apples!

We picked honeycrisp apples last week at Crane's with the kids. At 75 cents a pound it was hard to go wrong. We have been happily munching away ever since!

a boy and his cars

Dylan has been in love with cars pretty much from the beginning. It seems to be in his DNA (playing cars was one of Matt's favorite pastimes as a kid too) and he loves playing cars, talking about cars, looking at cars, etc. And he is crazy good at making engine sounds with his throat. We laugh because he has a daddy who works at a car dealership - what could be cooler than that for a kid who loves cars? His favorite TV channel is the Speed channel (featuring Nascar and other fine car related races almost 24/7) and he spends hours every day lining up and racing his Matchbox cars and "movie cars" (from Cars). I have gotten so used to stepping over little cities and racetracks he's put together all over our house that I don't even bother to have him put them away at night - they have just become part of the permanent landscape around here. We sure do love this little boy...and his cars :)

the last bit of summer (*sigh*)

Could this really have been only two weekends ago? A glorious Saturday spent with friends on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Until next year, Summer...

we're getting a sister!

Matt's brother Chad proposed to his girlfriend Katie on Monday - we're not sure who's more excited, them or us. We absolutely love each of them and love them even more together :)

Matt claims he knew from the very first time he ever met Katie that she was meant for Chad. He met her at church one Sunday last January and at the time Chad and her were really only acquaintances - the three of them talked for a few minutes and after Matt and Chad walked away, Matt said, "Chad, that is the girl you need to be dating!" It didn't take Chad long to figure out that his big brother was right, and the rest is history.

Congratulations, Chad & Katie!

Back to school!

First day of the new school year for Dylan today - he was very happy to go and I think he was less hesitant than last year because he knows what to expect this year. He has different teachers and a different class room this year but everything else is familiar for the most part. Matt and I both picked him up and then we all went out to lunch and Dylan was very happy to share his day with us (last year it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk - we'll see if that continues!)
Ella and I had a fun morning, running errands and getting some one-on-one time in. I'm really looking forward to my mornings with her this year (she's going to be the middle child and I don't want her to get gypped out of Mommy time!) I love my Dilly Man too though and it's nice to get some one-on-one time with him in the afternoon while Ella naps. Our fall should be pretty smooth - at least until the Baby shows up and changes everything :)

Good-bye, summer!

We are wrapping up a very low-key Labor Day weekend. We relaxed, finished up some projects around the house, and spent one last day at the condo yesterday. Dylan starts school on Wednesday and summer is "officially" over - I haven't broken the news to Ella yet that her pool jumping days are over...for now :)