Crazy Aunt Beth

Brendan and Hannah came over for a while today.  Don't tell their mom, but Aunt Beth let them eat chips in the living room right out of the bag!  Apparently they thought this was pretty cool!  :)  Who knew this was so exciting!!  (And no....I didn't let them eat a ton of chips.)

Entryway

Finally....I was able to organize our front entry way.  I saw something similar in the Pottery Barn catalog.  Just had to customize it to the size of my area and my pocketbook.  I found the shelf and cubbies at IKEA.  The inserts are from Thirty-One.  The white lamp is from Target.  The little bag on top for Joe and Joel's wallets and sunglasses is from Thirty-One.  The hooks that spell out H-O-M-E are from Hobby Lobby.  The patriotic board is from Uppercase Living and my beloved metal sculpture is a Carol Roeda original!  I now love our entryway!!

Castle de Monya

We went to visit John and Diane Moyer for a bit.  Gus calls them the "Monya's"  Not sure how you get that from "Moyer".  He also seems to think that their house is a castle.  Therefore we have now dubbed their house the Castle de Monya.  While there, Gus got out their toys to play with.  He found a Yoda figure and a little Yoda figure.  He renamed them Dadoh and Gus-Gus.  (Yes, his dadoh's heart melted a bit to see that Gus was already loving Star Wars!)

GO FORD!!

The cheerleaders shot a commercial for Crest Ford!

Team Stapleton

Due to technical difficulties, MR and MRS Stapleton were unable to show the 9/11 tribute documentary in their own classrooms so we had to combine in Mr. Stapleton's room.  The kids were SO good considering there were about 80 kids in one room!!

Rainy football game...no problem!

I can now handle all weather for football games with my giant "sportbrella".  It is perfect for those rainy games!!  (And yes...people made fun of us.  But we didn't care...we were dry!)

Note from Aunt Mirs house

Gus spent his first day at Aunt Miranda's house on our first day of school.  Aunt Mir was nice enough to send us this while we were at work.

Gus and Eme

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE watching these two kids play together!!  Gus and Eme only see each other two times a year but this time they remembered each other and gave big hugs and kisses!  (Could be because we actually saw them two months ago this time and we see pictures and talk about the Carlson family all of the time!)

Cute idea

LOVE this idea!!  Can't wait to make some for Gus!  (Found this on my new obsession...pinterest.com)

Office work

I had to get work done and Joel had to go to football practice so Gus came to my office at school.  He happily ate his lunch and watched a DVD for about a half hour....all while wearing his sunglasses.  He refused to take those off.

Guys in shoes

Where else would Gus' guys live than in his shoes?

Tie backs

Made my own tiebacks for my drapes!

Polka dots

Gus' room is finally complete now that he has his polka dots.  Does this look familiar to you??  Look back at his old bedroom....I just couldn't let go of it yet, so in the new house, it is close to being the same!!

Gift from Swidorskis

Gus received his birthday gift today from the Swidorski family.  We had challenged Auntie Sara to make a new blankie for Gus.  She made him two blankets when he was born but he has grown so quickly that those blankets no longer cover him.  She did a beautiful job on this blanket and Gus LOVES it!!  She also made him a fort in a bag.  It is such a cool gift.  Can't wait to test it out!!

Cheer Bows

Decided to try my hand at making the cheer hair bows this year.  Not too bad for a rookie!

Clean classroom

Trust me when I say that this is the cleanest that my classroom will ever be and ever has been!!

Dadoh's shoes

Dancing in Dadoh's shoes

Farm tour

Gus loves to drive through the Otto turkey farm.

Ready for Halloween

Gus got his Thirty-One cinch sac for carrying all of his loot on Halloween night!

Thank you Thirty-One!

Due to the level of sales that I had this year, I was able to earn a gift certificate to Best Buy from Thirty-One.  Included in my purchase was a new laptop and an iPad!!  How awesome!!  I am so lucky to work for such a great company!!

A boy and the open road

Driving his car at Grammy and Papa's house.

Wait for me, girls!!

Gus running laps around the track with the cheerleaders!

Stranded

Yes...this is my child and his carseat on a curb at the Ford dealership waiting for someone to come get us.  :(  Luckily, our friend, Diane was able to come get us!!

Goofy Boy

Gus discovered that there is a button on my phone that will allow him to turn the camera on him so that he can see himself and take a great self portrait...he LOVES it!

Super Cool Copier

At school we have had a number of issues with our copy machine.  I walked into the teachers lounge today and there was a new one!  How exciting!!!  (yes...this is what teachers get excited about!!)

Perfection

It was cool enough for the windows to be open at night, I finally got to read a good book at night before bed and I had a little boy who wanted to sleep next to his momma....summer perfection!!

Baby in a Bag

This is the XXL Utility Tote from Thirty-One.  I just got mine in the mail today!!  It is HUGE!  It holds my 2 year old!!

Broken :(

This plate was a Thirty-One product that was way too expensive for me to indulge in.  Recently we had a clearance sale with discontinued 31 items...this was in it.  I bought it for my kid and future children.  I plan to always have a little cake for them on their birthday and it will be on this plate....that is until it was broken by an innocent 2 year old bystander.  :( Luckily, his Grammy also bought one and gave it us to carry on our tradition.

Too CLOSE

I caught this little guy on the ottoman too close to the tv...he was deeply engrossed in Mickey Mouse.  I had to take a quick pic before dragging him away from Mickey!

Fuzzy Flops

I had forgotten about the flip flops I had purchased from our Student Council a couple of years ago.  Kinda crazy but surprisingly comfortable!

Race to Build

Gus and Hannah race to build with all of the blocks!!

Family of 5....for the Weekend

This is my nephew, Brendan.  LOVE him!!  We are lucky enough to get to steal him and his sister, Hannah for the weekend.  We are loving having them at our house this weekend while their parents are out of town.  And if their parents are lucky....I MIGHT give their kids back to them.  I really love these kids and want to steal them!

Life is too short

I definitely stole this picture as it was circulating facebook but it totally sums up today.  Today I attending the funeral of a 34 year old man that I grew up with.  Life is too short....

Hang it up!

Finally had a change to hang up my little purse hooks in my office.  So cute.  They will look cuter when I hang up stuff on them!

Sandbox

Gammy and Papa but a new playset in at their house for Gus and all future grandbabies.  Gus had a blast playing in the sand!!

Piano Prodigy

The first thing Gus does when he gets to my grandmother's house is runs over to the piano!  He LOVES it!!  My grandma thinks that Gus will be a piano prodigy.  (If you heard him play, you would not agree.)  But he is so happy to play it!

Storage

I got some new shelves to help with the storage of my Thirty-One stuff in my office.  Apparently, Gus thought he needed to be on that shelf!

Miss Madi

We had a meeting at our house for Thirty-One consultants.  My friend, Amy, brought her daughter, Madi, along to be our assistant.  She is so helpful both with our Thirty-One stuff and with Gus.  Gus absolutely adores her!

STUCK

I heard a little voice yell, "help" while I was in the kitchen.  Come to find out he somehow worked his way behind the chair and couldn't figure out how to get out. 

Slip Slidin' Away

We also spent some time on the 'IDE (slide) at Uncle Nelson's cottage next door.  Gus LOVED it!!!

Snuggle Bugs

Snuggling after a long day playing in the lake!

Beach Bums

Gus had a great time in both Torch Lake and in his little blow up pool!

Blue!!

Gus...and the rest of the kids at the cottage got ahold of some blue candy.  Yes....they got caught!

Strange...

I have never seen a tree with a wet paint sign....until today when I was in Traverse City.  How strange....

Last night....

This is my favorite picture from last night!  Gus loves his Auntie Nanya and Uncle Icka!  Congrats Tanya and Ricky!!

Let the show begin!

Waiting patiently for the wedding to begin....

A seat

Gus will make a seat out of anything...including the toy buckets from his playroom.

Ringbearer Rehearsal

Gus' shirt says "King of the Ring".  We are hoping that he actually goes down the aisle on Saturday....keep our fingers crossed....

Collecting

We spent the day at the Moyer's pool and Gus decided to collect everything he could find on their deck and in their sunroom in one place.  Needless to say, it took us a while to find where it all went back.

Packing

Gus wanted to "help" momma pack....unfortunately he did more unpacking.

So sleepy...

Close those eyes baby boy...

Cousins!

Joel's oldest sister, Sherri, and her family are in town for a couple of weeks from Nebraska!  Gus and Cole have tons of fun together!