maddux' first morning at the bus stop

maddux would have done this yesterday if we had let him - ride the bus from the bus stop. he was super ready to go and we were outside pretty early. 

not going to lie, manning is sort of enjoying sending all of the kids off in the morning and having me all to himself. love.

the littles' first soccer game

the little boys were ready for their first game this week - manning was even happy to be there! unfortunately, they played at the same time as mason so i missed it but i snapped a few pictures with "coach dad" before they left mason's game for their field.

mason taking a turn as goalie.

we did make it back over in time to see them congratulate the other team on a good game.

it is great to see all of the boys having fun. love.

the new soccer season

all three boys are hitting the fields today for soccer! manning has mixed feelings about soccer. really he wants no part of it, but he's here so he's playing. pray for us.

manning was having no part of the "first day" excitement and indulgence of mommy's camera.

it's daddy's first day of the season too as maddux and manning's coach.

almost game time and still a grump.

another one with better lighting.

finally a smile.

and reluctantly he takes to the field for their first practice. even gives me a quick look back.

manning was not having any part of maddux' excitement.

finally he is ready to participate.

then we made our way over to mason's field for his first game (the younger kids just practice the first two weeks of season).

kicking out to his buddy, carter.

passing to carter's brother, nolan.

the boys were a little rusty. we'll have to see how they progress throughout the season. love.

boys on the loose

grocery shopping is going to feel boring once these crazies go back to school! love.

arrg!

papa and nana brought us all some gifts from their european adventures. the boys got pirate shirts from croatia. love.

bathing beauties

sweet frog photo shoot

i snapped a quick picture of matt and i when we stopped by sweet frog on our way home from church today. we were using our 20% off coupon from vbs to "reconnect" (that is what it said on the coupon). the boys wanted to get in on the picture love too - but only with mommy. love.

paper bag piñata

i seriously don't know how this bag of candy (aka paper bag piñata) has survived in our house since maddux brought it home from preschool in may! seriously! talk about self control. 

but today was the day! we strung it up (in the newly cleaned basement) and let them go at it with a pool noodle light saber. (i wanted to try and give them each a swing before the bag fell apart.)

mason giving it the final blow!

this was pretty fun and would be a good rainy day activity - decorate a paper bag, throw in a handful of candy/small toys and let them swing away. love.

super hero camp

our little heroes

once again, super hero camp was a huge hit with the boys! we love having this fun little camp where they can dress up, hear stories, make crafts and (their favorite part) complete obstacle courses.

flying bat-maddux. love.

summer cooking

i get lots more help with meals in the summer time. this is one of the boys' favorite things to help with - shucking corn. they wish we had it every night. love.

super hero camp 2016

this is another summer staple for us - "super hero camp". (madelyn, sadly, aged out of "princess camp.") it is only an hour a day for one week. this year will be mason's last and is manning's first. leading up to camp, manning has been adamant that he will NOT go to super hero camp. but today he was ready and willing. yay!

all lined up and ready to fly. love.

boys at the bus stop

these three just get so excited to be outside in the morning. love.

the pull of the tree

they are getting just a little bit excited about opening presents.

manning assembled his house and i grabbed a picture before he takes it apart again.

matt decided that he wanted a turkey dinner so madelyn and manning made us another pie.