittersweet. But good. =) I love this school system. That helps a lot.

Biggest and littlest. Does it get any sweeter than this? I doubt it. (Ignore the dead plants, please and thank you, ha!)

Off to 10th and 11th grade. I'm so proud of them! Of course they're both playing soccer at the new school. Ethan plays for Varsity and Jonah for JV. They are really terrific young men, so friendly, thoughtful, and kind. Most of the time, ha. And super smart. They are So. So. Smart.

This girl is off to the fourth grade! It seems like just yesterday I was sending her off to preschool for just a couple hours a week. She is continuing with piano this year and wants to try basketball this winter. Hooray! Gymnastics has been fun, but I think our time with it has come to an end. Though little miss doesn't know that yet. Oops.  :/

Framer!

I always give her the option of wearing something that I haven't made, and I can only think of one time when she chose a store-bought outfit. We both love this skirt! And I really love that smile!

I can hardly believe that my "baby" is entering the eighth grade. He is such a kind-hearted, helpful, and friendly kid, I just love him to pieces. He continues to move up in the ranks at Civil Air Patrol, and each step brings him closer to getting his pilot's license. Couldn't be prouder!

He just reached out to her and told her to have the best day. I'm savoring this moment because many of the other moments are not nearly so cute between these two lately. Argh.

We're now in our third week and things are going well. Levi has no real schedule - and still doesn't sleep at night - so we just do what we want. I know first hand how incredibly quick these years fly by, so I keep that in mind with my little guy, especially when we may not be having the best day. But there is always something good in it all, isn't there?

Our First Summer as a Family of Seven

Yes, I'm still among the living. Barely. Just kidding....kinda. ;) Baby boy has not yet learned the precious, precious value of sleep in any form, be it nap or nighttime, and we are exhausted. But. We are so in love!!! We had a big scare earlier this summer when Levi began to cough uncontrollably and really just struggled breathing; it wasn't whooping cough but pneumonia. Poor baby. I felt even worse because he got it from us when we all had pneumonia weeks before- it was a highly contagious strain, which doctors assured us babies rarely get. Famous last words. So after Levi's x-rays were read, the doctor called us and told us to get checked into the hospital right away. As in, skip dinner and just get there. That was a difficult night to say the least, but he responded well to the meds and we were allowed home the next afternoon.

Overall, our summer has been a good one. I was just going to say, "not great," but it HAS been great, just not exactly what we're used to. It has been a while since we've had a baby around here after all, ha. We've enjoyed hanging out with family and friends at home (hello pool! such a blessing!) and a few trips to the lake, but only one trip to the beach and zero trips to any of our favorite tourist-y type places. In time. =)

Here is a smattering of our summer photos. I definitely keep my IG account much better updated. I'm bethanylivs_life over there if you want to say hi and see what we're up to.

Levi, around 2.5 months

first night out all by myself in over three months- got a haircut :)

big discovery upon leaving the beach this day...

...a tooth! 3.5 months old...too early for teeth!  :(

Ethan's 17th birthday

we hid gift cards under all the balloons in his car! ;)

and yes, I stood out there in the pouring rain doing this!

such fun that day!

Now that the boys are older, I don't feel right about posting so many pictures of them on here, that's why they seem a bit...lacking. They are all as handsome and active as ever, let me assure you.

School starts this week, and I'm ready. I do have mixed emotions, but I'm looking forward to finding a new norm, some structured time. A new season to welcome in and get familiar with. If anyone reads this blog anymore, I hope your summer was a good one and wish you well if you're dealing with new routines and schedules as well. =)

Ethan's 17th Birthday!!!

Ethan's actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year, which was nice because we could all be here to celebrate him. I knew what I wanted to do and hoped Levi would let me escape in the morning so I could pull it off.

A couple days before this, Bill bought a new (but not new, ha) car to commute to work, and so his old car was to officially become Ethan's. I know it isn't as exciting as a brand new car, but it's something that deserves to be celebrated, so I blew up about a million and one balloons to shove in the front of the car.

And then it started to rain on me. Hard! I got soaked!

I'd gotten gift cards to Starbuck's, SubWay, Dunkin's and a gas card and was hoping to get them inside the balloons so he'd have to pop them to find them...but that was taking too long and I had to get moving. So I hid them in plain sight on the dash, the seat, inside the glove compartment and in the cup holder, they were just buried under all the balloons. It was really fun putting all this together for him! Even in the rain. ;)

 Nobody cared that it was raining, and that's even our family joke about Ethan's birthday. There's always a storm. Always! Isabelle had the most fun chasing the balloons around the driveway.

 The balloons just kept coming!

An eager passenger =)

They were on their way to Dunkin' Donuts to get coffee and bring back donuts for everyone.

Well, Ethan won't drink DD coffee, so they went twenty minutes out of the way to go to the one Starbuck's in town. One! Isn't that crazy!

The guys went to the movies to see the new Bourne with my Dad, who wasn't impressed, coincidentally. I was surprise, I thought he would have loved it.

You won't catch me watching a Jason Bourne movie with Matt Damon, so...

Yes, it's blurry but they wouldn't stand still. Weirdos.

=)

The big party was on Sunday afternoon, and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. I guess the rain got out of the way the day before, but there was considerable wind Sunday morning, so I was a little nervous. But by noon, there was nothing but sunshine and blue skies.

I kept the decorations simple because nobody really cares about that when there's swimming going on. Plus, everything I'd tried wasn't cooperating with the wind, so I just made small streamer "tassles" and hung them on the fence.

I'd planned on decorating the grey fence much more but nothing stayed put in the wind, so I didn't bother. That would've looked nice, but you can't always compete and win with nature.

The rest of the day was filled with fun and laughter.

Here are just a few pictures.

We served snacks and some drinks for this party since it was from 2-4 pm. Basic things like watermelon slices, chips, pretzels, and a couple veggie trays, and iced tea, lemonade, and Root Beer to drink.

And the best chocolate cake ever, of course.

(Recipe here)

I still can't believe that I have a son that just turned seventeen. It doesn't seem possible.

I must be getting old!