Bring it On

We stopped by to get my gym-fob out of my car. It looked so sad in a line of banged up cars w/ the bumper off. But not as sad as me when I learned there is $5000 worth of damage. Yup, FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I was going TWO mph - wtf?! Thankfully the 18 inch pipe is fine, I couldn't afford to have anything wrong w/ it too.

We don't mind our borrowed car though. You know it's not your convertible when it's 68* and you're driving w/ the top down and the heat cranked up.

Finley's annual eye exam went well. His blurry eye cannot get better, but it could get worse. Best case scenario - it hasn't! He continues to see 20/20 w/ his glasses.

Dr. Jackie is great, she explains everything in an easy-to-understand way, especially since Patrick nor I wear glasses. And for the life of me, I can never remember if far-sighted means you can see far-away or close-up. Still don't know. But I know his blurry eye is so far-sighted he can't see far-away nor close-up. Confusing much?

Busted taking pictures ;)

Getting ready for 1st grade, practicing sight words.

Grandma took us to the Mall Of America for back-to-school clothes shopping and a trip to Build-a-Bear.

Kissing their bears' hearts for love...

...making a wish...

...and putting the hearts inside.

Hadley made an Elsa bear, Finley made a Packer.

Bowling w/ cousins.

It's felt more fall than summer the past few days, biking while we still can. 

Finley declared a race...

...and completely let her win. She had no idea. And I thought it was incredibly sweet of him.

DD w/ cousins. That's Nolan behind the frisbee, I pull out my phone and he hides his face.

It was a cool and rainy week. But our summer-rule of no TV and no iPads during the day prevailed. I'm proud of the kids (and me honestly) that we've held tight to this rule, the kids stopped asking awhile ago. Tin foil boats and a game of sink/float kept them entertained...until I accurately guessed sink/float too many times in a row and it was no longer fun.

Smoothies like Auntie-Grandma makes.

My not-career plan has kicked off w/ a goal to organize/de-clutter room by room. I started in Finley's room when he was at camp, so much easier when no one is watching. This week we did games/puzzles, I'm OCD-enough that I actually counted out puzzle pieces to make sure they're all there.

We had to clean out our mechanical room to store my school stuff and I unearthed this shelving unit. My Grandpa Juel built it when my dad young and I've had it since my Grandma passed away. When I was little my Grandma kept it downstairs full of puzzles, cards, and dominoes. Now it's in our playroom full of puzzles, cards, and games. I love it!

Tomorrow the teachers officially return to work and the kids & I have big plans out of town. Bring it on, because here it comes.