FALL FUN

Last week was the usual hustle and bustle of the work/school week.  And this weekend was full of fall fun.

We had a great time celebrating Nana's birthday this weekend.

The kids loved celebrating for Nana and picking out their own special presents for her.  Claire picked out a beautiful change purse and Oliver picked out some fuzzy red gloves (after he decided against the plastic bat).

Mark and the kids made a special cake for Nana!

 And of course Uncle Johnny made everyone laugh all night long!

And Greg tried his hand at some photography.

We are so busy but it is so nice when everyone can get together.

I was really busy taking pictures this weekend but the kids and I snuck in a quick trip Zittels. 

The kids loved all the spooky stuff!  Oliver was a little stand offish but once he realized everything was plastic he was ok.

The kids loved feeding the goats and Oliver demanded that I take his picture with the goat.  So here is my son, choking the goat at Zittels farm.  I swear the goat was not hurt.

Miss Amy came with us and the kids loved hanging out with their buddy. And she saved the day because I forgot my wallet :(

We even snuck in a visit to Baby Camden!  Claire can't get enough of this baby and Oliver loved reading to him (again).  

Then today we finally made it apple picking. This is one of my favorite traditions and I was so excited when the kids mentioned how much they wanted to go!  Hopefully they will always feel that way!

Claire picked all of her own apples this year!  She is a pro.

And Oliver was beside himself that he could climb up the ladder all by himself to get some apples.

Me and my favorites.

We even got a family picture!  May not be our best but here we are!!

It was a great weekend and having today off was so great.  It was just so nice to have an extra day to hang out with my favorite people.

Week In Review

It was yet another busy week but I don't want to get behind in blogging (again) so here goes.  

We have been crazy with the beginning of school activities.  Here are the kids on picture day.  Notice Claire is holding a violin!  She is thrilled to be starting violin lessons this year!

We had the kids open houses too.  I absolutely love open house.  I love sitting in the kids' desks and getting to see where they spend their days.  I also love getting to know their teachers!  But my favorite is all of the cute stuff they make!  Here is Claire's "About Me" page.  I love that she wants to go to Paris!

I read through Claire's writing journal and I loved what she wrote about her summer vacation!

Oliver's open house was great too!  His teacher is wonderful and I loved seeing all of his artwork!

Oliver seems to be adjusting just fine to Kindergarten.  He won the Monster Drawing contest!!!

He was beyond excited to tell me all about it when he got home! They said his name over the loudspeaker and that about blew his mind. That day he also got to ring the "clean up" bell, hold the gerbil during story time, and take a walk with Mr. Clark.  He told me, "IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!"

On Thursday this little guy joined our Komosinski gang!!!  Camden Scott is absolutely adorable and perfect in every way!!!!!

I even got to have a great Bookclub meeting with my favorite readers!!! 

So far the year has started out wonderful!!  I can't wait to see what 2015-2016 brings!!!

Spartan!

Last weekend we spent the weekend in Killington, Vermont while Mark completed the Spartan Race.  This race is 14 miles long and consists of about 39 obstacles.

 Friday we left a school a little early and hit the road!  By the time we made it to Vermont everyone was beat!

Mark got up early to start his race while the kids and I had a nice breakfast and went for a nice swim at our condo's pool. 

After a good swim and nice lunch we headed to the mountain to check out the race.

Those little dots that look like ants, those are the Spartans!!!!!!

Vermont is absolutely gorgeous!

While Daddy was racing Claire and Oliver did the Spartan Kids race.

After a little stretching...

The kids were off!

 They both started out strong!

 Claire made it very clear before the race that she didn't want me to follow her. 

She took off and I couldn't even keep up with her!

Oliver went with the "Slow and Steady Wins the Race" approach.  He took his time and just had fun.

 He was not afraid to ask for a little help.

He made jokes the whole time and had everyone cracking up.  About 10 parents and volunteers approached me to tell me how funny he was.

Oliver also took the "work smart, not hard" approach.  Instead of crawling around the bungee cords, he just pushed them all over his head.

He was so proud to receive his medal! 

Claire was too fast!  She was all business, no fooling around for this girl.

It is hard to see her but here is Claire just before the finish!

MY SPARTANS!!  It was really cute, they gave the kids bananas, water, and a medal when they finished the race.

CLAIRE CAME IN SECOND PLACE!!!!  We aren't sure what place Oliver came, he said he was just happy he didn't come in last.  I love these kids!

After the kids race, we rushed over to find Daddy who had just finished!

My Spartans.

After the race, the Spartans took a nice soak in the hot tub.

Then we headed out to a delicious dinner to celebrate!  

It was a great weekend!  Vermont was gorgeous and I would love to go back!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SPARTANS!

First Days And Goals!!!!

Ok, I am very aware that I have missed a few blog posts over the summer.  In my defense, I have been very busy with my photography (which I am thrilled about) but I have definitely gotten behind with my memories!  I will be catching up on summer posts but first I need to blog about all of our first days of school!

Before I can start with our first days, I have to discuss Claire and Oliver's LAST DAY of Doodlebugs.

The kids have been at Doodelbugs since they were each 6 months old.  We have absolutely loved it there and the kids have made some amazing friends and learned so much.  We may do their summer camp in the future but last week was their last official day.  

Almost every school day for the last 8 years Mark has taken the kids to school and I have waved goodbye out the front window as they pull out.  

It is tough to see them but it was my last day of waving was last week.  I will miss seeing their little hands wave at me each morning.

Claire's first day of third grade was a day before Oliver's so she had Papa all to herself for one last day.  However, she did ask that Papa wait in the driveway and wave instead of walking her across the street.  She is getting so old! 

The next day, this happened!  Oliver started Kindergarten!!! 

 Here is my baby on his first day of Daycare!  I cannot believe how quickly he went from this to a Kindergartener!  He was pretty excited about his first day of daycare too :)

I can't even believe that he is this old!

My babies are getting so old!!

Nana and Papa came to see Oliver get on the bus for his big day!

And to see this big girl get on the bus for THIRD GRADE!

 My babies waiting for the bus.

Oliver waiting for the bus!  He was sooo excited!

Kissing his Daddy goodbye before his big day!

Climbing on for the first time.

And off he goes!!!

I couldn't wait to get him off the bus and hear all about his first day!

Here he is after his first day!

Notice he is missing his shirt ;)

No worries though, he just took it off because he was hot!

Now for our yearly Goals!

Mark

~To become a Spartan Beast.

~To become a 2 time Ironman finisher.

~To sell more real estate than ever before.

~To help each student achieve their personal best.

~To do all of these things while being a great husband and father.

Natalie

~ To have patience!  My goal is to be patient with my family, friends, and students!

~To make at least one person feel special about themselves each day!

~To have a great school year with my new chickens!

~To support my children in everything that they do!

~To laugh as much as possible each day (hopefully til I cry).

~To let go of as much negativity as possible and focus on the positive!

Claire

~To learn to do multiplication.

~To get better at cursive writing.

~To learn to play the violin.

Oliver 

~To learn whatever the teacher tells me.

~I want to make my bed better and without any help.

~I want to take swim lessons.

~To go to the YMCA.