Just Life

We have been trying to make the most of our time together in the evenings and the fact that it is still light outside in the evenings.  We have been hitting lots of parks after dinner time for some swinging and rock throwing.  We are so lucky that we have some really great parks so close to our house.  I finally feel like we have hit our stride with school, drop offs, pick-ups, and all the things that go along with having two working parents.  Briggs is loving his school, he told Greg last night that he had a terrific day at school!  He talks about school a lot and all of his friends, his stories are hysterical.  Harper hardly misses a bit when she goes to Kiki's (Harper calls her Titi) house.  She adores Hadley and I think it is so cool that she gets to spend her days with her cousin and aunt.  School for me this year has been awesome.  After all these years (7) teaching it is really just second nature anymore.  My kids are really great this year and I know more and more every year that I am doing exactly what I was meant to do.  We are looking forward to an extended weekend with the kids.  On the menu this weekend is a trip to Grandpa Nubs farm, lots of outside time, and something to do with trains (Briggs request).  A few pictures of the sweeties. 

Those wispy little hairs are so cute but I can no keep them out of her face!

This is our most current cheese face.  lots of teeth and eyes always closed.

The best daddy in the world.

Mr & Mrs Uvodich

Amid the craziness that was our first weeks of school I was honored to serve as maid of honor in one of my dear friends wedding. Kinzie and I have known each other since kindergarten but in the last 7 years have became super close. We have been there for each other through so much and I felt so lucky that I got to stand beside her on her special day. The rehearsal dinner was held at the Boulevard Brewing company and catered by Jack Stacks, good beer and barbecue are hard to beat. We headed to the plaza for some fun afterwards. I spent the night at Kinzie's house on Friday for an old fashioned slumber party. In true slumber party fashion we stayed up way to late giggling and talking, so much fun. The next morning and day was spent pampering and decorating for the big night. It was so fun to hang out with the girls all day being silly.

The wedding was held in Brookside at a Catholic church and the reception was at the Carriage Club in Mission Hills. It was a beautiful wedding and reception that went off without a hitch. Kinzie was a beautiful bride and I am so glad she had the day she has always dreamed of. I am so happy for Kinzie and Mark and wish them a lifetime of happiness.

Let's Make a Deal

So I am starting to think that my son might have a future as a used car salesmen.  He has started to make deals with Greg and I all the time and somehow the deals always come out in his favor.  for example the other day he said "mommy think I can share your lunch with you" and of course I said no can I please eat my own food for once in my life.  He then replied "how about I have three bites and then you can have everything that is left, think that's a deal." I am not sure it was a good deal but sure is quite a diet plan. His deals usually work around negotiating a later bed time, one more show, an extra treat, or somehow Harper not getting into his toys.   I will announce that we have 5 minutes till bedtime and Briggs will respond with "I got a deal how about 3 minutes".  He runs a hard bargain but sometime you have to take what you can get. I am thinking that this deal making is either going to make him lots of money someday or get him into a lot of trouble in school.  For now I think we will hear him out, it is just too cute to see how his little mind works. 

Welcome Back

Holy #$%* I can not believe I have not posted anything for weeks.  That is a very tiny indication of how super busy the Tomlinson household has been lately.  I will try to play catch-up and post on all the craziness of lately.  First and foremost our very own Mr. Tomlinson signed his first teaching contract and began his first teaching job a few weeks ago.  He will be a 3rd grade teacher at Lansing Elementary School this year. We spent lots of time in his classroom the last few weeks trying to make it look awesome and get it all ready for kids to come to school.  He has been going through all the natural first year teacher issues and really taking them all in stride.  I have been so proud of him and how well he is dealing with all the pressure.  I never in my life would have thought that Greg would ever end up in the teaching world but it is so obvious what a great fit it is for him.  There are some very lucky 3rd graders that have our Mr. T for their teacher.   

With Greg and I starting school that means the kids are back in the groove as well.  Harper is back with Kelli and Hadley and loving it.  Greg and I love that we are able to send Harper to someone we love and she loves.  Kelli is a godsend for us and we are so lucky that she is able to watch our little sweetie.  Briggs is back at Monticello Christan Childrens Center with his old buddies from last year. Of course the second day he was back at school he came down with a virus.  He spent two days at home with a fever and sleeping the day away.  We were lucky that Doe Doe came to save the day as we could not take off any days our first week back at school.  It has been an adjustment getting back in the swing of things but we are hoping to hit our stride soon.   

Those days that I had had it with the kids over the summer suddenly don't seem so bad when I am at school missing them.  We had such an incredible summer and I love that we will always get to spend our summers together as a family.  Sad that it is over but anxious to see what this year has in store for us. 

Harper is really starting to talk all the time which is awesome because I am ready for ah ah ah at everything she wants to be over.  She told me Peek a doo this morning when she peeked out of her blanket, so cute.  She is loving animals, cats and dogs especially but can really do most animal sounds.  Briggs is getting to be such a big boy.  He still loves to be held, truthfully I love to hold him too but at 40 some pounds he is a lot to lug up our stairs.  We are already talking about his birthday and Halloween, both should be quite exciting at the Tomlinsons house this year.  We will have a 4 year old at our house soon, am I really that old!

Ok so no pictures to post right now because I have been a bad mommy and have taken very few pictures lately at least nothing post worthy.  I am back on the blogging band wagon again and will be posting more regularly.   Hope everyone has had a good start to the school year. 

Taking advantage of our last few summer days off we headed out to Deanna Rose Farm for some hot farm animal watching.  We were joined by my friend Kinzie and her sweet little man Cash.  We had a great time and as always Harper is fearless with animal, almost a little too much for my liking.  She fed the goats for at least 30 minutes and actually began stealing food from random peoples hands, she is crazy.  We attempted bottle feeding some quite aggressive goats and it was not successful even a little bit.  We had kids crawling up our legs and goats eating our shorts next time we will fed from outside the fence.  I think the farm has to be one of my favorite things to do with the kids, looking forward to many more trips.