The end, or the beginning?

It's over.

I love having my kids home for the summer. I love having the freedom to go play and do whatever we want. I'm always sad on the first day of school. I am looking forward to a routine and having a schedule again, we function better that way, but I still am not used to having my kids gone for 6 hours a day. You'd think after 9 years I'd be used to it, bit it still doesn't seem right. I love watching the growth that happens in that school year, I love watching them learn, but I'm selfish and want them with me!

For those of you that know me well, you can see that I had no influence on Bridger's first day outfit. I had to close my eyes and just pretend he was going to practice. I lost all control of Halley's clothing choices last year. At least I made it 2 years longer than I did with Bridge!

I found a pattern online and Halley decided she wanted me to make her school bag. She chose darling fabric and my inner Martha came out!

Trampoline fun?

My adorable older children decided to sleep out on the trampoline last Sunday night. Halley was so cute, she invited Gage to sleep out with them. They hauled their blankets, pillows and books out back. I reminded them to put bug spray on and after watching the Olympics with us for a minute they headed out.

Gage was the first one in the house in the morning, he had to come in to use the bathroom. We ran him up and when he was done and turned around and looked at me I about died.

Literally eaten alive. My adorable older child forgot the bug spray OBVIOUSLY! My first thought was chickenpox. I stripped him down and he only has them on his hands and face, so I knew then they were mosquito bites. On Thursday night he broke out in pretty severe hives. I took him to the doctor on Friday and he's having an allergic reation to the bites. The doctor is pretty concerned about west nile virus. Ugh! Any sign of a fever and I'm supposed to rush him right in. So we decided no Spirit Lake trip this year. I would be in a panic 4 hours away if he developed a fever.

Halley looked ok on the first day. That night her eyes started to swell. On Tuesday morning when she woke up her eyes were completely swollen shut! She looked like someone had beaten the crap put of her. I finally bribed her into letting me take a picture but I had to promise to never show it to anyone. Remember the show Mask with Cher? She looked like the boy in that, but without eyes. Not good.

Hmmmm.....

Happy 11th Birthday Bridger!!

This is so late, but we were gone on Bridger's birthday. He turned 11 on July 22nd. I had the coolest baseball cake picked out to make him, but he wanted a Cold Stone cake! We love this boy! He was my baby for so long and he loved it! Here are some of the things I love about Bridger:

• He is hilarious! Definitely the class clown. He keeps us rolling and has such a funny sense of humor.

• When he is doing something he loves, he works so hard. Example: baseball. Even though the team practices twice a week, Bridger has Jonathon at the ballpark almost everyday. He is always working on his hitting and catching.

• He is such a great brother. He includes Halley every time he is with his friends, and is so good with Gage. He invites Gage to "sleepovers" downstairs and they watch movies and play games.

• He is so active! He is constantly outside doing something.

• He can make friends with anyone. He has a lot of friends and includes everyone.

• He is such a good student. He always has A's, but even better than that, his teachers always tell us how respectful he is of everyone.

We love you Bridger and we are so thankful you are our son. You bring such a happiness to our family and you definitely keep us on our toes!